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Sunday within the Octave of Christmas or 30th December - Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. After Herod’s death, suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead.” So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, went back to the land of Israel. But when he learnt that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as ruler of Judea he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the region of Galilee. There they settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way the words spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled: He will be called a Nazarene. Matthew 2: 19-23. The Holy Family should be the example and object of veneration for all Christian households. An archconfraternity under the invocation of the Holy Family was founded in Liege in 1844 by Henry Belletable, a non-commissioned officer of engineers. He used to assemble a group of workmen on one night each week in prayer and pious reading to encourage each other in the practice of the Christian virtues. The good work was taken up by the Redemptorists and supported by the bishop. In 1847 Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) raised it to the status of an archconfraternity with the power of affiliating itself with other confraternities with the same name and object. The Feast of the Holy Family was extended to the Universal Church by Pope Benedict XV (1914 -1922). Almighty God, it pleased you to give us the shining example of the Holy Family as models of the virtues of family life and of the bonds of charity, grant that we may constantly imitate the example of the Holy Family so that, after the trials of this world, we may share their company for ever. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Family https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/angelus/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ang_20091227.html https://catholicsaints.info/our-ladys-feasts-feast-of-the-holy-family/ https://catholicsaints.info/on-the-holy-family-by-bishop-john-edward-cuthbert-hedley/ |
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29th December - Feast of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr, Patron of the English Clergy. Born - 21 December c. 1119, Cheapside, London, Kingdom of England Died - 29 December 1170 (age 50 or 51), Canterbury Cathedral, Kent, Kingdom of England Buried - Canterbury Cathedral Parents - Gilbert Beket, Matilda Previous post(s) - Archdeacon of Canterbury, Lord Chancellor of England Ordination - 2 June 1162 Consecration - 3 June 1162, by Henry of Blois Appointed - 24 May 1162 Term ended - 29 December 1170 Predecessor - Theobald of Bec Successor - Roger de Bailleul (Archbishop-elect) Feast day - 29 December Venerated in - Catholic Church, Anglican Communion Beatified - by Pope Alexander III Canonized - 21 February 1173, by Pope Alexander III Attributes - Sword, martyrdom, episcopal vestments Patronage - Exeter College, Oxford; Portsmouth; Arbroath Abbey; secular clergy; City of London Shrines - Canterbury Cathedral Thomas Beckett was born in 1118 in London into a wealthy Norman family and was educated at Merton Abbey and at Paris before joining the curia of Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury. He was sent to study law at Bologna and Auxerre after being ordained a deacon. By 1154, the same year as Henry II’s accession to the throne, he became archdeacon at Canterbury and the following year, at Theobald’s suggestion, Chancellor of England. Thomas developed a close friendship with the king and was employed on embassies such as he marriage of the infant prince Henry to Margaret, the French princess. In 1162, expecting more of the same, Henry obtained Thomas’s election as archbishop of Canterbury. Immediately following his appointment, and to the king’s annoyance, Thomas Beckett resigned the chancellorship and adopted an austere lifestyle. Now that he was archbishop, through no choice of his own, he was determined to carry out the duties to which he had been, whatever the cost. This brought him into conflict with Henry II over taxation and the power of secular courts to punish clerics already dealt with by church courts, and, most importantly over the right of appeal to Rome. These and other matters would lead Thomas to endure a six year exile in France before returning in 1170. The reconciliation between Thomas and Henry was, however, superficial. In defiance of Thomas, Prince Henry had been crowned. In response Thomas excommunicated the bishops most concerned. When he heard of this, Henry flew into a rage asking who would rid him of this turbulent priest. Four knights took him at his word, travelled to England and to Canterbury and killed Thomas in his own cathedral. The news of his death shocked Christendom making his tomb a popular place of pilgrimage. His faults were soon forgotten, and he was haled as a martyr for the cause of Christ and the liberty of the Church. He was canonised in 1173. Butler gives the following account of the martyrdom of Thomas Becket: "They [the four knights], in a threatening manner, gave a charge to his ecclesiastics that were present to watch him, that he might not escape: for the king would make him an example of justice. The saint said, "Do you imagine that I think of flying: no, no; I wait for the stroke of death without fear." Then showing with his hand that part of his head where God had given him to understand he would be struck, he said, "It is here, it is here that I expect you!" The assassins went back, put on their bucklers and arms, as if they were going to a battle, and taking with them other armed men, returned to the archbishop, who was then gone to the church, for it was the hour of vespers. He had forbidden in virtue of obedience any to barricade the doors, saying the church would not be made a citadel. The murderers entered, sword in hand, crying out, "Where is the traitor?" No one answered, till another cried, "Where is the archbishop?" The saint then advanced towards them saying, "Here I am, the archbishop, but no traitor." All the monks and ecclesiastics ran to hide themselves or to hold the altars, except three, who stayed by his side. One of the ruffians did to him, "Now you must die!" He answered, "I am ready to die for God, for justice and for the liberty of his church. But I forbid you, in the name of the Almighty God, to hurt in the least any of my religious clergy or people. I have defended the church as far as I was able during my life, when I saw it oppressed, and I shall be happy if, by my death at least, I can restore its peace and liberty." He then fell to his knees and spoke these last words, "I recommend my soul and the cause of the church of God, to the Blessed Virgin, to the holy patrons of this place, to the martyrs St. Dionysius and St. Elphege of Canterbury." He then prayed for his murderers and bowing a little his head presented it to them in silence. They first offered to bring him out of the church, but he said, "I will not stir; do here what you please, or are commanded." The fear lest the people who crowded into the church should hinder them made them hasten the execution of their design. Tracy struck at his head with his sword; but an ecclesiastic who stood by, named Edward Grim or Grimfer (who afterwards wrote his life), held out his arm, which was almost cut off; but this broke the blow to the archbishop, who was only a little stunned with it, and held up his head with his two hands as immovable as before, ardently offering himself to God. Two others immediately gave him two other violent strikes, by which he fell on the pavement, near the altar of St. Bennet, and was now expiring, when the fourth, Richard Briton, ashamed not to have dipped his sword in blood, cut off the top part of his head and broke his sword against the pavement; the Hugh of Horsea inhumanly, with the point of his sword, drew out all his brains and scattered them on the floor. After this sacrilege, they went and rifled the archespiscopal palace with a fury which passion had heightened to madness." Almighty God, you gave to your Martyr Saint Thomas Becket the courage to give up his life for the sake of justice. Grant that through his intercession we may renounce our own lives for the sake of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ and find true life in your heavenly kingdom. See also: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14676a.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Becket https://catholicsaints.info/saint-thomas-a-becket/ https://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/beckett.htm https://www.bartleby.com/210/12/291.html https://saintscatholic.blogspot.com/2011/12/saint-thomas-becket.html |
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31st December - Optional memorial of St. Sylvester, Pope. Born - Sant'Angelo a Scala, Avellino Died - 31 December 335, Rome, Italy Papacy began - 31 January 314 Papacy ended - 31 December 335 Predecessor - Miltiades Successor – Mark Feast day - 31 December (Catholic), 2 January (Orthodox), 22 December (Armenian) Venerated in - Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church, Lutheran Church Attributes - Papal vestments, Papal tiara Patronage - Feroleto Antico, Sylvestrine, Benedictines, Nonantola Sylvester I (also Silvester, died 31 December 335) was the bishop of Rome from 314 until his death. He was the 33rd pope of the Catholic Church. He filled the see of Rome at an important era in the history of the Western Church, yet very little is known of him. The accounts of his pontificate preserved in the seventh- or eighth-century Liber Pontificalis contain little more than a record of the gifts said to have been conferred on the church by Constantine I, although it does say that he was the son of a Roman named Rufinus. His feast is celebrated as Saint Sylvester's Day in Western Christianity on 31 December, while Eastern Christianity commemorates it on 2 January. According to tradition, Sylvester was the son of a Roman named Rufinus although his origins are hopelessly entangled with later legends. He was ordained by Pope Marcellinus (296-?304) and became bishop of Rome in 314 shortly after the Edict of Milan had recognised Christianity, ended persecution against it and tolerated all religions. Sadly, for one who held such n important post at such a crucial time in the history of the Church, little is known about Sylvester himself although legends abound – one being that it was he who baptised Constantine on the emperor’s death-bed – an event that took place after Sylvester’s own death on the 31st of December 335. Legends about him abound and were very influential in the Middle Ages. Constantine is reputed to have granted Sylvester the Lateran Palace which would become the cathedral church of Rome. He also built other churches in Rome, probably the first churches at St. Peter’s, Holy Cross and St. Lawrence-outside-the-walls. He was represented by legates at the Council of Nicea in 325 which declared that the Son was ‘one in being’ with the Father and condemned the teaching of Arius that Jesus, the Son, was somehow inferior to the Father. Like other bishop he had been invited to attend but declined to do so pleading old age. Following his death, he was buried in the cemetery of Priscilla. Later Pope Sergius II (844-847) moved his relics and placed them under the altar of the church that bears his name. Pope Gregory IX (1227-1241) made his memorial general for the western Church in 1227. Almighty God, sustained through the intercession of St. Sylvester, may we run the course of this early life under your guidance that we may happily attain life without end in your heavenly kingdom. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Sylvester_I https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14370a.htm https://catholicsaints.info/pope-saint-sylvester-i/ https://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/silvester.htm https://www.bartleby.com/210/12/311.html https://saintscatholic.blogspot.com/2011/12/saint-sylvester.html |
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1st January - Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. Called in the Gospels ‘the mother of Jesus’, Mary is thus acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as ‘the mother of my Lord’. In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father’s eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly ‘Mother of God’ (Theotokos). Catechism of the Catholic Church 495 “… but when the completion of time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law, so that we could receive adoption as sons. As you are sons, God has sent into our hearts the Spirit of his Son crying ‘Abba, Father’” (Galatians: 4: 6-7). The Church ends its celebration of the Octave of Christmas by giving thanks for the great act of faith of Mary in becoming the Mother of God. This feast also commemorates the naming of Jesus, as the Gospel of the day recalls, “…they gave him the name Jesus, the name the angel had given him before his conception.” (Luke 2: 21). The title was applied to the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Nestorius had argued that Jesus was two persons, one divine, the other human and that, as such, Mary could not properly be called the "Theotokos" (Mother of God) but "Christokos" (Mother of Christ). Under the leadership of Cyril of Alexandria, the Council of Ephesus rejected Nestorius' argument claiming that Jesus, although fully human in nature, was also a divine person and that consequently Mary was the Mother of God. This title was later upheld by the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Almighty God, who, through the obedience to the Blessed Virgin Mary bestowed upon the human race the grace of eternal salvation, grant that, through her intercession, we may be found worthy to receive the author of life, your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Loving Mother of the Redeemer, gate of heaven, star of the sea, assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again. To the wonderment of nature, you bore your Creator, yet remained a virgin as before. You who received Gabriel’s joyful greeting, have pity on us poor sinners. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theotokos https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15464b.htm https://saintscatholic.blogspot.com/2011/12/mary-mother-of-god.html |
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2nd January - Memorial of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church. Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great (Greek: Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ágios Basíleios o Mégas; Coptic: Ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲃⲁⲥⲓⲗⲓⲟⲥ; 330 – January 1 or 2, 379), was the bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Attributes Vested as bishop, wearing omophorion, holding a Gospel Book or scroll. St. Basil is depicted in icons as thin and ascetic with a long, tapering black beard. Patronage Russia, Cappadocia, Hospital administrators, Reformers, Monks, Education, Exorcism, Liturgists St. Basil the Great was born at Caesarea of Cappadocia in c.330. He was one of ten children of St. Basil the Elder and St. Emmeli. Several of his brothers and sisters are honored among the saints including St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Peter of Sebaste. He attended school in Caesarea, as well as Constantinople and Athens, where he became acquainted with St. Gregory Nazianzen in 352. A little later, he opened a school of oratory in Caesarea and practiced law. Eventually he decided to become a monk and found a monastery in Pontus which he directed for five years. He wrote a famous monastic rule which has proved the most lasting of those in the East. After founding several other monasteries, he was ordained and, in 370, made Bishop of Caesaria. In this post until his death in 379, he continued to be a man of vast learning and constant activity, genuine eloquence and immense charity. This earned for him the title of "Great" during his life and Doctor of the Church after his death. Basil was one of the giants of the early Church. He was responsible for the victory of Nicene orthodoxy over Arianism in the Byzantine East, and the denunciation of Arianism at the Council of Constantinople in 381-82 was in large measure due to his efforts. Basil fought simony, aided the victims of drought and famine, strove for a better clergy, insisted on a rigid clerical discipline, fearlessly denounced evil wherever he detected it, and excommunicated those involved in the widespread prostitution traffic in Cappadocia. He was learned, accomplished in statesmanship, a man of great personal holiness, and one of the great orators of Christianity. Basil was also the author of one of the earliest works on monastic life. Originally written in Greek and translated into Latin by Rufinus in c. 400 it draws on Basil's travels in Egypt, Palestine and Syria and of his experiences of the ascetic life for which these regions were famous. Returning to what is now Turkey, he bagan to live an ascetic life in a community of family members and friends developing his experiences into a monastic vision. His rule, compsed in the 360s or 370s, runs to 55 paragraphs and deals with behavious and personal relations. He bases his rationale on the two primary commandments of Christian living: love of God, which,he argues, demands separation from the sinful world, and love of Neighbour which demands a life shared with other like-minded people. The main characteristics if the life that he advocates are: humility, obedience, a striving for restraint in matters of food, money sex and anger. He also provides advice on matters such as suitable food and clothing, the punishment of bad behaviour and the structure of communal prayer throughout the day. This would become the model for other rules of monastic life including the better known Rule of St. Benedict written in about 540 and which, in its final paragraph, gives acknowledgement to its older predecessor. Gregory of Nazianzus (Greek: Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Grēgorios ho Nazianzēnos; c. 329 – 25 January 390), also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory Nazianzen, was a 4th-century Archbishop of Constantinople, and theologian. Attributes Vested as a bishop, wearing an omophorion; holding a Gospel Book or scroll. Iconographically, he is depicted as balding with a bushy white beard. St. Gregory Nazianzen was the son of Saint Gregory of Nazianzen the Elder and Saint Nonna. Brother of St. Caesar Nazianzen, and St .Gorgonius. He spent an itinerent youth in search of learning. Friend of and fellow student with Saint Basil the Great. Monk at Basil‘s desert monastery. A reluctant priest: he believed that he was unworthy, and that the responsibility would test his faith. He assisted his bishop father to prevent an Arian schism in the diocese. He opposed Arianism and brought its heretical followers back to the fold. Bishop of Caesarea c.370, which put him in conflict with the Arian emperor Valens. The disputes led his friend Basil the Great, then archbishop, to reassign him to a small, out of the way posting at the edge of the archbishopric. He was Bishop of Constantinople from 381 to 390, following the death of Valens. He hated the city, despised the violence and slander involved in these disputes, and feared being drawn into politics and corruption, but he worked to bring the Arians back to the faith; for his trouble he was slandered, insulted, beaten up, and a rival “bishop” tried to take over his diocese. He was a noted preacher on the Holy Trinity. When it seemed that orthodox Christianity had been restored in the city, Gregory retired to live the rest of his days as a hermit. He wrote theological discourses and poetry, some of it religious, some of it autobiographical. He died at Nazianzus. His relics were translated, first to Constantinople, and then to St. Peter's in Rome where he is venerated as one of the four great Eastern Doctors of the Church. Almighty God, you were pleased to give light to your Church by the example and teaching of St. Basil and St. Gregory, grant, we pray, that in humility we may learn your truth and practice it faithfully in charity. See also: St Basil. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_of_Caesarea https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02330b.htm https://catholicsaints.info/saint-basil-the-great/ https://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/basil.htm https://www.bartleby.com/210/6/141.html https://saintscatholic.blogspot.com/2014/01/st-basil.html St Gregory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_of_Nazianzus https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07010b.htm https://catholicsaints.info/saint-gregory-of-nazianzen/ https://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/gregory.htm https://www.bartleby.com/210/5/091.html https://saintscatholic.blogspot.com/2014/01/st-basil-and-st-gregorian-nazianen.html |
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3rd January - Optional Memorial of The Most Holy Name of Jesus Make your own the mind of Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped. But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are; and being in every way like a human being, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. And for this God raised him high, and gave him the name which is above all other names; so that all things in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2: 6-11). A form of Joshua, the name Jesus or Yeshua, meaning "Yahweh is salvation", and given to Mary by Gabriel at the Annunciation, was very common in New Testament times. Devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus seems to have begun in the eleventh century although it had been invoked since early Christian times. St. Peter cured the man crippled from birth at the Beautiful Gate commanding him “...in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!” (Acts of the Apostles 3: 1-10). Although St. Anselm (1033-1109) was not the first to use the name of Jesus in a devotional manner, it was his meditation, composed c. 1070, which dwells upon the name itself that was particularly important in the development of this form of devotion. This was picked up by St. Bernard (1090-1153) and piety towards the name spread rapidly especially, it would seem, in England. The custom of bowing the head at the name of Jesus was already a custom in the middle of the thirteenth century and was commanded by a decree of the Second Council of Lyons in 1274. Devotion to the name of Jesus formed a central motif in the mystical writings of Richard Rolle of Hampole (c. 1295-1349), of Henry Suso (c. 1295-1366) and St. Bernardino of Siena (1380-1444). At first the feast had no fixed date and it was not until 1721 that, at the request of the Emperor Charles VI, that Pope Innocent XIII (1721-1724) extended the feast to the whole church and fixed the date as the Sunday after Epiphany. In 1913 Pope Pius X (1903-1914) changed the date to the Sunday that fell between the 2nd and 5th of January, and if none occurred between these dates, the 2nd of January. The Litany of the Holy Name, a series of invocations of the Holy Name, can be found in Books of Hours from the sixteenth century onwards by which time litanies for each day of the week were regularly prescribed for recitation by the laity, that of the Holy Name being said on Wednesdays. Such was the proliferation of this devotion that Pope Clement VIII (1592-1605) forbade public recitation of any except the Litany of Loreto and the Litany of Saints unless prior permission had been obtained from the Holy See. Such permission was refused until 1862 when Pope Pius IX (1846-1878) allowed it, but only in diocese which explicitly sought it, in 1886, Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903} extended the permission to the whole Church. Almighty God, who founded the salvation of the human race on the Incarnation of your Word, give unto your faithful people the mercy that they implore so that all humanity may know that there is no other name to be invoked but the Name of Jesus Christ, Your Only Begotten Son. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Holy_Name_of_Jesus https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07420a.htm https://catholicsaints.info/feast-of-the-holy-name-of-jesus/ https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07421a.htm https://saintscatholic.blogspot.com/2014/01/feast-of-holy-name-of-jesus.html |