JANUARY 1, 2025 – THE CIRCUMCISION OF OUR LORD.

• Circumcision of Our Lord. (Traditional)
• Octave Day of the Nativity. (Current, Traditional)
• Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Holy Mother of God. (Current)

CIRCUMCISION was a sacrament of the old law, and the first legal observance required by Almighty God of the descendants of Abraham. It was a sacrament of initiation in the service of God, and a promise and engagement to believe and act as He had revealed and directed. The law of circumcision continued in force until the death of Christ, and our Saviour being born under the law, it became Him, who came to teach mankind obedience to the law of God, to fulfill all justice, and to submit to it. Therefore He was circumcised that He might redeem them that were under the law, by freeing them from the servitude of it; and that those who were in the condition of servants before might be set at liberty, and receive the adoption of sons in baptism, which, by Christ’s institution, succeeded to circumcision. On the day that the divine infant was circumcised, he received the name of Jesus, which signifies SAVIOUR, which had been given him by the angel before he was conceived. That name, so beautiful, so glorious, the divine child does not wish to bear for one moment without fulfilling its meaning; even at the moment of his circumcision he showed himself a Saviour by shedding for us that blood, a single drop of which is more than sufficient for the ransom and salvation of the whole world.

REFLECTION: Let us profit by the circumstance of the new year, and of the wonderful renewal wrought in the world by the great mystery of this day, to renew in our hearts an increase of fervor and of generosity in the service of God. May this year be one of fervor and of progress! It will go by rapidly, like that which has just ended. If God permits us to see its end, how glad and happy we shall be to have passed it holily.

ELIGIUS, a goldsmith at Paris, was commissioned by King Clotaire to make a throne. With the gold and precious stones given him he made two. Struck by his rare honesty, the king gave him an appointment at court, and demanded an oath of fidelity sworn upon holy relics; but Eligius prayed with tears to be excused, for fear of failing in reverence to the relics of the Saints. On entering the court, he fortified himself against its seductions by many austerities and continual ejaculatory prayers. He had a marvelous zeal for the redemption of captives, and for their deliverance would sell his jewels, his food, his clothes, and his very shoes, once by his prayers breaking their chains and opening their prisons. His great delight was in making rich shrines for relics. His striking virtue caused him, a layman and a gold-smith, to be made Bishop of Noyon; and his sanctity in this holy office was remarkable. He possessed the gifts of miracles and prophecy, and died in 665.

REFLECTION: When God called His Saints to himself, He might, had He so pleased, have taken their bodies also; but he willed to leave them in our charge, for our help and consolation. Be careful to imitate St. Eligius in making a good use of so great a treasure.

THE Church pays, day by day, a special veneration to some one of the holy men and women who have helped to establish it by their blood, develop it by their labors, or edify it by their virtues. But, in addition to those whom the Church honors by special designation, or has inscribed in her calendar, how many martyrs are there whose names are not recorded? How many humble virgins and holy penitents? How many just and holy anchorites or young children snatched away in their innocence? How many Christians who have died in grace, whose merits are known only to God, and who are themselves known only in heaven? Now should we forget those who remember us in their intercessions? Besides, are they not our brethren, our ancestors, friends, and fellow-Christians, with whom we have lived in daily companionship—in other words, our own family? Yea, it is one family; and our place is marked out in this home of eternal light and eternal love

REFLECTION: Let us have a solicitude to render ourselves worthy of “that chaste generation, so beautiful amid the glory where it dwells.”

At the age of twenty-two, in spite of the canons and of his own reluctance, he was acclaimed Archbishop of Rheims. He was unusually tall, his face impressed with blended majesty and serenity, his bearing gentle, humble, and retiring. He was learned and eloquent, and had the gift of miracles. His pity and charity were boundless, and in toil he knew no weariness. His body was the outward expression of a noble and holy soul, breathing the spirit of meekness and compunction. For so choice a workman God had fitting work. The South of France was in the hands of Arians, and the pagan Franks were wresting the North from the Romans. St. Remigius confronted Clovis, their king, and converted and baptized him at Christmas, A.D. 496. With him he gained the whole Frank nation. He threw down the idol altars, built churches, and appointed bishops. He withstood and silenced the Arians, and converted so many that he left France a Catholic kingdom, its king the oldest and at the time the only crowned son of the Church. He died A.D. 533, after an episcopate of seventy-four years, the longest on record.

REFLECTION: Few men have had such natural advantages and such gifts of grace as St. Remi, and few have done so great a work. Learn from him to bear the world’s praise as well as its scorn with a lowly and chastened heart.

WORD OF THE DAY

TRADITION. Literally a "handing on," referring to the passing down of God’s revealed word. As such it has two closely related but distinct meanings. Tradition first means all of divine revelation, from the dawn of human history to the end of the apostolic age, as passed on from one generation of believers to the next, and as preserved under divine guidance by the Church established by Christ. Sacred Tradition more technically also means, within this transmitted revelation, that part of God’s revealed word which is not contained in Sacred Scripture. Referring specifically to how Christian tradition was handed on, the Second Vatican Council says: "It was done by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received – whether from the lips of Christ, from His way of life and His works, or whether they had learned it by the prompting of the Holy Spirit" (Constitution on Divine Revelation, II, 7). (Etym. Latin traditio, a giving over, delivery, surrender; a handing down: from tradere, to give up.)

Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John Hardon SJ (Get the real one at Eternal Life — don’t accept an abridged or edited version of this masterpiece!)

Christmastide Meditations

Daily devotional meditations on the Birth of Our Savior and Christmastide: The Circumcision – Christmas Meditation Day 8 (Jan 1)

This article, JANUARY 1, 2025 – THE CIRCUMCISION OF OUR LORD. is a post from The Bellarmine Forum.
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