Discovering the Saints

“And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” Luke 2:21

Eight days after the birth of Christ his parents brought him to the temple to be circumcised according to Jewish law, this would also be the time when the name of the child would be announced if it were a boy. Invocation of and reverence for the sacred name of Christ originates with the Apostles and can be seen in passages like Acts 4:10. A feast day memorializing the importance of the name of Christ can be traced to the first centuries of the church. Today the Catholic, Orthodox, and some Protestant churches memorialize the event on different days.

Catholic Tradition

There was no particular celebration of Christ’s naming observed by the entirety of the Catholic church until very recently. The first to popularize devotion to the Sacred Name was Franciscan Bernadine of Sienna and the Pope approved of the practice in 1530, but it was focused on the name itself and not on the event of Christ’s naming. A feast memorializing the name of Christ has fallen in and out of practice throughout its history. It was recently reinstated in 2002 as an optional observance on January 3.

• Catholic Encyclopedia – Feast of the Circumcision
• Catholic Culture – Most Holy Name of Jesus
• My Catholic Life – Reflection on the Holy Name of Jesus

Orthodox Tradition

The Orthodox tradition has been celebrating this feast since before the fourth century and calls the feast the Circumcision of our Lord and celebrates it on January 1, 8 days after Christmas. The Orthodox church still teaches what the Church Fathers had to say about why it was necessary for Christ to become circumcised, “the Lord, the Creator of the Law, underwent circumcision in order to give people an example of how faithfully the divine ordinances ought to be fulfilled. The Lord was circumcised so that later no one would doubt that he had truly assumed human flesh, and that his Incarnation was not merely an illusion, as certain heretics taught.”

For the Orthodox churches that do not follow the Gregorian calendar, such as the Coptic Orthodox church, the feast will fall on other days of the year. Additionally, the Orthodox church has a tradition of blessing a baby and announcing its name on the 8th day.

• Orthodox Church
• Orthodox Christianity – Comments on the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ

Protestant Tradition

This memorial is observed in some Protestant churches that are direct break-offs from the Catholic church. The Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Episcopalians observe the feast on January 1.

Family Activities

• Tell your children the story of how they got their name
• Since eight days after Christmas is New Years this is a great time to have a family council meeting and discuss your family goals and mission for the year.
• Circumcision was an outward symbol of the covenant God and Israel had made, just as garments are symbols of the covenants we make. Spend time talking with your kids about covenants, get creative about how to make it fun.
• Activity ideas from CatholicIcing.com