The Liturgies of the Christmas Season

The Christmas liturgy itself is quite unique. People who proclaim the Word at any of the Masses of Christmas Eve or Christmas Day know that there are four sets of readings and prayers to choose from:  The Vigil, Midnight Mass, Dawn Mass and the Mass of the Day.

The overall structure "highlights the key Christmas theme of the night giving way to day, light breaking through the darkness" (Ordo 2000).

For many parishes the focus of Christmas liturgy has become the ‘Family Mass’ on Christmas Eve. In many parishes the children’s involvement as shepherds and angels is paramount.

Let’s remember that while the child in the manger appeals to the child in each of us, this feast is essentially about the salvation of the world – the light coming into the darkness of our lives, the restoration of the unity of all creation, being caught up in love of the God we cannot see, and the mystery of Christ which culminates in Easter faith.

The Book of Blessings offers a wonderful Blessing of the Manger, which could easily be used by families to carry the spirit of the Christmas season into the home.

If a manger is set up in the parish Church it is important that it does not vie with the altar and ambo (lectern)  for attention since it is not an integral element of the liturgy. 

It should therefore be placed in an area apart from these central liturgical symbols, leaving sufficient space around the manger for people to gather for private devotion.

Days of Feasting

The days between Christmas and New Years Day are called the Octave of Christmas – eight days of celebrating! Easter is the only other feast with an octave. 

On the Sunday immediately following Christmas, the liturgy focuses on the Holy Family.  In the opening prayer of this feast we ask God to help us live as the holy family, united in respect and love. 

On New Year’s Day on the "Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God" we ask that our salvation be brought to its fulfilment and that her response to God will draw God’s spirit to rest on us. 

The great Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord follows on the next Sunday. The readings and prayers call us to celebrate Christ as the light to all nations whose coming was revealed in the guidance of the star. "Now that his glory has shone among us, you (God) have renewed humanity in his immortal image" (Prayer from the Feast of the Epiphany).

The final Sunday of the season is the Baptism of the Lord.  This is a time to remember the signs and wonders at Jordan, when God’s voice is heard from heaven and we receive yet another sign, as we did at Christmas and the Epiphany,, of who Jesus is.

We pray that we may hear the voice of the Son of God ‘with faith and become your children in name and fact’.  (Prayer from the feast)

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This article was originally published in ‘Liturgical Seasons’. ©  Diocese of Parramatta. 1999, 2000, 2007. Reprinted with permission.