The Three Masses of Christmas

THE THREE MASSES OF CHRISTMAS

Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

Our feast of Christmas came from a pagan observance which was Christianized. It is a pagan festival revisited. The first mention of the celebration of the Lord’s nativity in a liturgical calendar appears in the fourth century. This was the baptism of the pagan festival of the invincible sun (sol invictus), an observance introduced in 274 by the Emperor Aurelius (270-275), and celebrated in Rome on December 25, the winter solstice. The “Sun of Justice” (Mal 3:20) came as “the light of the world” (Jn 8:12) to vanquish darkness and to triumph over sin and death.

As the Christianization of the winter solstice, observed in Egypt and in Arabia on January 6, developed into the feast of the Epiphany, it became a major feast of the East. To counteract certain pagan myths, Epiphany, which means “showing forth” or “manifestation,” placed emphasis on the baptism of Jesus and his mission, and on the revelation of his glory at Cana? Gradually the feast of Epiphany spread to the entire West in the fourth century, and the East adopted the feast of Christmas about the same time.

In the fourth century at Rome the celebration of Christmas was a rather ordinary Mass celebrated by the pope. The Mass was similar to our present Mass at Dawn, and proclaimed the prologue of John’s Gospel. To refute and oppose the Arian heresy rampant at that time, the Mass affirmed and celebrated the Word made flesh. This Christmas Mass was clearly Christological and dogmatic in character, and in 360 mentioned the adoration of the magi and the massacre of the innocent children of Bethlehem.

At Bethlehem a night Mass was celebrated for Epiphany in the grotto of the Lord’s birth. Beginning in the fifth century a night Mass was celebrated in Rome also, but it was the Mass of Christmas and not that of Epiphany. The pope celebrated the night Mass at the Church of St. Mary Major, built after the Council of Ephesus. Wood from a crèche was displayed in one of the basilica’s chapels, and the Mass celebrated there became known as the Mass ad praesepe, that is, near the crèche. Since the account of Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem was read from the Gospel of Luke, the theme of this celebration was historical.

The Greek (Byzantine) colony in Rome celebrated December 25 too. They assembled at the Church of St. Anastasia (Holy Resurrection). To respect the Byzantines the pope celebrated Mass with them in the morning before going to St. Peter’s Basilica. In that Mass the gospel reading was the announcement of the good news to the shepherds found in Luke’s Gospel.

This is how the three Masses of Christmas originated. The pope and the faithful celebrated Mass at night at St. Mary Major, at dawn at St. Anastasia, and during the day at St. Peter.

- Used with permission.

Santa Claus and Christmas

Photo by Esther G.

One of my favorite Christmas statues is the one of our Kneeling Santa. I love the way Santa kneels down so reverentially before the New Born King with his hat by his side.

Please read the story over at Les Femmes - In Defense of Santa Claus

YEAR FOR PRIESTS - Blessed Seelos

"I was ordained a Priest on December 22, 1844. Let us celebrate my 165th anniversary.
Give thanks to God and I'll intercede for you in a powerful way."

O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer,
let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in Your sight.
I offer praise to You for the grace You have bestowed
on Your humble missionary, Father Francis Xavier Seelos
May I have the same joyful vigor
that Father Seelos possessed during his earthly life
to love You deeply and live faithfully Your gospel.
Amen. (mention your intentions here)

additional prayers and information: HERE

Thank you Mary Jane.

Popes Pius XII, John Paul II declared 'venerable'

The Congregation also proclaimed the heroic virtue of nine others, who now qualify for the title "Venerable" and may be beatified with the approval of a miracle:

1.Pope Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli) (1876-1958)
2. Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla) (1920-2005)

Read the rest here

Praying the Rosary

H/T toPadre Steve

Meditation on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary has often been a source of trouble for me. I would recite the Hail Marys very quickly. I often rushed to get my obligation of saying the rosary out of the way and over with for the day. I actually thought that as long as I fulfilled this obligation, Mary would be pleased with my efforts. How wrong I was and not only was I wrong, I was robbing myself of the beauty of actually meditating and contemplating on the life of Christ.

With the grace of God, I am now finally able to not only meditate on each of the 20 mysteries of the Holy Rosary, but I actually look forward to seeing where my meditations would lead me.

This accomplishment did not come easily though. It was more of a "baby-step" attempt on my part and a conscious effort not to let my mind wander on anything but on each particular mystery.

It started with the Joyful Mysteries, the first of all the mysteries. The First Joyful Mystery is the Annunciation. On each and every bead of that decade, I would think and apply one word to describe part of the Mystery of the Annunciation. For example, on each of those ten beads I would apply some of the following words: 1. maiden, 2. room 3. angel 4. surprise 5. announcement 6. wonderment 7. Holy Spirit 8. Emmanuel 9. Obedience 10. Fiat

After a while of focusing on the mysteries in this child-like manner, my mind and heart now can visualize the place where each mystery is occuring. Dialogues, feelings, surroundings are easier for me to think about and thus I am now meditating much better. For an even deeper meditation, I try to pray the rosary with my eyes closed. However, when I pray the Holy Rosary in front of the Blessed Sacrament as is usually the case before daily Mass, I love to "gaze on the loveliness of the Lord"

"...That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple."

Source

For me, meditation on the Holy Rosary is still a work in progress. I thank the Blessed Mother for obtaining this grace for me.

Several Ways to Make Yourself Miserable

1. Count your troubles, name them one by one--at the breakfast table, if anybody will listen, or as soon as possible thereafter.
2. Worry every day about something. Don't let yourself get out of practice. It won't add a cubit to your stature but it might burn a few calories.
3. Pity yourself. If you do enough of this, nobody else will have to do it for you.

You can read the rest here.

Advent

H/T EWTN's Life on the Rock

The Catholicism Project

YEAR FOR PRIESTS: Movie Recommendations

Photo by Esther G.

My family and I recently watched two movies which I would highly recommend for this Year of the Priest.

The first movie we watched was The Keys of the Kingdom starring Gregory Peck.

The second movie we watched was The Cardinal starring Tom Tryon. Note: I was wracking my brain trying to remember from where I had heard of Tom Tryon. Turns out his name was familiar to me, not as an actor, but as a writer.

Both of these movies followed the priestly vocation of two priests. One was a Scottish priest and one was an American priest from Boston. Both stories were based on novels.

Although, the two priests were from very different backgrounds, their dedication to the priesthood and to Holy Mother Church were inspirational. I would think it would be hard for a boy or young man to watch these movies and not be moved by these role models to the priesthood.

Now, these two movies were not your average priest movies of the 40's and 50's, such as the likes of Spencer Tracy's Father Flanagan of Boy's Town or Bing Crosby's Father O'Malley in Going My Way and the Bells of St. Mary.

These two movies really delved deep down into the priests' core to portray them not only as real men but true persona Christi. The Cardinal was directed by Otto Preminger. For those of you familiar with his work, you know he is not afraid to tackle controversial subjects or areas.

I hope you are able to watch these magnificent movies. In order for you two watch and to enjoy them as my family and I did, I will abstain from sharing too much of the details.

I can almost promise that neither one of these movies will disappoint you.

More on Dying to Self from Saint Louis de Montfort

"...in order to empty ourselves of self, we must die daily to ourselves.

This involves our renouncing what the powers of the soul and the senses of the body incline us to do. We must see as if we did not see, hear as if we did not hear and use the things of this world as if we did not use them.

This is what St. Paul calls 'dying daily'.

Unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain and does not bear any good fruit.

If we do not die to self and if our holiest devotions do not lead us to this necessary and fruitful death, we shall not bear fruit of any worth and our devotions will cease to be profitable. All our good works will be tainted by self-love and self-will so that our greatest sacrifices and our best actions will be unacceptable to God.

Consequently when we come to die we shall find ourselves devoid of virtue and merit and discover that we do not possess even one spark of that pure love which God shares with only those who have died to themselves and whose life is hidden with Jesus Christ in him."

- True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary