2 Feasts, One Day

[M.SIGGA]

What happened to the Feast of the Circumcision on January 1st? Is it still celebrated on this date? My traditional grandparents refer to the Jan 1 feast as this instead of the Solemnity of BVM. Please respond, thanks.

[Pontifex]

January 1st is predominately the Solemnity of the Theotokos. (God-Bearing) This day exalts Mary's role as Mother of God. In the 5th century this title was given to her, after the heresy of Nestorius was dispelled. The Church declared that it was proper and right to call Mary "Mother of God", using the communication of idioms. Meaning, that since Mary is the Son of Jesus, and Jesus is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, that the names and titles are interchangeable. The reason, is that you cannot separate Jesus' Humanity from his divinity, which is what some of the early erroneous theologians tried to do. Mary gave birth to the second person of the trinity, she gave birth to God, she gave birth to Jesus. It all says the same thing. This does not mean that the divine Word, had his beginnnings with Mary, we know that he existed from eternity with the Father, but the Word was born according to the flesh, through Mary. (Very Important stuff)

Now to get to your question. On May 9th, 1969, Pope Paul VI ordered that the liturgical calendar be revised. The new liturgical calendar was promulgated in 1970. One of the changes that was made, was to supplant (replace) the Feast of the circumcision, with the Solemnity of the Theotokos, Mary's greatest title. It is a way of giving Mary a special day within the Octave of Christmas. Of course we can still make mention of the signifigance of Jesus' circumcision, which was to unite him the lineage of Abraham, and it became the precursor for the new circumcision, which is Baptism.

Peace,

Fr. P

Edited January 2, 2004 by Pontifex

[cappie]

In the Franciscan Calendar the Feast was known also as the Feast of The Holy Name of Jesus anfter the passage in scripture immediately after the circumcision. When the Roman Calendar was reorganised the Franciscan Ordo (calendar) transferred it to Jan 3. This was recognised in the 2002 edition of the Missale Romanum where it is an Optional Memorial. In the Franciscan Ordo it is still a Feast, but the idea of the circumcision is supplanted by the "naming" of Jesus.