🏠Granted to certain dioceses by Leo XIII in 1893, and extended to the universal Church by Benedict XV in 1921, the Feast of the Holy Family took the place of the Sunday within the Octave of the Epiphany, the Mass of which is transferred to the first free day of the week. Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, in the humble house of Nazareth! The highest holiness in the simplest conditions of life. Among the events that marked the birth of the Savior and the beginning of His public life, the Holy Church wished to remember, every year, this noble example from which authentically Christian families will never cease to draw inspiration, as a model of sanctification through the practice of family virtues. With the Church, we make a visit today to the house of Nazareth. The Holy Family is an example for the Christian family. Let children follow the example of Jesus, who was subject to His parents. Let the father imitate St. Joseph, and let the mother see in Mary Most Holy a model of wife and mother whose virtues we find in the Epistle and Gospel. For the execution of our resolutions, we implore in the Prayers the graces from on High, and thus, the peace of Jesus Christ will also reign in our homes.
🎼Introit (Prov 23:24-25 | Ps 83:2-3)
Exsúltat gáudio pater Justi, gáudeat Pater tuus et Mater tua, et exsúltet quæ génuit te. Ps. Quam dilécta tabernácula tua, Dómine virtútum! concupíscit et déficit ánima mea in átria Dómini.
The father of the just rejoiceth with joy: let Thy father and Thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore Thee. Ps. How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord.
📜Epistle (Col 3:12-17)
Brethren: Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience: bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another: even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so do you also. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection: and let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body: and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom: teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.
📖Gospel (Lk 2:42-52)
When Jesus was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, and having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the Child Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and His parents knew it not. And thinking that He was in the company, they came a day's journey, and sought Him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. And not finding Him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking Him. And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard Him were astonished at His wisdom and His answers. And seeing Him, they wondered. And His mother said to Him: Son, why hast Thou done so to us? behold Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing. And He said to them: How is it that you sought Me? did you not know that I must be about My Father's business? And they understood not the word that He spoke unto them. And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. And His mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and men.
🕊️Divine Submission and the Sanctification of the Home
⚓The mystery of the Holy Family, proposed today for our veneration, contains a dizzying lesson in humility that challenges the wisdom of the world. The Gospel of St. Luke culminates with a sentence that should make our pride tremble: "He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them" (Lk 2:51). He whom the angels serve, the Eternal Wisdom who marveled the doctors in the Temple, submits Himself to two human creatures. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church, meditating on this mystery, exclaims: "God obeys a man! Humble thyself, proud dust! God humbles Himself, and dost thou exalt thyself?" This submission of Christ is not a diminution of His divinity, but the sanctification of family authority and the restoration of the order broken by Adam's sin. In the house of Nazareth, Jesus teaches that true greatness lies not in command, but in loving obedience to the Father's will, reflected in the family structure. The Epistle to the Colossians complements this vision, exhorting us to put on "bowels of mercy" and "charity, which is the bond of perfection." The Christian family, therefore, is called to be a school of sacrifice, where selfishness is overcome by mutual service. As St. Augustine reminds us, peace is the "tranquility of order"; and in the Holy Family, this order is perfect because love for God permeates every action, transforming the monotonous daily life into divine worship. May our families, looking to Nazareth, understand that to be "about the Father's business" does not necessarily mean performing great public deeds, but living charity and fidelity in the sanctuary of the home.
🇺🇸See English version of the critical articles here.
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