An octave is an ancient way of keeping a mystery too great for one day: the celebration is stretched across eight days so that the eighth day returns to the first. The Roman Calendar now retains only two, Easter and Christmas. The Christmas Octave runs from December 25 through January 1, and every day within it is celebrated with the Gloria and the prayers and preface of the Nativity. The days within the octave keep three ancient feasts of the companions of Christ: Saint Stephen the first martyr on December 26, Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist on December 27, and the Holy Innocents on December 28. The Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph is kept on the Sunday within the octave, or on December 30 in years when Christmas itself falls on a Sunday. December 29 and 31 are days within the octave on which the optional memorials of Saint Thomas Becket and Saint Sylvester I may be observed. The octave day, January 1, is the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God — the oldest Marian feast of the Roman liturgy, honoring the title Theotokos defined at the Council of Ephesus in 431 — and it is a holy day of obligation. In the dioceses of the United States the obligation is lifted when January 1 falls on a Saturday or a Monday. Since 1968 the same day has been kept as the World Day of Peace, and the first reading is the Aaronic blessing, "The Lord bless you and keep you." The Christmas Season itself continues past the octave, through the Epiphany, to the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

Liturgical season

Christmas

liturgical_season