Are there twelve days of christmas

During the holiday season, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is heard everywhere from shopping malls to television commercials to church functions. But what does any of this mean? What does a song about doves, hens and geese have to do with Christmas?

The carol has its roots in 18th-century England, as a memory-and-forfeit game sung by British children. In the game, players had to remember all of the previous verses and add a new verse at the end.

Those unable to remember a verse paid a forfeit, in the form of a kiss or a piece of candy to the others. One theory, however, connects the carol to the era when Catholicism was outlawed in England, from and The carol , it is said, was a catechism song for Catholics to learn "the tenets of their faith," as they could not openly practice in Anglican society [source: Snopes.

While many still hold the idea of a coded hymn to be true, there's no substantive evidence that this was the case, nor is there any evidence that the verses contain anything uniquely Catholic. Here are the verses of the song, along with their supposed symbolism [source: BBC. While these verses are what most of us associate with the "Twelve Days of Christmas," the phrase refers to an actual day period. While sects of Christianity celebrate the 12 days of Christmas differently, certain ones, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, consider the Epiphany to be the most important day of the Christmas season.

Some exchange gifts on each of the 12 days instead of only on Christmas day. Exhortations to follow this calendar rather than the secular one have become routine at this time of year. But often the focus falls on giving Advent its due, with the 12 days of Christmas relegated to the words of a cryptic traditional carol. Most people are simply too tired after Christmas Day to do much celebrating. The "real" 12 days of Christmas are important not just as a way of thumbing our noses at secular ideas of the "Christmas season.

Christmas commemorates the most momentous event in human history—the entry of God into the world he made, in the form of a baby.

The Logos through whom the worlds were made took up his dwelling among us in a tabernacle of flesh. One of the prayers for Christmas Day in the Catholic liturgy encapsulates what Christmas means for all believers: "O God, who marvelously created and yet more marvelously restored the dignity of human nature, grant that we may share the divinity of him who humbled himself to share our humanity.

The three traditional feasts dating back to the late fifth century that follow Christmas reflect different ways in which the mystery of the Incarnation works itself out in the body of Christ. December 26 is the feast of St.

Stephen—a traditional day for giving leftovers to the poor as described in the carol "Good King Wenceslas". As one of the first deacons, Stephen was the forerunner of all those who show forth the love of Christ by their generosity to the needy. But more than this, he was the first martyr of the New Covenant, witnessing to Christ by the ultimate gift of his own life.

John the Evangelist, commemorated on December 27, is traditionally the only one of the twelve disciples who did not die a martyr. Rather, John witnessed to the Incarnation through his words, turning Greek philosophy on its head with his affirmation, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" John , KJV.

On December 28, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Innocents, the children murdered by Herod. These were not martyrs like Stephen, who died heroically in a vision of the glorified Christ. They were not inspired like John to speak the Word of life and understand the mysteries of God. They died unjustly before they had a chance to know or to will—but they died for Christ nonetheless. In them we see the long agony of those who suffer and die through human injustice, never knowing that they have been redeemed.

If Christ did not come for them too, then surely Christ came in vain. In celebrating the Holy Innocents, we remember the victims of abortion, of war, of abuse. If you haven't heard of it, that's probably because it was published in Most historians believe that the song started out a "memory-and-forfeit" game in s England.

These types of games were played by British school children, and the rules were simple. When it's your turn, you repeat all the previously sung lyrics, and add the next one. If you can't remember a verse, you owe your opponent a "forfeit," which was usually a kiss or piece of candy.

You may have seen this theory floating around via chain emails and message boards. In a nutshell, the theory claims that during a time when Christians were punished for worshiping openly, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song was used to secretly pass on the ideology of Christianity. In this theory, each gift symbolizes a different aspect of the faith:. Snopes breaks down the many historical and logistical errors in this theory.

At the start of Twelfth Night the Twelfth Night cake was eaten. This was a rich cake made with eggs and butter, fruit, nuts and spices. The modern Italian Panettone is the cake we currently have that's most like the old Twelfth Night cake.

A dried pea or bean was cooked in the cake. Whoever found it was the Lord or Lady of Misrule for night. The Lord of Misrule led the celebrations and was dressed like a King or Queen. This tradition goes back to the Roman celebrations of Saturnalia.

In later times, from about the Georgian period onwards, to make the Twelfth Night 'gentile', two tokens were put in the cake one for a man and one for a women and whoever found them became the the 'King' and 'Queen' of the Twelfth Night party.

In English Cathedrals, during the middle ages, there was the custom of the 'Boy Bishop' where a boy from the Cathedral or monastery school was elected as a Bishop on 6th December St Nicholas's Day and had the authority of a Bishop except to perform Mass until 28th December.

During Twelfth Night it was traditional for different types of pipes to be played, especially bagpipes.