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THE MAGI have reached Bethlehem; the humble dwelling of the King of the Jews has been thrown open to them; there, says St. Matthew, they found the Child with Mary his Mother. Falling down, they adore the divine King they have so fervently sought after, and for whom the whole earth has been longing. Here we have the first commencement of the Christian Church. In this humble Stable, we have the Son of God made Man, presiding as Head over his mystical body; Mary is present, as the co-operatrix in the world’s salvation, and as the Mother of divine...

THE STAR foretold by Balaam having risen in the East, the three Magi, whose hearts were full of the expectation of the promised Redeemer, are immediately inflamed with the desire of going in search of him. The announcement of the glad coming of the King of the Jews is made to these holy Kings in a mysterious and silent manner; and hereby it differs from that made to the Shepherds of Bethlehem, who were invited to Jesus’ Crib by the voice of an Angel. But the mute language of the Star was explained to them by God himself, for...

THE GREAT MYSTERY of the Alliance of the Son of God with the universal Church, and which is represented in the Epiphany by the Magi, was looked forward to by the world in every age previous to the coming of our Emmanuel. The Patriarchs and Prophets had propagated the tradition; and the Gentile world gave frequent proofs that the tradition prevailed even with them. When Adam, in Eden, first beheld her whom God had formed from one of his ribs, and whom he called Eve, because she was the Mother of all the living—he exclaimed, “This is the bone...

(If the Epiphany fall on a Saturday, the Mass and Office we now give are said on the following Day. Otherwise, they are deferred to the day within the Octave which is a Sunday.) MASS.—It is the Kingship of the divine Infant that the Church again proclaims in the opening Canticle of the Mass for the Sunday within the Octave of the Epiphany. She sings the praises of her Emmanuel’s Throne, and takes her part with the Angels who hymn the glory of Jesus’ eternal Empire. Let us do the same, and adore the King of Ages, in his...

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH in England celebrates today the Octave of St. Thomas of Canterbury. It is but fitting that the Country which was beautified with the blood of the illustrious Martyr should honor his memory with an especial fervor, and keep up his Feast during the joyful Octaves of Stephen, of John the Beloved Disciple, and of the Innocents of Bethlehem. We have seen, on the Feast itself, how the Catholic world gave expression, through the sacred Liturgy, to its love of our great Martyr. In the Ages of Faith, a victory gained by the Church was considered as...

WE FINISH TODAY the Octave consecrated to the memory of the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem. Thanks be to God, who has given them to us, to be our intercessors and our models! Their name will not reappear on the Church’s Calendar until the return of the Christmas Solemnity; let us therefore devoutly approach these sweet Infant Saints—venerate them, love them, and address to them our farewell prayers. The Holy Church, which on the feast vested in the color of mourning—and this out of condolence with Rachel’s grief—now, on the Octave day clothes herself in the red of her Martyrs...

White Simple THE OCTAVE of the Beloved Disciple closes today; let us devoutly offer him our parting homage. We shall meet him again during the year, for on the 6th of May, when the Resurrection of his Divine Master is gladdening the Church with the Easter joys, we shall have the Feast of our Apostle’s Confession, made before the Latin Gate:—but his grand Feast ends today, and he has done too much for us this Christmas that we should allow this Octave Day to pass without returning him our warmest thanks. Let us begin by exciting ourselves to a...

Red Simple YESTERDAY, WE FINISHED the Octave of the Birth of Jesus; today, we shall finish the Octave of St. Stephen; but this, without losing sight, one moment, of the Divine Babe, whose Court is formed by Stephen, John the Beloved Disciple, the Holy Innocents, and St. Thomas of Canterbury. In five days, we shall see the Magi prostrate before the Crib of the newborn King; they are already on the way, and the Star is advancing towards Bethlehem. Let us spend the interval in reconsidering how great is the glory of our Emmanuel in his having lavished such...

White Double of the Second Class 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...

White Semidouble (When the 30th of December does not fall on a Sunday, it is called “the Sixth Day within the Octave,” and the 3rd Mass of Christmas Day is repeated; excepting only the Epistle and Gospel, which are taken from the 2nd Mass.) This is the only day within the Christmas Octave which is not a Saint’s Feast. During the Octaves of the Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost, the Church is so absorbed in the respective mysteries that she puts off everything that could share her attention; whereas during this of Christmas, there is only one day which does...

White Greater Double THIS, THE EIGHTH DAY from that on which we kept the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, is the Octave properly so called; whereas the other days were simply called days within the Octave. The custom of keeping up the principal Feasts for a whole week is one of those which the Christian Church adopted from the Synagogue. God had thus spoken in the Book of Leviticus: "The first day shall be called most solemn and most holy: you shall do no servile work therein … The eighth day also shall be most solemn and most holy,...

White Semidouble LET US CONSIDER how our Blessed Lady, having arrived at the house of her holy cousin Elizabeth, rendered her every possible service with the greatest love, favored her with the sweet and holy conversations, assisted at the glorious Birth of St. John the Baptist, and at length returned home to her humble dwelling at Nazareth. But that we may the better enter into these divine mysteries, let us again listen to the Seraphic St. Bonaventure: “When, therefore, her time was expired, Elizabeth gave birth to a son, whom our Lady took up, and with all diligence did...

White Semidouble LET US CONTEMPLATE the sentiments of profound respect and maternal tenderness, which fill the soul of our Blessed Lady, now that she has conceived Jesus in her chaste womb: he is her God, and yet he is her Son. Let us think upon this wonderful dignity bestowed upon a creature; and let us honor the Mother of our God. It was by this mystery that was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaias: Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son; and that of Jeremias: The Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth; a Woman shall...

Domum Dei decet sanctitudo: Sponsum ejus Christum adoremus in ea. Such is the Invitatory Antiphon, which sums up the liturgical thought of the day: “Holiness becometh the House of God: let us adore therein Christ her Spouse.”What is this mystery of a house that is at the same time a bride?—Our churches are holy because they belong to God, and on account of the celebration of the holy Sacrifice therein, and the prayer and praise offered to the divine Guest who dwells there. More truly than the figurative tabernacle or the ancient temple, they are separated, solemnly and forever...

White Greater Double How could we more appropriately conclude the teachings of this Octave, than by quoting the words used by the Church herself in today’s Liturgy? “Strangers as we are and pilgrims on the earth, let us fix our hearts and our thoughts on the day which will give to each of us a home, and restore us to Paradise. Who, that is on a voyage, would not hasten to return to his country! Who, that is on the way home, would not eagerly desire a favorable wind, that he might the sooner embrace his dear ones! Parents,...

“A great mystery,” says St. John Chrysostom, “is accomplished in our dead. A mystery of praise and of joy, when, summoned by the King of kings, the soul goes to meet her Lord, accompanied by Angels sent from heaven for the purpose! And thou—dost thou lament? When the bridegroom, to whom thou hast given thy daughter, carries her to a far country, thou dost not complain, provided he makes her happy; although her absence is a grief to thee, the sadness is tempered. And now, because it is not a man, a fellow slave, but the Lord himself that...

Thou art my portion, O Lord, Alleluia, in the land of the living, Alleluia, Alleluia.—Bring forth my soul out of prison, to confess to thy Name; in the land of the living, Alleluia, Alleluia.—Glory and honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, world without end, Amen: in the land of the living, Alleluia, Alleluia. Such is the opening chant for the departed, in the Mozarabic Missal. With the Greeks, in like manner, no word is of more frequent recurrence in the Office of the Dead, than the Alleluia. Moreover, both Greece and...

White Double And the spirit and the Bride say: Come! And he that heareth, let him say: Come! —Surely I come quickly: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. While we honor the Church triumphant with our chants, and succor the Church suffering with our prayers, let us also turn our thoughts to the Church militant, during these days when the closing cycle presents her to us as about to complete her work on earth. Now the Church is our model; but especially at the close of our pilgrimage ought we to made her attitude our own. The above-cited dialogue, which will...

HAD we Angels’ eyes, we should see the earth as a vast field sown with seed for the resurrection. The death of Abel opened the first furrow, and ever since, the sowing has gone on unceasingly the wide world over. This land of labor and of suffering, what treasures it already holds laid up in its bosom! And what a harvest for heaven, when the Sun of Justice, suddenly darting forth his rays, shall cause to spring up as suddenly from the soil the elect ears ripe for glory! No wonder that the Church herself blesses and superintends the...

“Praise and glory be to thee, O holy Trinity, who hast brought us all to this day’s solemnity. Praise be to thee also, O holy Mother of God, scepter of the orthodox faith: through thee the Cross triumphs, and man is called back to heaven; through thee the idols are overthrown, and the nations are brought to repentance.” Such words as these, which the Church borrows from her doctors to close the bright Octave, were doubtless sung in prophecy by the angels around the new-born babe Mary. And such, in the light of the ages since elapsed, must needs...