Endless Love

One of my favorite carols as a child was the 12 days of Christmas. It was such a silly nonsense song that you could sing really loud. As kids we would come to the 5 golden rings part and somehow, we seemed to sing that part even more obnoxiously each time. In high school I heard a funny radio host talking about how crazy it would be to actually receive the gifts from this song, let’s just 

Bonnie Piovesan

say it’s a lot of birds and weird people. As a young adult I found an article about this silly song that shed some light on its meaning. Suddenly the song that had provided an opportunity for me to be annoying as a child seemed so different.
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During the dark and middle ages in Europe the church often struggled with itself. The temptation of power and the lack of Bibles in the hands of common people would lead to times of persecution. During one of these times it was forbidden for a certain denomination to teach their catechism. Like the early Christians who used the symbol of the fish to identify each other, people found a clever way to teach their children the catechism with what seemed like a silly nonsensical song.
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The true love in this song is our Father in Heaven. Here is a list of gifts He has given us.

• A Partridge in a Pear Tree: The partridge is a symbol for the church. The pear tree is Jesus.
• 2 Turtle Doves: The Old and New Testament.
• 3 French Hens: The virtues of faith, hope, and love.
• 4 Calling Birds: The Four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
• 5 Golden Rings: The first five books of the Bible.
• 6 Geese-a-Laying: The days of creation.
• 7 Swans-a-Swimming: The gifts of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and the Fear of the Lord.
• 8 Maids-a-Milking: The Beatitudes.
• 9 Ladies Dancing: The nine fruits of the Holy Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
• 10 Lords-a-Leaping: The Ten Commandments.
• 11 Pipers Piping: The Faithful Apostles, Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddaeus, and Simon.
• 12 Drummers Drumming: The points of belief in the Apostles Creed.

Simple verses that helped teach deep concepts of who God is and how we can live like Jesus. These days when I hear this song during the holiday season, I stop and think of my True Love who gives richly to all. As we gather with our families and share our various traditions, I hope you are able to find some peaceful moment to reflect on the love of a Father who is ready to give you all that you need.

​In His Name, Bonnie