Benedictus Deus

I thought I would offer a few of my Christmas plans here.  First, a few general notes.  I will be off work from the 24th until January 11th.  Throughout the holy season I am going to try to get to daily mass as often as I can, and pray as much of the office I [...]

I was really going to post this on time, but due to illness and other factors it got put on the back burner.  I was going to past a quote from the Liturgical Year, but I don’t have it handy so I’ll paraphrase.  Abbot Gueranger said that due to general ignorance and lapsed practice amongst [...]

Today is (or would have been) the octave day of Epiphany.  The octave day focuses on Our Lord’s manifestation at His baptism in the Jordan.  In fact, on the 1962 calendar this is still the Commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  I suppose it is a commemoration and not a feast because [...]

Here is a sequence from the ancient Missals of the German Churches, given in the entry for day 7:
Our Saviour is born unto us!  Let us solemnly celebrate his Birthday.
To us was he given, unto us was he born, and with us had he lived, he the light and salvation of the Gentiles.
In the beginning [...]

Day six happens to be Sunday within the Octave of Epiphany this year.  Even on the old-old (pre-1955) calendar this Sunday was the Feast of the Holy Family.  Since we still have that I will just continue with a quote from Dom Gueranger’s entry for day six rather than from the entry for for Sunday [...]

Continuing the series:
The Magi have reached Bethlehem; the humble dwelling of the King of the jews has been thrown open to them. Falling down, they adore the divine King they have so fervently sought after, and for whom the whole earth had been longing….
These happy kings are not scandalized at the sight they behold [...]

More from the Liturgical Year:
When Abraham received the command from God to go out of the land of Chaldea, which was teh land of his fathers and kindred, and go into a strange country, he obeyed with such faithful promptitude as to merit being made the Father of all them that believe, so , likewise, [...]

Prayers taken from the Gregorian Sacramentary:
O God, the enlightener of all nations, give thy people to enjoy perpetual peace, and infuse into our hearts that shining light which thou didst enkindle in the minds of the three Magi.
Almighty and eternal God, the light of faithful souls, who hast consecrated this solemnity by the first-fruits of [...]

I am going to try to do some short daily posts for my unofficial keeping of the Octave of Epiphany. The posts will be short excerpts from the Liturgical Year (all emphasis mine).
From Volume III, Entry for January 7th
“A Solemnity of such importance as the Epiphany could not be without an Octave. The [...]

Today is the feast of Epiphany, one of the greatest Feasts in the Church.  In the Pre-1955 ranking system it was even a greater feast than Christmas!  In many parts of the world there are great celebrations for this day.  In fact this is the day many children get their presents.  In other places, like [...]