Pax et Bonum

The Online worship resource for St. James Parish

December 30, 2009

When peaceful silence lay over all,
And the night had run half of her swift course,
Your all-powerful word, O Lord,
Leaped down from heaven, from the royal throne.
---from the Roman rite, 2nd Christmas---
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Our glory is to stand before the world
As our own sons and daughters.
May the simple beauty of Jesus’ birth
Summon us always to love what is most deeply human,
And to see your Word made flesh
Reflected in those whose lives we touch.
---Roman rite, 2nd Christmas---

The Days of Christmas

In 385, a nun from Spain named Egeria, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. There she found that the Nativity of Christ was celebrated on the 5th and 6th of January. Her diary’s description of the Christmas service has been lost, but she did say, "in Bethlehem through the entire eight days the feast is celebrated in festal array and joyfulness by the priests and all the clerics there and the monks who are stationed in that place." Eight days of feasting and celebration.

In the Roman church, the eight days of Christmas, called the Octave of Christmas began on December 25, and went through the First of January. During that time, the church commemorated the feast day of St. Stephen, the Holy Family, St. John, the Holy Innocents, and the feast of Mary Theotokos on January 1. It was considered a holy time of year, much like our Holy Week, and worship and celebration continued throughout the Octave.

Somewhere along the line, Epiphany was incorporated into the tradition, and society began to celebrate the twelve days of Christmas, from December 25 to January 6, or in the Orthodox tradition, from January 6 to January 19.

In some ways we do celebrate the Octave: schools are out, many people take vacations, many of the churches are actually closed during this week after Christmas.

But what would it look like if we took the Octave of Christmas seriously? What would it be like to celebrate the Word made Flesh and dwelling among us for eight days? What would it be like to consider the Birth of Christ that deeply – to have eight days to contemplate his coming? I wonder if it would change us dramatically. Often Advent is filled with preparing for the family celebration of Christmas. What if, after that day on the 25th of December, we spent time to ponder the Word?

Be merry, be merry
I pray you every one!
A principal point of charities
It is, merry to be in him
That is but one. Be merry!
For of a maiden a child
Was born to save mankind
That was forlorn. Be merry!
Now Mary for thy Sonnes sake
Save them alle that mirthe make
And longest holdy on! Be merry!
---Medieval English Carol---

Daily Morning Prayer

Daily Morning Prayer

This Week at St. James

Prayers Etc.

For those on our prayer list:

For Matt Rogers, our Postulant
For those who are deployed and their families.

God, bless to me the new day,
Never vouchsafed to me before;
It is to bless thine own presence
Thou has given me this time, O God.
 
Bless thou to me mine eye,
May mine eye bless all it sees;
I will bless my neighbor,
May my neighbor bless me.
 
God give me a clean heart,
Let me not from sight of thine eye;
Bless to me my children and my wife,
And bless to me my means and my cattle.
--the Blessing of the New Year (Scottish)--

In Closing:

There is no rose of such vertu
As is the rose that bare Jesu
Alleluia
 
For in this rose contained was
Heaven and earth in little space
Res Miranda! (marvelous thing)
 
By that rose we may well see
There be one God in person three,
Pares forma (of equal form)
 
The angels sungen the shepherds to:
Gloria in Excelsis Deo.
Gaudeamus (let us rejoice!)
 
Leave we all this worldly mirth,
And follow we this joyful birth.
Transeamus (let us go across from worldly to heavenly things!)
--Anonymous; 15th Century--

Pax et Bonum,
Loree+

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