Three French Hens?

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with singer and musician Ruth Jennings.

Good Morning. Today is officially the 3rd day of Christmas and according to the popular carol, (the 12 days of Christmas) our gift today would be three French hens.

I always wondered as a child who would want all these birds flapping about in their house for Christmas, but of course, they are more symbolic than realistic. There are various suggestions of what the 3 hens might mean. One interpretation is the hens represent the gifts given to Jesus by the Magi - gold to display his kingship, frankincense symbolised his divinity and myrrh foreshadowed his death.

A different translation of The 12 Days of Christmas dating back to 1864 instead described the French hens as ‘fat hens’ as they were considered to be an excellent start to a period of feasting! But assuming you, like me, have eaten enough turkey and ham to last you at least to the end of 2025, you might prefer the most common interpretation of the 3 hens - that they represent the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and love.

For so many of us Christmas is hectic and exhausting. After buying all the gifts, mastering the mince pie recipe, perfecting the Christmas tree art and cooking a lot of Brussels sprouts it’s hard to want to share faith, hope and love with others. We often squeeze in catching up with every family member when really the desire to be back relaxing in our own homes is very strong! But, maybe this Christmas we could adjust our priorities.

Gracious Lord, With sincere faith we thank you for the blessing of Jesus being born to this world.
Help us share our hope in the confidence of reuniting one day with the Risen Christ.
And finally help us share love, with patience, kindness and humility to all around us.
Amen