Happy New Year! Happy Feast of Mary Mother of God!


Happy New Year to all and a blessed feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God!

Now that I have returned from my Christmas retreat with the Community of St. John and my journey to IL to visit with family over the holidays, I am spiritually and emotionally charged up for the New Year.

It is a tradition in my family on New Year's Day to first, attend Holy Mass in honor of our Holy Mother's feast day, and afterwards, to visit the homes of relatives to share in a toast (which consists of drinking a small glass of red wine) and thanking God for the New Year. In my home, we pray first and then share our special drink from our blessing cup. New Year, although a secular feast day, has always been celebrated in my family as a day of hospitality and cheer, a day of thanksgiving for God's blessings throughout the past year and a time of hope and new beginnings for what is to come.

Mary, the Mother of God

Eight days after the feast of the birth of Christ, we remember Mary, Theotokus, which means God - bearer. Today, we look at and honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the Mother of God, and also the Mother of the Church.

"Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time. For the first time in the plan of salvation and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the dwelling place where his Son and his Spirit could dwell among men. In this sense the Church's Tradition has often read the most beautiful texts on wisdom in relation to Mary. Mary is acclaimed and represented in the liturgy as the "Seat of Wisdom."

~ Catechism of the Catholic Church 721

For more information on today's feast, go here and here.

This past Sunday the Feast of the Holy Family was celebrated. Today is the feast of the Solemnity of Mary but is NOT a Holy Day of Obligation in the USA.
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