Ninth Day of Christmas -

 And on the Ninth Day of Christmas, per the song, the gift is nine ladies dancing.

Tradition has at least a couple meanings here. First example, it has to do with the nine fruits of the Holy Ghost. The fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Collins, 2021).

A second tradition is the nine ladies dancing represents the nine choirs of angels (CatholicsKnowTheAnswer, n.d.):

I tried to give full credit to this image, but it appears that page on Facebook, while you can still get to the images for now (Catholics Know the Answer, n.d.) the page itself is not accessible. 

Saints of the Day - January 2nd

The Saints for today are Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzus, Bishops and Doctors of the Church (Vatican News, 2017). These two were lifelong friends in the early 4th century and fought against the Arian Heresy.

References

Catholics Know The Answer, (n.d.). On the Ninth Day of Christmas. http://36qy.2.vu/1 

Collins, A. (2021). The surprising meaning behind "The 12 Days of Christmas" lyrics. Crosswalk. https://www.crosswalk.com/special-coverage/christmas-and-advent/the-twelve-days-of-christmas.html

Vatican News, (2017). Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzus, Bishops and Doctors of the Church. Vatican News. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/saints/01/02/sts--basil-the-great-and--gregory-nazianzus--bishops-and-doctors.html 

Choirs of Angels

Did you know there are nine (9) Choirs of Angels in Heaven?

So, what are the names of these choirs, and is there a scriptural reference?

The Seraphim: Isaiah 6:2; Hebrews 12:22.

The Cherubim: Genesis 3:24; Hebrews 12:22

The Thrones: Colossians 1:16

The Dominations or Dominions: Colossians 1:16

The Virtues: Ephesians 1:21

The Powers: Ephesians 1:21 and Colossians 1:16

The Principalities: Colossians 1:16-17

The Archangels: Tobit 12:15; John 5:4; Revelation 12:7-9

The Angels: (Including Guardian or Personal Angels): Daniel 3:28, Daniel 6:22; Matthew 18:10

Additional Reading (and credit for sources):

The Nine Choirs of Angels: https://whoislikegodblog.wordpress.com/2016/09/23/the-nine-choirs-of-angels/ 

The Nine Choir Hierarchy of the Angels in Scripture and Tradition: https://taylormarshall.com/2014/10/nine-choir-hierarchy-angels-scripture-tradition.html 

What are the categories of Angels (archangels, thrones, dominions, seraphim)? https://catholicstraightanswers.com/categories-angels-archangels-thrones-dominions-seraphim/ 

Explanation and Hierarchy of the 9 Choirs of Angels: https://soulpainter.com/2015/09/explanation-and-hierarchy-of-the-9-choirs-of-angels-infographic/ (source of the image below):