Epiphany of the Lord, 2026

Image credit: Adoration of the Magi by Pekka Halonen, shamelessly pinched from here. 

 

Merry Christmas, Day 12

 

Image credit: Adoration of the Kings, Fritz Freund Anbetung der Könige, shamelessly pinched from Wiki.

Click to enlarge! 

Continuing with the Kings theme since we are between Epiphany celebrations. 

Merry Christmas, Day 11, Epiphany in the U.S.

 

Image credit: Virgin and Child flanked by Archangels by a follower of Fre Seyon. 

Shamelessly pinched from here. 

Highly recommend Pope Leo's homily for New Year's Day. It's a reflection on human freedom and the best way to use our freedom in the new year. 

In Mary’s divine motherhood, then, we see the meeting of two immense, “unarmed” realities: that of God, who renounces every privilege of his divinity to be born in the flesh (cf. Phil 2:6-11), and that of a human person who, trustingly and fully, embraces God’s will. In a perfect act of love, she offers him the greatest power she possesses: her freedom.

And because it's Epiphany in the U.S.: Nations Shall Walk by Your Light

Merry Christmas, Day 10

Image credit: Rest on the Flight Into Egypt, Luc Olivier Merson. Shamelessly pinched from wiki. 

 Dorothy Day's New Year's Resolutions. 

Tony Esolen on the prologue of St. John & Christmas

Merry Christmas, Day 9, Basil & Gregory

Image credit: Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Bartolomé Murillo. Shamelessly pinched from Wiki

I grew up singing "St. Basil's hymn" as a Christmas Carol from Alan Mills' Christmas Songs from Many Lands.  Here is a hammered dulcimer version that is hauntingly beautiful and fascinating to watch. 

Also, I think this guy has the right idea.  (I do make resolutions, but usually at the close of my annual retreat. Not now, for these reasons). 

Ring Out, Wild Bells

Scott Adams is passing away. This thread documents the number of people who found sobriety or the strength to tackle a big challenge through his work. It's nice he gets to see the tributes. 

Merry Christmas, Day 8, Happy New Year!

Image credit: Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Philipp Otto Runge. Shamelessly pinched from here.

To read: on the happiness in Happy New Year. 

Fr. Schall from 20 years ago today on Amiability

If you understand Italian, Pope Leo's remarks at the Te Deum/ First Vespers of the Mother of God last night are lovely (about 35 minutes in). 

 

Merry Christmas, Day 7, St. Sylvester

Image credit: Flight into Egypt, Lu Hungrian (or so says Google Images)

New Year's Eve. This has been the strangest Advent-into-Christmas I can recall.  December has been a steady stream of passings: not tragic deaths, because most of those who succumbed were believers who lived long lives and died well and I reconnected with a lot of people who mean something to me but whom I never see (like that Lyle Lovett song).  But I mean a steady stream --three funerals the week before Christmas alone, and we had to put our old dog down, which hurts more than I feel it should, and I couldn't even tell anyone because they were all burying their spouses or parents, so what was I going to say?  Yesterday morning came word of two more passings: a friend, and a friend's spouse. Both probably mercies given the degree of suffering in illness, but still....  I have several friends battling aggressive cancers right now. Even my favorite commentators on the news are seemingly all in health crises!  We do not mourn as those who have no faith, and there is a terrible beauty in death: what is more sad, noble, and hopeful than Ben Sasse's attitude towards his impending death? 

Nevertheless, I keep trying to rejoice, or at least not stand in the way of others doing so -- willed the sad carcass through the decorating and baking and cooking, compelled myself to go caroling with the parish, have put in appearances at anniversary parties. These things help: welcome little moments of grace and reprieve. But Sister Death keeps breaking in to take over the conversation and reduce all reflection to silence and one realization:  death is a violation of the natural order and I really need a Savior. 

It seems as if other people are feeling this too: Did you know Niall Ferguson has become Christian? I keep running across these surprising conversions, and they all have this flavor of: I really need a Savior. 

Odds and Ends

A little Ratzinger Reflection on New Year's Eve helps. 

Today is the anniversary of BXVI's passing. Listen to Card. Mueller's homily on a mass for the occasion (English!). 

And a funny little moment with BXVI. 

Pope Leo recommends a thorough examination of conscience and Te Deum to end the year. 

Amy Welborn on the Te Deum. 

Throw-back to what I think is the first year I did these 12 Days observances -- how can it be twenty years ago? Optional Memorial of Pope St. Sylvester: if it's cold enough, make his punch.

Possible palate cleanser:  this reflection on Miracle on 34th St. 

Merry Christmas, Day 6

Image credit: The Flight to Egypt, Josep Maria Tamburin. 

Shamelessly pinched from J.R.'s Art Place

...in the birth of Jesus, we glimpse the fundamental decision that would guide the entire life of the Son of God, even to his death on the cross: the decision not to leave us under the burden of sin, but to bear it himself for us, to take it upon himself. He alone could do so. At the same time, however, he showed us what we alone can do, which is to take on our own share of responsibility. Indeed, God, who created us without us, will not save us without us (cf. Saint Augustine, Sermon 169, 11, 13), that is, without our free will to love. Those who do not love are not saved; they are lost. And those who do not love their brother or sister whom they see, cannot love God whom they do not see (cf. 1 Jn 4:20).

~Leo XIV, Urbi et Orbi blessing, Christmas 2025

To watch: I've discovered that several families I know watch Rick Steves' European Christmas every year. 

To read: Incarnation Wonder

Merry Christmas, Day 5

Image credit: Madonna with Child, Victor Nizovtsev, 

shamelessly pinched from somewhere on FB and investigated to find the artist.

This is a bit out of tone now, it being about the Advent, but it's rich and there are some gorgeous poems in it: Malcolm Guite on the O Antiphons

And: a new-to-me carol with gorgeous lyrics by Peter Warlock

When He is King we will give him the Kings' gifts
Myrrh for its sweetness, and gold for a crown
Beautiful robes’, said the young girl to Joseph
Fair with her first-born on Bethlehem Down

Bethlehem Down is full of the starlight
Winds for the spices, and stars for the gold
Mary for sleep, and for lullaby music
Songs of a shepherd by Bethlehem fold

When He is King they will clothe Him in grave-sheets
Myrrh for embalming, and wood for a crown
He that lies now in the white arms of Mary
Sleeping so lightly on Bethlehem Down

Here He has peace and a short while for dreaming
Close-huddled oxen to keep Him from cold
Mary for love, and for lullaby music

Songs of a shepherd by Bethlehem fold 

Merry Christmas! Day 4, Holy Family

 Image credit: Nativity, attributed to Jean Colombe, 

from miniature Book of Hours from the Office of the Virgin of Bourges or Troyes. 

...here is the surprise that the Christmas liturgy presents to us: the Word of God appears but cannot speak. He comes to us as a newborn baby who can only cry and babble. “The Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14). Though he will grow and one day learn the language of his people, for now he speaks only through his simple, fragile presence. “Flesh” is the radical nakedness that, in Bethlehem as on Calvary, remains even without words 

~ Leo XIV, Mass for Christmas Day 

To Read: Fr. Paul Scalia, Imitating the Holy Family

Merry Christmas! Day 3, St. John

Image credit: Virgin & Angels Adoring the Christ Child, Luca della Robbia. 

Shamelessly pinched from Philadelphia Museum of Art

In the Son made man, God gives us nothing less than his very self, in order to “redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own” (Titus 2:14). Born in the night is the One who redeems us from the night. The hint of the dawning day is no longer to be sought in the distant reaches of the cosmos, but by bending low, in the stable nearby.

The clear sign given to a darkened world is indeed “a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger” (Lk 2:12). To find the Savior, one must not gaze upward, but look below: the omnipotence of God shines forth in the powerlessness of a newborn; the eloquence of the eternal Word resounds in an infant’s first cry; the holiness of the Spirit gleams in that small body, freshly washed and wrapped in swaddling clothes. The need for care and warmth becomes divine since the Son of the Father shares in history with all his brothers and sisters. The divine light radiating from this Child helps us to recognize humanity in every new life.

~Leo XIV, Homily for Midnight Mass 2025

This morning my parish is offering the blessing of wine for St. John's day -- a tradition I've only previously read about. The priest blesses bottles of wine, which becomes a sacramental, as detailed here (scroll down). Some people save bottles of this blessed wine so the bride and groom can drink to one another with it. 

Hear Sir David Suchet read St. John's Gospel. 

Merry Christmas! St. Stephen's Day, 2025

Image credit: St. Stephen, Hans Memling. I like the observation at J.R.'s Art Place that St. Stephen looks like he's marveling over cool rocks he found. 

In the Son made man, God gives us nothing less than his very self, in order to “redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own” (Titus 2:14). Born in the night is the One who redeems us from the night. The hint of the dawning day is no longer to be sought in the distant reaches of the cosmos, but by bending low, in the stable nearby.

~Pope Leo XIV, Homily for Midnight Mass 2025

 

To read: 

A contemporary miraculous birth. 

And: Keep Lighting Candles

Merry Christmas, 2025!

Image credit: Christmas, a woodcut, Emma Schlangenhausen, 1933. 

Shamelessly pinched from J.R.'s Art Place 

I haven't had a chance yet to read the Holy Father's homilies, but the pictures are fantastic. 

Feast of Presentation, 2025

 

Image: detail from Simeon's Song of Praise, Rembrandt, shamelessly pinched from Wiki

If I wanted to I could wish you "Merry Christmas" one more time, because after Candlemas, no matter how you slice it, Christmas is really, truly past and we've a brief sputtering of Ordinary Time before Lent is upon us. 

Here's a pretty cool thread from one Fr. Joseph Hudson about how Luke's account of the Presentation shows how Christ fulfills an Isaiah-an prophesy. 

Happy Epiphany, 2025!

 

Image: Adoration of the Magi (unfinished), Leonardo DaVinci, shamelessly pinched from here.

A little BXVI Epiphany homily for reflection (from 2013): 

Let us return to the Wise Men from the East. These were also, and above all, men of courage, the courage and humility born of faith. Courage was needed to grasp the meaning of the star as a sign to set out, to go forth – towards the unknown, the uncertain, on paths filled with hidden dangers. We can imagine that their decision was met with derision: the scorn of those realists who could only mock the reveries of such men. Anyone who took off on the basis of such uncertain promises, risking everything, could only appear ridiculous. But for these men, inwardly seized by God, the way which he pointed out was more important than what other people thought. For them, seeking the truth meant more than the taunts of the world, so apparently clever.

For further reflection, James Taylor's Epiphany song, w/ accompanying images.

Merry 12th Day of Christmas (Epiphany 2025 in the US)

 

Image: detail of a Neopolitan creche at the Art Institute of Chicago, photo shamelessly pinched from a friend's FB page. 

In Spain, most major cities have a parade on the eve of Epiphany.  Do yourself a favor and scroll through an X search on "Cabalgata de Reyes Magos." 

Merry Christmas, Day 11, Elizabeth Ann Seton 2025

 

Image: Journey of the Magi, Sasseta, shamelessly pinched from the MET

The day's almost gone, but Merry Christmas nonetheless! 

Happy Feast of Elizabeth Ann Seton, first American-born saint. 

And: Angels We Have Heard Down Low? 

Merry Christmas, Day 10 Jan 3, 2025

 

Image: Adoration of the Magi, El Greco, shamelessly pinched from Wiki.

The Holy Name of Jesus falls today, for reasons of shifting the calendar around to accommodate the coming transfer of Epiphany. Did you know that hundreds of thousands of male members of the Holy Name Society used to march in parade through our largest cities from at least the 1920s into the 50s?  Not sure when they petered out, but Mr. W. recalls his male relatives marching back in the day.  (See Formerly Grey Lady coverage from 1935.)

I'm a convert, so what do I know?  But here is a today-astonishing speech to the Holy Name Society of Washington from Calvin Coolidge.  Must give up using the Lord's name in vain for the new year, because low speech makes men weak. 

More than six centuries ago, when in spite of much learning and much piety there was much ignorance, much wickedness and much warfare, when there seemed to be too little light in the world, when the condition of the common people appeared to be sunk in hopelessness, when most of life was rude, harsh and cruel, when the speech of men was too often profane and vulgar, until the earth rang with the tumult of those who took the name of the Lord in vain, the foundation of this day was laid in the formation of the Holy Name Society. It had an inspired purpose. It sought to rededicate the minds of the people to a true conception of the sacredness of the name of the Supreme Being. It was an effort to save all reference to the Deity from curses and blasphemy, and restore the lips of men to reverence and praise. Out of weakness there began to be strength; out of frenzy there began to be self-control; out of confusion there began to be order. This demonstration is a manifestation of the wide extent to which an effort to do the right thing will reach when it is once begun. It is a purpose which makes a universal appeal, an effort in which all may unite.

Very worth R-ing TWT. 

Merry Christmas! Day 9, Jan 2025

 

Image: The Nativity of Christ, unknown artist from what is now India, around 1800 Shamelessly pinched from @HerreidJohn's X feed.

• Archbishop Chaput on Woman & Women of the Year. 

It's only Jan 2, not too late to get in on "....in a year" podcast action.  Something edifying for car, walk, or meal prep listening, in manageable chunks. 

The one that started it all: Bible in a Year 

New this year: 

• Rosary in a year (really about how to pray and #1 podcast in USA as of yesterday) 
• Desert Fathers in a Year w/ Bishop Erik Varden (Exodus 90 collaboration, so geared esp toward men) 
• Vatican II in a year (studying these documents is an indulgenced practice for the jubilee year)

Not new, but worthwhile: 

• Catechism in a Year 
• St. Faustina's Diary In A Year 

Happy New Year 2025! Merry Christmas Day 8

 

Image: The Holy Family, Henry Ossawa Tanner, shamelessly pinched from Muskegon Art Museum

This is sweet. 

Update: grim news of terror attacks in New Orleans and probably Las Vegas.  We can be glad at least that casualties were not even higher.  According to Raymond Arroyo, police found two explosive devices near the cathedral in the French Quarter and safely detonated them.