The Saints of the Christmas Octave Remind Us of Our Mission

During the Christmas octave, we not only celebrate the birth of Christ but also saints and martyrs who gave their lives for God and for the mystery of the Incarnation of His Son, Jesus. This is different from the octave of Easter, in which the Resurrection of Christ overrides all other feasts in order to highlight that great solemnity. This is because Christmas, while a great solemnity highlighting the mystery of God becoming man, is only the beginning of the story of our salvation. It was only the first step. Easter is the culmination of everything and the celebration of Jesus accomplishing our salvation and opening the gates of heaven through His Death and Resurrection. And so while we celebrate the coming of Christ and acknowledge that it is cause for great celebration, we know that the story is not finished and the celebration not complete. While we wait for it to be completed, the octave of Christmas gives us the opportunity to look at the saints we celebrate during that time and reflect on what we would do for our newborn King.

On December 26, we celebrate St. Stephen, the first martyr. Stephen was the first one after the ascension of Christ into heaven to give his life for the Gospel. On December 27, we celebrate St. John the apostle, called the beloved and known as the one that Jesus loved, presumably because of his purity. Although he did not die for Christ like the others we celebrate during the octave, he did suffer a white kind of martyrdom in that he was exiled for his beliefs and attempts were made on his life. On December 28, we celebrate the Holy Innocents, those infants two years old and under in Bethlehem who were slaughtered by the order of King Herod after the Magi did not return to give him the whereabouts of the Christ Child like he had asked. And on December 29, although it is not a feast like the others but only a commemoration, we celebrate St. Thomas Becket, another martyr who was a bishop during the reign of King Henry II and who refused to concede the rights of the Church to the king. These feasts are laid out for us at this time to remind us of the Christ Child’s mission and of our own duty to follow Him wherever He goes and wherever that might lead us.

As we look at these saints and what they say about the mission we are given as Christians and as Catholics, we realize that the birth of Christ is cause for great celebration but also a call to die to ourselves in order to live for Him and be open to receiving the salvation that His Birth, Death and Resurrection won for us. Are we ready to do this? Are we ready to be like St. Stephen, the Holy Innocents and St. Thomas Becket and die for Christ if He asks it of us? And even if He does not ask us to die physically, are we ready to be like St. John and suffer for our beliefs, undergoing a white martyrdom even to the point of possible exile or ostracization? If we are not ready, what can we do to strengthen our resolve and our faith? Certainly a good first step is asking the intercession of these saints. They will certainly come to our aid and give us the strength to accept our calling and follow through.