Liturgical Year

       Advent
      Christmas Season
      Ordinary Time
      Lent
      Holy Week
      Easter Season
      Holy Days of Obligation

History & Resources

Information & Resources

Christmas Season

News of Great Joy: Today a Savor is born for us, Christ the Lord.

For Christians, Christmas is not just a single day remembering the birth of Jesus, but rather several weeks of joy and celebration.  Christmas, also known as the Feast of the Nativity, celebrates the Incarnation and Birth of Jesus Christ.

The Christmas season begins with the celebration of the Birth of Jesus as a vigil on Christmas Eve, December 24, and lasts through the Baptism of the Lord. The liturgical color of this season is white.

Unfortunately, in recent times, celebrating Christmas centers increasingly on food preparation, gift opening and other festivities that, while good, are only secondary activities that are not meant to replace the primary "reason for the season:" celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, God becoming man and dwelling among us.

---

CELEBRATIONS within the CHRISTMAS SEASON

Christmas
December 25

Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Spain, 1650

Let the just rejoice, for their justifier is born.
Let the sick and infirm rejoice, for their Saviour is born.
Let the captives rejoice, for their Redeemer is born.
Let slaves rejoice, for their Master is born.
Let free men rejoice, for their Liberator is born.
Let All Christians rejoice,
For Jesus Christ is born.
St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-440)



While many Christians recognize Christmas as a celebration of Jesus' birth, the solemnity is also a festival of his Incarnation, that is, God becoming human in the person of Jesus.  Although secular traditions are fun and endearing, Christmas is primarily a Christian holy day. Even the term itself is an abbreviation of the phrase "Christ mass," which reflects the primary understanding of Christmas as a feast day within the Church year, connected to the Eucharist.  

---

The Holy Family
Sunday after Christmas

Albrecht Dürer, Deutsch, ca 1494-1497

Heavenly Father,
you have given us the model of life
in the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Help us make our family another Nazareth
where love, peace and joy reign.
Help us stay together in joy
and sorrow through  family prayer.
Teach us to see Jesus
in the members of our families.
May the eucharistic heart of Jesus
make our hearts humble like His and help us
carry out our family duties in a holy way.
May we love as You love and
forgive each other's faults as You forgive our sins. 
Help us, O Loving Father,
take whatever you give
and give whatever you take with a big smile.
--words of Mother Theresa

The Feast of the Holy Family celebrates the family unit and the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  It is celebrated the Sunday after Christmas unless that Sunday is January 1st, then it is moved to December 30th.  The main purpose is to present the Holy Family as the model for all Christian families.  St. John Chrysostom urged all Christians to make each home a "family church."  We do this by making Christ the center of family and individual life:  reading scripture regularly, praying daily, attending Mass at least on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation.

---

Mary, Mother of God
January 1

Father, source of light in every age,
the Virgin conceived and bore your Son
who is called Wonderful God, Prince of Peace.
May her prayer, the gift of a mother's love,
be Your people's joy through all ages.
May her response, born of a humble heart
draw Your Spirit to rest on Your people.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen
New Saint Joseph Sunday Missal

January 1 is the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. It is a Holy Day of Obligation unless it falls on a Saturday or a Monday, then it is moved to the nearest Sunday.  At the Council of Ephesus in AD 431, and again at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, the Church confirmed that Christ was fully God and fully human and these natures were united in one divine person, Jesus Christ. Thus Mary could be called "mother of God" since she gave birth to Jesus who was fully divine as well as human.

"Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”  Luke 1: 30-33 

---

Ephiphany of Our Lord
Sunday between January 2 and 8

Giotto di Bondone, Floretine, ca 1320

Father of light, unchanging God,
today you reveal to men of faith
the resplendent fact of the Word made flesh.
Your light is strong,
Your love is near;
draw us beyond the limits
which this world imposes,
to the life where Your Spirit
makes all life complete.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen
New Saint Joseph Sunday Missal


The Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ is celebrated on the Sunday between January 2 and 8.  Epiphany comes from a Greek verb meaning "to reveal."  This day celebrates the coming of the magi; God revealing himself to all of mankind.

Bless Your Home:   Epiphany House Blessing
Read More:      The Feast of the Epiphany
                       The Star Invites All Nations to Find Christ
                       Epiphany of the Heart
                                                  

---

Baptism of the Lord
Second Sunday after Christmas

Ludovico Carracci 1555 - 1619

---

Nativity Prayer of St. Augustine

---

Prayer by  Pope John XXIII

O sweet Child of Bethlehem,
grant that we may share with all our hearts
in this profound mystery of Christmas.
Put into the hearts of men and women      
this peace for which they sometimes seek  
so desperately and which you alone can give to them. Help them know one another better, and to live as brothers and sisters,
children of the same Father.
Reveal to them also your beauty, holiness and purity. Awaken in their hearts
love and gratitude for your infinite goodness. Join them all together in your love. And give us your heavenly peace. Amen

---

 Hymn by St. Ephraim the Syrian

The feast day of Your birth resembles You, Lord, because it brings joy to all humanity.
Old people and infants alike enjoy your day.
Your day is celebrated from generation to generation. Kings and emperors may pass away and the festivals to commemorate them soon lapse, but Your festival
will be remembered until the end of time.

Your day is a means and a pledge of peace.
At Your birth, heaven and earth were reconciled. Since you came from heaven to earth on that day, You forgave our sins and wiped away our guilt. You gave us so many gifts on the day of your birth:

A treasure chest of spiritual medicines for the sick, Spiritual light for the blind;
The cup of salvation for the thirsty;
The bread of life for the hungry.
In the winter when trees are bare,
You give us the most succulent spiritual fruit. In the frost when the earth is barren,
You bring new hope to our souls.
In December when seeds are hidden in the soil, The staff of life springs forth from the virgin womb.
St. Ephraim the Syrian (AD 306-373)