The Christmas Season 2023-2024
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December 28, 2023My dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
Even though it has been over fifty years since the reform of the Church calendar, there is still some misunderstanding about the feasts the Church celebrates after Christmas. This was the part of the calendar that has changed the most. Since our parish also provides the Traditional Latin Mass with the traditional calendar, it is important to make some clarifications on what is being celebrated on each Sunday. I have also included some of the weekday feasts even though we do not have a TLM on those days. The Traditional Latin Sunday Masses will always follow the traditional calendar. Whereas our ordinary form Masses will follow the calendar according to the reforms established in 1970 and after.
In the traditional calendar the Christmas season, or Christmastide, continues after Christmas Day until the Commemoration of the Baptism of the Lord on Saturday, January 13. Epiphany is fixed on January 6, which also falls on a Saturday this year. This day is the traditional twelfth day of Christmas. The Season of Epiphany, or Epiphany tide, is celebrated after January 6 up to and including January 27. February 2, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or Candlemas Day, occurs on Friday, which this year falls a little after the beginning of the pre-Lenten Sundays. Sunday, December 31 is the Sunday in the Octave of Christmas; Monday, January 1, which is usually a holyday of obligation, is the Octave Day of Christmas or the Circumcision; Tuesday, January 2 is the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus; Sunday, January 7 is the Feast of the Most Holy Family; the 2nd and 3rd Sundays after Epiphany are January 14 and 21. In the traditional calendar the three Sundays preparing for Lent (Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima) are January 28, February 4, and 11. The priest already begins to wear a violet chasuble these Sundays. Ash Wednesday is on February 14, 2024.
The calendar used in the ordinary form is different. The Christmas season continues after Christmas Day until Monday, January 8, which is the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord. The Feast of the Holy Family is celebrated on Sunday, December 31. Monday, January 1, which is a holyday, is the Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord and the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God; Sunday, January 7 is the Epiphany of the Lord. There are no Sundays after the Epiphany and since the Epiphany is no longer fixed on January 6 in most countries, there can no longer be the twelve days of Christmas, at least liturgically. Since the Christmas season ends well before Lent and there are no preparatory Sundays before Lent, the weekdays and Sundays after the Lord’s Baptism revert to Sundays in Ordinary Time and the priest goes back to wearing a green chasuble.
The Church has good reason for breaking up the mysteries of our faith for us to celebrate throughout the year. Little by little we drink in the tremendous Christ Event. The key to approaching these profound and sacred mysteries of our faith is to realize that what happened then is happening now. These sacred events of long ago reach out to us to bring us God’s love and grace in the here and now. They are more relevant than the front pages of our newspapers or the latest internet news. The Lord’s invitation to follow Him remains constant and so must our response. That is the way it will be always.
A devout Catholic Family assists Mass at least on all Sundays and Holydays of Obligation during the Year. Children need to learn about the Life of Christ in its entirety from the word and example of their parents little by little year after year. If parents set this foundation early on, they will find out that the teen years are more approachable. The family that prayers together stays together.
God bless you and your families In the Year of Our Lord 2024, Anno Domini MMXXIV.
Yours in Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the Holy Family,
Fr. Mark G. Mazza, Pastor
