I'm writing this on the fourth day of Christmas, December 28, the Feast of the Holy Innocents. Are you still recovering from everything that led up to the first day of Christmas on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day?
In a good number of cultures, Christians are just getting going on the twelve days of Christmas at this stage. In our context, most of us have exerted ourselves quite a bit getting through Advent and to Christmas. And, since many folks, including many clergy, have a few days off this last week of the calendar year, we tend not to observe in a formal way the feasts of the Church that fall on the twelve days of Christmas.
The first of these is the Feast of St Stephen on December 26. Stephen was one of the original deacons in the Jerusalem congregation and was the first Christian martyr. A young man named Saul held the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen to death. After that young man's own conversion to the Jesus Movement, he would become our patron, St Paul, and face martyrdom himself a few decades later.
Next is the Feast of St John on December 27. John was an apostle and evangelist and, tradition holds, the only one of the twelve apostles not to die a martyr's death. The gospel of John, the three letters of John, and the Revelation of John are all attributed to him.
Today, December 28, is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, marking the slaughter of all infant males under the age of two by King Herod in an attempt to do away with baby Jesus. It calls us annually to remember all those innocent people, children in particular, who are being killed unnecessarily in our time, often as collateral casualties of war and preventable violence.
The Episcopal Church commemorates also Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr, 1170 on December 29; John Wyclif, Priest and Translator of the Bible into English, 1394 on December 31; and Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah, Bishop in South India, Evangelist, 1945 on January 2.
On New Year's Day each year is the Feast of the Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It commemorates the circumcision of Jesus and the presentation of him in the temple by his parents on the eighth day. The very first day of 2023 was a Sunday, so we commemorated the Holy Name properly at the very beginning of this calendar year.
If you're interested to follow along with all the commemorations on our liturgical calendar, a great place to find them is at The Satucket Lectionary (http://satucket.com/lectionary/).
I send you love and good wishes as we round out the end of the calendar year and look forward to celebrating with you once again in person or online this Sunday.
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