Meditations on the Feast day:
From The Liturgical Year, by Abbot Gueranger, O.S.B.:
Our new-born King and Saviour 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 Jeus is being nursed by His Mother. Today the Son of Man is to be circumcised; this first sacrific of His innocent Flesh must honor the eighth day of His mortal life. Today also a Name is to be given him; the Name will be Jesus, and it means Saviour. So that the mysteries abound on this day: let us not pass one of them over, but honor them with all possibe devotion and love.
But this day is not exclusively devoted to the Circumcision of Jesus. The mytery of this Circumcision forms part of that other great mystery, the Incarnation and infancy of our Saviour -- a mystery on which the Church fixes the heart on 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 keeing, is set apart in honour 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 made her the co-operatrix with Jesus in the great work of man's salvation.
... Let us not be surprised, therfore, at the enthusiasm and profound respect wherewith the Church extols the Blessed Virgin and her prerogatives. Let us on the contrary be convnced that all the praise the Church can give her, and all the dvotion 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 cmes from her being the Mother of God, one would have first to comprehend God Himself in order to measure the greatness of her dignty. 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 dgnity, 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 a favored creature. Let us therefore bow down in deepest adoraion before the Majesty of our God; let us therefore acknowledge that we cannot repect as it deserves the extraordinary dignity of her whom He chose for His Mother.
Links
* Posts from my own archives for the Feast of the Circumcision.
* Coloring pages from Charlotte, honoring the Holy Name.
*On this day, a plenary indulgence can be acquired, under the usual conditions, by reciting the Veni, Creator Spiritus .
* Recipes and customs for the New Year, not necessarily of Catholic origin, but, fun, nevertheless.
