Hello and Happy Third Day of Christmas! ​

Coming Up:

Friday, January 2, 5:30pm at Holy Trinity, SSM: $5 Monthly Dinner! Take out or eat in. This month it will be chicken alfredo lasagna, garlic bread, vegetable, and dessert. Please pre-order so that I make enough food. (susan.montague2@gmail.com or 705-254-1692).

The Epiphany of the Lord is one of just seven Principal Feasts of our church year so we are going to have a feast on Epiphany – Tuesday, January 6 at 5pm in the Trinity Centre. Please join me for a worship service of the Holy Eucharist followed by a traditional supper (and a special surprise!)

A Liturgical Note For You:      What’s In A Name?

January 1st is the Holy Day of The Naming of Jesus. This Holy Day comes eight days after Jesus’ birth (when he would have been circumcised) and, if it falls on a Sunday, it takes precedence over the usual Sunday liturgy since this is a day that has a pre-eminent role in the Paschal Mystery. It is not, however, moved to a Sunday. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Yeshua (to deliver/to rescue). Names carry meaning (Susan, for example, is the Hebrew word for ‘lily’). Names are also our identity and carry the power associated with that identity.  Many times over, we are told that the apostles teach, preach, heal, etc., in the name of Jesus – in other words, because of the name of Jesus.  As the popular song says, “There is power in the name of Jesus.”  As our Deliverer, we have many (about 200!) names/titles for Jesus. If you’d like to check some of them out, go here:  https://www.gotquestions.org/names-Jesus-Christ.html

Names are important for our days, too:

Christmas Feria:  Each day on the calendar that is not assigned a feast, memorial, or commemoration is called a ferial day. Right now, each of these days is a “Christmas Feria”.  The time we are in right now is even more special than being part of the Christmas season though. We are in what is called the octave of Christmas. There are just two octaves in our entire Christian calendar – Christmas and Easter. We continue the level of joy and celebration for eight full days because these two feasts are the two most important feasts we have. The Holy Day of the Naming of Jesus is the eighth and final day of the octave of Christmas. The Baptism of the Lord marks the end of the Christmas season and the creche is removed from the church after the liturgy is finished.  (There are 18 days of Christmas this year – please don’t end Christmas before it’s actually over!) After that, the colour becomes green for Ordinary Time and we mark each Sunday as a “Sunday After the Epiphany” until the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday.

For Your Devotions:

In addition to Jan.1 – The Naming of Jesus mentioned above…

Friday, January 2nd is the memorial of Basil the Great (379 AD) and Gregory of Nazianzus (389 AD), bishops and two of the famous Cappadocian Fathers. Basil and Gregory were best friends in the 4th century and were extremely important figures in defending the orthodox faith against various heresies, especially Arianism (the belief that Jesus was semi-divine, a lesser being created by God). Along with Athanasius, these men were also crucial in establishing the place of the Holy Spirit in the Trinity – that the Holy Spirit was, in fact, God.  Without the efforts of these men, it is quite possible that we would not hold our Trinitarian beliefs today. For more info: https://www.dominicanajournal.org/basil-gregory-and-the-holy-spirit/

In the joy of Christ,

Susan