The Sixth Day of Christmas: the Holy Family

Happy sixth day of Christmas! Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. In the Holy Family, God gives us a living icon of family life: child, mother, father.

And more than that, this being an icon and not just a pattern or ideal, we are given an icon of a holy family life, centered on God. This family was beset by the problems of the world – from being refugees in Egypt from the wrath of Herod right up until the moment Mary’s heart broke at the sight of her son’s brutal torture and execution.

And yet, they made for themselves a home, wherever they were. A home of love and domestic joy.

Of course, today’s psalm reminds us that even in the midst of the family home, we are only pilgrims upon this earth, journeying towards our heavenly home.

Happy they who dwell in your house!
Continually they praise you.
Happy the men whose strength you are!
Their hearts are set upon the pilgrimage.

– from Psalm 84, Responsorial Psalm for today’s Feast
(second option)

Through all their joys and travails, the Holy Family discerned and followed the will of God, and they turned to each other. They become not just the model, but the very definition of a holy family.

A brief note about the date of today’s feast

Normally this feast is celebrated on the Sunday between the Solemnity of the Nativity (Christmas Day, December 25) and the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (January 1). Since Christmas is on a Sunday this year, there is no additional Sunday between those two solemnities, so this feast is transferred to December 30.

This feast is of relatively modern origin. Although the devotion dates to the 15th century (at least), the feast originated in the early 19th century in Canada. It was added to the universal calendar by Pope Benedict XV in 1921 and was originally celebrated on the Sunday following the Epiphany.