Professor William A. Thomas delivers a sobering analysis of the moral and spiritual unraveling of the West, tracing its roots to humanity’s rebellion against God and the Church’s retreat from truth. He critiques the rise of doctrinal ambiguity, the silence on sin and hell, and the emotionalism driving today’s “synodal” experiments. Thomas warns that modernism, relativism, and Marxist ideologies are being repackaged as reform, while in reality they are eroding catechesis, doctrine, and Catholic identity.
He urges a return to the clarity of apostolic teaching, devotion to Our Lady of Fatima, and the sacred liturgy.
01 January 2026
The Circumcision of Our Lord
From The Golden Legend of Blessed Jacobus Voragine, translated by William Caxton in 1483.
OF THE CIRCUMCISION OF OUR LORD
THE OCTAVE OF THE NATIVITY
As for the first it appeareth, for the utas of saints be solemn, by much more reason ought it to be of him that is the saint of all saints. Now it seemeth that the Nativity of our Lord ought not to have none utas. For the nativity tendeth to the death. And the decease of saints have their utas because they be born of the nativity that stretcheth to life perdurable, for to be after glorified in body. And by the same way it seemeth that the nativity of the glorious Virgin Mary and of St. John Baptist, and of the Resurrection of our Lord ought not to have utas, for the resurrection was then done. Hereto we ought to consider, like as saith a doctor, that, in this we should fulfil such things as we accomplished not in the principal day that our Lord was born in. Of which of ancient time men were wont to sing at the Mass: Vultum tuum domine, etc. to the honour of our Lady St. Mary. The other octaves or utases as of Paske, Whitsuntide, the nativity of our Lady and St. John Baptist be of devotion, as of other saints that men will honour for singular cause or affection. And they may be said the octaves of figuration, for they signify and figure the octave of the last resurrection perpetual, which is the eighth age.A NEW NAME BEARING HEALTH
And as to the second, this day was his name imposed to him, and was named with the new name that the mouth of God named. This is the name of which there is none other under heaven by which we may be saved, that is Jesus. After St. Bernard, “This is the name which in the mouth is honey, in the ear melody, and in the heart joy; this is the name after that he saith, it lighteth and shineth like oil. When it is preached it feedeth the soul, when it is in the mind of the heart it is sweet, and it anointeth when it is called.”The Three Names of Jesus
And as the evangelist saith, he had three names, that is to wit the Son of God, Jesus, and Christus. He is called the Son of God insomuch as he is God of God the Father; Christ insomuch as he is a man taken of a person divine and nature human, and Jesus inasmuch as he is God united to our humanity. And of this three manner of names, saith St. Bernard, “Ye that lie in dust and powder arise out of your sleep and awake ye and give praising to God. Lo here that our Lord shall come unto your health, he cometh with unction, he cometh with glory. Jesus cometh not without health, nor Christ cometh not without unction, nor the Son of God without glory. For he is our health, our unction and our joy.”And as touching this treble name; before his passion, he was not perfectly known. As touching the first he was somewhat known by conjecting, as of his enemies, which said Jesu Christ to be the Son of God. And as to the second, of less or fewer he was known for Jesu Christ. And as to the third, vocally, for as much as by the voice he was called Jesus. But as to the reason of the name, he was not known. For “Jesus” is as much to say as “Saviour,” and this understood not they.
After the resurrection, this treble was clarified and declared. The first to the certainty, the second to the publication, the third to the reason of the name.
The Name “Son of God”
The first name is Son of God. And that these names be appropriate to him, Saint Hilary in his book that he made of the Trinity saith thus: Vere filium Dei unigenitum: In divers manners this name, Son of God, is known, as it is witnessed of God. God the Father witnesseth it that he is his son. Apostles preach it, the religious believe it, the fiends our enemies confess it. And therefore we know our Lord Jesu Christ in his manners, by name, by nature, by nativity, by puissance, and by his passion.The Name “Christus”
The second name is Christus, which is interpreted “unction.” For he was anointed with the oil of gladness before all them that to him were party. And by that he is said anointed, it is showed that he was a prophet, a champion, a priest and a king. These four persons sometime were wont to be anointed. Jesu Christ was a prophet teaching the doctrine divine, a champion in the battle against the devil whom he overcame, a priest in reconciling the human lineage to God the Father, and a king in distributing and rewarding every man.…[The Legend continues with discussion of the name “Jesus” and then cites comments by Church Fathers on the significance of that name. Here in italics is a summary of the parts omitted from my source:]
THE EFFUSION OF OUR LORD’S PRECIOUS BLOOD
The Legend explains the third reason for solemnizing this day: it is the first of the five occasions when Christ’s blood was shed. The others are the agony in the garden, the courging, the crucifixion, and the piercing of his side.THE SIGNS OF THE CIRCUMCISION
The fourth reason for solemnizing this day is for “the seal that Christ deigned to receive on this day.” For his willingness to receive circumcision the Legend provides five reasons: To show that his body was truly human, to show us that we should be circumcised in the spirit and thus redeemed, to leave the Jews no excuse for rejecting him, to keep the demons from learning of the mystery of the Incarnation, and to give us an example of humility.WAYS TO UNDERSTAND WHY CIRCUMCISION OCCURS ON THE EIGHTH DAY
Literally
On the literal level of understanding scripture, according to the Legend, God did not want babies to be circumcised in their first week because the flesh is too soft at that time.Anagogically
On the anagogical level of understanding scripture, according to the Legend, circumcision on the eighth day reminds us that we will be reedeemed “withing the octave of the resurrection,” taking the eight days for the eight ages of the world. Also, the eight days remind of the eight things that will be ours in Heaven: life, health, food, plenty, glory, honor, peace, and every good. Also, man is composed of seven elements (the four physical elements plus three faculties of the soul) but upon redemption is circumcised of all sins and faults.Tropologically
On the tropological level, the Legend continues, each of the eight days has a moral meaning to the individual Christian.The first day involves knowledge of our sins.
The second day is the decision
…for to leave sin and take the good, the which is showed us by the son that dispended his good follily, and when he had perceived that he had done evil and foolishly, he advertised himself and said: I shall depart and return to my father, and shall pray that I may serve him, and that he may receive me to mercy, and make me as one of his servants.
The third [day] is shame of sin, whereof saith St. Paul to them that for their sins be in pain and in torment: What fruit have ye founden in those sins in your life of which now ye be ashamed?
The fourth [day] is dread of the coming judgment and doom, whereof Job saith: I have feared and doubted God as men dread the waves of the sea in their great rage and tempest. And St. Jerome saith thus: Sive comedam sive bibam, etc. As oft as I eat or drink or that I do any other thing, alway me seemeth that I hear the sound and the voice crying: Arise, ye dead men, and come to the doom and the judgment.
The fifth is contrition, whereof St. Jerome saith: Give thy weeping and bitterness of that which thou hast angered thy God by thy sin.
The sixth is confession, whereof David saith: Dixi confitebor, etc.: I have said and purposed in my heart that I shall confess me to God and make knowledge of my sin.
The seventh is hope of pardon, for if Judas had had very repentance and hope, and had confessed his sin, he had had forgiveness and pardon.
The eighth is satisfaction and sacrifice, and then is the man verily circumcised, not only from the sin, but also from pain.
Where the two first days be for the sorrow of sin that hath been done and the will for to amend it, the third day we should confess the evil that we have done and the good deeds that we have left. The other four days be orison, effusion of tears, affliction of body, and alms given.
Allegorically
On the allegorical level of scriptural interpretation, the first five days correspond to the five books of Moses; the sixth and seventh, to the Prophets and the Psalms; and the eighth to the Gospel, which perfects circumcision.REGARDING THE FLESH REMOVED BY THE CIRCUMCISION
The Legend says that the removed flesh is said by some to have been carried by an angel to Charlemagne at Aix-la-Chapelle, where it remains, while others say it is in Rome. The author doubts these claims, reasoning that all of Christ’s flesh was glorified at his Ascension into Heaven.CONCLUSION
The Legend concludes with a final reason why the Church solemnized the first day of the year: to encourage Christians to abandon the pagan celebrations that were customary on that day.By contrast, Caxton’s translation of this part of the Legend concludes as follows:
We find that Jesu Christ said by the mouth of his saints: Non veni legem solvere sed adimplere, “I came not,” said Jesu Christ, “to break the law, but to fulfil it.” And he was that day circumcised and named Jesus, which is as much to say as Saviour.
And at the circumcision must he cut a little of the skin at the end of the member or yard, and that is signified and shewed that we ought to be circumcised, and cut and taken away from us the sins and evil vices, that is to wit pride, wrath, envy, covetousness, sloth, gluttony, and lechery, and all sins, and purge us by confession, by contrition, by satisfaction, by almsdeeds, and by prayers, and to give for God's sake of the goods that he hath lent us.
For we have nothing proper, but Jesu Christ hath lent to us all that we have. Then it is well reason that we do give for him to the poor of such goods as be his, for we be but servants, and we ought to give to the hungry meat, to the thirsty drink, to the naked clothing, visit the sick, and tofore all things to love God, and after, our neighbour as ourself; and despoil ourself from sin, and clothe us with good works and virtues, and follow the commandment of Jesu Christ. And in this manner we shall fulfil the will of our father Jesu Christ, if we been so purged and thus circumcised.
Then let us pray unto the Lord of heaven that saith that he came not to break the law but to fulfil it, that he give us grace in such manner to fulfil the law and his will in this world, that we may come into his holy bliss in heaven. Amen.
How to Live More Liturgically this New Year
Mr Plese is a wellspring of knowledge on the Liturgy and Catholic customs. Here, he gives advice on how to go deeper into the Liturgy in 2026.
From One Peter Five
By Matthew Plese, TOP
The Liturgical Year & Its Two Cycles
The Church’s Liturgical Year is a harmonious interplay of feasts and fasts interwoven in both the temporal and sanctoral cycles that define the rhythm and rhyme of Catholic life. The Church’s annual liturgical calendar is comprised of two different, concurrent annual cycles. First, the Proper of the Seasons, or Temporal Cycle, traces the earthly life of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Roman Catholic Church, it consists mainly of Sundays related to the various liturgical seasons – that is, the seven liturgical seasons contained in two cycles of its own: the Christmas Cycle and the Easter Cycle. It starts with Advent then goes through Christmas, Epiphany, Septuagesima, Lent, Easter, and Time after Pentecost. The determination of the date of Easter dictates nearly all the other dates in this cycle. But there is a second cycle: the Proper of the Saints, called the Sanctoral Cycle, which is the annual cycle of feast days not necessarily connected with the seasons.[1]
The base level of living a Catholic liturgical life is assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and praying the prayers and living the feasts and fasts of the day, which the Church is liturgically keeping. Even if we are not assisting at Mass, we can and should pray the Church’s liturgical prayers whether that be in the form of a Missa Sicca at home or by praying the Divine Office or the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Changes to the Catholic Liturgical Year after Vatican II
Step one of going deeper is going from the Novus Ordo Calendar to the Traditional Calendar of 1962. Even though many changes occurred before Vatican II, they pale in comparison to the changes made after it. With the introduction of the Novus Ordo, more than 300 saints were removed from the General Calendar, as the flagship article “The Sanctoral Killing Fields: On the Removal of Saints from the General Roman Calendar” calculated.
The results have greatly affected Catholic life. How many Catholics today are familiar with St. Telesphorus, the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, Ss. Cletus and Marcellinus, the Seven Holy Brothers, St. Thelca, St. Placid, St. Ursula, or even St. Barbara? These saints gave a powerful and memorable witness to our holy Faith. They provide powerful inspiration for us in these turbulent times and are models we should all strive to emulate. Yet, all these and more were removed from the liturgical calendar, leaving all parishes named after such saints orphaned with no patronal feast day remaining on the universal calendar.
While hundreds of changes occurred to the Sanctoral Cycle in 1969, there were still considerable changes to the Temporal Cycle with the introduction of the Novus Ordo Mass. These changes included the following:
- Removing Septuagesima entirely, thus continuing the use of the Alleluia until Ash Wednesday. This change made easing into Lenten penance much harder.
- Eliminating the requirement to veil statues and images during Passiontide.
- Replacing Time After Epiphany and Time After Pentecost with a strangely named “Ordinary Time” (Tempus per annum)season that is split in half and is seemingly unrelated to the Liturgical Year. Such a change vastly split the “3 cycles with 7 seasons” Temporal Cycle that was around for centuries.
- Moving a number of temporal feast days, like the Feast of Christ the King (from the last Sunday of October to the final Sunday before Advent) and the Feast of the Holy Family (from the Sunday after January 6th to the Sunday in the Octave of Christmas).
The changes made after Vatican II also affected how we refer to feast days. In 1969, the ranking of feast days was changed to solemnities, feasts, memorials, and optional memorials. In the 1962 Missal, we have First, Second, Third, and Fourth Class feast days. But for centuries before the 1962 Missal, up until the changes made by Pope Pius XII in 1955, the ranks of feast days were, from least to most important: Simple, Semi-double, Lesser Double (also known as Double), Greater Double, Double of the Second Class, and lastly Double of the First Class.
The Changes to the Catholic Liturgical Year Before Vatican II
But we can go deeper. And the next layer is to transition, at least in our own personal devotional lives, to a pre-1955 Calendar.
In addition to the significant changes and alterations to the Holy Week Liturgies in the 1955 Missal, there were also a few other noteworthy changes. With the advent of the 1955 Calendar, Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of “St. Joseph the Worker” on May 1 (moving the feast of “Saints Philip and James,” which was previously in the past a Holy Day of Obligation, from May 1 where it had been since the sixth century to May 11). In doing this, he also suppressed the Patronage of St. Joseph that – since Pope Pius IX’s decree of September 10, 1847 – had been celebrated on the second Wednesday after the Octave of Easter. In 1954, Pius XII also instituted the Feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary on May 31; and to make room for it, he moved the Feast of St. Angela Merici to June 1.
The year 1955 saw some of the most significant changes to the Church’s liturgy since the Council of Trent. In Cum nostra hac aetate (March 23, 1955), Pius XII abolished fifteen Octaves in addition to the Octave for the Dedication of a Church, and particular octaves for patrons of various religious orders, countries, and dioceses. He also abolished roughly half of all vigils, leading to the removal of the liturgical vigils of the Immaculate Conception, Epiphany, All Saints, and for all of the Apostles except Saints Peter and Paul. The total number of liturgical vigils was now reduced to seven. These vast changes affected both the Temporal and Sanctoral cycles.
Additional changes that occurred in 1960 under Pope John XXIII included the removal of most saints who were on the calendar twice or feasts that commemorated miraculous events. For instance, the Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross, the second feast of St. Agnes commemorating her apparition to her parents, and the Feast of St. John before the Latin Gate were all removed. These changes were incorporated in the 1962 Missal; however, a priest may still choose to offer a votive Mass for those saints on those traditional feast days.
Masses in Some Places
But we can advance deeper still. Even in the Roman Rite itself, various dioceses, countries, and religious orders keep some different feast days. For instance, there is a fascinating list of movable Masses related to Our Lord’s Passion that are kept in some places and by some religious orders – but not on the Church’s Universal Calendar. These Masses in some places can be found in the supplement of the traditional Roman Missal under Missae pro Aliquibus Locis (“Mass in Some Places”) and some of the feast days in the list include:
- The Prayer of Christ (Tuesday after Septuagesima): This was kept by the Dominicans, who had separate feasts for most of the Mysteries of the Rosary not already on the general calendar.
- The Commemoration of the Passion of Christ (Tuesday after Sexagesima): This was a Passionist Feast.
- The Feast of Reparation of Insults Offered to the Most Holy Sacrament (Thursday after Sexagesima)
- The Feast of the Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ Deformed in the Passion (Tuesday after Quinquagesima): Mass said in reparation for the sins of Mardi Gras.
- The Sacred Crown of Thorns (Friday after Ash Wednesday): This was kept at Notre Dame in Paris and also at St Peter’s, which has two of the thorns.
- The Sacred Lance and Nails (Friday after the First Sunday in Lent): This was very popular in late medieval Germany and the Low Countries, under the title “Arma Domini,” but usually kept in Eastertide, on the Friday after Low Sunday.
- The Holy Shroud (Friday after the Second Sunday in Lent): This was kept in Turin, Italy.
- The Five Holy Wounds (Friday after the Third Sunday in Lent)
- The Precious Blood (Friday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent): This was the original date for the Precious Blood Fathers and also for Westminster Cathedral.
We could personally keep such feast days alive in our own homes by reading about them and by praying the collect from these feasts in our morning and evening prayers. There are many such “Masses in Some Places” throughout the year.
Votive Masses
A weekday with no feast associated with it is called a feria or ferial day (from the Latin feria meaning “free day”). On such a day, in the traditional rite, the priest generally offers the Mass of the previous Sunday or a Votive Mass of his choice. He may choose to follow the devotion attributed to that day of the week (for instance, on a ferial Wednesday he may offer a Votive Mass of St. Joseph since Wednesdays are devoted to St. Joseph) or he may offer a Votive Mass of Our Lady. But he may also offer a Votive Mass for any saint. He may also generally, exceptions aside, offer a Requiem Mass.
In our own spiritual lives, we might add to our morning prayers the collects from various Votive Masses found in our hand missals. In so doing, we can better honor the Holy Angels each Tuesday, St. Joseph each Wednesday, the Institution of the Eucharist and the Priesthood on Thursdays, and Our Lord’s Passion on Fridays.
Reading the Martyrology Daily
The Martyrology is an official liturgical book that contains a list of saints whose feast days are celebrated throughout the liturgical year. It includes a brief account of their lives and, in the case of martyrs, the circumstances of their deaths. The purpose of the Martyrology is to provide a guide for the Church to commemorate and honor these holy men and women.
The Martyrology is traditionally prayed or chanted during the canonical hour of Prime. Prime is one of the hours of the Divine Office, which is a set of prayers and psalms recited by religious communities and clergy at various times throughout the day. Historically, Prime was the first hour of the day, typically prayed at sunrise. Sadly, it too was abolished after Vatican II.
We can go deeper still by obtaining a copy of the pre-1955 Martyrology in English and reading the accounts of the saints in it each day. You will be amazed at the number of saints who are canonized and who are not known. You will be awed by the accounts of their triumphs over cruelty and torture. And you may even be surprised to see when all the Old Testament Prophets are honored as saints as well throughout the year.
Living out Catholic Customs
Beyond assisting at Mass and praying the Divine Office, we can and should observe the forgotten customs that further underscored authentic Catholic culture. Catholic culture is more than just going to Mass – much more. Catholic culture is built on fasting periods, assisting at Processions, having various items blessed at different parts of the year (e.g., herbs on August 15, grapes on September 8th, wine on December 27th). It features days of festivity like Martinmas and promotes family time and charitable works like visits to grandparents on Easter Monday. It is replete with food customs to celebrate the end of fasting periods and filled with special devotions during periods of penance. It is our heritage. These traditions are our birthright. They are ours as much as they were our ancestors. We must reclaim them. We must spread them. We must love them and observe them. To this end, I hope you will pick up a copy of my newest book: Restoring Lost Customs of Christendom and strive to live out these customs each day this new year.
Make Catholic Resolutions for the New Year
Each year I have made what I call “Catholic Resolutions.” These New Years Resolutions are not centered on losing weight, eating more vegetables, or securing a raise. I make resolutions for all facets of my life including these. Rather, these resolutions each year are centered around my spiritual life. I encourage all of you to make resolutions specifically geared toward improving your own Faith life and your own knowledge of the Faith. One’s spiritual health needs the same care – if not more – than our physical, financial, or professional health. Here are 10 suggestions:
- Pray the Rosary every day, if you are out of the habit of it.
- Pray Lauds, Vespers, and Compline (from the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary or the Divine Office) every day.
- Say a prayer for the Poor Souls in Purgatory every day, such as the St Gertrude Prayer. Getting a copy of The Purgatorian Manual: Containing Spiritual Reading and Prayers for Every Day of the Month is also an excellent idea.
- Attend Mass one day extra a week in addition to Sunday. And if you have fallen away from Mass, start going weekly again.
- Make it a habit to go to Confession every two weeks. Ensure that you are sincere and actually detest your sins and desire to amend your life.
- Fulfill the First Friday Devotion as well as the First Saturday Devotion. (Join the Crusade this year called by Bishop Schneider!)
- Start wearing the Brown Scapular if you do not already. But ensure you are properly enrolled by a priest.
- Add additional days of penance to your life. Can you observe the vigils of the apostles as fast days? What about all 40 days of Lent or the 40 days leading up to Christmas? There are many venerable ways we can practice penance this year and fulfill our Lady’s call for “Penance, penance, penance.” (Join OnePeterFive’s lay sodality, the Fellowship of St. Nicholas to embrace traditional fasts this year with other Catholics).
- Make it a point to learn much more about the Faith. For example, CatechismClass.com has an ideal Adult Course just for this purpose.
- Do you struggle with certain sins or addictions? What actions do I need to take to really conquer them?
May Our Lord grant all of us a most blessed new year as we seek to go deeper into the Church’s liturgical life this year!
[1] There are more than 20 different Catholic Rites and several Churches which are all in Communion with and under obedience to Rome. All these Catholics are fully Catholic in the complete sense. The rites of various Eastern Catholic Churches (e.g., the Byzantine Rite, the Syro Malabar Rite, etc.) use entirely separate calendars with separate saints commemorated, separate Holy Days of Obligation, and separate days of fasting and abstinence. A liturgical diversity in the calendar is seen even in the West. Beyond the Roman Rite, the Ambrosian, Mozarabic, Lyon, and Bragan Rites are also all part of the Western liturgical tradition. So too are the various rites for religious orders (e.g., the Carmelite Rite, the Dominican Rite). There are various uses as well, such as the Anglican Use (i.e., the Ordinariate) – which was only recently approved under Benedict XVI. These are also part of the Roman Catholic Church. Thus, there is no one Catholic calendar, but the calendar mentioned by most Catholics is the Roman Calendar used in the Roman Rite.
The Circumcision of Our Lord, & Octave of Christmas Day
From Dom Prosper Guéranger's Liturgical Year:
Our newborn King and Savior is eight days old today; the Star that guides the Magi is advancing towards Bethlehem and, five days hence, will be standing over the Stable where our Jesus is being nursed by his Mother. Today, the Son of Man is to be circumcised; this first sacrifice of his innocent Flesh must honor the eighth day of his mortal life. Mysteries abound on this day: let us not pass one of them over, but honor them with all possible devotion and love.
But this Day is not exclusively devoted to the Circumcision of Jesus. The mystery of the Circumcision forms part of that other great mystery, the Incarnation and Infancy of our Savior—a mystery on which the Church fixes her heart, not only during this Octave, but during the whole forty days of Christmastide. Then, as regards our Lord’s receiving the Name of Jesus, a special Feast, which we shall soon be keeping, is set apart in honor of it. There is another object that shares the love and devotion of the Faithful on this great Solemnity. This object is Mary, the Mother of God. The Church celebrates today the august prerogative of this divine Maternity, which was conferred on a mere creature, and which made her the cooperatrix with Jesus in the great work of man’s salvation.
The holy Church of Rome used formerly to say two Masses on the first of January; one was for the Octave of Christmas Day, the other was in honor of Mary. She now unites the two intentions in one Sacrifice, in the same manner as, in the rest of this Day’s Office, she unites together the acts of her adoration of the Son, and the expressions of her admiration for, and confidence in, the Mother.
The Greek Church does not wait for this Eighth Day in order to pay her tribute of homage to Her who has given us our Emmanuel. She consecrates to Mary the first Day after Christmas, that is, the 26th of December, and calls it the Synaxis of the Mother of God, making the two Days one continued Feast. She is thus obliged to defer the Feast of St. Stephen to the 27th of December.
But it is today that we, the children of the Roman Church, must pour forth all the love of our hearts for the Virgin Mother and rejoice with her in the exceeding happiness she feels at having given birth to her and our Lord. During Advent, we contemplated her as pregnant with the world’s salvation; we proclaimed the glory of that Ark of the New Covenant, whose chaste womb was the earthly paradise, chosen by the King of Ages for his dwelling place. Now she has brought him forth, the Infant God; she adores him, Him who is her Son. She has the right to call him her Child; and He, God as he is, calls her in strictest truth his Mother.
Let us not be surprised, therefore, at the enthusiasm and profound respect wherewith the Church extols the Blessed Virgin and her prerogatives. Let us, on the contrary, be convinced that all the praise the Church can give her, and all the devotion she can ever bear towards her, are far below what is due to her as Mother of the Incarnate God. No mortal will ever be able to describe or even comprehend how great a glory accrues to her from this sublime dignity. For as the glory of Mary comes from her being the Mother of God, one would have first to comprehend God himself in order to measure the greatness of her dignity. It is to God that Mary gave our human nature; it is God whom she had as her Child; it is God who gloried in rendering himself, inasmuch as he is Man, subject to her: hence, the true value of such a dignity, possessed by a mere creature, can only be appreciated in proportion to our knowledge of the sovereign perfections of the great God who thus deigns to make himself dependent upon that favored creature. Let us therefore bow down in deepest adoration before the Majesty of our God; let us therefore acknowledge that we cannot respect, as it deserves, the extraordinary dignity of Her whom he chose for his Mother.
The same sublime Mystery overpowers the mind from another point of view—what were the feelings of such a Mother towards such a Son? The Child she holds in her arms and presses to her heart is the Fruit of her virginal womb, and she loves him as her own; she loves him because she is his Mother, and a Mother loves her child as herself, nay, more than herself: but when she thinks upon the infinite majesty of Him who has thus given himself to her to be the object of her love and her fond caresses—she trembles in her humility, and her soul has to turn, in order to bear up against the overwhelming truth, to the other thought of the nine months she held this Babe in her womb, and of the filial smile he gave her when her eyes first met his. These two deep-rooted feelings—of a creature that adores, and of a Mother that loves—are in Mary’s heart. The being Mother of God implies all this—and may we not well say that no pure creature could be exalted more than she? and that in order to comprehend her dignity, we should first have to comprehend God himself? and that only God’s infinite wisdom could plan such a work, and only his infinite power accomplish it?
A Mother of God! —It is the mystery whose fulfillment the world, without knowing it, was awaiting for four thousand years. It is the work which, in God’s eyes, was incomparably greater than that of the creation of a million new worlds, for such a creation would cost him nothing; he has but to speak, and all whatsoever he wills is made. But that a creature should become Mother of God, he has had not only to suspend the laws of nature by making a Virgin Mother, but also to put himself in a state of dependence upon the happy creature he chose for his Mother. He had to give her rights over himself, and contract the obligation of certain duties towards her. He had to make Her his Mother, and Himself her Son.
It follows from this that the blessings of the Incarnation for which we are indebted to the love wherewith the Divine Word loved us, may and ought to be referred, though in an inferior degree, to Mary herself. If she be the Mother of God, it is because she consented to it, for God vouchsafed not only to ask her consent, but, moreover, to make the coming of his Son into this world depend upon her giving it. As this his Son, the Eternal Word, spoke his Fiat over chaos, and the answer to his word was creation; so did Mary use the same word Fiat: —let it be done unto me, she said. (Luke 1:38) God heard her word and, immediately, the Son of God descended into her virginal womb. After God, then, it is to Mary, his ever Blessed Mother, that we are indebted for our Emmanuel.
The divine plan for the world’s salvation included there being a Mother of God: and as heresy sought to deny the mystery of the Incarnation, it equally sought to deny the glorious prerogative of Mary. Nestorius asserted that Jesus was only man; Mary, consequently, was not Mother of God, but merely Mother of a Man called Jesus. This impious doctrine roused the indignation of the Catholic world. The East and West united in proclaiming that Jesus was God and Man, in unity of Person; and that Mary, being his Mother, was, in strict truth, “Mother of God” (Deipara and Θεοτόκος are the respective Latin and Greek terms). This victory over Nestorianism was won at the Council of Ephesus. It was hailed by the Christians of those times with an enthusiasm of faith, which not only proved the tender love they had for the Mother of Jesus, but was sure to result in the setting up of some solemn trophy that would perpetuate the memory of the victory. It was then that began, in both the Greek and Latin Churches, the pious custom of uniting, during Christmas, the veneration due to the Mother with the supreme worship given to the Son. The day assigned for the united commemoration varied in the several countries, but the sentiment of religion which suggested the Feast was one and the same throughout the entire Church.
The holy Pope Sixtus III ordered an immense Mosaic to be worked into the Chancel-Arch of the Church of St. Mary Major, in Rome, as a monument to the holy Mother of God. The Mosaic still exists, bearing testimony as to what was the faith held in the Fifth Century. It represents the various Scriptural types of our Lady, and the inscription of the holy Pontiff is still legible in its bold letters: Xystus Episcopus plebi Dei (Xystus Bishop to the People of God:), for the Saint had dedicated to the Faithful this his offering to Mary, the Mother of God.
Special Chants were also composed at Rome for the celebration of the great mystery of the Word made Man through Mary. Sublime Responsories and Antiphons, accompanied by appropriate music, were written to serve the Church and her children as the expression of their faith, and they are the ones we now use. The Greek Church makes use of some of these very Antiphons for the Christmas Solemnity; so that, with regard to the mystery of the Incarnation, there is not only unity of faith, there is also oneness of devotional sentiment.
MASS
This Station is at St. Mary’s across the Tiber. It was but just that this Basilica should receive such an honor, for it is the most ancient of all the Churches raised by the devotion of the Faithful of Rome in honor of our Blessed Lady. It was consecrated in the 3rd century by St. Callixtus, on the site of the ancient Taberna Meritoria, celebrated even among the Pagans for the fountain of Oil which sprang up in that spot, in the reign of Augustus, and flowed into the Tiber. The piety of the Christians interpreted this as a symbol of the Christ that was afterwards born; and the Basilica is sometimes called, even to this day, Fons Olei.
The Introit is that of the Third Mass of Christmas Day, as are also most of the portions that are chanted by the Choir. It celebrates the Birth of the Child who is born unto us, and is today eight days old.
A Child is born to us, and a Son is given to us: and the government is upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called the Angel of the great Counsel.
Ps. Sing to the Lord a new canticle: for he hath done wonderful things. ℣. Glory, etc. A Child.
In the Collect, the Church celebrates the Fruitful Virginity of the Mother of God, and shows Mary to us as the source whence God poured out upon mankind the blessing of the Incarnation. She expresses to God himself the hopes we have in the intercession of this privileged creature.
COLLECT
O God, who by the fruitful Virginity of Blessed Mary, hast given to mankind the rewards of eternal salvation; grant, we beseech thee, that we may experience Her intercession, by whom we received the Author of Life, our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son. Who liveth, etc.
EPISTLE
Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to Titus 2:11-15
Dearly Beloved: The grace of God our Savior hath appeared to all men; Instructing us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly, and justly, and godly in this world, Looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and might cleanse to himself a people acceptable, a pursuer of good works. These things speak, and exhort: in Christ Jesus our Lord.
These counsels of our great Apostle, who warns the Faithful of the obligation they are under of making a good use of the present life, are most appropriate to this first day of January, which is now the beginning of the New Civil Year. Let us therefore renounce all worldly desires; let us live soberly, justly, and piously, and permit nothing to distract us from the expectation of that blessedness which is our hope. The great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who shows himself to us these days of his mercy, in order to instruct us—will come to us, in a second coming, in order to give us our reward. The beginning of a New Year tells us plainly enough that this last day is fast approaching—let us cleanse ourselves from all iniquity, and become a people acceptable to our Redeemer, a people doing good works.
The Gradual proclaims the grand tidings of the Birth of our Jesus, and invites all nations to give praise to him, as also to the Eternal Father, who had promised him by the Prophets, and at length sent him.
All the ends of the earth have seen the Salvation of our God: sing joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
℣. The Lord hath made known his Salvation; he hath revealed his justice in the sight of the Gentiles.
Alleluia, alleluia.
℣. God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spoke in time past to our fathers, by the Prophets, last of all, in these days, hath spoken to us by his Son. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
Sequel of the holy Gospel according to St. Luke 2:21
At that time: After eight days were accomplished, that the child should be circumcised, his name was called Jesus, which was called by the Angel, before he was conceived in the womb.
The Child is circumcised: he is now not only a member of the human race, his is made today a member of God’s chosen People. He subjects himself to this painful ceremony, to this symbol of one devoted to the Divine service, in order that he may fulfill all justice. He receives, at the same time, his Name: the Name is Jesus, and it means a Savior. A Savior! Then, he is to save us? Yes; and he is to save us by his Blood. Such is the divine appointment, and he has bowed down his will to it. The Incarnate Word is upon the earth in order to offer a Sacrifice, and the Sacrifice is begun today. This first shedding of the Blood of the Man-God was sufficient to the fullness and perfection of a Sacrifice; but he is come to win the heart of the sinner, and that heart is so hard that all the streams of that Precious Blood, which flow from the Cross on Calvary, will scarcely make it yield. The drops that were shed today would have been enough to satisfy the justice of the Eternal Father, but not to cure man’s miseries, and the Babe’s Heart would not be satisfied to leave us uncured. He came for man’s sake, and his love for man will go to what looks like excess—he will carry out the whole meaning of his dear name—he will be our “Jesus,” our Savior.
The Offertory extols the power of our Emmanuel. Now that he is humbled by the wound of the Circumcision, it must be our delight to proclaim his power, his riches, his independence. Let us also magnify his love for us, for it is in order to cure our wounds that he so humbly condescends to feel their smart himself.
Thine are the heavens, and thine is the earth: the world, and the fullness thereof, thou hast founded: justice and judgment are the preparation of thy throne.
SECRET
Receive, O Lord, our offerings and prayers: cleanse us by these mysteries, and mercifully hear us. Through, etc.
At the Communion, the Church rejoices in the Jesus, the Savior, who visits her, and acts up to his sweet Name with such perfection, by redeeming the inhabitants of the whole earth. In the Postcommunion, she prays that, by the intercession of Mary, the Holy Communion may cure our hearts of their sins, that thus we may offer to God the homage of that spiritual circumcision of which the Apostle so often speaks.
All the ends of the earth have see the salvation of our God.
POSTCOMMUNION
May this communion, O Lord, cleanse us from sin: and by the intercession of Blessed Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, make us partakers of thy heavenly remedy. Through, etc.
SECOND VESPERS
The Antiphons and Psalms are the same as in First Vespers. The Capitulum and Hymn of yesterday are repeated; after which are said the following:
℣. The Lord hath made known, alleluia.
℟. His salvation, alleluia.
ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT
ANT. Great is the mystery of our inheritance! The womb of a most pure Virgin became the Temple of God. He is not defiled assuming to himself Flesh from her. All nations shall come, saying: Glory be to thee, O Lord!
LET US PRAY
God, who by the Fruitful Virginity of the Blessed Mary, hast given to mankind the rewards of eternal salvation; grant, we beseech thee, that we may experience Her intercession, by whom we received the Author of Life, our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son. Who liveth, etc.
Commemoration of the Octave of St. Stephen
ANT. But Stephen, full of grace and fortitude, did great signs among the people.
℣. Stephen saw the heavens opened.
℟. He saw and entered; blessed man, to whom the heavens opened.
PRAYER
O Almighty and eternal God, who didst consecrate the first-fruits of Martyrdom in the blood of blessed Stephen the Levite; grant, we beseech thee, that he may intercede for us, who begged mercy, even for his persecutors, of our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son. Who liveth, etc.
We now give a short selection, from the Offices of this Octave of Christmas Day, which will assist the Faithful in their devotion to the Holy Mother of God. We begin with the Roman Breviary, and take from it the following Responsories of the Matins of the Circumcision.
℟. Rejoice with me all ye that love the Lord: * For that I, when I was little in my own eyes, pleased the Most High, and gave birth to Him that is God and Man.
℣. All generations shall call me Blessed, because God hath regarded the humility of his Handmaid. For that I.
℟. The heart of the Virgin was strengthened, wherein at the message of the Angel, she conceived the divine mysteries. Then did she receive into her chaste womb Him, that is beautiful above all the children of men: * And She, that is Blessed forever, brought forth unto us Jesus, God and Man.
℟. Blessed and venerable art thou, Virgin Mary! that wast found to be Mother of the Savior, yet still the purest Virgin: * He was laid in the Crib, and yet filled heaven with his brightness.
℣. I have heard thy hearing, and I feared; I meditated on thy works, and I trembled: between two animals * He was laid in the Crib, and yet filled heaven with his brightness.
℟. A purest Virgin-Mother, brought forth, without travail, * The Savior of the world: He, that was very King of Angels, drank at the breast of the Virgin-Mother the food that heaven gave.
℣. This chastest living Dwelling becomes, in an instant, God’s own Temple: the purest of Virgins conceives, at the Angel’s word, her Son: * The Savior.
The Greek Church, on the 26th December, (the day she consecrates to the Mother of Jesus,) pours forth to Mary her praises with her wonted profusion. We take from the Menaea the two following strophes, the former of which is also the Benedictus-Antiphon for the Feast of the Circumcision, in the Roman Breviary.
An admirable mystery is this day revealed: the two Natures are united in a new way, God is made Man: he remained what he was, and he assumed what he was not, suffering neither confusion nor division.
When the mystic Vine had produced, without human aid, the Grape-bunch, she carried him in her arms, as the branches their fruit; and she said to him: Thou art my Fruit, thou art my Life, and I know from thyself, my God, that I am what I was: the treasure of my virginity is preserved, and therefore do I confess thee to be the Immutable One, the Word made Flesh. Man I know not; but I acknowledge thee as the Redeemer of lost man. Thy Birth impaired not the purity thou gavest me, for what I was when thou didst enter into my womb, that thou didst leave me at thy Nativity. Therefore is it, that every creature sings to me saying: Rejoice, full of grace!
On this the Eighth Day since the Birth of our Emmanuel, let us consider the great mystery which the Gospel tells us was accomplished in his divine Flesh — the Circumcision. On this day, the earth sees the first-fruits of that Blood-shedding, which is to be its Redemption, and the first sufferings of that Divine Lamb, who is to atone for our sins. Let us compassionate our sweet Jesus, who meekly submits to the knife which is to put upon him the sign of a Servant of God.
Mary, who has watched over him with the most affectionate solicitude, has felt her heart sink within her, as each day brought her nearer to this hour of her Child’s first suffering. She knows that the justice of God does not necessarily require this first sacrifice, or might accept it, on account of its infinite value, for the world’s salvation: and yet, the innocent Flesh of her Son must, even so early as this, be torn, and his Blood flow down his infant limbs.
What must be her affliction at seeing the preparations for this painful ceremony! She cannot leave her Jesus, and yet, how shall she bear to see him writhe under this his first experience of suffering? She must stay, then, and hear his sobs and heartrending cries; she must bear the sight of the tears of her Divine Babe, forced from him by the violence of the pain. We need St. Bonaventure to describe this wonderful mystery. “And if he weeps, thinkest thou his Mother could keep in her tears? No she, too, wept, and when the Babe, who was standing on her lap, perceived her tears, he raised his little hand to her mouth and face, as though he would beckon to her not to weep, for it grieved him to see Her weeping, whom he so tenderly loved. The Mother, on her side, was touched to the quick at the suffering and tears of the Babe, and she consoled him by caresses and fond words; and as she was quick to see his thoughts, as though he had expressed them in words, she said to him: If thou wishest me to cease weeping, weep not thou, my Child! If thou weepest, I must weep too. Then the Babe, from compassion for the Mother, repressed his sobs, and Mary wiped his eyes and her own, and put his Face to her own, and gave him her Breast, and consoled him in every way she could.” (Meditation on the Life of Christ, by St Bonaventure)
And now, what shall we give in return to this Savior of our souls for the Circumcision, which he has deigned to suffer, in order to show us how much he loved us? We must, according to the teaching of the Apostle, circumcise our heart from all its evil affections, its sins, and its wicked inclinations; we must begin, at once, to live that new life, of which the Infant Jesus is the sublime model. Let us thus show him our compassion for this his earliest suffering for us, and be more attentive, than we have hitherto been, to the example he sets us.
The following beautiful Sequence will assist us to praise this mystery of the Divine Infancy. We have taken it from the ancient Missals of the Church of Paris.
SEQUENCE
This day, there hath been shown to us the wonderful power of grace, in the Circumcision of the Infant-God.
A Name of heaven’s making, a Name that means Salvation — and it is “Jesus” — is given to him.
This Name imports Salvation to man: it is the Name which the month of the Lord hath uttered from eternity.
The Angel revealed it, months ago, to the Mother of God, and to her holy spouse.
Sacred name! thou conquerest Satan’s wicked power, and the sins of the world.
“Jesus,” our ransom! “Jesus,” hope of the afflicted! our souls are sick — do thou heal them.
What is wanting in man, supply by thy Name, which means and gives salvation.
May thy Circumcision be the cleansing and the healing of our heart’s wounds.
May the Blood thou didst shed purify our stains, refresh our parched hearts, and give consolation to the sad.
We are beginning now a New Year, when friends give Gifts to friends; let thine, dear “Jesus,” be the preparing us our recompense.
Amen.
Adam of Saint-Victor offers us one of his Hymns, to help us to speak the praises of the Holy Mother of Jesus. It is an extremely graceful poem, and, for a long period, was to be found in the ancient Roman-French Missals.
SEQUENCE
Hail, Mother of the Savior! Vessel elect, Vessel of honor, Vessel of heavenly grace!
Vessel predestined from eternity, Vessel of singular beauty, Vessel formed by the hand of the All- Wise One.
Hail, holy Mother of the Word! the Flower that grew midst thorns, thyself the thornless Flower, that decked the thorny Earth.
The thorny earth are we, bleeding from the prickly thorns of sin: and thou, Oh! thou art free from thorns.
Thou art the Gate of the sanctuary closed for the Prince. Thou art the Fountain of the gardens, the Casket of sweet ointments and perfumes.
Thy fragrance is sweeter than that of Cinnamon, or Myrrh, or Frankincense, or aromatic Balm.
Hail, Virgin of Virgins! Mediatrix of men! Mother of the Jesus who saved us.
Myrtle of temperance, Rose of patience, Spikenard most fragrant!
Vale of humility! Soil most fruitful, though untilled!
Flower of the field! matchless Lily of the valley, that broughtest forth Christ!
Heavenly Paradise! Cedar-tree untouched, yet breathing forth such sweetness!
Purity and beauty, sweetness and fragrance, are all in thee above measure.
Thou art the Throne of Solomon, the throne rich above all others in form and substance.
The whiteness of the Ivory prefigures thy Chastity; the glittering Gold, thy Charity.
The palm thou holdest is like no other: thou hast no equal among creatures on earth or in heaven.
Thou art the glory of the human race, and art privileged with virtues above Angels and men.
As the sun is brighter than the moon, and the moon is brighter than the stars; so is Mary exalted above all creatures.
The sun’s light, which no eclipse quenches, is Mary’s virginal purity: the sun’s unfailing heat, is her undying charity.
Hail, Mother of Mercy! Thou art the noble dwelling of the blessed Trinity;
But, for the majesty of the Incarnate Word, thou didst prepare a special sanctuary.
O Mary, Star of the Sea! Peerless Queen, set above all the heavenly choirs!
Seated on thy lofty throne, commend us to thy Son; nor suffer our enemies to defeat us by strength or craft.
In the battle we are fighting, may we be safely shielded by thy protection. Our enemy’s obstinacy and skill must needs yield to thy power, and his treachery to thy watchful care.
O Jesus! Word of the Eternal Father! save us the devoted servants of thy Mother. We are guilty, absolve us. Save us by thy grace, and make us like to thee in the brightness of thy glory.
Amen.
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