Christmas: December 25, 2024 - January 6, 2025
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Christmas is one of the most important days of the Church year, second only to Easter itself. Celebrating the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is the culmination of the mystery of the incarnation, the feast of God becoming flesh (the Latin "in carne" means "enfleshment"). It is a uniquely Christian teaching, the Divine choosing to become one of us. Because of this belief, God is not only Transcendent, but also wholly Immanent, Emmanuel (God-with-us). While remaining Transcendent (meaning we must rise above our present condition to reach Him), He is at the same time Immanent (meaning He is with us as we rise toward Him). Every Eucharist is like Christmas where the bread and wine are transformed into His flesh, His Body and Blood, and, in a sense, He is born anew on the altar.
The liturgical season of Christmas begins with the vigil Masses on Christmas Eve and concludes on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. During this season, we celebrate the birth of Christ into our world and into our hearts and reflect on the gift of salvation that is born with him, including the fact that he was born to die for us.
The Christmas tree and the Nativity scene are popular symbols of the season and a tradition in many Christian homes. It is also traditional to exchange Christmas gifts with family and friends to honor God the Father's gift of his only son to the world. Having received the gift of Christ, we naturally want to pass that gift along to our loved ones.
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A walk through the Christmas Season
MICHAEL R. HEINLEIN
The Church’s liturgical season of Christmas is one of its shortest, but also one of its most unique. Within it is the eight-day celebration of the Lord’s Nativity — known as the Christmas octave — as well as other feasts pertaining to the manifestation that Jesus is Lord of the nations. And there are feasts of several saints, many of whose stories contain special significance to the season.
The configuration of the calendar relative to the season of Christmas is a bit complex. It always begins on the solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord — Dec. 25 — and ends on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, a movable feast roughly three weeks after Christmas.
In the U.S., Dec. 25 is always a holy day of obligation.
Christmas Day
The liturgical celebration of the Lord’s Nativity has many variables and components. There are four particular timeframes during which Mass might be celebrated in observance of this great feast: a vigil, a Mass at night, a Mass at dawn and a Mass during the day. Each of these Masses have their own unique prayers and readings. The newness of life made possible because of the Incarnation pervades the prayers and feasts of the Christmas season.
The four different Gospel readings assigned for use at the different Masses of Christmas all speak of the variety of the people affected by the Savior’s coming. The beginning of St. Matthew’s Gospel (see Mt 1:1-25), which lists Jesus’ family lineage, is proclaimed at the Vigil Mass. This includes major figures of Judaism like Abraham and David, whose covenants with God foreshadow the new and everlasting covenant that will be sealed in the blood of Christ. But Christ’s lineage also emphasizes that he came to save the poor and lowly, shown by connecting him to ancestors of low degree, socially or morally — like the four women mentioned, including David’s mistress Bathsheba. Jesus came to save them all.
The Gospel read at the Mass at night (see Lk 2:1-14) also underscores the importance of Christ’s coming for the marginalized and outcast, embodied by the news of his birth being shared firstly with the shepherds and not the rulers endowed with earthly power, who might be perceived as entitled to receiving such news on behalf of their subjects.
It is important to note that on Christmas, the faithful all are to genuflect or kneel during the Creed at the words relative to this central mystery of Christian faith, “and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man.” This helps us keep our hearts and minds focused on what the feast is all about. As the popular Christmas carol “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” phrases it, Jesus was “born that man no more may die; born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth. …”
Dec. 26: Feast of St. Stephen
Within the octave are various feast days that have rich histories and traditions. It is interesting to note that the first feast day after Christmas — the very next day, Dec. 26 — is the feast of a martyr. Recalling the purpose for which Christ came and the assignment of his divine mission, Christians are reminded, at this early stage of the celebrations of the Christmas season, of the Lord’s exhortation that anyone who wishes to follow after him must take up his cross. St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian faith, is held up as a living witness of what it means to proclaim that Christ is savior without counting the cost.
Dec. 27: Feast of St. John
Dec. 27 is the feast of the apostle and evangelist St. John. Regarded as the disciple closest to Jesus, St. John — believed to be the author of a Gospel, the Book of Revelation and three New Testament letters — is the one who teaches us that “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). Because St. John’s Gospel alone includes the miracle at the Cana wedding feast, when Jesus miraculously changes water into wine, this feast has long been associated with the blessing of wine.
Dec. 28: Feast of the Holy Innocents
The Holy Innocents celebrated on Dec. 28 were martyrs killed as the result of Herod’s murderous rage, resulting in his desire to eliminate any threats to his power by killing anyone who fit the profile of the newborn king he learned about from the Magi (see Mt 2:13-18). Taking no chances for the babe’s survival, he ordered the murder of all boys in or around Bethlehem under the age of 2. Christ, of course, survives thanks to the heavenly intervention manifested by the angelic admonition to St. Joseph to flee with Mary and Jesus in the middle of the night to Egypt. The Gospel proclaimed on this day, referenced above, evokes two major issues about which the Church is concerned today: immigration and abortion.
Feast of the Holy Family
Many of the few details we know of Jesus’ early life relates to his familial relationships. As a young man, we know he grew in the ways of faith as the obedient son of Mary and Joseph. The Church holds up annually the Holy Family of Nazareth as a model for all families, as a model for all human relationships. As Blessed Pope Paul VI said during a visit to the Holy Family’s town in 1964, “Nazareth is the school in which we begin to understand the life of Jesus. It is the school of the Gospel.” The feast of the Holy Family is celebrated on the Sunday after Christmas, except for the years when Christmas falls on a Sunday. Then it is celebrated on Dec. 30.
Jan. 1: Solemnity of Mary
Stained-glass image of the Virgin Mary and Jesus. Shutterstock
The octave of Christmas ends with the celebration of the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God on Jan. 1. It is a holy day of obligation, except the obligation for Catholics in the United States is lifted when the feast falls on a Saturday or Monday. Jan. 1 also marks the Church’s commemoration of the World Day of Peace, first observed 50 years ago in 1968. It seems appropriate and fitting to be celebrated on a Marian feast day, for peace is only possible through total self-sacrifice and surrender — through total love and obedience to the will of God, of which Mary is an icon for the Church.
It bears noting that Jan. 1 previously had been known as the feast of the circumcision of the Lord, because Jewish ritual prescribes that Jewish males would have been circumcised on the eighth day after birth, in accordance with the covenant God made with Abraham. As a member of a pious, practicing Jewish family, Jesus would have received this ritual induction into the Abrahamic covenant (see Lk 2:21).
Solemnity of the Epiphany
Traditionally celebrated on Jan. 6, the Twelfth Day of Christmas, is the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. The feast is transferred to the Sunday between Jan. 2-8 in the United States, however. In commemoration of Christ’s manifestation to the Magi — who represent how Christ came to save all mankind, not just the Jews — this feast celebrates how Christ’s identity is revealed, as is summed up in the gifts the Three Kings presented him. The gold and frankincense they gave Christ represent his status as king of the universe, the deity worthy of our true worship. And the myrrh tells of the bitter reality that the babe in the manger was born to die.
The Baptism of the Lord
The Christmas season ends with the feast of the Lord’s baptism, which falls on the Sunday after the Epiphany. (That is, unless the Epiphany falls on Jan. 7 or 8, when it then is celebrated on the following day, a Monday.) This feast commemorates the day on which Christ formally accepts his mission as the redeemer when he receives St. John the Baptist’s baptism of conversion and repentance. He sets out from the waters of the Jordan, identified as God’s own son by the Father’s voice that resounded from the opened sky, and inaugurates his saving work as the long-awaited Messiah who will free us of our sins.
(originally posted on https://www.simplycatholic.com/a-walk-through-the-christmas-season/)
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Below, you will find links to blessings and other content to help you celebrate this season of joy and hope for salvation.
Prayers & Blessings
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What are the 12 Days of Christmas, and where did they come from?
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The 12 Days of Christmas are the 12 days between Christmas Day and Epiphany. The “12 Days” likely had pre-Christian roots, though the term was likely adapted to fit the Church calendar in celebration of the Nativity. Tradition also holds that the Three Kings’ journey to meet the baby Jesus was twelve days.Christmastime in the Catholic Church falls between two major Christian Feasts:
the Nativity on Christmas Day and Epiphany (Jan 6).
What that means is, on December 25th, when we celebrate Christmas, we are JUST beginning the Christmas Season in the Catholic Church!
The Octave of Christmas includes the eight days between Christmas Day and January 1, which is both the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, and New Year’s Day.
When we sing “The 12 Days of Christmas”, the song is referring to the 12 days between Christmas Day and Epiphany. The “12 Days” likely had pre-Christian roots, though the term was likely adapted to fit the Church
calendar in celebration of the Nativity. Tradition also holds that the Three Kings’ journey to meet the baby Jesus was twelve days.
And that brings us to Epiphany. Epiphany is the celebration of the revelation of Jesus as the Son of God - here on earth with us. The feast is also known as
“Three Kings Day,” the day the Magi visited Jesus in Bethlehem.
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The Octave of Christmas by Jennifer Gregory Miller
“On the 8th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...“ Everyone is familiar with the carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” And although some people have already thrown their Christmas tree to the curb and taken down their Christmas decorations, there are the reminders that “Remember, Christmas is not just one day.”
True, Catholics recognize that Christmas is not only on December 25. The secular carol reminds us there are twelve days of Christmas to January 6, the Epiphany. But the Church’s liturgy actually emphasizes the eight days or octave of Christmas. The Church recognizes that the days of the Christmas Octave are repeating the solemnness of Christmas for eight days, concluding on a high note with another solemnity that echoes the solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord.
Two Principal Solemnities
There are two principal feasts in the Liturgical Year: Easter and Christmas. These are both solemnities (and holydays of obligation) and in the current Liturgical Calendar are the only feasts that have octaves attached (the 1962 calendar also has an octave of Pentecost). Solemnities are festive and exceptional days, the highest ranked feasts of the liturgical calendar marked with special characteristics:
11. Solemnities are counted as the principal days in the calendar and their observance begins with Evening Prayer I of the preceding day. Some also have their own vigil Mass for use when Mass is celebrated in the evening of the preceding day.
The celebration of Easter and Christmas, the two greatest solemnities, continues for eight days, with each octave governed by its own rules. (General Norms of the Liturgical Calendar)
And according to Canon 1251, if a solemnity falls on a Friday, there is no obligation for abstinence.
What Is an Octave?
An octave is the eight-day period during which Easter or Christmas is celebrated, and includes the actual feast. The eighth day is also called the octave or “octave day,” and days in between are said to be “within the octave”:
Octave means an eight-day celebration, that is, the prolongation of a feast to the eighth day (dies octava ) inclusive. The feast itself is considered the first day, and it is followed by six days called “days within the octave.” The eighth or octave day is kept with greater solemnity than the “days within the octave” ( With Christ Through the Year, Bernard Strasser, 1947, p. 39).
The Easter Octave is from Easter Sunday to the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday, each day being another “little Easter.” The Easter octave “overrides” any other feasts on the calendar. Christmas also has an octave, but it is very different from Easter, because it is filled with various feast days, but yet each day is still another “little Christmas.”
From Christmas Day until January 1st, the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, is the Octave Day of Christmas. The Liturgy gives the clues that every day within the octave is treated the same as the original feast day of the Nativity of our Lord. The Liturgy of the Hours repeats Sunday Week I every day of the octave. The Mass has a special Communicantes (In communion...) to insert every day of the Octave when Eucharistic Prayer I is used:
Celebrating the most sacred night (day)
on which blessed Mary the immaculate Virgin
brought forth the Savior for this world,
and in communion with those whose memory we venerate,
especially the glorious ever-Virgin Mary,
Mother of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ...Finally, the Gloria is repeated each day of the Octave.
Despite having four days within the octave that are feasts: St. Stephen, St. John the Evangelist, the Holy Innocents and the Holy Family, each of these days is another “day of the octave of Christmas.”
The main difference between the Easter Octave and the Christmas Octave is that every day in Easter is another solemnity, and Christmas only has two solemnities, December 25, Christmas and January 1, Mary Mother of God. The days in-between are varying levels of feast days.
Why An Octave?
It has often been said that Catholics know how to celebrate. The Church has a built-in pattern within the liturgical calendar that provides what man needs to celebrate the feasts of the year: times of preparation and penance building to major feasts that are prolonged, and multi-level feast days spread throughout the year. Rev. Pius Parsch sums it perfectly when he was writing about today’s feast, January 1, the Octave Day of Christmas:
Today is the octave or the eighth day after the feast of Christmas. In the spirit of the Church the great feasts of redemption should not be restricted to a single celebration but should continue on through a full week. Mother Church is good psychologist; she understands human nature perfectly. When a feast comes, the soul is amazed and not quite prepared to think profoundly upon its mystery; but on the following days the mind finds it easy to consider the mystery from all sides, sympathetically and deeply; and an eighth day affords a wonderful opportunity to make a synthesis of all points covered. The octave of Christmas is not the best example because other feasts distract one from the Christmas theme; this octave day, therefore, takes on greater importance. Today for the last time the Church leads us to the crib at Bethlehem ( The Church’s Year of Grace, Volume I, pp. 244-245).
The octave gives us time to impress upon our souls the mysteries, joys and graces of the principal feasts of the Church year.
Our family likes to imitate the Church pattern within our family. We extend our family birthday and anniversary celebrations to more than just a day. We jokingly call it our “Birthday Octave,” but the reasoning behind it is similar to Father Parsch’s: we can’t celebrate completely in one day. I’m not saying family celebrations are the same as the Liturgy, but our human nature is still the same. We recognize that schedules are busy, and there are different people and activities that will be too much to fit in one day. My birthday plans might include an intimate dinner with my husband, cake and presents with my children, and perhaps a gathering with extended family. It is more pleasing (and a recognition of our human nature) to prolong the celebration for more than just a day.
What’s in a Number? Bringing Us Back to “Do”
Why eight days? The number eight is supposed to represent perfection or rest. Some have traced the origins back to Jewish festival customs, such as circumcision of the Jewish boy was on the eighth day, the feast of Tabernacles lasted seven days and concluded with a solemnity, forming an octave, and the feast of the Dedication of the Temple by Solomon and purification lasted eight days. It is also said that Jesus rose from the dead on the eighth day (which is why Sundays are considered on par with solemnities). The development of the octaves within the liturgy was gradual, and it was not until the 8th century that Rome celebrated octaves for certain feasts.
We are probably most familiar with the term octave as it is used in a musical scale. Whether we sing it with solfege, DO RE MI... or play the eight notes within a scale, knowing the musical connection can help understand how the Church views the octave as applied to the Liturgical Year:
Octave (from the Latin octo , eight; octava dies , the eighth day) is used to signify both a period of eight days and the eighth day of that period. This liturgical use conforms to the musical denomination of an octave as the eighth note in a diatonic sequence and also as the whole compass of notes comprised between the first and the eighth (including both extremes) in a diatonic scale. In one sense, then, the octave of Christmas is the feast of the Circumcision, or New Year’s Day. In another sense, it is the whole period within these feasts, inclusive of both.
An octave continues the celebration of a feast for eight days. The eighth day, however, whilst of inferior liturgical important to the feast-day itself, is nevertheless of higher important than any of the preceding six days. Here, again, there is almost a symbolic correspondence with the musical use of the word; for the eighth note, while not possessing the basic value of the first, still is considered as repeating it, for it merges with the first in physical vibration, sounds like it, and bears its name (Catholic Customs and Symbols, Hugh Henry, 1925, p. 203-204).
Hugh Henry wrote the above in 1925, since then the title of the feast for January 1st has changed from the “Circumcision of the Lord” to “Mary, Mother of God,” but everything else applies. Octaves in the liturgy mean every day within the octave is the feast all over again. There are subtleties, so it is more of a “little” Christmas rather than the actual solemnity, but technically days in the octave is Christmas all over again.
One question arose in trying to explain this application of music theory to the liturgy. If January 1st is a feast of Mary, how is this repeating the feast of Christmas? I found a two-fold answer.
First, the actual title of this feast is “the Octave Day of Christmas and the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.” Within this feast is multiple layers, but the title itself indicates it is a feast of our Lord, repeating the solemnity of Christmas, but also honors Mary as the Mother of God. The Mass readings return to the stable at Bethlehem, picking up right after the Gospel from Midnight Mass of Christmas. The shepherds went in haste to the stable...with Mary pondering all these things in her heart, and ends with the Circumcision. The Gospel indicates this is both a feast of Jesus and Mary.
I also found a profound explanation from recently beatified Pope Paul VI from his Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultis from 1974:
5. The Christmas Season is a prolonged commemoration of the divine, virginal and salvific Motherhood of her whose “inviolate virginity brought the Saviour into the world”. In fact, on the Solemnity of the Birth of Christ the Church both adores the Saviour and venerates his glorious Mother. On the Epiphany, when she celebrates the universal call to salvation, the Church contemplates the Blessed Virgin, the true Seat of Wisdom and true Mother of the King, who presents to the Wise Men for their adoration the Redeemer of all peoples (cf. Mt. 2:11). On the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (the Sunday within the octave of Christmas) the Church meditates with profound reverence upon the holy life led in the house at Nazareth by Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Man, Mary his Mother, and Joseph the just man (cf. Mt. 1:19).
In the revised ordering of the Christmas period it seems to us that the attention of all should be directed towards the restored Solemnity of Mary the holy Mother of God. This celebration, placed on January 1 in conformity with the ancient indication of the liturgy of the City of Rome, is meant to commemorate the part played by Mary in this mystery of salvation. It is meant also to exalt the singular dignity which this mystery brings to the “holy Mother...through whom we were found worthy to receive the Author of Life”. It is likewise a fitting occasion for renewing adoration to the newborn Prince of Peace, for listening once more to the glad tidings of the Angels (cf. Lk 2:14): and for imploring from God, through the Queen of Peace, the supreme gift of peace.... (Marialis Cultis, St. Pope Paul VI).
While Christmas is considered primarily a feast of our Lord on the liturgical calendar, “the Church both adores the Saviour and venerates his glorious Mother.“ So today, the Octave Day of Christmas IS repeating again this feast of Christmas, honoring both Jesus and Mary.
The Octave of Christmas emphasizes truth in the words of the Christmas carol, because the days of the Christmas Octave are actual days of Christmas. After today, the Church continues the Christmas season, which is a season of Christmastide, but not the actual solemnity of Christmas (for further reading, see Christmas to Candlemas: When Is the Real End of the Christmas Season?). There are special feast days, such as the Solemnity of Epiphany (January 3, 2021 in the United States in the Ordinary Form calendar) and the feast of the Baptism of the Lord on January 10, 2021, but the dynamic is different because they are not part of the Octave.
Which leads me to the conclusion that we are sorely lacking a Christmas carol that emphasizes the special nature of the eight days of Christmas.
https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/octave-christmas/
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