Christmas: 12 Days, Songs, Lists, and Singing Mice

Posted on December 27, 2025 by Brian H. Gill
Brian H. Gill's photo: mouse chorus made by CMG. (December 20, 2025)
Chorus of mice, part of this household’s Advent scene. (December 20, 2025)

This is a very ‘Catholic’ household. But everything we do isn’t uniquely ‘Catholic’, or something Catholics must always do.

Take those mice, for example. My wife made them from bits of felt and cloth some years back, and they’ve been part of our Advent/Christmas displays ever since.

But having a chorus of felt mice isn’t an essential part of being Catholic.

There’s 11 of them, one short of the 12 days of Christmas, but there’s no profound symbolism involved. Aside from maybe representing the festive songs of this season.

“The Twelve Days of Christmas”, Numbers, and Lists

Walt Kelly's Pogo: Miz Beaver at Miggle's gift exchange and return counter, on the 10th day of Christmas. (December 31, 1971?) see https://panologist.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/no-partridges-today/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogo_(comic_strip)
Miz Beaver on the 10th day of Christmas. Pogo comic strip.

“The Twelve Days of Christmas” is among this season’s better-known songs.

The version we sing has been around since 1909. The song existed in one form or another since at least the late 18th century.

A little clerical work shows there’s nothing odd about the lyrics. Literally. From the 12 partridges to the 12 drummers, there isn’t an odd number in the list:

  • Gifts in the “Twelve Days of Christmas”
    • 12 Partridges (1 x 12 = 12)
    • 22 Doves (2 x 11 = 22)
    • 30 Hens (3 x 10 = 30)
    • 36 Calling birds (4 x 9 = 36)
    • 40 Golden rings (5 x 8 = 40)
    • 42 Geese (6 x 7 = 42)
    • 42 Swans (7 x 6 = 42)
    • 40 Maids (8 x 5 = 40)
    • 36 Ladies (9 x 4 = 36)
    • 30 Lords (10 x 3 = 30)
    • 22 Pipers (11 x 2 = 22)
    • 12 Drummers (12 x 1 = 12)
  • 364 gifts total

Adding them all up, that’s 364 gifts.

That’s just one less than the number of days in a year! Well, just one and just-shy-of-a-quarter days.

All those numbers, along with a few coincidences, suggest that the song means something.

Maybe so.

But most folks have a knack for seeing patterns in pretty much anything. There’s a five-dollar word for that sort of thing — “the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things” — apophenia.

My guess is that “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, along with “Jingle Bells” and “White Christmas”, are songs we hear and sing during the Christmas season: but don’t have any particularly deep spiritual significance.1

That hasn’t kept folks from assigning meaning to the song’s birds and other gifts.

Drummers, Pipers, and Variable Birds

CMG Lee's visualisation of the number of gifts received each day in 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'. Block textures are from a poster by Xavier Romero-Frias. see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrahedral_number#Popular_culture

A few years ago, I ran into this rundown of what the gifts listed “The Twelve Days of Christmas” ‘really’ are:

  1. A partridge in a pear tree
    • Jesus
  2. Two turtle doves
    • The Old and New Testaments
  3. Three French hens
    • Faith, hope, and love
  4. Four calling birds
    • The four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
  5. Five golden rings
    • The first five books of the Old Testament, which describe man’s fall into sin and the great love of God in sending a Savior
  6. Six geese a-laying
    • The six days of creation
  7. Seven swans a-swimming
    • The sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit: Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy
  8. Eight maids a-milking
    • The eight beatitudes
  9. Nine ladies dancing
    • The nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience (Forbearance), Goodness (Kindness), Mildness, Fidelity, Modesty, Continency (Chastity)
  10. Ten lords a-leaping
    • The Ten Commandments
  11. Eleven pipers piping
    • The eleven faithful Apostles
  12. The twelve drummers drumming
    • The twelve points of belief in The Apostles’ Creed

The numbers line up.

But the song’s assorted versions have replaced the eight maids a milking with hares a running, ladies dancing, hounds a running, and boys a singing, so I’m not convinced.

As for the partridge: okay, maybe. But again, I’m not convinced. The bird, and how it relates to the tree, has varied:

  • Partridge in a pear-tree
  • Parteridge in a pear tree
  • Partridge upon a pear tree
  • Partridge and a pear tree
  • Partridge on a pear tree
  • Merry partridge on a pear tree
  • Very pretty peacock upon a pear tree

Then there’s the tree in the first gift. It’s variable, too:2

  • Part of a juniper tree
  • Some part of a juniper tree/and some part of a juniper tree
  • The sprig of a juniper tree
  • Goldie ring, and the part of a June apple tree

The Apostles’ Creed as a 12-Point List

'Deck Us All With Boston Charlie', a partial rendition of Walt Kelly's Christmas song, in his 'Pogo' comic strip. (1948 or thereabouts)

Don’t get me wrong. I think the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Beatitudes, and the Gospels matter. I certainly think Jesus matters: a lot.

Good grief, I’m a Christian. Of course I think Jesus matters.

But that doesn’t mean I think “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is a secret message.

I do, however, think it’s a nice song: one that I sing occasionally. And it’s a part of this season that I enjoy.

I also think making lists can make sense when it comes to remembering stuff, so I broke the Apostle’s Creed out into a 12-point list:

  • Apostles Creed (from Catechism of the Catholic Church, Credo)
    1. I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth
    2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord
    3. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary
    4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried
    5. He descended to the dead
    6. On the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty
    7. From there he will come again to judge the living and the dead
    8. I believe in the Holy Spirit
    9. The holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints
    10. The forgiveness of sins
    11. The resurrection of the body
    12. And the life everlasting
  • Amen

But I’m guessing that making the list won’t change how I repeat it in prayers and the like.

Christmases, Change, and Constants

Brian H. Gill's photo: the household's back yard. (December 20, 2025)
Saturday, December 20: looking hopeful for a white Christmas this year.

“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow….”
(“White Christmas” , Bing Crosby Lyrics, AZLyrics.com)

I live in central Minnesota, so I don’t have to dream of white Christmases most years.

Since I was born during the Truman administration, recent Christmases aren’t “just like the ones I used to know”. Change happens. I’ve seen a great deal of it. Some changes were long-overdue. Some haven’t gone the way I hoped.

But some things don’t change. Like human nature, which is still basically good. I’ve talked about that, and related ideas, before:

1 Seasonal songs, impalpable patterns, and a unit of time:

2 More than you need, or may want, to know about:

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Something Pleasant: Christmas Decorations From Minnesota

Posted on December 26, 2025 by Brian H. Gill

I ran across “So Minnesota: Department 56 is a Christmas tradition” on YouTube yesterday afternoon. I’ve seen these ceramic ‘Christmas village’ buildings and their many look-alikes, but hadn’t known their origin story.

“Department 56, a Christmas tradition found in homes around the world, started right here in Minnesota. Story: kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/so-minnesota-department-56-is-a-christmas-tradition“
(“So Minnesota: Department 56 is a Christmas tradition” , KSTP 5 Eyewitness News on YouTube (December 24, 2025))

The video runs just under five minutes. Enjoy.

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Christmas: Still Celebrating and Rejoicing

Posted on December 25, 2025 by Brian H. Gill

A bit over six and a half years ago, astronaut Nick Hague recorded a video on the International Space Station. Nothing special there, but this one shows 30 minutes of Earth’s clouds passing by in about 60 seconds.

Just shy of a century back, someone named Coffin took an old Latin song, translated it, and added a couple verses. Including this one:

“…O come, Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife and quarrels cease;
Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.”
(“O Come, O Come, Emanuel” , verse added by Henry Sloan Coffin in 1916)

A millennium plus a century before that, “O Come, O Come, Emanuel” — or, rather, “Veni, veni, Emmanuel” — got started as a song sung by monks during Advent.

Current events have changed a bit since 2019, 1916, and the eighth century. Human nature, not so much. That’s not a new or original idea.

“…Human nature will not change. In any future great national trial, compared with the men of this, we will have as weak and as strong, as silly and as wise, as bad and as good. Let us, therefore, study the incidents of this as philosophy to learn wisdom from, and none of them as wrongs to be revenged….”
(“On Democratic Government” ; Response to a Serenade, November 10, 1864; Abraham Lincoln (November 10, 1864) via Project Gutenberg) [emphasis mine]

What we’re celebrating today is — I’m putting this mildly — a very big deal.

Celebrating the Messiah and Lord’s Birth

James Tissot's 'The Angel and the Shepherds', 'L'ange et les bergers'. (between 1886 and 1894) From Brooklyn Museum, via Wikipedia, used w/o permission
“The Angel and the Shepherds”, James Tissot. (ca. 1886-1894)

“Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock.
The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear.
The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’
And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:

“‘Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’“
(Luke 2:8–14) [emphasis mine]

Two millennia have passed since then. The infant who was and is Messiah and Lord grew up, showing us who and what the Messiah and Lord is.

Then Jesus was tortured, executed, and buried. A few days later he stopped being dead. That made a profound impression on his surviving followers.

Before Jesus left, he told his followers to share the best news humanity’s ever had, with anyone who would listen. So that’s what we’ve been doing. Among other things.

He also said he’d be back, and that’s another topic.

I’ve talked about this, and related matters, before:

Walt Kelly's Pogo characters and 'Deck Us All With Boston Charlie.' (1961)
“Deck Us All With Boston Charlie” and Walt Kelly’s Pogo characters. (1961)
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Family Matters

Posted on December 20, 2025 by Brian H. Gill
ABC Television's photo: the fictional Cleaver family, from 1960s 'Leave it to Beaver', television series. Left, Hugh Beaumont (Ward); center left, Tony Dow (Wally); center right, Barbara Billingsley (June); right, Jerry Mathers (Theodore AKA 'Beaver'). (January 8, 1960)
The fictional Cleaver family, from “Leave it to Beaver”. (1960)

One way or another, families have been in the news this week.

That is not a good thing.

Families gathering on a beach planned on celebrating the first day of Hanukkah last Sunday. Then a father-son duo killed 15 of them and wounded dozens more. That father’s dead now, too.

News media covering the break in finals week routines at Brown University cycled through to discussions of the dead students’ family connections.

Rob Reiner and his wife abruptly stopped living last weekend. Police arrested Reiner’s youngest son, charging him with killing the couple.1

That left me feeling even less happy than usual about what’s in my news feed: which, together with a quote I saw in an Advent calendar, got me started thinking.

Life, Death, and Duties

Photo: Brian H. Gill, at his desk. (March 2021)
Me, at my desk, in 2021.

If you’re bracing yourself for a rant about how “All in the Family” and “The Princess Bride” destroyed the American family, or why we need tougher university control laws, relax.

I won’t do that, partly because it’s silly. Besides, there’s a superabundance of sound and fury getting flung around as it it is.

On the other hand, I’ve got a thought or two to share.

For one thing, I think that murder isn’t nice and we shouldn’t do it.

That’s my personal opinion, but there’s more to the idea than a single individual’s preferences.

Since I’m a Catholic, and take my faith seriously, I’ve got some counter-cultural ideas about life, death, and making sense:

  • Human life — all human life — is sacred, a gift from God
    (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2258)
  • Murder, intentionally killing an innocent person, is wrong
    (Catechism, 2268)
  • Suicide, intentionally killing oneself, is wrong
    (Catechism, 2280-2283)
  • It’s complicated
    (Catechism, 2258-2317)

For another, families — mom, dad, kids, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, cousins and all that — are important. Again, not just my personal opinion.

Families are the “original cell of social life”. Each family matters. But families aren’t all that matters. The top of my priority list is where God belongs. (Catechism, 2113, 2207)

There’s more I could say about families and what I believe. Basically, it’s complicated. (Catechism, 2199-2233)

I’ll settle for sharing an excerpt from something Pope Leo XIV said in June, along with some of my thoughts.

Good Ideas

Edgar Beltrán/The Pillar's photo: 'Pope Leo XIV on the loggia after his election' (May 8,2025)
Pope Leo XIV. (May 8,2025)

“…I encourage you, then, to be examples of integrity to your children, acting as you want them to act, educating them in freedom through obedience, always seeing the good in them and finding ways to nurture it. And you, dear children, show gratitude to your parents. To say ‘thank you’ each day for the gift of life and for all that comes with it is the first way to honour your father and your mother (cf. Ex 20:12). Finally, dear grandparents and elderly people, I recommend that you watch over your loved ones with wisdom and compassion, and with the humility and patience that come with age.

“In the family, faith is handed on together with life, generation after generation. It is shared like food at the family table and like the love in our hearts. In this way, families become privileged places in which to encounter Jesus, who loves us and desires our good, always….”
(Homily, Holy Mass for the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents and the Elderly, Pope Leo XIV (June 1, 2025)) [emphasis mine] [second paragraph quoted in USCCB’s Advent Calendar for 2025]

About saying ‘thank you’ every day, I’m pretty sure the pope didn’t mean using those exact words — or even using spoken, or written, language to get the idea across. How we act matters at least as much as what we say. Maybe more. Probably more.

I think an important point is that each of us have responsibilities in our families: children and parents. (Catechism, 2214-2233)

Those responsibilities didn’t stop when I became an adult, or when our children became adults. We’ve still got responsibilities. One of them is not trying to tell my kids how to run their lives. (Catechism, 2232-2233)

For me and my wife, we’ve been blessed with ‘good kids’.

I suspect it helped that we know what we believe, why we believe it, and at least try acting as if what we believe matters.

The kids not making really daft decisions is certainly a factor, too. We’ve all got free will, and that’s another topic.

Not expecting or demanding that this be a ‘perfect family’ — that arguably helped, too.

I’ve talked about, or at least mentioned, this sort of thing before:

1 In the week’s news:

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A New Archbishop: Cooperation and Making Sense

Posted on December 18, 2025 by Brian H. Gill

We got a new pope this year, Leo XIV.

Now we’ve got a new archbishop for the Archdiocese of New York.

Already I’m seeing the all-too-predictable headlines.

I also noticed this excerpt from a transcript of a five-minute interview, complete with an embedded audio recording of the interview:

“New Archbishop of New York: Church must bring God’s peace, healing to world”
Devin Watkins, Vatican News (December 18, 2025)

“… ‘I grew up in the suburb right next door to Pope Leo, about 14 blocks away from each other. And like Pope Leo, I’m looking for a Church that brings God’s light to the world, His peace, His healing, His love.

“‘I’m also looking forward to ways of doing so, not in a divisive way or tearing people apart, but looking for ways of unity and finding ways to cooperate with each other.

“‘And you brought up Pope Leo: I just want to publicly say I want to cooperate with him. I want to respect his priorities and work with him to help bring those to reality, to light.

“I’m just very grateful to Pope Leo, and I want to say it’s been my joy and honor serving both Chicago and Joliet. And I’m ready, with the help of God, to make this next step into New York.'”

Sound quality isn’t the best, but it’s clear enough.

I’m sharing this because I think there’s some value in reading or hearing what someone says; not just what some expert says he said, or what he really meant when he said it.

The interviewer brought up a hot-button topic, so I’m pretty sure that some folks will be offended by what Archbishop Hicks said. Or what he didn’t say. Or how he said what he did say. Or why the pope shouldn’t have appointed someone whose name is Hicks.

I’m not going to do any of that.

I’m not going to talk about popes, being Catholic, or living in a world where some folks speak languages other than English.

Partly because I’ve already talked about this sort of thing, recently:

CNS photo/Vatican Media: Pope Francis giving his blessing to participants in an international conference on the ongoing formation of priests in the Paul VI Audience Hall, Vatican City. (February 8, 2024)
Pope Francis and international conference participants in Paul VI Audience Hall, Vatican City. (2024)
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