Wednesday 31 December 2008

On the seventh day of Christmas....

seven swans a-swimming

On the seventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

Today is the Seventh Day of Christmas. The "seven swans a-swimming" refer to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.



This post is one of a series explaining the Twelve Days of Christmas. Over the next 6 days of the Christmas season (ending on January 6th "The Epiphany") I'll post more information about the following verses of this song. I hope you'll find the "coded" meanings as interesting as I have! For more information, you can also check out
appleseeds.org and CIN. Picture from AtHomeWithGod.com

Tuesday 30 December 2008

On the sixth day of Christmas....

six geese a-laying

On the sixth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

Today is the Sixth Day of Christmas. The "six geese a-laying" are symbolic of the six days of creation, the biblical account in which God creates the universe and it's inhabitants.
(Please excuse my rather short posts. I'm still recovering from Christmas sickness!)



This post is one of a series explaining the Twelve Days of Christmas. Over the next 7 days of the Christmas season (ending on January 6th "The Epiphany") I'll post more information about the following verses of this song. I hope you'll find the "coded" meanings as interesting as I have! For more information, you can also check out
appleseeds.org and CIN. Picture from AtHomeWithGod.com

Monday 29 December 2008

On the fifth day of Christmas....

five golden rings

On the fifth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

Today is the Fifth Day of Christmas. Everyone should remember this verse! The well-known "five golden rings" represent the first five books of the Bible, also called the Jewish Torah or the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.



This post is one of a series explaining the Twelve Days of Christmas. Over the next 8 days of the Christmas season (ending on January 6th "The Epiphany") I'll post more information about the following verses of this song. I hope you'll find the "coded" meanings as interesting as I have! For more information, you can also check out
appleseeds.org and CIN. Picture from AtHomeWithGod.com

Sunday 28 December 2008

On the fourth day of Christmas....

four calling birds

On the fourth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

Today is the Fourth Day of Christmas. In this verse, The "four calling birds" refers to the four evangelists who wrote the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—which sing the song of salvation through Jesus Christ.



This post is one of a series explaining the Twelve Days of Christmas. Over the next 9 days of the Christmas season (ending on January 6th "The Epiphany") I'll post more information about the following verses of this song. I hope you'll find the "coded" meanings as interesting as I have! For more information, you can also check out
appleseeds.org and CIN. Picture from AtHomeWithGod.com

Saturday 27 December 2008

On the third day of Christmas....

three french hens

On the third day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

Today is the Third Day of Christmas. In this verse, the "three French hens" stand for faith, hope and love—the three gifts of the Spirit that abide (1 Corinthians 13).



This post is one of a series explaining the Twelve Days of Christmas. Over the next 10 days of the Christmas season (ending on January 6th "The Epiphany") I'll post more information about the following verses of this song. I hope you'll find the "coded" meanings as interesting as I have! For more information, you can also check out
appleseeds.org and CIN. Picture from AtHomeWithGod.com

Friday 26 December 2008

On the second day of Christmas....

two turtle doves

On the second day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

Today is the Second Day of Christmas. In this verse, the "two turtle doves" refers to the Old and New Testaments.



This post is one of a series explaining the Twelve Days of Christmas. Over the next 11 days of the Christmas season (ending on January 6th "The Epiphany") I'll post more information about the following verses of this song. I hope you'll find the "coded" meanings as interesting as I have! For more information, you can also check out
appleseeds.org and CIN. Picture from AtHomeWithGod.com

Thursday 25 December 2008

On the first day of Christmas....

Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you are filled with the peace and joy of the season, as we celebrate the birth of Christ over 2000 years ago.
Today is Christmas day - the first of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Do you remember the popular song - "On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me..."? Although it may seem like a nonsense rhyme, it was originally written to convey a coded message! Appleseeds.org explains the Twelve Days of Christmas:

Catholics in England during the period 1558 to 1829 were prohibited by law to practice their faith either in public or private. It was illegal to be Catholic until Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England in 1829.

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" was written in England as one of the "catechism songs" to help young Catholics learn the basics of their faith. In short, it was a coded-message, a memory aid. Since the song sounded like rhyming nonsense, young Catholics could sing the song without fear of imprisonment. The authorities would not know that it was a religious song.

"The 12 Days of Christmas" is in a sense an allegory. Each of the items in the song represents something significant to the teachings of the Catholic faith. The hidden meaning of each gift was designed to help Catholic children learn their faith. The better acquainted one is with the Bible, the more these interpretations have significance.

So this song that we sing today as a simple game was originally a teaching tool! The song begins like this:

On the first day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree.

The first day, of course, is Christmas itself. But the "true love" referred to is no earthly love. The song refers here to God himself, who is the "true love" of every Christian. This is the foundation of the song, on which every other verse builds.
a partridge in a pear tree
The "partridge in a pear tree" is Christ Jesus upon the Cross. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge because she would feign injury to decoy a predator away from her nestlings. She was even willing to die for them.

The tree is the symbol of the fall of the human race through the sin of Adam and Eve. It is also the symbol of its redemption by Jesus Christ on the tree of the Cross.

Over the next 12 days of the Christmas season (ending on January 6th "The Epiphany") I'll post more information about the following verses of this song. I hope you'll find the "coded" meanings as interesting as I have! For more information, you can also check out the sources below.
Have a Blessed Christmas!

Sources: appleseeds.org and wikipedia.org.

Wednesday 3 December 2008

A Smile in the Moon and the Stars (and Planets!)

"Smile!"
Moon and Stars
moon and stars smiling face - venus and jupiter align with moon

A few nights ago, a friend rang up from Brisbane saying "step outside and have a look at the moon!" So I went out to see what all the fuss was about - and then smiled. The moon and two "stars"* were aligned perfectly to create a smiling face.The mouth was formed by the brilliantly gleaming crescent moon, with two tiny spots of light above representing eyes. It was almost as if God was looking down on us saying "Good night!".

So remember to smile today. Everyone needs a smile, and it's something you can always give away without running out! Who knows what good a simple smile could do to brighten someone's day.


* Yes, I know, they were actually the planets Jupiter and Venus, not stars. But I never let the facts get in the way of a good story! NASA has a wonderful picture of the event - you might like to check it out for a further explanation.

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