Christian Saints and Feasts – Page 15 – St. Paul Anglican Church

Jan 12

2025

The Baptism of Our LordThe Baptism of Our Lord

Baptism of Christ. Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River by John. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. This brings to an end the season of Christmas. The Church recalls Our Lord’s second manifestation or epiphany which occurred on the occasion of His baptism in the Jordan. In the Eastern Church this feast is called Theophany because at the baptism of Christ in the River Jordan God appeared in three persons. Many of the incidents which accompanied Christ’s baptism are symbolical of what happened at our Baptism. At Christ’s baptism the Holy Spirit descended upon Him; at our Baptism the Trinity took its abode in our soul. At His baptism Christ was proclaimed the “Beloved Son” of the Father; at our Baptism we become the adopted sons of God. At Christ’s baptism the heavens were opened; at our Baptism heaven was opened to us. At His baptism Jesus prayed; after our Baptism we must pray to avoid actual sin.

Jan 01

2025

Feast of the Holy Name of JesusFeast of the Holy Name of Jesus

Altar of the Holy Name of Jesus

The feast of the Holy Name of Jesus has been celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church, at least at local levels, since the end of the fifteenth century. The celebration has been held on different dates, usually in January, because 1 January, eight days after Christmas, commemorates the naming of the child Jesus; as recounted in the Gospel read on that day, “at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” Medieval Catholicism, and many Christian churches to the present day, therefore celebrated both events as the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ, usually on 1 January. An Office and Mass were approved by Pope Sixtus IV.

Observance of the feast was officially granted to the Franciscans in 1530 and spread over a great part of the Church. The Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians kept the feast on 14 January, the Dominicans on 15 January. At Salisbury, York, and Durham in England, and at Aberdeen in Scotland it was celebrated 7 August, at Liège in Belgium, 31 January, at Compostela in Spain and Cambrai in France, 8 January.

Around 1643 the Carthusians obtained the second Sunday after Epiphany for the Feast. This was the date assigned to the celebration when, on 20 December 1721, it was inserted into the General Calendar of the Roman Rite by Pope Innocent XIII. In the reform of Pope Pius X, enacted by his motu proprio Abhinc duos annos of 23 October 1913, it was moved to the Sunday between 2 and 5 January inclusive, and in years when no such Sunday existed the celebration was observed on 2 January; this is still observed by Catholics following calendars of 1914 to 1962.

The reform of the liturgical calendar by the motu proprio Mysterii Paschalis of 14 February 1969 removed the feast “since the imposition of the name of Jesus is already commemorated in the office of the Octave of Christmas.” However, the Mass texts of the Holy Name of Jesus were preserved, being placed with the Votive Masses. The celebration was restored to the General Roman Calendar with the 2002 Roman Missal.

Sep 08

2024

The Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost – BroadcastThe Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost – Broadcast

Dec 28

2023

The Holy InnocentsThe Holy Innocents

By Matteo di Giovanni – The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH., Public Domain, Link

The Massacre of the Innocents is the biblical account of infanticide by Herod the Great, the Roman-appointed King of the Jews. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Herod ordered the execution of all young male children in the vicinity of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews whose birth had been europaisches-roulette announced to him by the Magi. In typical Matthean style, it is understood as the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy:

Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more.”

The number of infants killed is not stated. The Holy Innocents, although Jewish, have been claimed as martyrs for Christianity, and the Feast of the Holy Innocents has long been celebrated.

Since the sole evidence for the event occurs in the Gospel of Matthew, New Testament scholars treat its historicity as an open question; and biographers of Herod deny that the event occurred.

Dec 13

2023

Saint LucySaint Lucy

Saint Lucy

Lucia of Syracuse (283–304), also called Saint Lucia (Latin:Sancta Lucia) or Saint Lucy, was a Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox churches. She is one of eight women (including Saint Mary) explicitly commemorated by Roman Catholics in the Canon of the Mass. Her traditional feast day, known in Europe as Saint Lucy’s Day, is observed by Western Christians on 13 December. Lucia of Syracuse was honored in the Middle Ages and remained a well known saint in early modern England.