Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  Yes, we are in the Octave of Christmas in which each of the eight days from December 25 to January 1 are celebrated as Christmas Day: Gloria, 1^st Eucharistic Prayer with additions for Christmas Day are all part of each Mass of each day of the octave.  The Christmas season extends beyond to the 12th day of Christmas (yes! there really are TWELVE days of Christmas – and a partridge in a pear tree!).  At that point, the thirteenth day, we celebrate the Feast of Epiphany – the feast of the three kings.  Until 1970 this began another octave which ended with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (one of the three principal epiphanies).  Now, Epiphany is celebrated on Sunday rather than on 6^th and with Christmas falling on a Sunday the Baptism of the Lord will be celebrated on the Monday after Epiphany this year.  A pity, really; while Advent was a full four weeks this year, our celebration of the Christmas season, liturgically, will be a bit truncated.  However, our “creche” will stay up, as tradition dictates, until February 2^nd – the Feast of the Presentation.

So, today is the octave day of Christmas – the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God, formerly known as the Feast of the Circumcision.  The difference is really a matter of focus.  In the prayers of both the 1962 and 1970 missals all of the elements for both are present along with the same Gospel describing the circumcision of our Lord on the eighth day in accord with the Law of Moses.

This feast is also the reason why the month of January is dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus.  It is on the eighth day, the day of the circumcision, that a child received his name as did our Lord when Joseph, his legal father, gave him the name “Jesus” as instructed by the angel at his “annunciation”. 

As I said last week, there are a lot of details which help fill out the puzzle of our Lord’s incarnation.  Knowing them we become more appreciative of how these fill out the whole picture and make it shine forth with ever more vibrance.

Merry Christmas!