Nomen Christi means “Name of Christ.” This apostolate has a special devotion to the Holy Name. May we honor and defend His Name always! Let us perform some special devotion this month to the Holy Name of Jesus.
January is a most interesting month in the Church. A new secular year begins, which occurs not long after the new liturgical year. The new year begins with a glorious Marian feast in the new calendar. What better way to start 2021, than by commending it to Our Lady, as the whole world has begun its descent into a great abyss. We celebrate 4 feasts of Our Lord: His Circumcision, Epiphany, Holy Name and Baptism. We have a total of 6 Doctors of the Church we honor, including “The Angelic Doctor,” St. Thomas Aquinas. There are several interesting unique feasts and finally, our preparation for Lent, beginning the last day of the month!
St. Genevieve’s feast is January 3rd. I can’t think of her without thinking of the song The Simple Joys of Maidenhood, from the musical “Camelot,” which I heard countless times growing up. Its a wonderful song by Lerner and Loewe, which Julie Andrews sang to perfection (I’ve given you a theatrical version above, but please also listen to Julie’s version)…Guinevere laments to her patron saint that she is soon to wed a king she does not love. St. Genevieve is the patron saint of Paris and died in 512. In the year 1129, an illness called the “burning fever” killed many in Paris. After invoking St. Genevieve, many healings took place and the illness vanished. She is a great saint to appeal to during this present time, whatever you believe the nature of “covid” to be.
The new liturgical year has been declared the “Year of Saint Joseph.” Let us increase our love and devotion to the Foster-Father of Christ during this new year. And let us above all, contemplate the need for mercy at this time and do all we can in the coming year to secure it. Here are some notable feasts this month in the old and new calendars:
1-BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, HOLY MOTHER OF GOD (new, solemnity-no penance, Holy Day of Obligation prior to NWO takeover) / CIRCUMCISION OF OUR LORD (trad) / Octave Day of the Nativity / First Friday
2-St. Basil the Great, Doctor, “Father of Eastern Monasticism” / St. Gregory Nazianzen, Doctor, “The Theologian,” “The Christian Demosthenes” / First Saturday
3-EPIPHANY OF THE LORD (new) / MOST HOLY NAME OF JESUS / St. Genevieve
4-St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
5-St. John Neumann
6-EPIPHANY OF THE LORD (trad) / Sts. Caspar, Balthasar & Melchior (The Three Wisemen)
10-BAPTISM OF THE LORD (new) / THE HOLY FAMILY
13-BAPTISM OF OUR LORD (trad) / St. Hilary of Poitiers, Doctor, “The Athanasius of the West” (new)
14-St. Hilary of Poitiers (trad)
19-St. Canute
21-St. Agnes, Martyr
22-Day of Prayer for the Unborn (48th Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade +++Lord, have mercy+++)
24-Sunday of the Word of God / St. Timothy, Martyr, Companion of St. Paul (trad) / St. Francis de Sales, Doctor, “The Gentleman Doctor,” “Patron of the Catholic Press,” “Everyman’s Spiritual Director” (new)
25-Conversion of St. Paul
26-Sts. Timothy & Titus, Companions of St. Paul (new) / St. Polycarp, Martyr
27-St. John Chrysostom, Doctor, “The Golden-Mouthed,” “Doctor of the Eucharist”
28-St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor, “The Angelic Doctor,” “The Common Doctor”
29-St. Francis de Sales (trad)
31-Septuagesima Sunday / St. John Bosco
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