Happy Feast of the Virgin Mary!

Feast of circuмcision...  comemorates the first shedding of Christ Blood.

Feast of circuмcision...  commemorates the first shedding of Christ Blood.

Yes, the Church celebrates as well the Octave of the Nativity of Jesus, the Circuмcision of Our Lord. We celebrate the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, Our Savior! According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today, January 1, is the Solemnity of Circuмcision of Our Lord.

"This is the day on which Jesus first shed His Precious Blood. It is the day on which Jesus was given His Holy Name. Mary, the virginal Mother of Jesus, held her Divine Child in her arms while His Precious Blood was being shed for the first time. This was in the rite of circuмcision, a required religious observance of the Jєωs. It was the purpose of Jesus to fulfill perfectly all the requirements of the Old Law until the Old Law was abolished and the New Law established in its place. Because of the sacredness of the body of Jesus, and because he was liturgically allowed to do so as head of the family, Saint Joseph circuмcised Mary’s Child in the cave where He was born. Saint Joseph gave Jesus His Holy Name. This he was told to do by the Angel Gabriel. Circuмcision was a rite of the Old Law, but by virtue of shedding the blood of the Lamb of God in this rite, Saint Joseph participated in the priesthood of the New Law.

The feast of the Circuмcision was a sorrow to Our Lady, but it was a sorrow mingled with joy. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, knew that all true Christians would see, in the circuмcision of Jesus, how incarnate God had become when He could shed blood. One month of the year, the month of July, is wholly dedicated to the Precious Blood of Jesus by the Catholic Church. A special remembrance of the Precious Blood of Jesus occurs on three days of the year: on January 1, the day on which the Precious Blood was first shed; on July 1, the permanent feast of the Precious Blood; and on the fifth Friday of Lent, in a movable feast."

http://catholicism.org/the-octave-of-the-nativity-of-jesus-the-circuмcision-of-our-lord.html

I thought this shed some light on things albeit from a NO priest:

http://blog.adw.org/2010/01/a-feast-that-is-missing-in-action/


Today (January 1st)  we celebrated  the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.  In the past we celebrated the Feast of the Circuмcision of the Lord, a Feast that is currently missing in action. We can discuss that in a moment.

But as for the Feast of Mary Mother of God, it is a great opportunity for us to reflect on who Jesus Christ is. Mary is Mother of God because Jesus is God. Some may want to argue that she only gave birth to his human nature and hence is only mother of what is human in him. But Jesus is ONE PERSON with two natures. This is something called in theology the “hypostatic union” and it is an essential teaching of Christ. He unites in one person the human nature and the divine nature. There are not two Jesuses. Neither is it true that his divine nature came upon him at a later time such as his baptism. No, his two natures were united in his one person from the moment of of his human conception. And since Jesus is one, Mary gives birth and is mother to the whole Christ. Mary is Mother of God because Jesus is God. This title was given to Mary at the Council of Ephesus in 431 in defense of Christ’s divinity. The Greek form of this title is Θεοτόκος (Theotokos) translated more literally as “God Bearer.”

Evidence for the celebration of this feast goes back in the Roman Church all the way to the 7th Century. Prior to that there is evidence of this feast being celebrated in other parts of Europe but usually on the Fourth Sunday of Advent. By the 13th and 14th Centuries However the Feast of the Circuмcision of the Lord came to replace this feast, and the Feast of Mary Mother of God was eventually moved to October 11th and renamed the feast of the “Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” Just after Vatican II The more ancient Feast of Mary Mother of God was restored to January 1st.

That said, and as much as I love the Blessed Mother and affirm her under this proper title, I regret the loss of the Feast of the Circuмcision. I generally prefer to stick as close to the Biblical narrative as possible. In this case Scripture is clear, on the eighth day (i.e. January 1st for us), Jesus was Circuмcised and his name given. Three important truths and events are celebrated here. First that Jesus was born under the law and submitted himself to it so that he might fulfill it. Secondly there is the first shedding of blood, and this refers to the passion. Thirdly his name is announced: Jesus, a name which means “God saves.” There is no other name given to men by which we are to be saved, there is no other blood that can atone for our sins than the blood of Jesus and there is no one who can fulfill the Law as Jesus does. It seems a bit of a loss not to explicitly celebrate these events in Jesus life and these truth about him on the very day (the eighth day) they happened.

You may wish to dispute this regret of mine and I hope you will use the comments section to advance your points. Obviously the Church has decided to return to the more ancient observance of Mary Mother of God and so this is out of my hands. But I thought it might be appropriate at least give a nod to the Feast of the Circuмcision.

I suppose if I had it my what here is what I would do:
1.Celebrate the Feast of Mary Mother of God on the Sunday Between Christmas and January 1st.
2.Move the Feast of the Holy Family to the Sunday after Epiphany (where it used to be before 1968). In fact, I would also like to say that the Feast of the Holy Family is rather confusing where it currently is since most the Gospel most years is of the Finding of Jesus in the Temple when he was 12 years old. So, suddenly after Christmas he is 12, and then at Epiphany, days later he is back to being an infant. A little confusing. So this Feast seems better celebrated after Epiphany as a kind of bridge: Jesus at 12 years of age links the infant Chirst and the adult Christ as we return to Ordinary time.
3.Restore the Feast of the Circuмcision to January 1st.
4.But nobody is asking me from Rome what I think!  :-)  So enjoy my “rant” for what it is, just a slight grief for a feast that is missing in action and a wish to tweek the Christmas calendar so it flows a little better.

For the record, it is still possible to celebrate the Feast of the Circuмcision using the Old Latin Mass (Extraordinary Form). However even there, the prayers are a little unusual in that none of them mention the circuмcision at all. Rather, they are prayers that focus on the motherhood of Mary. Only the Gospel mentions the Circuмcision. Any way don’t fail to thank the Lord Jesus for accepting  humbly the obligations of the Law, shedding his first Blood and for revealing his precious and saving name!

Enjoy The Ave Maria by Rachmanivov on this Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

Quote

At the time of circuмcision, a name was given to the child. Our Lord was called Jesus, which signified His office as Saviour. On this feast of the Circuмcision, therefore, it is most appropriate that we should meditate on the first petition of the Lord's prayer, "hallowed be thy name."

What is more Honorable  , Honoring the name of Jesus,given to The King of Kings or the mother of that king.  In this instance I go with the old school, Jan 1 is the Feast of the Circuмcision, and the first shedding of the Blood of Christ and the naming of the Son of God , for the first time.

I hear you, but the argument is that the "old school" is really the Solemnity of Mary.  Once again the NO Church pushes "return to antiquity".  As if the Church was wrong for ever having the Feast of the Circuмcision for hundreds of years.

I still think there is more to this story as there is with all of its so-called "return to antiquity" reforms.  

Having said that, it is difficult to get too concerned since we are speaking of Our Lady.  I wonder what she thinks.