The Twelve Days of Christ is a Christmas carol that has never made sense. How on Earth was anyone to make sense of nine ladies dancing, ten lords a-leaping, seven swans a-swimming, and that goofy partridge who could never get down out of the pear tree? Actually, it is a story of how creatively the Christian church has had to teach and spread the Gospel in times of persecution.

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not allowed to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ. The two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments. Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love. The four calling birds were the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament. The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation. Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit. The eight maids a-milking were the eight Beatitudes. Nine ladies dancing? These were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5). The ten lords a-leaping were the Ten Commandments. Eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples. Finally, the twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostle's Creed.