Day 3
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . .
Three French hens.
French fries. French horns. French hens. Today, we have three of them.
Remember, each verse of the song can help us recall an aspect of our faith. We have a lot of options today as the number three is pretty popular in Church-talk; the number seven is, too, but we’ve got four days until we get to seven.
You’re on break from school, but let’s have a quick multiple choice quiz. What do the three French Hens represent?
a. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—our forefathers
b. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who braved the fiery furnace
c. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—the Trinity
d. Ben, Matthew, and Robert—my three younger brothers
e. Faith, Hope, and Love—the Theological Virtues
f. Faith, Hope, and Trinity—a friend’s three daughters
g. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh—the gifts the magi brought to the Christ-child
Answer Key:
This was somewhat of a trick question because c, e, and g are all correct. As people matched up this line of the song with our Catholic faith, all three of these answers arose. The magi presented those three gifts to Jesus (partridge), who is second person of the Trinity, who freely gives us the virtues of faith, hope and love.
