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What Religious Liberty?
The Incredible Ever-Expanding Dead End
Anti-Cure, Anti-Life
Whose Values in Education?
Toppling Dominos
Anti-Christians don't have to be Hypocrites but Many Volunteer
Intolerant Tolerance
The Emperor's Clothes or a Cheap Tuxedo
The Myth of Hitler's Pope, Part I
The Myth of Hitler's Pope, Part II
Embryonic Stem Cell Research Again
The Madness of Secularism
"Don't Impose Your Religion on Me"
Dictatorship of Relativism
Two Babies at Christmas
Living Will or Death Warrant?
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Men in Black
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"Stay with us, Lord"
Secular-to-English Dictionary
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Christians Losing America
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Catholic Pro-Abortion Politicians and Communion
Useful Idiots
Who Killed Jesus?
A Primer on Gay Marriage
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Vouchers Revisited
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Gay but not Merry
Adam and Steve?
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More Salt, Please
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When Religion Becomes Evil
Virginity Making a Comeback?
You've Come a Long Way, Baby
The Incarnational Approach
The Many Meanings of ACLU
Things Your Media Never Told You
A Nasty Little Secret
Two Points of View on the Birth of Jesus
You Gotta Kill Them.  How Else Are They Going To Learn?
Perplexing Christmas Questions
How Do You See Christ Today?
Now that there is Another Ewe, will there be Another You?
What is Conscience Anyhow?
Divorce of Love and Life
What Counts as a Mass?
What is a Covenant?
I Wish I had Your Faith
Are there Too Many Decrees of Nullity?
Dutch Treats
Ecumenism
Going from Baby Doe to Granny Doe
Comments of Evangelium Vitae
The Exception Corrupts the Rule
Good Morality or Good Medicine
Generation-X'ers Smart in Every Way But One
A Matter of Good Breeding
Herod and Pontius Pilate at the Polls
Hitler's Pope or Righteous Gentile?
The Unknown God
What exactly is wrong with homosexuality?
Ideology Trumps Science, Reality, and Common Sense
What Exactly is an Indulgence?
Infallibility and Error in the Church
Pilate Asked, "What is Truth?"
The Truth about Families
New Killing Fields
Choice of Language and Language of Choice
A Lexicon for Our Day
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Marijuana, Medicine or Menace?
Medical Research and Ethics
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"You Taught me well, Mommie dearest"
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Neutral on the Wrong Side
"These are the Nineties After All"
Many are Wed but Few are Married
"...Prepare him for additional obligations"
A Useful Lie
A Partridge in a Pear Tree
Religious Persecution in the U.S.?
What Makes a Person a Person?
The Point of a Point of View
Politically Correct, Morally Depraved
Population Controllers out of Control
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Reason and Faith
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Same Sex Marriages?
Pearl of Great Price
"I used to be schizophrenic, but we're all right now"
Sexual Morality Irrelevant in Judging Public Officials?
Undesirable Side Effects
Some News is Good News
SOSSLQ's, not POSSLQ's
Spoils of Splits
Why Attend Mass Every Sunday?
Is it All Right to Pull the Plug?
An Appeal for Intolerance
Topics Catechetical
A Voting Catechism
A Moral Guide to Voting
Vouchers: Has Their Time Come?
What Child is This?
What did they die of?
You are the Man
You may be a liberal if...
Get Rid of that Worthless Relative
Planned Un-Parenthood
Weighing Pro-Life Issues Prior to Voting

by Monsignor James C. Brunner

Faith Points

The Christmas song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" sounds like a child’s nonsense song, but when it was written it had a serious purpose. It is not just a repetitious song. It was written during a time when Catholics in England from 1558 to 1829 could be put to death for any sign of adherence to Catholicism. Ownership of any writing that taught or promoted Catholicism could lead to beheading, or being hanged, drawn, and quartered. The latter was a particularly vicious form of punishment that consisted in hanging a person until he was almost dead but not quite, then disembowling him and stomping on his entrails, and then pulling him apart. The executioners would tie the arms and legs of the victim to four large farm animals that literally pulled him apart. In such a climate of persecution few dared to own overtly Catholic writings.

In order to evade detection and still teach religion, this song became a sort of catechism lesson. If the authorities found it they would surmise that it was only a nonsense children’s song. But the point of the song was to teach religion. The "true love" was no earthly lover but God the Father. The "me" was any baptized person. The "partridge" is Jesus. The partridge is supposed to feign injury to lead predators away from her nestlings. The "pear tree" is the cross.

The other parts of the song also have symbolic meanings as follows:

2. Two turtle doves—the Old and New Testaments

3. Three French hens—the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity

4. Four calling birds—the four gospels or the four evangelists

5. Five golden rings—the Pentateuch or the first five books of the Bible which describe the fall of humanity from grace

6. Six geese-a-laying—the six days of creation

7. Seven swans-a-swimming—the seven sacraments and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit

8. Eight maids-a-milking—the eight beatitudes

9. Nine ladies dancing—the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit

10. Ten Lords-a-leaping—the Ten Commandments

11. Eleven pipers piping—the eleven faithful apostles

12. Twelve drummers drumming—the twelve articles of the Apostles Creed

The other carols that we sing at Christmas time reflect popular piety and contain a great deal of theology. They present the mystery of the Incarnation (being made flesh) of God’s Son.

From "Sleepers Awake" the words "The Son of God has come to make with us his home" is almost a direct translation of "And the Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us" (Jn. 1:14). From the "Coming of our God" the words "The co-eternal Son a maiden’s offspring see; a servant’s form Christ putteth on" echo the words of St. Paul’s hymn in Philippians: "Who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found in human appearance, he humbled himself" (Phil. 2:6-8).

Some carols point out the contrasts in divinity becoming humanity. In assuming human nature the infinite God took on at the same time the limitations of a creature. From "See amid the Winter’s Snow" there are the words: "There within a manger lies, he who built the starry skies." "Adeste Fideles" ("O come all ye faithful") points out that the newborn babe is "born the king of angels" "Word of the Father now in flesh appearing." The carol, "What Child is This?" points out that the child sleeping in Mary’s lap is "Christ the King." "Angels from the Realms of Glory" offers the contrast: "Though an infant now we view him, He shall fill his Father’s throne, Gather all the nations to him; Every knee shall then bow down." "Angels we have Heard on High" invites us to come to Bethlehem and see and adore on bended knee "Christ, the Lord, the newborn King." The old English carol, "The Snow Lay on the Ground" tells us that Mary’s babe "is God made man" and that she "laid him in a stall at Bethlehem; The ass and the oxen shared the roof with them."

From "Hark the Herald" we have the purpose of Christ’s coming: "Born that we no more may die, Born to raise us from the earth, Born to give us second birth." The carol, "While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night" explains, "To you, in David’s town this day, Is born of David’s line, The Savior, who is Christ the Lord." "God Rest You Merry Gentlemen" reminds us that Christ was born on Christmas Day "To save us all from Satan’s power, When we had gone astray." The Latin carol "In Dulci Jubilo" ("Good Christians all Rejoice") assures us that "He has opened heaven’s door, And we are blest for evermore." "Silent Night" tells us "Christ the Savior is born." The Negro carol "Go Tell it on the Mountain" tells us that God sent us salvation on Christmas morn. The carol, "We Three Kings" explains the gifts brought by the Magi: gold represents his kingship, frankincense his divine nature, and myrrh his sacrificial death.

The musical and theological wealth of carols is enormous. Carols not only belong to our history but in a certain sense they form our history. In speaking of Polish Christmas carols to his own countrymen Pope John Paul II said, "We must not lose this treasure." Unfortunately these carols, many of them centuries old, are featured in shopping centers often months before Christmas in an effort to stimulate Christmas sales and sometimes they start to pall. When that happens start to pay attention to the words and their considerable theological content. That after all is the reason for the season and the reason to be merry at Christmas.