Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 12-28-05, Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs

For your reading, reflection, faith-sharing, comments, questions, discussion.

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1. Lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
Lullay, Thou little tiny Child.
By, by, lully, lullay.

2. O sisters, too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day;
This poor Youngling for whom we sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.

3. Herod the King, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day;
His men of might, in his own sight,
All children young, to slay.

4. Then woe is me, poor Child, for Thee,
And ever mourn and say;
For Thy parting, nor say nor sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.

December 28 - Feast of the Holy Innocents

David Warren: The Innocents

Ending the Holocaust of the Innocents

Dec. 28 - Feast of The Holy Innocents

The most dramatic portrayal of the slaughter of the Holy Innocents is still Franco Zeffirelli's depiction in "Jesus of Nazareth." It is still powerful even after 30 years...

This seems appropriate on this feast day:

A Prayer for Children

Sweet Blessed Mother,
O Mary, mother of us all,
This morning I pray
For all the babies conceived to be biosamples,
For all the children ripped from their mothers' wombs,
For all the children abandoned by their parents at
birth,
For all the children dumped by their families and left
to fend for their own in cities throughout the world,
For all the children kidnapped to be soldiers in wars
they cannot understand,
For all the children who live under the threat of
abuse, physical, mental and sexual,
For children starving because of famine or neglect,
For children killed by local authorities because they
are embarrassed by the numbers of abandoned children
haunting their streets,
For children killed by people because they belonged to
the wrong faith, wrong color or wrong ethnic or
political group,
For children accused of socery to excuse their parents'
problems, and then tortured or abandoned,
For children forced to work in unsafe conditions,
For children growing up starved of knowledge of God,
For children growing up starved of love.

Keep them under your mantle, Blessed Mother,
May we never forget how much they are loved by your Son,
And may my eyes always be open
to ways to help them.

I agree -- very powerful. (And sadly governments are still doing it.)

From: 1 John 1:5-2:2

God Is Light

[5] This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you,
that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

Walking in the Light. Rejecting Sin

[6] If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we
lie and do not live according to the truth; [7] but if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and
the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. [8] If we say we
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [10] If we say we have not
sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

[1] My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not
sin; but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous; [2] and he is the expiation for our sins,
and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Commentary:

1:5-2:29. This section describes what communion with God is, and the
demands it makes on us. We can say there are two parts in the section:
the first (1:5-2:11) teaches that communion with God means walking in
the light and, therefore, rejecting sin and keeping the commandments.
The second (2:12-19) warns the readers to guard against worldly
concupiscence and not trust false teachers.

St John is writing as a pastor of souls who has lived the life of the
Lord and reflected deeply upon it. His teaching interweaves truths of
faith with moral and ascetical demands because he wants Christians to
live in a way consistent with their faith. Therefore, the text does
not really divide into a doctrinal section and a moral section.

5. "God is light": the imagery of light/darkness was much employed in
ancient times--sometimes to promote the notion that the world had two
principles, one good and the other evil. In St John the image clearly
has a different meaning, one connected with biblical teaching on light.
When God reveals himself to men, in one way or another light usually
plays a part: examples range from the burning bush (cf. Ex 3:1ff) to
the coming of the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire (cf. Acts
2:1ff). This imagery is used to show God's sublimity--as we find also
in St Paul: "the Lord of Lords,...who dwells in unapproachable light,
whom no man has ever seen or can see" (1 Tim 6:15-16).

The image of light also helps to show what revelation involves: God
has made himself known to us, enlightening our hearts (cf. 2 Cor 4:6).
Thus, we can say that God is light, Jesus Christ has made him known to
us, and Christian revelation is the splendor of that light. In St
John's Gospel the idea of Christ as the light which enlightens the
world occurs very often (cf., e.g., Jn 1:4, 9; 8:12; 9:5). St Thomas
Aquinas explains, in this connection, that philosophers prior to
Christ had a certain light which allowed them to attain some knowledge
of God through reason; the people of Israel had much more light,
through divine revelation in the Old Testament; angels and saints,
because they have greater knowledge of God by virtue of grace have
divine light to a special degree; but only the Word of God is the true
light, because he is by his very essence the light which enlightens
(cf. "Commentary on St John", 1, 9).

The expression "God is light" has also a moral dimension: in God there
is no darkness because there is no sin; he is sovereign good and all
perfection. The light/darkness imagery, therefore, helps to underline
the gravity of sin: "the light has come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (Jn 3:19).
Those who lead a holy life are called children of light (Jn 12:36; Lk
16:8; Eph 5:8; 1 Thess 5:5); whereas those who do evil live in darkness
(1 Thess 5:4), which is the symbol of sin (Lk 22:53).

St John uses the statement that "God is light" to encourage Christians
to live in an upright way; as does St Augustine, who comments that we
must be united to God and "darkness should be cast away from us so as
to allow light to enter, because darkness is incompatible with light"
("In Epist. Joann. ad Parthos", 1, 5).

6-10. The clause "if we say" introduces three suppositions--very
probably claims made by some early heretics, especially Gnostics (who
boasted of having attained fullness of knowledge and thought they were
incapable of sinning).

St John is using the literary technique of parallelism, much employed
by Semitic writers: the first sentence states an idea which is repeated
and filled out in the later ones. Here, the first statement ("we lie")
is later extended to "we deceive ourselves" (v. 8)..., and then to "we
make him [God] a liar" (v. 10). This literary device shows that the
author of the letter was familiar with this style of writing, very
common in the Old Testament.

6-7. Walking in darkness/walking in the light--a graphic description of
sinful conduct and upright conduct. St John insists that one cannot
justify a life of sin by claiming to have communion with God: "mere
confession of faith is in no sense sufficient", St Bede declares, "if
that faith is not confirmed by good works" ("In I Epist. S. Ioannis, ad
loc.").

"Fellowship with one another": If there were an exact parallelism
between the parts of the passage, we would expect it to read
"fellowship with him", which is how some Fathers read it. If the text
reads differently, it is because mutual communion, the fellowship with
the Church to which St John is referring, is a pledge and sign of
fellowship with God: "the Church, in Christ, is in the nature of a
sacrament--a sign and instrument, that is, of communion with God and of
unity among all men" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 1).

"The blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin": this idea is
often found in the Book of Revelation when it says that the blood of
Christ sets us free (cf. Rev 1:5), cleanses souls and makes them white
(cf. Rev 7:14), ransoms them for God (cf. Rev 5:9) and defeats the
enemies of salvation (cf. Rev 12:11). It is made quite clear that the
blood of Christ purifies all types of sin, past and present, mortal and
venial. (On the blood of Christ as atonement for all sins, see the
notes on Heb 9:12, 14.)

8. "If we say we have no sin": the Old Testament often says that all
men are sinners (cf. 7:70; Job 9:2; 14:4; 15:14; 25:4; Prov 20:9; Ps
14:1-4; 51; etc.) and this is also clear from the New Testament (cf.
especially Rom 3:10-18). The Council of Trent condemns anyone who says
"that a man once justified cannot sin again and cannot lose grace" ("De
Iustificatione", can. 23).

Loss of the sense of sin is a danger that threatens man in all epochs.
The Apostle's warning (to his contemporaries in the first instance) has
particular relevance in our own time." "Deceived by the loss of the
sense of sin," John Paul II reminds us, "and at times by an illusion of
sinlessness which is not at all Christian, the people of today also
need to listen again to St John's admonition, as addressed to each one
of them personally: 'If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us', and indeed 'the whole world is in the
power of the evil one' (1 Jn 5:19). Every individual therefore is
invited by the voice of divine truth to examine realistically his or
her conscience, and to confess that he or she has been brought forth in
iniquity, as we say in the "Miserere" Psalm (cf. Ps 51:7)"
("Reconciliatio Et Paenitentia", 22).

9-10. "If we confess our sins": the Council of Trent quotes this text
(without intending to define its exact meaning) when it teaches that
confession of sins is of divine institution: 'The Catholic Church has
always understood that integral confession of sins was also instituted
by the Lord (Jas 5:16; 1 Jn 1:9; Lk 17:14) and is by divine law
necessary for all falls after Baptism" ("De Sacramento Paenitentia",
chap. 5).

The sacred writer puts emphasis on the interior disposition of the
Christian: he should humbly admit that he is a sinner; and St Augustine
explains: "If you confess yourself to be a sinner, the truth is in you:
the truth is light. Your life does not yet shine as brightly as it
might, because there are sins in you; but now you are beginning to be
enlightened, because you confess your iniquities" ("In Epist. Joann. Ad
Parthos", 1, 6).

"Faithful and just": a translation of two Hebrew words which literally
have to do with love and faithfulness. The Old Testament uses this
expression to stress that God's faithful love is always ready to
forgive.

1-2. In order to make sure that no one makes a wrong appeal to divine
mercy so as to justify their continuing to sin, St John exhorts all to
avoid sin. It is one thing to acknowledge that we are sinners and to be
conscious of our frailty; it is a very different matter to become
completely passive or pessimistic, as if it were not possible to avoid
offending God. "Jesus understands our weakness and draws us to himself
on an inclined plane," Monsignor Escriva explains. "He wants us to make
an effort to climb a little each day. He seeks us out, just as he did
the disciples of Emmaus, whom he went out to meet. He sought Thomas,
showed himself to him and made him touch with his fingers the open
wounds in his hands and side. Jesus Christ is always waiting for us to
return to him; he knows our weakness" ("Christ Is Passing By", 75).

"My little children": it is difficult to translate this and other
similar expressions in St John, charged as they are with tenderness and
a sense of pastoral responsibility. They express a deep, strong love,
like that of Jesus at the Last Supper (cf. Jn 13:33). This same Greek
term appears six more times in this letter (2:12, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4; 5:
21); at other times he uses words equivalent to our "my little ones"
(cf. 2:14, 18) or "dearly beloved" (2:7; 3:2, 21; 4:1, 7, 11; 3 Jn 2,
5, 11). All these expressions reflect how very close St John was to the
faithful.

"We have an advocate with the Father": Jesus Christ, who is the only
Mediator (cf. 1 Tim 2:5), intercedes for us. He, who has died for our
sins (he is "the expiation"), presents his infinite merits to God the
Father, by virtue of which the Father pardons us always. The Holy
Spirit is also called Paraclete or Advocate insofar as he accompanies,
consoles and guides each Christian, and the whole Church, on its
earthly pilgrimage (cf. note on Jn 14:16-17).

"St John the Apostle exhorts us to avoid sin", St Alphonsus says, "but
because he is afraid we will lose heart when we remember our past
faults, he encourages us to hope for forgiveness provided we are firmly
resolved not to fall again; he tells us that we have to put our affairs
in order with Christ, who died not only to forgive us but also (after
dying) to become our advocate with the heavenly father" ("Reflections
on the Passion", Chap. 9, 2).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: Matthew 2:13-18

The Flight Into Egypt

[13] Now when they (the Magi) had departed, behold, an angel of the
Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the Child and
His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for
Herod is about to search for the Child, to destroy Him." [14] And he
rose and took the Child and His mother by night, and departed to Egypt,
[15]and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill
what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called My
Son."

The Massacre of the Innocents

[16] Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,
was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in
Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under,
according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men.
[17] Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
[18] "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel
weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were
no more."

Commentary:

14. St. John Chrysostom, commenting on this passage, draws a particular
attention to Joseph's faithfulness and obedience: "On hearing this,
Joseph was not scandalized, nor did he say, `This is hard to
understand. You yourself told me not long ago that He would save His
people, and not He is not able to save even Himself. Indeed, we have
to flee and undertake a journey and be away for a long time...'. But
he does not say any of these things, because Joseph is a faithful man.
Neither does he ask when they will be coming back, even though the
angel had left it open when he said `and remain there till I tell
you.' This does not hold him back: on the contrary, he obeys, believes
and endures all trials with joy" ("Hom. on St. Matthew", 8).

It is worth noting also how God's way of dealing with His chosen ones
contains light and shade: they have to put up with intense sufferings
side by side with great joy: "It can be clearly seen that God, who is
full of love for man, mixes pleasant things with unpleasant ones, as He
did with all the Saints. He gives us neither dangers nor consolations
in a continual way, but rather He makes the lives of the just a mixture
of both. This was what He did with Joseph" ("ibid".).

15. The text of Hosea 11:1 speaks of a child who comes out of Egypt and
is a son of God. This refers in the first place to the people of
Israel whom God brought out of Egypt under Moses' leadership. But this
event was a symbol or prefiguration of Jesus, the Head of the Church,
the New People of God. It is in Him that this prophecy is principally
fulfilled. The sacred text gives a quotation from the Old Testament in
the light of its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The Old Testament
achieves its full meaning in Christ, and, in the words of St. Paul, to
read it without keeping in mind Jesus is to have one's face covered by
a veil (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:12-18).

18. Ramah was the city in which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
concentrated the Israelites he had taken prisoner. Since Ramah was in
the land of Benjamin, Jeremiah puts this lament for the children of
Israel in the mouth of Rachel, the mother of Benjamin and Joseph. So
great was the misfortune of those exiled to Babylon that Jeremiah says
poetically that Rachel's sorrow is too great to allow for consolation.

"Rachel was buried in the racecourse near Bethlehem. Since her grave
was nearby and the property belonged to her son, Benjamin (Rachel was of
the tribe of Benjamin), the children beheaded in Bethlehem could
reasonably be called Rachel's children" (St John Chrysostom, "Hom. on
St Matthew", 9).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005
The Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Feast)

First Reading:
Psalm:
Gospel:

1 John 1:5 - 2:2
Psalm 124:2-5, 7-8
Matthew 2:13-18

In the midst of the Church the Lord opened his mouth: and filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding: he clothed him with a robe of glory.

-- Ecclesisasticus xv. 5

Catholic Culture

Collect:
Father, the Holy Innocents offered you praise by the death they suffered for Christ. May our lives bear witness to the faith we profess with our lips. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Recipes:

more

» Christ's Diapers

Activities:

Prayers:

December 28, 2005

Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs

Old Calendar: The Holy Innocents

During this octave of Christmas the Church celebrates the memory of the small children of the neighborhood of Bethlehem put to death by Herod. Sacrificed by a wicked monarch, these innocent lives bear witness to Christ who was persecuted from the time of His birth by a world which would not receive Him. It is Christ Himself who is at stake in this mass-murder of the children; already the choice, for or against Him, is put clearly before men. But the persecutors are powerless, for Christ came to perform a work of salvation that nothing can prevent; when He fell into the hands of his enemies at the time chosen by God it was to redeem the world by His own Blood.

Our Christmas joy is tempered today by a feeling of sadness. But the Church looks principally to the glory of the children, of these innocent victims, whom she shows us in heaven following the Lamb wherever He goes.

The Fourth Day of Christmas

The Holy Innocents
Today, dearest brethren, we celebrate the birthday of those children who were slaughtered, as the Gospel tells us, by that exceedingly cruel king, Herod. Let the earth, therefore, rejoice and the Church exult — she, the fruitful mother of so many heavenly champions and of such glorious virtues. Never, in fact, would that impious tyrant have been able to benefit these children by the sweetest kindness as much as he has done by his hatred. For as today's feast reveals, in the measure with which malice in all its fury was poured out upon the holy children, did heaven's blessing stream down upon them.

"Blessed are you, Bethlehem in the land of Judah! You suffered the inhumanity of King Herod in the murder of your babes and thereby have become worthy to offer to the Lord a pure host of infants. In full right do we celebrate the heavenly birthday of these children whom the world caused to be born unto an eternally blessed life rather than that from their mothers' womb, for they attained the grace of everlasting life before the enjoyment of the present. The precious death of any martyr deserves high praise because of his heroic confession; the death of these children is precious in the sight of God because of the beatitude they gained so quickly. For already at the beginning of their lives they pass on. The end of the present life is for them the beginning of glory. These then, whom Herod's cruelty tore as sucklings from their mothers' bosom, are justly hailed as "infant martyr flowers"; they were the Church's first blossoms, matured by the frost of persecution during the cold winter of unbelief.

— St. Augustine

Parental Blessing of Children

Holy Innocents or Childermas Day: Parental Blessing of Children

The Feast of the Holy Innocents is a children's feast; this day has also been known as "Childermas." This is a good day to begin the parental blessing of their children. Included here are also verse and Mass prayers to add to the evening Christmas prayers.

Holy Innocents or "Childermas Day" is celebrated on December 28. The Gospel tells the story simply. "Herod sent and slew all the boys in Bethlehem who were two years old or under." He had intended to include the Son of God among the murdered babies. To recall the grief of their mothers the Church wears purple today. In Mass she hushes her joyous Gloria in Excelsis and the Alleluias.

And yet there is joy in her services. Children sing with the choirs in the great cathedrals; and in ancient times other functions were given to them — hence the name "Childermas" or Children's Mass.

The feast of the Holy Innocents is an excellent time for parents to inaugurate the custom of blessing their children. From the Ritual comes the form which we use on solemn occasions, such as First Communion. But all parents need to do is to sign a cross on the child's forehead with the right thumb dipped in holy water and say:

May God bless you, and may He be the Guardian of your heart and mind — the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

As I go from bed to bed at night, I just make the sign of the Cross with my hand over each child while saying: "May God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost keep you safe this night."

The custom of blessing children is easiest to establish with a baby or toddler and it grows with them. For older children the realization that parental blessings are as old as the human race can be established from reading the Old Testament. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob blessed their children. Before his journey Tobias blessed his son with the words: "May you have a good journey, and God be with you on your way, and His angels accompany you." I have seen a newly ordained priest kneel for his parents' blessing and then give them his first blessing. It is easy for a child who receives his father's or mother's blessing to see them as God's representatives. Encouraging parental blessings, St. Ambrose says: "You may not be rich; you may be unable to bequeath great possessions to your children; but one thing you can give them — the heritage of your blessing. And it is better to be blessed than to be rich."

We commemorate the spilling of the blood of the Holy Innocents by using a cherry or strawberry sauce, the kind you buy or preserve, poured over a vanilla pudding. A traditional recipe for the day, given in Cooking for Christ, is Blanc Mange.

Prayers for Childermas include a versicle and the Collect from the Mass in addition to the original Christmas Evening Prayers. [Editor's Note: This blessing is from the older version of the Roman Ritual.]

Father:	Enraged, Herod put to death many male children
All:	In Bethlehem of Juda, the city of David.
Father:	Let us pray. O God, whose praise the martyred Innocents this day proclaimed not by speaking but by dying, put to death all vices within us, that Thy faith which our tongues profess, our lives also by their actions may declare.
All:	Amen.

Prayer Source: Christmas to Candlemas in a Catholic Home by Helen McLoughlin, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	Walk Fearlessly with Him into the Light
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Wednesday, December 28, 2005

The Feast of the Holy Innocents

1 John 1:5-2:2 / Matthew 2:13-18

Murder on a large scale was entirely in character for King Herod, who had not flinched at killing members of his own family, to say nothing of countless numbers of political opponents and potential rivals for his throne. Despite all his wealth and power, Herod lived in inner darkness, driven by fear and knowing no peace. His was hardly a life to be envied, even though he thought himself to be the most fortunate man in the kingdom.

Though no kings, we could end up in the same condition, desperately grasping for happiness but living empty-handed in the dark. John reminds us today that this is not what God, Who is light, has in mind for us. “Walk in light,” he says to us, and Jesus “will cleanse us from every wrong.”

What does it mean to walk in the light? It means to open up to God every closed and hidden space in our souls, and to cling to nothing that is darkness. It means living simply and transparently in His presence, letting Him show us the way, and trusting Him so thoroughly that we do not fear to walk where we’ve never walked before.

The Lord is calling us to walk with Him into the new year and to live with Him in a new way, in peace and without fear. Listen to His call and walk fearlessly with Him into the light.

One other:

Molech laughs
with each soul
ripped loose
from the dark, warm cradle
that should have been
a loving cushion
to wait out the months
in loving anticipation,
but instead
became
a crypt of flesh and blood
an altar
to self-interest,
panic,
lies told,
greed.

Who knows what darkness
prevented,
what joy interrrupted,
what good shattered
lies
in that little life
broken
beneath the wheel of
death poising as right,
murder
sheltered by the lie
of self-determination?

Who knows
what guilt and grief
are eaten
beneath the sterile lights
that claim all is well?

Molech laughs
with the laugh of the well fed,
filled with the murder
of life unfulfilled.

O Blessed Mother,
as you gather each little soul
close to you,
held under your mantle,
pray for us
that we might realize
the darkness trying to swallow us up,
and shed your son's light
on the lies told,
and break the chain
of death
presented as good.

(Molech, in case you are not familiar, was the deity that children were offered to as burnt sacrifices in ancient Israel)

American Catholic’s Saint of the Day

December 28, 2005

Feast of the Holy Innocents

Herod “the Great,” king of Judea, was unpopular with his people because of his connections with the Romans and his religious indifference. Hence he was insecure and fearful of any threat to his throne. He was a master politician and a tyrant capable of extreme brutality. He killed his wife, his brother and his sister’s two husbands, to name only a few.

Matthew 2:1-18 tells this story: Herod was “greatly troubled” when astrologers from the east came asking the whereabouts of “the newborn king of the Jews,” whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born. Herod cunningly told them to report back to him so that he could also “do him homage.” They found Jesus, offered him their gifts and, warned by an angel, avoided Herod on their way home. Jesus escaped to Egypt.

Herod became furious and “ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under.” Since Bethlehem was a small town, the number of babies killed was perhaps 20 or 25. The horror of the massacre and the devastation of the mothers and fathers led Matthew to quote Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah,/sobbing and loud lamentation;/Rachel weeping for her children...” (Matthew 2:18). Rachel was the wife of Jacob/Israel. She is pictured as weeping at the place where the Israelites were herded together by the conquering Assyrians for their march into captivity.

Comment:

Twenty babies are few, in comparison to the genocide and abortion of our day. But even if there had been only one, we recognize the greatest treasure God put on the earth—a human person, destined for eternity and graced by Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Quote:

"Lord, you give us life even before we understand" (Prayer Over the Gifts, Feast of the Holy Innocents).

Catholic Caucus: The 16 Days of Christmas (Christmas to the Baptism of the Lord)

Origin of the Twelve Days of Christmas [An Underground Catechism]

Origin of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" [Underground Catechism]

Faith-sharing ping.

I was very pleased with my after-Christmas shopping. Found some pretty cards for next year (with a Christmas religious message, I always send religious-themed cards). Also found some half-price items for stocking stuffers.

Hope all FReepers are enjoying Christmas week.

The only appropriate Hymn de jour:

Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.

O sisters too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day
This poor Youngling for Whom we sing
By, by, lully, lullay?

Herod the king, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day
His men of might, in his own sight,
All young children to slay.

That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!
And ever morn and day
For Thy parting neither say nor sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.

Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.

Tune "The Coventry Carol"

That's a fascinating website! Thanks for the link.