When it comes to keepsakes, Christmas is a season that makes it possible for us to hold onto treasures – sometimes in the form of Christmas tree ornaments. Small metal keepsakes make it possible to stamp the date on the ornament and to include graphics that are as charming as they are long-lasting.
For example, many memorial Christmas ornaments and metal-crafted adornments feature wintertime graphics such as carolers, elves, snowmen and Santa as decorative personages. Most of the ornaments also include the date – a nice souvenir of the holiday season which can be stored and taken out each year to include on the tree.
The Twelve Days of Christmas
Some memorial Christmas ornaments, for instance, feature the twelve days of Christmas – conceived from the original Christmas song and carol. To many, the song represents much more than just a repetitive melody with its listing of unusual offerings.
How the Song was Created
From 1558 to 1829, in England, it was against the law to be Catholic or to practice your faith in public or private. In response, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was composed to be one of the “catechism melodies”: a song that was designed to assist Catholic youngsters to learn the basic tenets of their religion, as a type of memory aid. This was a sung with the goal in mind to not be detected as a Catholic. If anyone thought you were a Catholic during this period, you could be hanged, drawn and quartered or placed in a cold, dark, and damp cell for a long time.
What the Gifts Represent
Each of the gifts represented in the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” are meant to serve as hidden meanings with respect to teachings of the faith. The “true love” who is mentioned in the melody refers to God while the “me” who receives the gifts is a baptized person. Jesus Christ is represented by the partridge in the pear tree.
The two turtle doves represent the Old Testament and New Testament in the Bible while 3 French hens are synonymous with faith, hope and charity. Four calling birds are the four Gospels, and five golden rings represent the Pentateuch or the initial five books of the Old Testament. Six geese a-laying are the six days that the earth was made while seven swans a-swimming are the seven gifts bequeathed by the Holy Spirit or the seven sacraments.
Eight maids a-milking represent the eight beatitudes while nine ladies dancing are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. The Ten Commandments are depicted by ten lords 11 pipers piping represents a-leaping and the 11 faithful apostles. The 12 drummers drumming are the twelve points associated with the Apostle’s Creed.
