If the circumcision was eight days after birth, an octave, was there a separate Dedication ceremony and did it have to happen in the Temple? What about Mary's ritual purification after birth. Did that have to happen in the Temple and was that 40 days after birth? Luke 2:39 says that when they had performed everything according to the law, they returned to Nazareth. When is the "when" that marked the completion of the requirements of the law? How long after the birth did they return to Nazareth?
Are the 8 days in the Octave of Christmas considered, like the Easter Octave, one extended Christmas Day? Is the whole thing a Solemnity? My understanding is that's what the Easter Octave is, bit I couldn't wrong. Thanks for clarifying, and thanks for all your work JD and Ed!
I tried explaining this all to my RCIA class, and am not sure I did a brilliant job of it; thanks Ed and JD for this much clearer explainer.
... that said, I am mystified as to why you chose to link to a video by the group I like to refer to as Isopentatonix when masterpieces such as this Indiana-based a capella rendition exist on the Internet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kYEK-pxs_A
There was one confusing part, though: "That feast [on February 2nd] commemorates the presentation of the Lord in the Temple, which, you might recall, many Eastern Christians actually remember on Epiphany." The anteceding paragraph to which, I assume, this statement makes reference seems to say, however, that Eastern Christians remember the Baptism of Our Lord--not his Presentation--on Epiphany.
Wait, the octave is not related to Jesus’s bris (brit millah). Feast of the circumcision, what happened to you? Cut out of the calendar by the squeamish.
My parish priest recently told us in a homily that “The 12 Days of Christmas” was sung as a kind of secret code between Christians when they were being persecuted. Was that one of the disputes about the origin or more likely a stretch?
"There are a lot of Christian cultures...." As I understand it, this was the whole Latin Church until things were pared back following the introduction of the Missal of St Paul VI, when the 40 days were lost. Boo!
All this information is most welcome, thanks much for the time spent on investigation, but what I really want to know is:
What does Canon law have to say about it?
(Also, but possibly unrelated: when should one take down the Christmas tree/decorations? After the last college football game, perhaps?)
Which twelve days are the twelve days of Christmas? From December 25 to Jan 6, including both of those days, there are thirteen days.
If the circumcision was eight days after birth, an octave, was there a separate Dedication ceremony and did it have to happen in the Temple? What about Mary's ritual purification after birth. Did that have to happen in the Temple and was that 40 days after birth? Luke 2:39 says that when they had performed everything according to the law, they returned to Nazareth. When is the "when" that marked the completion of the requirements of the law? How long after the birth did they return to Nazareth?
Are the 8 days in the Octave of Christmas considered, like the Easter Octave, one extended Christmas Day? Is the whole thing a Solemnity? My understanding is that's what the Easter Octave is, bit I couldn't wrong. Thanks for clarifying, and thanks for all your work JD and Ed!
I tried explaining this all to my RCIA class, and am not sure I did a brilliant job of it; thanks Ed and JD for this much clearer explainer.
... that said, I am mystified as to why you chose to link to a video by the group I like to refer to as Isopentatonix when masterpieces such as this Indiana-based a capella rendition exist on the Internet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kYEK-pxs_A
Thanks for the great explainer!
There was one confusing part, though: "That feast [on February 2nd] commemorates the presentation of the Lord in the Temple, which, you might recall, many Eastern Christians actually remember on Epiphany." The anteceding paragraph to which, I assume, this statement makes reference seems to say, however, that Eastern Christians remember the Baptism of Our Lord--not his Presentation--on Epiphany.
"can you eat meat on Friday, Dec. 31 — when Fridays are generally regarded as a day of abstinence?"
Huh, I thought that had been done away with outside lent decades ago. Is it different in the US?
Wait, the octave is not related to Jesus’s bris (brit millah). Feast of the circumcision, what happened to you? Cut out of the calendar by the squeamish.
What happened to the feast of the circumcision of Jesus? 8 days after birth.
My parish priest recently told us in a homily that “The 12 Days of Christmas” was sung as a kind of secret code between Christians when they were being persecuted. Was that one of the disputes about the origin or more likely a stretch?
thanks. i’m still miffed that Feast of the Circumcission of the Lord is not acknowledge as a bris, standard on the eight day
"There are a lot of Christian cultures...." As I understand it, this was the whole Latin Church until things were pared back following the introduction of the Missal of St Paul VI, when the 40 days were lost. Boo!