Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal (1945 Edition),
unless otherwise stated.
Illustrations, unless otherwise stated, from UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
(from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, 1952 Edition), who reproduce them
with the kind permission of ST. BONAVENTURE PRESS
Illustrations, unless otherwise stated, from UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
(from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, 1952 Edition), who reproduce them
with the kind permission of ST. BONAVENTURE PRESS
Feast of The Holy Family.
Sunday within the Octave of The Epiphany.
Sunday within the Octave of The Epiphany.
Greater-Double.
White Vestments.
The Holy Family.
"Is it not fitting," says Pope Leo XIII, "to celebrate the Royal Birth of the Son of the supreme Father, of the House of David and the glorious names of that ancient line" ? Yet it is more consoling for us to call to memory the little house at Nazareth and the humble life lived there; thus celebrating the hidden life of Our Lord.
For there, the Divine Child received His training in Joseph's humble trade; there, hidden and sheltered, He grew up and showed Himself ready to share the toil of a carpenter's life.
Let the moisture," He seemed to say, "trickle over My limbs before they are drenched with the torrent of My Blood, and the pain of this labour shall go to atone for the sins of men."
The Madonna Of The Roses.
Artist: William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905).
Date: 1903.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Saint Joseph with the Infant Jesus.
Artist: Guido Reni (1575–1642).
Date: Circa 1635.
Permission: PD-OLD.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Close to the Divine Child is His tender Mother; close to Joseph stands his devoted wife, happy to relieve their toil and suffering by her loving care. O Thou, Who wast not free from toil and care, and Who hast known adversity, come to the aid of the unfortunate, crippled by poverty and struggling against the difficulties of life" (Hymn for Matins).
In this lowly dwelling at Nazareth, by practising the domestic virtues of Charity, Obedience, Mutual Help, and Regard, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, hallowed family life (Collect, Epistle and Gospel). There, too, they constantly found joy and peace in recollection and Prayer in common.
May the great Christian family practise, here on Earth, the virtues of the Holy Family, so meriting a life in their Blessed company in Heaven (Collect).
Pope Benedict XV, being desirous of securing for Souls the Blessings flowing from meditation on the virtues of the Holy Family and from their imitation, extended this Feast to the Universal Church, fixing its observance for the Sunday in the Octave of the Epiphany. When this Feast happens to be the Octave Day of the Epiphany, the Feast is kept on the day before.
When this Feast is observed on a Sunday, every Parish Priest celebrates Mass for the people of his Parish.
The Madonna Of The Roses.
Artist: William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905).
Date: 1903.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Saint Joseph with the Infant Jesus.
Artist: Guido Reni (1575–1642).
Date: Circa 1635.
Permission: PD-OLD.
(Wikimedia Commons)
"He was subject to them."
"Who was subject ?", Saint Bernard of Clairvaux asks, "and to whom ?"
A God to men ! Yes, the God Whom the Angels serve, Whom the Principalities and Powers obey. He was subject to Mary, and not to Mary, only, but to Joseph, also, for Mary's sake.
That a God should obey a human creature; here is humility without parallel. That the same human creature should command God; here is a height and depth nowhere else attained. Man, learn to obey. Earth, learn to consent to a low estate. Dust, learn to humble yourself, for the Evangelist says of your Creator: "He was subject to them," and there is no doubt that this means to Mary and Joseph.
Blush then, proud ashes. A God humbles Himself ; while you exalt yourself. A God becomes subject to men, while you, seeking to rule over men, put yourself above your Creator.
O Man, if you will not condescend to follow the example of a man, surely it will not be beneath you to follow your Creator" (Third Nocturn).
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