Monday, December 31, 2018

The Forty-Day Christmas Season and Feasts



In the Holy Catholic Church, following the Season of Advent (the Season of preparation preceding the celebrations of Christmas), the Christmas Season begins on Christmas Day and ends after the Feast of Epiphany (liturgically) or on Candlemas Day (traditionally). In the secular sphere, the Christmas season begins in the United States the day after Thanksgiving and ends the day after Christmas. Think about this: the secular Christmas season begins on Black Friday, the day of greed and materialism, and ends suddenly the day after Christmas! This very noticeable difference is beautifully addressed in an unforgettable quote: "Never forget that there are only two philosophies to rule your life: the one of the cross, which starts with the fast and ends with the feast. The other of Satan, which starts with the feast and ends with the headache" (Fulton J. Sheen, Seven Words of Jesus and Mary: Lessons from Cana and Calvary).

In the Catholic Church, the Christmas Season used to be celebrated from Christmas Day (December 25th) until Candlemas Day (February 2nd). Now the Christmas Season has been significantly shortened liturgically to end just after Epiphany (January 6th). In our home (domestic church), we celebrate until Candlemas Day, although by that time it is no longer celebrated as intensely as during the Christmas Octave (by the way, it is interesting to note that the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" refers to the twelve days beginning on Christmas Day and ending on Epiphany).

There are three levels of intensity in the celebration of the Christmas Season. The first and greatest level is the Christmas Octave, which is spans Christmas Day through January 1st (New Year's Day). The next and second level lasts from January 2nd through January 13th (the Baptism of the Lord). The third level of celebration spans the days from January 14th through Candlemas Day.

Below, I will list the important feasts of the Christmas Season, beginning with the Christmas Vigil, along with all the other major and minor feasts we celebrate in our family. In the spirit of Pope Benedict XVI's Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, I will include the following indicators of which calendar the feasts fall in: "EF" indicates the Extraordinary Form (Traditional Latin Mass), "OF" indicates the Ordinary Form (Novus Ordo Missae), and "H" indicates feasts that were historically in the Sacred Liturgy but are no longer celebrated as such. The arrangement here has the feasts on their proper, fixed dates, before the minimalism of many Bishops in the United States had some of the important ones transferred to the Sundays nearest the dates of their actual feasts.

The Greatest Intensity in the Christmas Season: The Christmas Octave
December 24th (Christmas Eve): The Vigil of Christmas, a day of fasting and abstinence (EF)
December 25th (Christmas Day): The Solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ (EF & OF)
December 26th: Saint Stephen, Protomartyr (EF & OF)
December 27th: Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist (EF & OF)
December 28th: The Holy Innocents (EF & OF)
December 26th: Saint Thomas Becket (EF & OF); Saint David the King of Israel (H)
December 30th: Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas (EF & OF)
December 31st: Saint Sylvester I, Pope, baptized Emperor Constantine (EF & OF)
January 1st (New Year's Day): Octave Day of the Nativity (EF & OF); The Circumcision of Our Lord Jesus Christ (EF); The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God (OF)
Sunday within the Octave: The Holy Family (or December 30th if there is no Sunday between Christmas and New Year's) (OF)

The Middle Intensity in the Christmas Season: Through the Baptism of Our Lord
January 2nd: The Most Holy Name of Jesus (EF)
January 3rd: The Most Holy Name of Jesus (OF)
January 4th: Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (U.S.A.) (OF)
January 5th: Saint John Nepomucene Neumann (U.S.A.) (OF)
January 6th: Epiphany (EF & OF); Saints Caspar, Balthasar, & Melchior, the three Wise Men (H)
First Sunday after Epiphany: The Holy Family (EF)
January 13th: Commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ (EF); The Octave Day of the Epiphany (H)

The Lowest Intensity in the Christmas Season: Through Candlemas Day
January 15th: Our Lady of Prompt Succor (EF, some places); Saint Maurus, First Disciple of Saint Benedict (EF)
January 16th: Our Lady of Refuge (H)
January 18th: Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter at Rome (H)
January 19th: Saints Marius, Martha, Audifax, & Abachum (parents and two sons, martyrs) (EF); Saint Canute, King of Denmark (EF)
January 20th: Saint Sebastian, Patron of soldiers, archers, and athletes (EF & OF)
January 21st: Saint Agnes, Patroness of the Children of Mary (EF & OF)
January 23rd: The Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary (H)
January 24th: Saint Timothy, Patron against stomach disorders (EF)
January 25th: Conversion of Saint Paul (EF & OF)
January 27th: Saint John Chrysostom, Patron of orators (EF)
January 28th: Second Feast of Saint Agnes (EF); Saint Thomas Aquinas, "The Angelic Doctor", Patron of Catholic schools, scholars, theologians, and booksellers (OF)
January 29th: Saint Francis de Sales, Patron of writers (EF)
January 31st: Saint John Bosco, Founder of the Salesian Order, Patron of editors, apprentices, and young boys (EF & OF)
February 1st: Saint Ignatius of Antioch (EF); Saint Brigid of Ireland (H)
February 2nd (Candlemas Day): The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ (OF); The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (EF); Our Lady of Good Success (Ecuador, EF & OF)
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Books: Family Life

Tobias and Sarah Praying, by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1794-1872)

Article Updated: 07 April 2024

I want to start off this blog by creating a list of excellent books that I have found (and read) that relate to family life. There is too much confusion in the Catholic Church today regarding authentic Christian family life, the life of the ecclesia domestica, the domestic church (the Catholic term for the family). I will close after the list with two prayers composed by Pope Pius XII. I hope that this list helps all those in the coming Year of the Lord Two Thousand Nineteen (2019).

The Christian Marriage
Three to Get Married, by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
Married Saints and Blesseds Through the Centuries, by Ferdinand Holbock

Some Aids for Christian Marriage
The Temperament God Gave You, by Art and Laraine Bennett
The Temperament God Gave Your Spouse, by Art and Laraine Bennett
The Love Dare, by Stephen and Alex Kendrick with Lawrence Kimbrough
The Christian Family
Around the Year with the Von Trapp Family, by Maria Augusta von Trapp
The Catholic Family Handbook, by Fr. Lawrence G. Lovasik
The Catholic Family Handbook, by Rev. George A. Kelly, Foreword by Francis Cardinal Spellman

The Christian Husband and Father
Manual for Men, by Thomas J. Olmstead, Bishop of Phoenix, compilation by Dr. Travis Cook
Father: The Family Protector, by James B. Stenson
The 7 Secrets of Effective Fathers, by Dr. Ken R. Canfield, Ph.D.
The Resolution for Men, by Stephen and Alex Kendrick with Randy Alcorn

The Christian Wife and Mother
By Love Refined: Letters to a Young Bride, by Dr. Alice von Hildebrand, Ph.D.

Manhood
The Three Marks of Manhood, by G.C. Dilsaver
Raising Boys
Boys to Men: The Transforming Power of Virtue, by Tim Gray and Curtis Martin

Raising Girls

Infant Loss, Stillbirth, and Miscarriage
Letters to Gabriel: The True Story of Gabriel Michael Santorum, by Karen Garver Santorum, Foreword by Mother Teresa


Prayer for Christian Families 
Composed by Pope Pius XII.

O Lord God of goodness and mercy, Who in the midst of an evil and sinful world hast presented to the society of the redeemed the Holy Family of Nazareth as a spotless mirror of piety, justice and love, behold how the family is being undermined on all sides, every effort being made to desecrate it by stripping it of faith, religion, and morals.

Regard the work of Thy own hands. Safeguard in our homes the domestic virtues, for these alone will ensure us harmony and peace.

Come and stir up the champions of the family. Bestir the modern apostles so that in Thy Name, bearing the message of Jesus Christ and exhibiting holiness of life, they may revive the doctrines of conjugal fidelity for married couples, the exercise of authority by parents, obedience on the part of children, and modesty on the part of girls. Grant also through the efforts of these apostles, that the home favored by Thee with many blessings may again become an object of esteem and love in the minds and hearts of all.

It is through the examples of the Divine model of Nazareth that the Christian family is to be restored in Jesus Christ and to recover its former respect and dignity. Then every home will again become a sanctuary and in every household will be rekindled the flame of faith to teach patience in adversity and moderation in prosperity and to promote order, peace, and harmony in all things.

Under Thy paternal gaze, O Lord, and with confidence in Thy Providence and in the loving patronage of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the family will become a sanctuary of virtue and a school of wisdom. It shall prove, as Christ has promised, a haven of rest against life's burdens. In the sight of the world it shall render glory to Thee, O Father, and to Thy Son, Jesus, until the day when, through Him, we shall, together with all His members, sing the Divine praises in the eternal ages to come. Amen.  


Prayer for Members of a Christian Family 
Composed by Pope Pius XII.

O Holy Family, Trinity of the earth, O Jesus, Mary and Joseph, sublime models and protectors of Christian families, to Thee do we have recourse, not only to find comfort in the sweet contemplation of Thy loving examples, but also to implore Thy protection and to promise constant fidelity in the paths Thou hast pointed out to us.

Thy peace, Thy unalterable serenity refreshes our troubled souls in the midst of the continuous stress and strain of life's burdens. We are thus given eloquent proof that only in a home adorned and embellished with the virtues Thou hast exemplified can our hearts find the peace and happiness they so earnestly desire.

But how could such a tender plant as the family be defended against the burning heat of unbridled passions, against the insidious spirit of rebellion that asserts itself almost everywhere, against the raging storm of present-day life which seems bent on overthrowing everything? How else except by causing its roots to penetrate deeply into the noble soil of Christian piety; by imploring for it continuous streams of Divine grace, especially through the reception of the Holy Sacraments in common; by animating it with a true spirit of faith which will enable us to surmount the materialistic concept of life; by joining all its branches closely together through the strong bonds of a love which, were it not also supernatural, would pass away like all things here below; by strengthening it, from within through the firm resolution, made by each one, to fulfill our duties in everything that the right order of the family requires; by supporting it in the severe trials of this earthly exile where sometimes people are without even a decent home or suffer from a lack of the bare necessities of life.

In the midst of the present confusion of ideas with which minds are often disturbed, we loudly proclaim the sanctity, the unity and Divine mission of the Christian family as the cell of society and of the Church, and each at our post – parents and children – humbly but firmly pledge ourselves to do all in our power in order that such holy ideals may become a reality in the world.

Help us, O Joseph, mirror of the most admirable paternity in the diligent concern that thou didst manifest for the Savior and for the Virgin, ever faithful to the Divine inspirations; come to our aid, O Mary, the most loving, the most faithful and the most pure of all spouses and mothers; assist us, O Jesus, Who, as our light and model in all things, didst will to become the most submissive of children. Be always near to us, all ye three, in times of joy and in times of sadness, in our work and in our rest, in our anxieties and in our hopes, be near to those who are born and to those who die.

Finally, obtain for us that all homes, made holy through the imitation of Thine, may become for all their members schools of virtue, sanctuaries of holiness, a sure way to that eternal happiness which we confidently hope for through Thine intercession. Amen.
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