Twelve Days of Christmas - Lessons and Carols
January 02, 2022 | Mark Piedmonte
The twelve days of Christmas are the twelve days between Christmas Day, December 25th, when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, and the Epiphany, January 6th, the day Christians celebrate the arrival of the Wise Men and the revelation of Christ as the light of the world.
The song The Twelve Days of Christmas was created in England during a time of religious persecution when Catholicism was outlawed in the 16th to 18th centuries. The song was written as a kind of secret Christian creed that could be sung in public without fear of arrest. It also served as a catechism, or a way of learning or memorizing Christian teachings.
Each verse refers to a teaching of church doctrine, and the “True Love,” giving the gifts of the song refers to God the Creator, who has given us all good gifts. This morning we will review symbols of faith found in this Christmas carol, meditating on associated scripture and singing hymns along the way.