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The Christmas Cycle
the manger, and in the loving benevolence with which He, God, looks upon men. This is the
one who was promised by the prophets of the Old Testament. This is He who is born to us
from “the seed of David according to the flesh. Who was predestinated the Son of God in power
according to the spirit of sanctification by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the
dead” (Epistle). In the fullness of time He will certainly come in all His power and majesty to
judge the living and the dead. Then all men shall behold His glory. We should have deep faith in
Christ, for He is God and man, our Savior, our King, our Master, and our Judge. Let His glory
shine upon us, for He is the “only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” ( Jn 1:14).
Prayer
O God, who dost gladden us with the yearly expectation of our redemption, grant that we who
now joyfully receive Thy only-begotten Son as our Redeemer, may also without fear behold
Him coming as our Judge, our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who with Thee liveth and reigneth
world without end. Amen.
Christmas Week
The Three Christmas Masses
Since the time of Pope Gregory the Great (604 A.D.), it has been the custom in the Roman
Church to celebrate three Masses on Christmas Day. In Rome the first Mass is celebrated in
St. Mary Major during the night; the second, in the church of the Resurrection, St. Anastasia,
at the break of day; and the third, in St. Peter’s later in the morning. The obscurity and semidarkness
that characterizes the season of Advent, is still found in the first of the Christmas
Masses. Mankind still stands in the darkness of the night, filled with expectation. The angels
hover brightly over the earth; only Mary is close to the incarnate Son of God. But in the early
morning the darkness recedes, and the Sun, the true Sun, Jesus Christ the Redeemer, appears
on the horizon. He reaches the zenith in the third Christmas Mass. There we shall behold what
we longed for so ardently during Advent. The Son of God comes, and the government of the
world is upon his shoulders. He is Christ, the Lord and Master of the universe.
The fundamental thought of the liturgy of the day is the expression, “A child is born to us.” The
child we behold in the crib is the Lord and ruler of the world; “the government [of the world] is
upon His shoulders, and His name shall be called the angel of the great council” (Introit, third
Mass). He is the one who is to unfold the great plan of redemption. In gratitude and joy we
recite Psalm 97, which tells us of His world dominion. The Kyrie is a plea to the universal King
for His mercy and grace. We greet Him joyfully in the Gloria: “Thou art the Son of the Father;
Thou who takest away the sins of the world; Thou who sittest at the right hand of the Father.
Thou alone art holy, Thou alone art the Lord, Thou alone, O Jesus Christ, art most high with
the Holy Ghost in the glory of God the Father.”
In the Collect of the Mass we repeat our petition to be freed from the chains of Satan and
from sin and to be incorporated into the kingdom of Christ. St. Paul then appears in the Epistle
to unfold for us the fullness of the majesty that belongs to the Christ child, who lies before us
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