Posts Tagged ‘christmas’

Posted on December 24, 2008 - by Daina

Twelve Days of Christmas Lyrics/Song with Historical Accuracy

Whenever I think about the Twelve Days of Christmas, I have to be honest, I had never realized it was “Twelve Days of Christmas Lyrics/Song with “HISTORICAL ACCURACY”". I think about the days that I worked as a Student Assistant in Kindergarten.

(Licensed Image source: dno1967)

You see, my son has this old VHS video of Frosty and Christmas. At the end of the movie is the song The Twelve Days of Christmas. During the song there is the silhouette of a ballerina dancing and with each day she moves her body in a way to represent the day of Christmas.

We had such a joy playing it each year and watching the little kids try to keep up to the moves of this ballerina! After practicing this for weeks the class would present their Twelve Days Of Christmas dance to the entire school!

Historical Accuracy

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”.~~(Isaiah 9: 6)

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~~For God so loved the world He gave… unto us a Child is born, twelve gifts, to the day of Epiphany for eternity… all wrapped in a swaddling cloth… with no room in the inn.~~

I’ll also admit that I have never taken any thought as to the true meaning behind this song until today. So I did a little research and found what I believe to be true is that this song was written in England as one of the “catechism songs” to help young Catholics learn the basics of their faith. The song was a coded so that the young Catholics could sing the song without fear of imprisonment as it was forbidden for them to sing of their faith.

Another of my findings is that the twelve days of Christmas does not start twelve days before Christmas. In the Western Church these are the twelve days from Christmas Day evening to the beginning of the Epiphany. Epiphany, meaning a Christian holiday on January 6 celebrating the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus.

You know how many of us have a nativity set that we put out during Christmas and there are the Three Kings? The Magi are the Three Kings or Kings from the East that are said to have visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts.

Religious Quote

In Mathew 2:11

(On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh).

Three gifts were mentioned so we typically believe there were only Three Kings but it is not known how many truly came. And, did you know, the Three Kings really didn’t show up until months after the Baby Jesus’ birth.

I wish that I had had the knowledge in my Kindergarten days that I have today regarding this song The Twelve Days of Christmas. I would have loved to have shared some of the true meanings of this song with those kids.

(Licensed Image Source: krisdecurtis)

Also, now when I look at our nativity set I won’t only think about Christmas but will also think about the Twelve Days of Christmas. We just had to add this picture for it’s beauty!

(Licensed Image Source: krisdecurtis)

We would now like to break the Twelve Days of Christmas down for the next twelve days, on a daily basis, celebrating every day, giving you the “true meaning” behind such a powerful song! The popular song is no longer seen as simply a nonsense song for children with secular origins.

On the twelfth day (Epiphany) we will put it all together for you, for “Your” enjoyment, to close Christmas for another year, however, keep His light shining to the next. We hope you enjoy the song with “The” new Light. We sure do!

We invite you to visit this Blog everyday to share some of our thoughts and quotes during this time of celebration.

Merry Christmas to you and God Bless.

See you on the “First Day of Christmas” tomorrow… “A Partridge In A Pear Tree”.

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