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The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
28 December 2008
Praised be Jesus Christ! Now and forever!
Dear Friends in Christ,
Next to the yearly celebration of the Paschal Mystery during the Paschal Triduum and Eastertide, the Church holds most sacred the memorial of Christ’s birth and early manifestations. The English word Christmas, which can be traced to at least the year 1123, comes from the old Catholic phrase “Christ’s Mass” (in Old English Cristes maesse). The liturgical season of Christmas, or Christmastide, now runs from the Solemnity of the Birth of Christ to the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, this year celebrated on Sunday January 13th. At the beginning of that season is the Octave of Christmas – the celebration of Our Savior’s birth extended over eight days into one great liturgical “day”, and on the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas is today’s Feast of the Holy Family. The other great liturgical feasts of Christmastide are the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God and the Solemnity of the Epiphany of Our Lord. The famous Twelve Days of Christmas run between December 25th and January 6th, the traditional date of the Epiphany.
We do not know, of course, the actual date of Christ’s birth, but pious speculation in the early centuries of Christianity placed His birth in the Spring. Beginning in the fourth century, however, the Church in Rome began to observe December 25th as the annual remembrance of Christ’s birth in order to discourage the observance of the old pagan winter festival of the Unconquered Sun, and by the sixth century December 25th was the accepted date for the whole Western Church. In the Christian East, though, the celebration of Christ’s birth became connected in many places to the Epiphany, and so many Orthodox Churches observe Christmas on January 6th.
Although the exact date of the birth of Jesus is unknown, we do know that St. Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist six months before the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth to Our Lord. And so the Church celebrates the Birth of John the Baptist on June 24th, six months before Christmas. St. Augustine pointed out that this allows the celebration of the births of the Messiah and His forerunner to coincide with the summer and winter solstices. As the days grow shorter after the June solstice, we celebrate the birth of him who cried out “He must increase, and I must decrease!”, and as the days grow longer after the December solstice, the Church rejoices in the coming among us of Him who is the Light of the world. Merry Christmas!
Father Newman
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.