Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Joseph and Mary/C
Massimo Palombella
Today’s feast day has been celebrated locally since the 17th century. In 1895 Pope Leo XIII fixed the date on the third Sunday after Epiphany. In 1921, Pope Benedict XV extended the feast to the whole Church and set it on the Sunday in the octave of the Epiphany. Pope John XXIII moved it to the first Sunday after Epiphany. The Liturgical Reform of the Second Vatican Council placed this feast on the first Sunday after Christmas (if Christmas falls on a Sunday, it is celebrated on Friday, 30 December).
God made man wanted to be born, to grow up, to mature in a family, a reality that represents an indispensable point for each of us. In fact, no one can live “alone”, without maturing into fatherhood, motherhood, which is the essence of the family, the point of synthesis of our sexuality, which alone ensures that our life has that inner quality that makes it truly worth living.
The Offertory Antiphon of today’s celebration is taken from Psalm 30 (Ps 30, 15.16) with the following text:
In te speravi, Domine, dixi: tu es Deus meus, in manibus tuis tempora mea.
(In you have I put my trust, O Lord; I said: “You are my God, my destiny is in your hands”).
The attached music, in Gregorian Chant, is taken from the Graduale Triplex published in Solesmes in 1979. The interpretation is by the Choralschola der Wiener Hofburgkapelle conducted by Hubert Dopf.
A blessed Sunday and heartfelt greetings.
