Celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas (and Beyond)

Star of Bethlehem by Bruno Piglhein

 Merry Christmas!  Since I started blogging seven years ago I've honored the 12 Days of Christmas with a meditation (along some beautiful works of art and Christmas songs) for every one of the 12 Days of Christmas. I usually have a few things to say about the later part of the Christmas Season as well (after all, Christmas lasts for more than 12 Days). This year all the posts (up through today's) are HERE, at my blog Nisi Dominus.  Please join me in celebrating the miracle of the Nativity of Christ through the whole Christmas Season.

Andrea Bocelli, David Foster - "Cantique De Noel"

4th Day of Christmas: Holy Innocents and Babies Saved by Christmas Carols

  Today, the 4th Day of Christmas, is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, which commemorates the slaughter of all male children in Bethlehem under two years old by King Herod's soldiers.  Herod had learned from the Magi that the Messiah had been born in Bethlehem, and feared that this Messiah would depose him.  As it happened, the Messiah (Jesus) escaped, and Herod went to his eternal reward (whatever that may have been) while Jesus was still an infant. You can read my post on the Holy Innocents (and Holy Innocence) HERE at Nisi Dominus.

Massacre of the Holy Innocents, Ludovico Mazzolino

    My post on the other site explores the ramifications of this terrible event in more detail, including its reflection in the modern day abortion industry and our pornified culture. Here I would like to focus briefly on the connection of the Holy Innocents to an article on Lifesitenews.com [Dec. 23rd, 2016], “Pro-life Christmas carolers save six babies in Orlando, more in other areas by touching hearts with their singing”.  The article details some amazing rescues, not only in Florida, but across the country:

Pro-Life Action League Executive Director Eric Scheidler described for LifeSiteNews how three different couples turned around and walked away from abortion this year as carolers sang outside Family Planning Associates abortion center in San Bernardino, California.

A compelling feature of the story is that the Christmas Carols themselves seem to have been the decisive factor in changing the minds of people who had come to the clinics intent on aborting a child:

. . . At least one couple was greatly moved by the hymns.

“What impressed me about this report is they actually stopped to tell the caroler group that they changed their mind,” Scheidler stated.

“The couple told them, ‘It was because of your caroling that we decided to keep our baby,’” he said. “The singing was the only thing that happened to change their mind.”

A group in Illinois reports similar results:

"We're having a baby! We changed our minds," a woman called out joyfully to Northwest Families for Life group caroling Tuesday, December 20, in conjunction with Pro-Life Action League’s “Peace in the Womb” Caroling Days in Wood Dale, Ill.

When they met the couple at the car, the group’s co-founder, Maria Goldstein, told LifeSiteNews, the man said to them with a big smile on his face, "Thank you. You're doing a great job!"  

“What exactly was the "great job" we did?” Goldstein said. “We didn't counsel them on the way in; we didn't talk them out of the abortion; we weren't able to show them pictures of developing babies.”  

“All we did was show up, pray, and sing,” she continued. “Maybe they heard our carols inside and felt God tug at their hearts. I guess that really is a "great job!" We got to bring the power of God to this dark place. God is good.”

    God is indeed good.  These stories of the babies saved by carolers cast an interesting light on both the Nativity of Jesus and today’s Feast of the Holy Innocents.  The Incarnation and Nativity came about because, while our efforts are necessary  - “faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (James 2:17) - they are not sufficient.  In the end, we can’t save ourselves, or anyone else, all by ourselves: only the power of God can do that.  In the Life Site story, the Holy Spirit working through sacred Christmas songs changed hearts that were not moved by human arguments.

    The fate of the children killed by Herod’s soldiers in Bethlehem likewise illustrates this point.  Nobody was able to save them from unjust slaughter, they were too young to have any intellectual knowledge of God, and, since Jesus himself was still a baby, baptism was not available to them.  And yet the Church assures us that these little ones did not die in vain, and that they enjoy the reward of Heaven (you can read a short, concise explanation here). They were beyond the help of human agency, but “with God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).  If we do our part, God will do the rest.

    An interesting aside: at one time, the story of these poor murdered children itself inspired a large number of songs.  The best known today (the only one, to my knowledge, that is still regularly performed) is The "Coventry Carol" (lyrics below), dating from the 16th century.  The spare, hauntingly beautiful rendition in the clip below is performed by Valeria Mignaco and Alfonso Marin.

1. Lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
Lullay, Thou little tiny Child.
By, by, lully, lullay.

2. O sisters, too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day;
This poor Youngling for whom we sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.

3. Herod the King, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day;
His men of might, in his own sight,
All children young, to slay.

4. Then woe is me, poor Child, for Thee,
And ever mourn and say;
For Thy parting, nor say nor sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.
Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child,
By by, lully lullay.

12th Day of Christmas - Adeste Fideles (Pavarotti)

Nativity scene in snowstorm at Principium et Finis World HQ

Merry Christmas! Today is the Twelfth Day of Christmas, and so the last of my Twelve Days of Christmas posts.  This year the Twelfth Day falls between the official celebration of Epiphany (for most Catholics, at least) and the traditional date of the Feast (which is still observed by some Catholics and many other Christians).  Adeste Fideles ("O Come All Ye Faithful") is an appropriate song for Epiphany, and a fine way to wrap up this series.  On Christmas Day I passed over the full-blown operatic performances in choosing music for this blog, and I was pleased with the result. But today we're pulling out all the stops and ending with a flourish, with a little help from old friend Luciano Pavarotti.  O come, let us adore Him!

11th Day of Christmas - The First Noel & Don't Touch That Tree

Merry Christmas!  Today is the 11th Day of Christmas. And although tomorrow is the last of the Twelve Days of Christmas, the formal Christmas Season continues for another week, until the Baptist of the Lord next Sunday. So keep the Christmas candles burning, and don't do anything to that tree just yet!

"The Christmas Tree" by Albert Chevellier Tayler

To help keep the Christmas Spirit lively, I'm posting a clip of little Jackie Evancho singing "The First Noel".  She was only 10 years old when the video was made; she is now an older and wiser 15.  May you continue to have a blessed Christmas and, of course, a very happy new year.






(please also see HERE for how the personal suffering of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow led to the moving song, "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day")

Epiphany (on the 10th Day of Christmas)

Merry Christmas!

     Yes, it is still Christmas: today is the 10^th of the 12 Days of Christmas (which are, themselves, not the entire Christmas season: see HERE).  It is also, in much of the world, the day of the liturgical celebration of the great Feast of Epiphany, the traditional date of which is January 6^th.  In the Western Church today this feast commemorates the visit of the Magi, whom scripture neither crowns nor numbers, but describes simply as “wise men from the East”. The word Epiphany means “a manifestation” or “a revealing”, in this context the name of the Feast refers to the fact the gifts and adoration of the Magi make manifest that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God.  This ancient feast (older than Christmas) has at times also been connected  to the Nativity, the Baptism of Jesus and other manifestations of his Divinity.

     It is interesting how many epiphanies of “God With Us” that we are given : the examples above barely scratch the surface. And still it’s so hard for us to see (a theme of my post for the 10^th day as well).  Even Mary and Joseph, after visits from Angels and what they knew full well was a Virgin Birth, “marveled at what was said about him (Luke 2:33)”  when they hear the old man Simeon prophesy over Jesus when he is presented in the Temple. A full dozen years later, they still seem to have a hard time taking it all in:

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously." And he said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them.  (Luke 2:46-50)

It’s just so hard for us to see beyond our narrow horizons, even the human parents of The Lord – and who could hope to have faith equal to theirs?  But here, as always, the Blessed Mother is the model disciple: “his mother”, the Evangelist tells us, “kept all these things in her heart” (Luke 2:51).  She doesn’t let her initial human reactions have the last word, and one might even say that she demonstrates the classic definition of theology: faith seeking understanding.


(Click HERE to see today's post at Nisi Dominus, "10th Day of Christmas: A God Of Surprises")

7th Day of Christmas - What is the Christmas Season, and Why Does It Matter?

 Happy 7th Day of Christmas!

Antique Angel tree-topper at Principium et Finis World Headquarters

  
   What with all this talk about The Twelve Days of Christmas, one might get the impression that Christmas ends after Epiphany (traditional date January 6^th, the thirteenth day after Christmas Day itself).  In fact, the Church's official Christmas Season extends until the Baptism of The Lord, which is the Sunday after Epiphany, and in some places (specifically, Eastern Europe), the informal celebration continues until the Feast of the Presentation on February 2^nd.  During his pontificate, Pope St. John Paul II celebrated Christmas until the Presentation, and Pope Benedict XVI did the same; I haven't heard whether Pope Francis has followed suit (we do so in our home, in keeping with my Lovely Bride's Polish heritage . . . or, at least, that's our excuse).

     The entire Christmas Season, then, is like a series of ripples of decreasing intensity emanating from the Feast of the Nativity itself on December 25th.  Christmas Day is the first day in the Octave of Christmas, a period of eight days, all solemnities (a solemnity is a liturgical feast of the highest rank), culminating in The Solemnity of Mary Mother of God on January 1st; January 2-5 fill out the rest of the Twelve Days, but are not official feast days; the days between Epiphany (traditionally January 6^th, now officially the 2^nd Sunday after the Nativity) and the Baptism of Our Lord on the following Sunday are included in the Christmas Season, but are observed in a much more low-key way.  Those of us who just aren't ready to let go of Christmas can privately follow the Eastern European tradition and continue until February 2^nd, but the Liturgical Calendar has already moved on.

     There are some people who don't see the point of all this complexity: why not just celebrate Christmas and be done with it?  But the Liturgical Calendar is not just about commemorating past events: it's about experiencing the events of Salvation History in our own lives.  Big events require a period of preparation, such as Advent (and any of us who have lived in a household expecting a baby know how busy the preparations become in those last few weeks); likewise, the excitement and celebration gradually recede after the event, as life slowly returns to a routine.  We can’t just switch it on and off in a day or two.

     Today, the seventh day of the Octave of Christmas, we're still in celebration mode: the Christmas candles are burning, the tree is still blazing with lights (you can see a picture of the  Principium et Finis World Headquarters Official Christmas Tree here), and the joyful sounds of Christmas Carols still fill the air.  Speaking of which, here are Hayley Westenra and Aled Jones singing Silent Night:

Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival (Baptism of Our Lord 2015)

The Baptism of Christ by Tintoretto

     Happy Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord!  Welcome to Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival: this is a weekly convocation of a varied mix of  Catholic bloggers who share their posts from the past week.  The main gathering (the “mother ship”, as it were) is here, at This That and the Other Thing, under the auspices of our fearless leader RAnn.

     Today is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and so on the last day of the Christmas Season we celebrate the first event in the Public ministry of Jesus.  All four Gospels tell of John’s baptism of Jesus, but all present a slightly different view.  Mark’s description (which we hear in today’s Mass) is the sparest description; in Luke, the Baptist describes Jesus as the judge at the end of time, separating the wheat from the chaff; John’s Gospel recounts John the Baptist hailing Jesus as the Lamb of God.  They all tell of John’s recognition of himself as a merely the forerunner to Jesus, to whom he is inferior, but only Matthew records his reluctance to baptize the Lord:

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.  John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”  But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. (Matthew 3:13-15)

John knows that Jesus, being sinless, requires no Baptism, but Jesus seeks it out in order to show his commitment to being one of us.  In this account we see Jesus acting out what St. Paul tells the Phillipians:

. . . though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (Phillipians 2:6-7)

In all the Gospels, we see the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus and the voice of the Father proclaim him to be the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased.  And so Christ’s Public Ministry begins with an image of all three Persons of the Trinity working together, and an image of Grace in action.  This scene sums up the meaning of the Nativity we have just celebrated, and tells us something about the agenda for the ministry that is begun.  And in Matthew’s Gospel, we are reminded that it is all Grace, a word for which the Latin root gratia means not just favor, but favor freely bestowed (hence related English words “gratuity” and “gratis”); Grace is completely, absolutely, free. God needs nothing, nothing is necessary for Him: He does it all for us, He gives us a share in His own life, as a completely unnecessary gift.  Because He loves us.

     Well, then, what about the past week at Principium et Finis?  Here’s what we have been up to:

Monday – We close out the Twelve Days of Christmas with one of the great Christmas songs, song by a truly great singer: “12^th Day of Christmas – Adeste Fideles (Luciano Pavarotti)" [here] 

Tuesday – on the Feast of Epiphany we see the Magi and little reminder (in Psalm 117) that the New Testament, as St. Augustine tells us, is concealed in the Old: “Praise the LORD, all nations!”   [here]

Wednesday – Are we pro-lifers really just religious fanatics imposing our views on everyone else? “Abortion Myth #15” [here]

Thursday – A few thoughts on the problem of spiritual apathy, sparked by an unexpected book:  “Evangelizing the Lukewarm?” [here]

Saturday – In which I make a plea for thinking good and hard before throwing out the experience of the last fifteen or so centuries:  [here]

. . . and A SONG for today's Feast:

12th Day of Christmas - Adeste, Fideles (Luciano Pavarotti)

Nativity scene in snowstorm at Principium et Finis World HQ

Merry Christmas! Today is the Twelfth Day of Christmas, and so the last of my Twelve Days of Christmas posts.  This year the Twelfth Day falls  on the day between the official celebration of Epiphany (for most Catholics, at least) and the traditional date of the Feast (which is still observed by some Catholics and many other Christians).  Adeste Fideles ("O Come All Ye Faithful") is an appropriate song for Epiphany, and a fine way to wrap up this series.  On Christmas Day I passed over the full-blown operatic performances in choosing a performance of "O Holy Night", and I was pleased with the result. But today we're pulling out all the stops and ending with a flourish, with a little help from old friend Luciano Pavarotti.  O come, let us adore Him!

Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival (Epiphany & The 11th Day Of Christmas)

Merry Christmas!  And welcome to Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival.  What is Sunday Snippets? Well, imagine a New Year’s party with everyone taking turns swapping reminiscences of the past year,  only since we do it every Sunday (and we’re bloggers) we’re sharing our blog posts for the past week.  AND, since we’re Catholic  bloggers, we’ve got a big Christmas tree with carols playing in the background (because we know that the Christmas Season doesn’t begin until nightfall on December 24^th and doesn't end until the third Sunday after the Feast of the Nativity).  The main gathering is here, at This That and the Other Thing, home of our hostess RAnn.

     Speaking of Christmas, today is the 11^th of the 12 Days of Christmas.  It is also, in much of the world, the day of the liturgical celebration of the great Feast of Epiphany, the traditional date of which is January 6^th.  In the Western Church today this feast commemorates the visit of the Magi, whom scripture neither crowns nor numbers, but describes simply as “wise men from the East”. The word Epiphany means “a manifestation” or “a revealing”, in this context the name of the Feast refers to the fact the gifts and adoration of the Magi make manifest that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God.  This ancient feast (older than Christmas) has at times also been connected  to the Nativity, the Baptism of Jesus and other manifestations of his Divinity.

     It is interesting how many epiphanies of “God With Us” that we are given : the examples above barely scratch the surface. And still it’s so hard for us to see (a theme of my post for the 10^th day as well).  Even Mary and Joseph, after visits from Angels and what they knew full well was a Virgin Birth “marveled at what was said about him (Luke 2:33)”  when they hear the old man Simeon prophesy over Jesus when he is presented in the Temple. A full dozen years later, they still seem to have a hard time taking it all in:

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously." And he said to them, "How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them.  (Luke 2:46-50)

It’s just so hard for us to see beyond our narrow horizons, even for the human parents of The Lord – and who could hope to have faith equal to theirs?  But here, as always, the Blessed Mother is the model disciple: “his mother”, the Evangelist tells us, “kept all these things in her heart” (Luke 2:51).  She doesn’t let her initial human reactions have the last word, and one might even say that she demonstrates the classic definition of theology: faith seeking understanding.

And now on to the snippets, as we continued our observance of the Twelve Days of Christmas:

Monday – A cheery little Christmas send-off  to the work week during the Octave of Christmas: “The 5^th Day of Christmas – Angels We Have Heard On High” [here] 

Tuesday – There’s a good theological reason for all those Christmas lights, there really is: “The 6^th Day of Christmas – God is Light” [here]   

Wednesday – The title says it all; added bonus, an awesome picture of the angel on top of my Christmas tree : “ 7^th Day of Christmas – What is the Christmas Season, why does it matter?” [here]  

Thursday – Another “why does it matter” post, in this case the Motherhood of Mary: “The 8^th Day of Christmas – The Solemnity Of Mary, Mother Of God” [here]   

Friday – Yes, this is another of those “best of” year-end posts, but I don’t have five favorites from 2014; I don’t have ten; I have links to thirteen, that’s right, THIRTEEN favorite posts.  Top that!  Oh, also a rousing version of a well-known Christmas song, with music by Felix Mendelssohn:  “The 9^th day of Christmas – Hark the Herald Angels & Favorites from 2014” [here] 

Saturday – Why is it so hard for us to catch on?  “The 10^th Day of Christmas – A God Of Surprises” [here]  

The 9th Day of Christmas - Hark the Herald Angels Sing & Favorites From 2014

Merry Christmas!  Today is the 9^th day of Christmas, and the Memorial of two Doctors of the Church, St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen.  It is also the first day of the Christmas Season that is not a Solemnity, but don’t let that get you down; I’ve included a rousing version of “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” below.  After that, for those who are interested, are my “Baker’s Dozen” of favorite posts from 2014.  Oh, and have a Happy New Year!

As a farewell to my first year of bloggery, here are a selection of thirteen posts from 2014, a “Baker’s Dozen”, if you will, of pieces that I thought might be of interest:

“Where have all the fathers gone . . ."   [here] My first foray into a favorite theme: the vital importance of fathers, and the baleful effects of the decline of fatherhood.

“In Mother Jones, Of All Places” Some interesting conclusions about the causes of poverty from an unexpected source.  [here]

“Fr. Ratzinger’s Prediction Of A “Smaller, Purer Church”  Theology professor Joseph Ratzinger saw the Signs of the Times way back in 1969.  [here]

“Traditional Marriage: The Liberty Argument”  In which, in response to the short-sighted (to me, anyway) arguments of some libertarians,  I make the case that government redefinition of marriage does not promote liberty, but is rather a step toward totalitarianism. [here]

“Dressing For The Wedding Feast Of The Lamb” Why it is important to put on our Sunday Best. This seems to be a Hot Topic, based on the response this post received last summer.  [here]

“Love And Marriage”  [here] I had actually forgotten about this piece until I started compiling this list; it’s fairly succinct (for me) discussion of the societal benefits of marriage, and why the Church’s teaching is motivated by Love.

“St. Bridget of Sweden, Patroness Of Successful Failures”   [here] I write about the Saints fairly often, sometimes the heavy hitters, sometimes more obscure Heroes of the Faith.  St. Bridget of Sweden is certainly not obscure, but not particularly well-known today, either.  As is often the way with Saints, her story has some surprises for us.

“Why would you want Satan as a mascot?” [here] I’ve never looked at those cute little cartoon devils the same way after a random comment by a high school student more than twenty years ago. 

“Peace, Baby!”  [here] Why is it that the Sign of Peace causes so much discord?

“It Is A Fearful Thing When Man Sets His Will Against The Will Of God” [here] The arguments of Bishop Clemens August Von Galen against the Nazi euthanasia program are worth rereading, in light of what is happening today.

“St. Therese of Lisieux, Spiritual Warrior” [here] Another Saints posting, in which I compare St. Therese to Soldier-turned-Saint Ignatius of Loyola; includes cool picture of The Little Flower dressed as St. Joan of Arc.

 “Our Pre-Cana Adventure”[here] This is the revision of one of my earliest pieces, about what happens when a Catholic couple tries to discuss Catholic teaching on marriage in a Catholic parish to couples preparing to marry in the Catholic Church.  Can you guess where this is going?

“Amy Or Dawkins?” [here] A beautiful young woman with Downs Syndrome versus the Dark Angel of Atheism.

The 8th Day of Christmas - The Solemnity Of Mary, Mother Of God

Madonna With Child by Bellini Jacopo

   Today, the Eighth Day of Christmas, is known out in The World as New Year’s Day; in the Church it is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the final day in the Octave of Christmas.  The secular observance celebrates no more than another turning of a calendar page, but in the Church we look at time with an eye on eternity: the Nativity of Christ turns around all of human history (which is why we eventually adopted the BC/AD arrangement with its mirror-image numbering of years, placing the Nativity at the center of time).  Jesus’s mother, Mary, plays an essential part in that unique and astonishing event.

     We must start with the fact that Mary was fully human; as Charles Dickens says in the opening lines of A Christmas Carol, “This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.”  Just as Marley’s death is an essential element in Dickens’ tale, the Incarnation’s meaning for mankind is directly connected to the Blessed Mother’s humanity, because if Christ isn’t born of a human woman, He’s not fully human himself, in which case how can He die and redeem humankind? Mary is the guarantor that Jesus, while He truly is God, is truly one of us.

     Both truly God, and truly one of us . . . it’s hard for us to reconcile both of those things in our finite minds, but both must be true if Christianity is true.  At the same time, the title “Mother of God” is alarming: some people claim that it seems to say that a mortal woman has brought God into existence, but we don’t really think that even about ordinary mothers and their ordinary human babies.  Mothers and Fathers are agents in a larger process, and the soul, of course, comes from God.  The original Greek term Theotokos, literally “God-bearer”, while a little less difficult, still challenges us. It tells us that, just as the original Arc of the Covenant carried Manna from Heaven, along with Tablets of the Decalogue and Aaron’s staff, Mary carried the Second Person of the Trinity in her womb, and so she is called the Arc of the New Covenant (see Revelation 11:19-12:1). 

     But the first Arc was merely a container, it contributed nothing to its contents; even before anyone knew anything of genetics, however, it would have been obvious that, in some way, Jesus’s fleshly body owed something, at least, to his mother.  In his face, the color of his eyes, the shape of his nose, or some other physical feature, the familial relationship would be manifest. Through the Motherhood of Mary Jesus, that is to say God, takes on our humanity in an utterly tangible, direct and personal way.

     The Motherhood of Mary, like the Incarnation itself, is a mystery.  It is something that we can really understand (although never fully understand) through experience.  As the last day in the Octave of Christmas, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God it invites us to start looking not only at the Child lying in the manger, but to start looking further at what that Child means for us as men and women.

            O God,

            Who through the fruitful virginity of Blessed Mary

            Bestowed on the Human race the grace of eternal salvation,

            Grant, we pray, that we may experience the intercession of her,

            Through whom we were found worthy to receive the author of life,

            Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.

            Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the HolySpirit,

            One God, for ever and ever.

                        -Amen

The 7th Day of Christmas - What Is The Christmas Season, And Why Does It Matter?

 

Antique Angel tree-topper at Principium et Finis World Headquarters

   Happy 7th Day of Christmas!  What with all this talk about The Twelve Days of Christmas, one might get the impression that Christmas ends after Epiphany (traditional date January 6^th, the thirteenth day after Christmas Day itself).  In fact, the Church's official Christmas Season extends until the Baptism of The Lord, which is the Sunday after Epiphany, and in some places (specifically, Eastern Europe), the informal celebration continues until the Feast of the Presentation on February 2^nd.  During his pontificate, Pope St. John Paul II celebrated Christmas until the Presentation, and Pope Benedict XVI did the same; I haven't heard whether Pope Francis has followed suit (we do so in our home, in keeping with my Lovely Bride's Polish heritage . . . or, at least, that's our excuse).

     The entire Christmas Season, then, is like a series of ripples of decreasing intensity emanating from the Feast of the Nativity itself on December 25th.  Christmas Day is the first day in the Octave of Christmas, a period of eight days, all solemnities (a solemnity is a liturgical feast of the highest rank), culminating in The Solemnity of Mary Mother of God on January 1st; January 2-5 fill out the rest of the Twelve Days, but are not official feast days; the days between Epiphany (traditionally January 6^th, now officially the 2^nd Sunday after the Nativity) and the Baptism of Our Lord on the following Sunday are included in the Christmas Season, but are observed in a much more low-key way.  Those of us who just aren't ready to let go of Christmas can privately follow the Eastern European tradition and continue until February 2^nd, but the Liturgical Calendar has already moved on.

     There are some people who don't see the point of all this complexity: why not just celebrate Christmas and be done with it?  But the Liturgical Calendar is not just about commemorating past events: it's about experiencing the events of Salvation History in our own lives.  Big events require a period of preparation, such as Advent (and any of us who have lived in a household expecting a baby know how busy the preparations become in those last few weeks); likewise, the excitement and celebration gradually recede after the event, as life slowly returns to a routine.  We can’t just switch it on and off in a day or two.

     Today, the seventh day of the Octave of Christmas, we're still in celebration mode: the Christmas candles are burning, the tree is still blazing with lights (you can see a picture of the  Principium et Finis World Headquarters Official Christmas Tree here), and the joyful sounds of Christmas Carols still fill the air.  Speaking of which, here are Hayley Westenra and Aled Jones singing Silent Night:

The 6th Day of Christmas - God Is Light

God Is Light, And In Him Is No Darkness (1 John 1:5)

Christmas lights remind us that Christ is The Light

     Today is the Sixth Day of Christmas, the mid-point of the twelve days (although not, strictly speaking, of the Christmas Season; more on that tomorrow). Our Sunday Visitor has published a pamphlet which I recently ran across at our cathedral that offers suggestions on how to keep the Twelve Days; on the sixth day they recommend lighting all the candles on your Advent Wreath and praying the antiphon from December 21^st:

            O Radiant Dawn, splendor of Eternal Light,

                 Sun of Justice;

            Come, shine on those who dwell in darkness

                 And the shadow of death.

Now in my case the advent candles have all given way to Christmas candles, and I would prefer not to use one of the “O Antiphons”, since they are so closely connected to Advent.  I understand why they make the suggestion, however, because at this point in the Christmas season it is appropriate to start extending our joy at the coming of Jesus to contemplation of Who and What He is.  The identification of the Messiah with Light is deeply embedded in the Tradition, as in the well-known passage from Isaiah that also figures prominently in our observance of Advent:

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. (Isaiah 9:2)

We also see it in the opening of John’s Gospel, as a part of what is perhaps the most important New Testament passage for understanding Jesus Christ:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5)

Light has also been a big part of our liturgical practices, as anyone who has attended the Easter Vigil can attest, and this also goes back to the beginning: from the earliest days of the Church, the priest has traditionally celebrated Mass ad orientem, “toward the rising (Sun)” (which, sadly, is most often no longer done in the Ordinary Form of the Mass).  Not coincidentally, in the antiphon quoted above, the English words “O Radiant Dawn” are a translation of the Latin O Oriens.

     You may notice our Texts and our Tradition spend more time and effort telling us that Christ is Light than in explaining how and why. There are certainly connections that immediately spring to mind: darkness is emptiness, sin, despair, death; light is abundance, purity, love, life.  But these only scratch the surface, and often we come to a true understanding of something, and really absorb it, by working with it and wrestling with it.  I propose that we observe the Sixth Day of Christmas by praying over the passages of Scripture above (and others like them), by lighting up our Christmas candles, and thinking about the ways in which Christ is Light, about what that means for us and for our lives, and how we make that Light a reality for others.  Merry Christmas!

The 5th Day of Christmas - Angels We Have Heard On High

Happy 5^th Day of Christmas!  For very many people, it’s back to work in a serious way today; after Christmas and the weekend, it’s a Monday not so different from any other.  For the Christian, however, it’s still a holiday (that is, a Holy Day), a Solemnity in the Octave of Christmas.  Even if nobody else seems to notice, you have every reason to go about your business humming “Gloria in excelsis Deo!”  Here’s a Little Something to help you along.  Merry Christmas!

Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival & The 4th Day of Christmas 2014

     Merry 4^th Day of Christmas! And welcome to Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival; this is a weekly gathering of Catholic bloggers who share their posts for the week in a spirit of right good fellowship.  The main site is here, at This That and the Other Thing where our hostess RAnn calls us together around her wassail bowl to sing Christmas Carols into the night.  Well, in a virtual way, anyway.

The Flight Into Egypt by Bartolome Esteban Murillo

     Today we celebrate the Fourth Day of Christmas, which is usually the Feast of the Holy Innocents.  This day commemorates King Herod’s slaughter of every male child two years old and younger in Bethlehem  in an attempt to snuff out the Messiah that he learned had been born there.  This year, however, since the date of Holy Innocents falls on the Sunday after Christmas, it is being suppressed to make way for the Feast of the Holy Family. 

     The Change certainly makes for a more upbeat post.  Normally, I would make the connection between the murder of the Holy Innocents two thousand years ago and the wholesale massacre of unborn children through abortion today.  I might also mention that even those youngsters who have dodged the abortionist are robbed of their Holy Innocence by our pornified pop culture, causing all manner of suffering throughout their lives, and contributing in a significant way to all sorts of social pathologies.

     Happily, thanks to the Feast of the Holy Family, I don’t need to write that post.  It is interesting, however, that the two different feasts are really different sides of the same coin.  The Holy Family of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus is a model of God’s plan for the family; the slaughter of the Holy Innocents underscores how far we need to go, right now, to adhere to that model.  It is likewise interesting that one of the few places in Scripture where we see the Holy Family in action is the same passage from Matthew’s Gospel that describes the Holy Innocents:

And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they [the Magi] departed to their own country by another way. Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called my son." Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men. (Matthew 2:12 -16)

Joseph, like fathers and fatherhood itself  today, is often overlooked and forgotten.  In the passage above, however, he is clearly the leader of the family.  Like his Old Testament namesake, and the Wise Men from the East, he is warned in a dream, and takes action; he has the vision to guide and protect his family.  The family in our day and age is badly in need of guidance and protection.  On this Feast of the Holy Family, we would do well to pray for the intercession of its head and guardian (see here for my discussion of the Litany of St. Joseph).

     And now, on to the Snippets.  We started this past week in the Anticipation of Advent, and ended amidst the Joy of Christmas:

Monday – One of the loveliest Advent songs, lovingly sung: “Frederica von Stade – ‘Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming’” [here]

Tuesday – A woman and her doctor couldn’t be wrong, could they? “Abortion Myth # 14” [here]

Thursday – Posted on Christmas Day – if this isn't already your favorite Christmas song, it might be after you see this video: “Merry Christmas – Beautiful Celtic Version of ‘O Holy Night’” [here]

Friday – We need to pay attention to Mater Ecclesia and her Liturgical Calendar: here I announce my intention to honor each of the Twelve Days of Christmas, each at its proper time: “Christmas Is Just Beginning!” [here]

   and – The 2^nd Day of Christmas gives us our first martyr – here’s why it’s still a time for rejoicing: “The 2^nd Day of Christmas & Feast of St. Stephen: Joy, Sorrow & Triumph” [here]

Saturday – The 3^rd Day of Christmas is the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, the only one of the Twelve Apostles who did not die a martyr; he was also the only Apostle who stood at the Foot of the Cross, the Disciple whom Jesus loved: “The 3^rd Day of Christmas & St. John the Evangelist: The Disciple Jesus Loved” [here]

The 3rd Day of Christmas & St. John the Evangelist: The Disciple Jesus Loved

So the soldiers did this. But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. (John 19:25-27)

Pieta between St. John and Mary Magdalene (Pietro Perugino)

     Merry 3^rd Day of Christmas!  Today is also the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, author not only of one of the Gospels, but also three New Testament letters and the Book of Revelation. St. John has traditionally been represented by an eagle because he “soars” to greater heights, theologically speaking, than the other Evangelists.  He is also known as “The Beloved Disciple” because in his Gospel he often refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”.   

     Many people have wondered over the centuries why John makes such a point of depicting himself as The Beloved Disciple.  On one level, of course, it must reflect his actual experience.  He mentions it frequently and pointedly enough, however, that it seems that there must be more to it.  And so there is: as Edward Sri explains [full article here]:

He represents the ideal disciple.  The beloved disciple is the one who is close to Jesus, leaning on his master’s breast at the last supper (John 13:25).  He is the one Apostle who remains with Jesus even in the face of Christ’s suffering and persecution – while the other Apostles fled, only the beloved disciple followed Jesus all the way to the cross (John 19:26).

     I want to focus on this last point, because so many people are suffering in various ways - in my home right now we are praying for a number of families who are experiencing illness, employment problems, divorce, and other hardships. Modern mental health professionals confirm the words that Charles Dickens put in the mouth of one of his characters in A Christmas Carol more than a century and a half ago: “it is at Christmastime that want is most keenly felt”.  This is a very hard time of year for our brothers and sisters who are in distress. I think the passage from John’s Gospel at the top of this post has a special import for those who find themselves standing at the Foot of The Cross in the midst of this festive season: all who join their suffering to His are his Beloved Disciples; the Mother of Jesus is your mother, and Christ your Brother suffers with you.  

May God's blessing be on you all this Christmas!

Christmas Is Just Beginning!

  I have a vivid memory of a Christmas years ago, shortly after my return to the Faith, seeing the Christmas tree literally hurled through the front door on the afternoon of Christmas Day (this at the home of relatives who shall remain unnamed).  I was struck by how switched-around things had become, how the commercial “holiday season” had so thoroughly subverted the traditional liturgical “Christmas Season”.  Since that time my Lovely Bride and I have been looking for ways to preserve and honor Advent as a season of penitence and preparation, and Christmas (all of it) in its proper place, as “Christ’s Mass”.   

 

      We have found this endeavor to be more difficult than it sounds: it’s hard to be penitential when everyone around you is celebrating, and hard as well to celebrate when everyone else is worn out from revelry.  I was musing on all this as I sat in the pew before Midnight Mass, and it occurred to me that, since I have a blog, one thing I could do is to post something specific to each of the Twelve Days through the Christmas Season.  It need not be something long or involved (in fact, brevity would be a plus), but it should be relevant.  I began planning my posts on the spot: you can see my posts for Days 1 and 2 here and here.

     I suspect that it might become difficult to keep it up as the Christmas Season approaches its end, but part of the purpose of the Twelve Posts of Christmas is to keep myself focused on the real “Reason for the Season” as Christ’s Church has given it to us; I hope to help others to do the same.  Merry Christmas to all!

      

The 2nd Day of Christmas & Feast of St. Stephen: Joy, Sorrow & Triumph

But he [Stephen], full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God." But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together upon him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

And Saul was consenting to his death.  (Acts 7:55-8:1)   

 I’ve heard it said that the wooden manger, a couple of planks laid across two trestles, foreshadows the wooden beams of the cross.  If that’s a little too subtle an indication of what the incarnation is about, there’s this: on the Second Day of Christmas, when the dishes from Christmas dinner have hardly had time to dry and be put away, we celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen, the Proto-martyr, the first Christian to die for the Faith after the death of Christ himself.  Could there possibly be a more jarring reminder that our Joy is not care-free, that Grace is not cheap, and that the Nativity leads directly to the Crucifixion? 

     St. Stephen himself was one of the original deacons, who were chosen in the following way:

And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."  (Acts 6:2-4)

Despite being appointed “to serve tables”, Stephen, like his fellow Deacon Philip (see here), was in fact also called upon to preach the word of God (Acts 7), which is what leads to his death.  St. Stephen’s story is a reminder that we all have different roles to play, but all of us are called upon to witness to the Gospel  (μάρτυς, the Greek word from which we get the word martyr, means “witness”).

     The very origin of that word shows us that the simple fact of being a witness to Christ provokes strong, sometimes violent, opposition. But note the young man Saul (the future St. Paul, Apostle and Martyr), who looks on in approval, maybe even as a leader or instigator of St. Stephen’s stoning. It’s possible that the example of the Proto-martyr helped to prepare him for his eventual conversion, and that the ferocity of his persecution of Christians between Stephen’s death and his own encounter with the risen Christ was borne of a desperate resistance to the gentle promptings that were stirring in his heart. In any case, we see that we should not be discouraged even by the strongest opposition, because the power of Christ is stronger still.  We need to do our part, and trust Him to do the rest.

     And so if we take the long view, commemorating the death of the First Martyr at this time is not at all strange. The Liturgical Calendar reminds us, on the Second Day of  Christmas, that we need to embrace the Gospel in its entirety: the joy of  the Nativity leads to the sorrow of Cavalry, which itself prepares the way for the still greater glory of Easter.  I’ll give St. Peter the final word:

    

There is cause for rejoicing here. You may for a time have to suffer the distress of many trials; but this is so that your faith, which is more precious than the passing splendor of fire-tried gold, may by its genuineness lead to praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ appears. (1 Peter. 1:6-7)