Bless tis Day

 

This day is full of beauty and adventure,
help me Lord to be fully alive to it all.
During this day,

may I become a more thoughtful person,
a more prayerful person,

a more generous

and kindly person.
Help me not to be turned in on myself

but to be sensitive

and helpful to others.
Let me do nothing today

that will hurt anyone,
but let me help at least a little,
to make life more pleasant

for those I meet.

When night comes,

may I look back

on this day without regrets;
and may nobody be unhappy

because of anything
I have said

or done

or failed to do.

Lord God,

bless this day for me

and all of us.
Make it a day

in which we grow

a little more like your Son,
and gentle as Mary His Mother.

 

AMEN.

Twelve days of Christmas

In 336 A.D., the Western Church based in Rome, chose 25 December to celebrate birth of Jesus as Christmas, which means "Christ's Mass." and the Eastern Church chose 6 January as Epiphany which means "appearance.", the arrival of the Magi (Wise Men) and the revelation of Christ as the light of the world. The period form 25 December to 6 January became known as the Twelve Days of Christmas.

 

 

 

The true meaning "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song

The song lyrics sounds silly but it actually originated in religious symbolism and for a serious purpose during a time of religious persecution. It was written as a kind of secret catechism that could sing in public without fear of arrest and this served as a learning or memory aid to Christians. The hidden meaning known only to the Christians where each element is a code word for a religious truth.
 

1. The partridge in a pear tree = Jesus.
 2. The two turtledoves = Old and New Testaments.
 3. Three French hens =  Faith, Hope and Love.
 4. The four calling birds = four Gospels.
 5. The five gold rings = Hebrew Torah (Law), or the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament.
 6. The six geese a-laying = the six days of creation.
 7. The seven swans a-swimming = seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.
 8. The eight maids a-milking = eight Beatitudes.
 9. Nine ladies dancing = nine fruits of the Holy Spirit.
 10. The ten lords a-leaping = Ten Commandments.
 11. Eleven pipers piping = eleven faithful Apostles.
 12. Twelve drummers drumming = twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles Creed.

The "true love" in the song = God Himself.
The "me" receiving the gifts =  every Christian.

So this "silly" song we sing during Christmas time has more meaning than we thought.

 

If we remember, Luke 13:34 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.", then Jesus being symbolized as a partridge in a pear tree does not sounds so blasphemous, after all.