Feast of Elizabeth Ann Seton

Today is the feast day for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, an eighteenth century(!) saint who is by far the furthest removed from the events of Christmas. She is the first US citizen to be canonized. She converted to Catholicism fairly late in life, and was influential in the establishment of the faith in a new nation dominated by Protestant churches.

This raises a general point I have been wondering about regarding the Twelve Days of Christmas. Some of these feasts, solemnities, and memorials are clearly "of" the 12 Days, such as Childermas, the Feast of the Holy Family, and the Solemnity of Mary. Others are perhaps only 'during' the 12 days, including perhaps this one, St. Thomas Beckett, and some others. I've never seen a clear answer on which is which. Is St. Stephen's Day 'of' or 'during'? John the Evangelist? 

Perhaps one of you has better information on that than I do. D29?

Tomorrow is Epiphany Eve, which closes the 12 Days: The Feast of the Epiphany, which has a clear connection to Christmas, is outside the range. So too the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus, which is Monday the 8th. 

Happy Birthday Tolkien

Today is also the 131st birthday of JRR Tolkien. The age has an analogue:

Since Bilbo had been a ring-bearer, he was allowed to accompany Frodo to the Undying Lands. On September 22, 3021, Bilbo turned 131 and became the oldest hobbit ever to have lived. On September 29, he, Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, and Frodo had boarded a ship docked at the Grey Havens and sailed away from Middle-earth. His fate afterward is not known but as he too was a mortal being, he most likely died in the light of the Blessed Realm of Valinor.

Memorial of the Holy Name

January 3rd marks the day on which the baby was formally named by Joseph. One might object that the Son’s name predates the formality, having been given by the Father (perhaps in eternity) and certainly transmitted to Joseph by an Angel in a dream well before. However, the incarnation was an incarnation into a particular time and place, family and tradition; and Joseph was assigned thereby the formal duty of naming the child. 

Today marks the day on which that naming occurred, and is an occasion to reflect on the name and its meaning. 

Feast of St. Basil and St. Gregory

Today is the feast day of both St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nyssa, who were brothers. They are as 4th century saints quite late compared to most of those whose feast days fall in the 12 days of Christmas (although Thomas Beckett is even quite a bit later); their role was in resisting the Arian heresy and developing the theology by which the exact nature of the relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is understood. 

Solemnity of Mary

The first of the year is the Solemnity of Mary. 

Go Mighty Bulldogs

Oh, and ah, happy new year. 

Haud Hogmanay

You’ve all been around here long enough to know about Hogmanay. 

Venison steak pie.

Have a merry one. 

The Feast Day of Sebastian I

The 31st of December was the death day of Pope Sebastian I, later canonized as St. Sebastian I. He was Pope at the time of the conversion of the Roman Empire under Constantine the Great, and as such was an important influence on the Roman Catholic Church as it assumed a new role at the center of Western life. 

Also today marks the death day of Pope Benedict XVI. May his soul rest in peace. 

There's looting, and then there's this guy

Merry Christmas, Jay.

Duet

It's hard to beat either Bonnie Raitt or Allison Krauss, but I wouldn't have guessed they'd sing so well together. "You and I were created to be true."

Feast of the Holy Family

This one of the 12 Days of Christmas travels around the calendar. It’s normally the Sunday after Christmas, but when Christmas itself falls on a Sunday it’s 30 December. 

The intent of this feast is to celebrate the Holy Family, and to draw inspiration from them for your own family. 

Year-Round Riding

 It’s always nice to get a warm day in the wintertime. 

The Feast of Thomas a Becket

A martyr, St. Thomas of Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury. I assume that the story is well known here. 

The Feast of Holy Innocents

A somber feast amid the celebrations.

Crum’s Grim Hot Sauce

Continuing the theme of women buying me military-themed hot sauces, I received this Christmas the following entries from Crum’s Sauces of Alexandria, VA. This company is Veteran owned and donates 5% of profits to the Green Beret Foundation. 

Crum’s Grim is I gather its flagship sauce, made of Carolina Reaper peppers. It’s nicely flavored, and is supported by an array of recipes at their website. 

The Peach Habanero sauce is quite pleasant, though not killer-hot. 

Recommended. 

Home cam his guid horse, but never cam he

The Feast of John the Evangelist

The third day of Christmas is the feast day of the author of the Gospel according to John, the one most influenced by Greek philosophy. 

"Bach Was A Hired Gun"

 A strange line in a piece on sacred music.

Where Beethoven composed for eternity, Bach was a hired gun, concerned day-to-day with writing a banger for church on Sunday and providing for his huge family – 20 children from two marriages (his first wife died in 1720). We can guess, because Bach was hopeless at preserving the music of predecessors at his many postings, that he probably did not expect anyone to keep a record of his. 

Bach wrote music of eternal beauty for all of that -- as well as some 'bangers,' as they say.

The Feast of Stephen

The High Feast of Christmas

The giant laughter of Christian men
That roars through a thousand tales,
Where greed is an ape and pride is an ass,
And Jack's away with his master's lass,
And the miser is banged with all his brass,
The farmer with all his flails;

Tales that tumble and tales that trick,
Yet end not all in scorning—
Of kings and clowns in a merry plight,
And the clock gone wrong and the world gone right,
That the mummers sing upon Christmas night
And Christmas Day in the morning.

-Chesterton, "Ballad of the White Horse"