What exactly are the “Twelve Days of Christmas?
The Twelve Days of Christmas are the twelve days between Christmas Day, December 25, and Epiphany, January 6. These twelve days were memorialized in a popular song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” written by a gentleman named Drennon. During the period 1558 to 1829, it was a crime to be a Catholic in England. Catholics were prohibited from any practice of their faith by law – private or public. Anyone caught with things that associated him with Catholicism, such as religious writings, would be severely punished. Devotion to the Catholic faith could get you imprisoned, hanged, or beheaded. Drennon wrote the “Twelve Days of Christmas” as one of the “catechism songs” to teach young Catholics the tenets of their faith in song, instead of in written form. It was a great memory tool that aided them in the learning of their faith while still hiding the fact that they were still practicing Catholicism. Drennon helped to prevent these young Catholics from being punished for reading religious bo
