Dear Faithful,

After four full weeks of beautiful Advent, we have come to that day for which this season was preparing us – the Day of Christmas. In truth however, Christmas is much more than a single day. Like Advent, it too is a season. It begins on December 24 and continues until the feast of the Lord’s Baptism which, this year, is on January 9. Between December 24 and January 8, there is the Christmas Octave, the eight days following the 25. There is also the better known 12 Days of Christmas that conclude on January 6, the feast of the Epiphany, which was original Christmas celebration in the Eastern Church.

Interspersed among these days are other feasts that came to be closely associated with Christmas, for example, December 26, the feast of St. Stephen also known as “Boxing Day” in England. This designation as nothing to do with pugilistics but is a reference to the boxed gifts that the wealthy would give to their servants on this day. There is also December 28, the feast of the Holy Innocents that commemorates the infants who were slaughtered by King Herod when he desperately attempted to destroy the newborn king of the Jews whom he perceived as a threat to his power. (December 28 is also the birthday of our much loved parish music director, Mr. Jim Susic.)

January 1 is the solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, most likely, the oldest commemoration of the Virgin Mary in the western church. Of course this day is also the first day of the New Year which invites us to make resolutions that we hope will improve the quality and goodness of our lives for the next 12 months. Whether we’re able to faithfully observe them is, perhaps, secondary to the fact that we perceive the need to make them. January 6 is the traditional date for the Epiphany when, the western church, rejoices in those exotic astrologers ( Magi) who journeyed through the night in search of the royal Christ who was announced to them by a star. Given all these holy days, we understand why Christmas cannot be confined to one solitary day, but requires, and deserves, a season marked by solemn rituals and conscious excess in both our churches and our homes.

Recently someone asked me if St. Benedict referred to the feast of Christmas his Holy Rule, the only written text ascribed to him. My response was that Benedict had a great deal to offer about Christmas although he never used that word nor did he ever refer to its date on December 25. The first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome on December 25, 336 AD. Although St. Benedict wrote his Rule around 516 AD, almost 200 years later, Christmas was not the popular festival if later became. At the time of St. Benedict the greatest Christian celebration was that of Easter.

Nonetheless, while Benedict makes no mention of Christmas as a liturgical observance, he reveals a profound incarnational theology throughout his entire Rule. He recognizes that since God entered our world and took flesh in the person of Jesus, that all creation is permeated by God’s presence. A rich example of this conviction is in Chapter 53 of the Rule when Benedict insists that the guests who come to the monastery must be welcomed, even adored, as Christ. Elsewhere he instructs that the sick and infirmed are to be treated like Christ. The abbot is to be obeyed because he stands in the place of Christ. The other monks also represent Christ to each another. When the monks pray, they should do so knowing that they are in the presence of the angels who worship before Christ. All the material objects of the monastery are to be treated like vessels of the altar because they too share in this heavenly divine presence. In the end, St. Benedict is utterly convinced of the universal impact that Christmas has made on the whole created order.

Ultimately, this is the meaning of Christmas – God becoming flesh in us and around us. This is a truth that requires not a day, nor an octave, not even a season to celebrate, but an entire lifetime. The final stanza in the following hymn text composed by the Benedictine nun, Sr. Genevieve, captures this in poetic eloquence.

Today, O choirs of heav’n and earth confess: In Bethlehem there breaks a glorious Morn.
Today, all you redeemed, in joy profess: In Christ the everlasting Day is born.
Today has come your Savior, here your Lord: The Word of God in human flesh adored.

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