FALSE INFORMATION - Claim that the "12 Days of Christmas Carol" has Catholic or Biblical Symbolism - also- the claim that it was introduced in the 1500s into England as a 'hidden Catholic Catechism' of the penal times in Protestant England.
Around the holidays we see cute little memes circulating about the purported Biblical or Catholic symbolism of the "12 Days of Christmas" which supposedly "explains" what each of the 12 gifts of the song represent.
This symbolism is fake - in England the song was originally part of a children's party game.
These Biblical symbols were MADE UP IN 1979 by a Canadian hymnologist Hugh D. McKellar.
The biblical meaning of the symbols was FIRST PUBLISHED in a piece entitled "How to Decode the Twelve Days of Christmas", by McKellar, who made up the meaning of the symbols and then declared they represented the Catholic Faith and therefore this was a 'hidden catachism' song sung during the Protestant Reformation. He offered no evidence for his claim.
Later in 1994 McKellar finally admitted that the dogmatic associations were his own interpretations that the symbols suggested to him, for 'evocative symbols do not allow for any definitive explanation':
In any case, really evocative symbols do not allow of [sic] definitive explication, exhausting all possibilities. I can at most report what this song's symbols have suggested to me in the course of four decades, hoping thereby to start you on your own quest.(Hugh D.McKellar, "The Twelve Days of Christmas", The Hymn Vol. 45, No.4, October 1994)
Here are some facts: the song first orginated in FRANCE not England. It appears to be a joyful secular song about the 12 days of Christmas. And, it was first published in England in 1780, not the 1500s. When it was published in England, it first appeared in a children's song book as a memory forfeits party game, which is why the lyrics keep repeating. Therefore, it is not a hidden Catholic catechism.
If you’ve noticed, the supposed symbols of the 12 gifts are not just Catholic articles of faith, but also tenants believed by Protestants. There is no reason to hide the meaning of the song as believers from either faith could sing it, even during the persecution times.
However, people still fall for his symbolism and continue to spread the recently made-up meanings of the song, and also the claim the Christmas gifts in the carol are a 'hidden catechism' when Catholics had to hide their religion from Protestants - EVEN CATHOLIC SITES ARE PUTTING THIS MISINFORMATION OUT AS TRUE, such as 'Catholic Tradition' and 'Catholic News Agency', based on several different Catholic authors and sources who also believed McKellar's made up symbolism. They didn't do their homework and trusted what was put out there- not knowing these biblical symbols were made up / suggested in 1979 by McKellar.
I know this is not a a Great Catholic Monarch prophecy, etc, and this subject may seem silly, but this is a prime example of how gullible Catholics are becoming with regards to things they find on the Internet and why we have to be very careful and research where such information comes from.
If we allow ourselves to become so gullible and believe everything we read without fact-checking it first for things as simple as this, then it is no wonder so many are being deceived by false visionaries and fake prophecies.
