Posted on 12/30/2010 4:54:27 PM PST by Salvation
We are in the midst of the Christmas Octave and we might sentimentally think that its features would be delightful pleasant, Gospels of joy and promise. And yet it is an Octave filled with blood as we shall see.
What is an Octave? But first, there may be some of you who wonder what is meant by and Octave. An Octave is a period of eight days wherein a feast of the Church is celebrated for that whole period as though it were all the same day. In the modern liturgical calendar we only observe two octaves explicitly: Christmas and Easter.
During the week following Christmas many of the prayers speak of today as though it were still Christmas. For example some of the prayers and antiphons say, Today is born our savior, Christ the Lord. A purist might say, but it is NOT today that he is born, it was back on Saturday the 25th that he was born. But, in certain sense this IS still Christmas day. Christmas Day is one long day of eight days from Saturday the 25th to Saturday January 1st.
It is the same with Easter where for one whole week we announce: This is the day the Lord has made
Why eight days? Some say it is a reference to the eighth day on which Christ rose. I know, you thought it was the third day. But it was also the eighth day! For God made the world in seven days, resting on the seventh (Sabbath or Saturday). But Christ rose on the 8th day (Sunday). So resurrection morning is both the third day AND the eighth day! Others say the practice of the octave goes to Jewish times where some of the feasts (e.g. Dedication and Tabernacles (Booths)) were celebrated over 8 days.
In the old calendar there were more Octaves to include: Epiphany, Pentecost, All Saints, Immaculate Conception, Ascension Sacred Heart and others). Not all of these were privileged Octaves in which no other feasts could be celebrated. Easter and Pentecost were really the only two that blocked out all other feasts entirely. Others, like the Christmas Octave we are currently in allowed the celebration of other feasts but still referred to the feast of the octave as well.
So here we are in the Christmas Octave and, in a strong sense it is thus still Christmas Day. TODAY is born our savior Christ the Lord. This feast is so important that we stretch its observance a completed week and into the eighth day.
Bloody Octave But one of the striking things about the Christmas octave is its bloodiness. It is one of the bloodiest weeks of the Churchs years. On Dec 26th, hardly have we digested our Christmas dinner, and we celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen, the Martyr who was stoned to death. On December 28th we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents, the young and infant boys who were murdered by Herod seeking to kill Christ. On December 29th we celebrate the feast of St. Thomas Becket who was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. Even St. (King) Wenceslaus of whom we happily sing on the Feast of Stephen was brutally killed by his brother.
Why all this blood, why this martyrdom? It is almost as though the red poinsettias that we put out in festive Christmas spirit look back to us in testimony. For it is clear that Jesus came to this world, ultimately to die. His crib (likely of wood) in which he was laid, arms and feet bound by swaddling clothes, points inevitably to the wood of his cross where, once again, his arms and legs were bound by nails and, after dying, he was wrapped tightly in a linen shroud.
The blood of the Christmas octave also reminds us that many of us too will share in Christs lot. This world hated Christ and had no room for him. Neither does this world have room for true Christians and the blood of martyrs stretches down through the centuries in testimony to the worlds hatred for authentic disciples of Christ and the truth they propose.
From this bloody octave the words of Christ ring out: If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you (Jn 15:19). The martyrs of the Christmas Octave say, Amen. And John the Apostle whose feast also occurs in the Octave (Dec 27) also says Amen. For, though he did not suffer martyrdom he proclaimed his Amen also from his prison cell on Patmos: I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus (Rev 1:9).
Victory But all these martyrs and sufferers (St. Stephen, St. John, the Holy Innocents, St. Thomas Becket, and St Wenceslaus) proclaim too the victory that is theirs with Jesus Christ who also said, In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (Jn 16:33). And again, Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victors crown. (Rev 2:10) Yes, Lord, the Spirit and the Bride say, Amen.
Did I wish you a Merry Christmas?
From Stockings to Stoning: The Story of Saint Stephen [Catholic Caucus]
Angelus: St. Stephen
Pope Benedict remembers persecuted Christians on the Feast of St. Stephen Martyr
He Teaches Us to Love the Cross [St. Stepehen]
A patron Saint for Deacons [St. Stepehen]
Good Prince Vaclav [for St. Stephen's Day, 12/26]
A few considerations on St. Stephen's martyrdom
St. Stephen, the Martyr
Dec. 26 - Saint Stephen, First Martyr
A thoughtful sermon for St. Stephen's Day
Holy Innocents (also known as Childermas or Childrens Mass)
The Holy Innocents
King Herod Revisited
THE HOLY INNOCENTS Feast: December 28
Feast of the Holy Innocents - December 28 - 1928 BCP
We remember today the Holy Innocents, First Martyrs
Orthodox Feast of the Holy Innocents, December 29
December 28 - Feast of the Holy Innocents
Ending the Holocaust of the Innocents
Dec. 28 - Feast of The Holy Innocents
Becket's Lesson Beckons [Catholic Caucus]
BBC: St. Thomas Becket "Worst Briton of 12th Century" (!!)
Our Anglican Roots: St. Thomas Becket
St Thomas of Canterbury(1118-1170) [St Thomas a Becket]
The Murder of Thomas Becket, 1170
I think you are wise there. Time for me to go to Confession. Thanks for the reminder.
Mary: Holy Mother
Mary: Mother of Divine Life: Model of Pro-life Apostles [Catholic Caucus]
The Mother of God [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
The Mother of God calls us to be 'Bearers of God'
HE INCREASES AND SHE DECREASES [Mary, Mother of God]
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God - Mary, Full of Grace
Happy Mother's Day to Mary - the Mother of God
Catholic beliefs about Mary, the Mother of God
Mary, Mother of God
The Early Church Fathers on The Mother of God - Catholic/Orthodox Caucus
Mary, Mother of God
Mary in Feminist Theology: Mother of God or Domesticated Goddess?
Mary: True Mother of God
Feast of Mary, Mother of God (not a Holy Day of Obligation this year)
MARIAN DEVOTION - Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God
Mother of God
Virgin Mother of God
A Homily on the Dormition of Our Supremely Pure Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
The Mother of the Son: The Case for Marian Devotion
Mary: True Mother of God
Good Prince Vaclav, bless his heart, is my Bill’s confirmation patron. We go for the gusto here. Anoreth chose Peter, Bill chose Vaclav, and now Tom wants Athananius. (Menace of the parish, my family is, but they need our contributions ;-).
How true. The only feast days in the 8 days of Christmas that does not deal with martydom is the feasts of the Holy Family and St. John the Disciple, since the later did not did died as a martyr.
instead of that slut mariah carey singing o holy night, you should feature this young girl, jackie evancho, who sang ave maria, pie jesu, o mia babino caro, et al, during her run in this year’s america’s got talent:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PslEWI9Axc&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_83392
isn’t the “ 8th day “ in reference to the presentation of the baby Jesus in the temple for his circumcision “ in fulfillment of the covenant ( at 8days after birth, the male child shall be... )
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