View source for Feast of the Circumcision of Christ

{{Short description|Christian celebration}}
[[File:Menologion of Basil 047.jpg|thumb|280px|Circumcision of Christ, ''[[Menologion of Basil II]]'', 979–984.]]
The '''Feast of the Circumcision of Christ''' is a [[Christianity|Christian]] celebration of the [[circumcision of Jesus]] in accordance with [[Religious male circumcision|Jewish tradition]], eight days (according to the Semitic and southern European calculation of intervals of days)<ref>In the northern European calculation, which abstracts from the day from which the count begins, the interval was of seven days.</ref> after his [[birth of Jesus|birth]], the occasion on which the child was formally [[Holy Name of Jesus|given his name]].<ref>{{Bibleref|Luke|2:21}} (King James Version): "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."</ref><ref name=tierney>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03779a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: ''Feast of the Circumcision'']</ref>

The circumcision of Jesus has traditionally been seen, as in the popular 14th-century work the ''[[Golden Legend]]'', as the first time the [[blood of Christ]] was shed, and thus the beginning of the process of the [[Salvation#Redemption|redemption of man]], and a demonstration that Christ is fully human, and of his (parents') obedience to [[Biblical law]].

The [[feast day]] appears on 1 January in the [[Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar|liturgical calendar]] of [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox churches]],<ref>[http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/calendar.asp?Y=2007&M=1 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese calendar of Holy Days] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213044716/http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/calendar.asp?Y=2007&M=1 |date=February 13, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pemptousia.gr/2022/01/i-peritomi-tou-iisou-christou-ioudaiki-teleti-i-simio-pragmatiko/|title=Η Περιτομή του Ιησού Χριστού|website=www.pemptousia.gr|date=31 December 2021 |language=Greek|access-date=15 October 2022}}</ref> all [[Liturgical calendar (Lutheran)|Lutheran]] churches, and some churches of the [[List of Anglican Church calendars|Anglican Communion]] (while the Divine Maternity of Mary is observed on 26 December in the Byzantine rite, both in Greek Orthodox and [[Byzantine Catholic]] churches<ref>[https://media.ascensionpress.com/2020/01/01/mother-of-god-extends-our-christmas-celebration/ "Mother of God Extends Our Christmas Celebration"], [[Ascension Press]] website</ref>). In the [[General Roman Calendar]], the 1 January feast, which from 1568 to 1960 was called "The Circumcision of the Lord and the [[octave (liturgy)|Octave]] of the [[Christmas|Nativity]]", is now the [[Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God]], and the Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord. In [[Western Christianity]], the Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus Christ marks the [[Twelve Days of Christmas|eighth day]] (octave day) of [[Christmastide]].<ref name="MacBeth2014">{{cite book|last=MacBeth|first=Sybil|title=The Season of the Nativity|date=1 November 2014|publisher=Paraclete Press|language=en|isbn=9781612616131|page=113|quote=January 1, New Year's Day, is also the eighty day of Christmas. On the eighty day of life Jewish boys have a circumcision ceremony, or bris. January 1 is the Circumcision of Christ and the Feast of the Holy Name.}}<!--|access-date=29 December 2015--></ref>

== Textual sources ==
<blockquote>And when eight days were fulfilled to circumcise the child, his name was called Jesus, the name called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21)<ref>Luke 2:21</ref></blockquote>

== Eastern Orthodox churches ==
The feast is celebrated with an [[All-Night Vigil]], beginning the evening of December 31. The hymns of the feast are combined with those for Saint [[Basil the Great]]. After the [[Divine Liturgy]] the next morning, Russian churches often celebrate a New Year [[Molieben]] (service of intercession) to pray for God's blessing for the beginning of the civil [[New Year]] (Byzantine Christians commemorate the [[Indiction]], or Ecclesiastical New Year, on September 1).

On the [[Julian calendar]], 1 January will correspond, until 2100, to 14 January on the [[Gregorian Calendar]]. Accordingly, in [[Russia]], 14 January in the civil calendar is known as "The [[Old New Year]]", since it corresponds to 1 January in the Julian Calendar, still used by the Church.
[[File:The Circumcision, by Luca Signorelli.jpg|thumb|''The Circumcision'' by [[Luca Signorelli]] (16th century)]]

==Latin Church==
At an early stage the [[Latin Church|Church in Rome]] celebrated on 1 January a feast that it called the anniversary (''Natale'') of the [[Theotokos|Mother of God]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lumen gentium |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> When this was overshadowed by the feasts of the [[Annunciation]] and the [[Assumption of Mary|Assumption]], adopted from Constantinople at the start of the 7th century, 1 January began to be celebrated simply as the octave day of Christmas, the "eighth day" on which, according to {{bibleverse||Luke|2:21|ESV}}, the child was circumcised and given the name Jesus. In the 13th or 14th century 1 January began to be celebrated in Rome, as already in Spain and Gaul, as the feast of the Circumcision of the Lord and the Octave of the Nativity, while still oriented towards Mary and Christmas.<ref name=Adam>[https://books.google.com/books?id=oRxGerTUktoC&pg=PA140 Adolf Adam, ''The Liturgical Year''] (Liturgical Press 1990 {{ISBN|978-0-81466047-8}}), pp. 139–140</ref> The  emphasis that Saint [[Bernardino of Siena]] (1380–1444) laid on the name of Jesus in his preaching led in 1721 to the institution of a separate [[Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus]]. [[Pope John XXIII]]'s [[General Roman Calendar of 1960]] calls 1 January simply the Octave of the Nativity. (This 1960 calendar was incorporated into the 1962 [[Roman Missal]].) The [[Mysterii Paschalis|1969 revision]] states: "1 January, the Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord, is the [[Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God|Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God]], and also the commemoration of the conferral of the Most Holy Name of Jesus."<ref>''Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar'', 35 f</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Roman Catholic Daily Missal|publisher=Angelus Press|year=1962|isbn=1-892331-29-2|location=Kansas City, Missouri, USA|pages=1}}</ref>

The [[Ambrosian Rite]] celebrates this day as the Circumcision of the Lord.

==Lutheran Church==
As the Circumcision of Our Lord is a feast of Christ and related directly to the life of Christ as recounted in Holy Scripture (notably Luke 2:21), it is celebrated by Lutheran churches. It remains on Lutheran liturgical calendars to this day, although some Lutherans now use the title "The Circumcision and the Name of Jesus"<ref>''[[Lutheran Service Book]]''. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2006, p. xi</ref><ref>''[[The Lutheran Hymnal]]''. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1941, p. 57.</ref> or simply "The Name of Jesus."<ref>As in ''[[Lutheran Book of Worship]]'', page 10.  Copyright 1978, Augsburg Fortress.,</ref>  Martin Luther preached at least one notable sermon on this feast day, which is still available in his Church Postils, and most Lutheran hymnals prior to the 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship contain several hymns for the occasion.

==Anglican Communion==
The [[Anglican communion|Anglican Communion]]'s ''[[Book of Common Prayer]]'' liturgy celebrates this day as the Circumcision of Christ.

Since 2000, the ''[[Common Worship]]'' of the [[Church of England]] has listed this day as "The Naming and Circumcision of Jesus."

The ''Book of Common Prayer'' of the [[Anglican Church of Canada]] calls it "The Octave Day of Christmas, and the Circumcision of Our Lord, being New Year's Day".

The 1979 Book of Common Prayer of the [[Episcopal Church (United States)]] names this day "The Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ", a Feast of the Lord.

A Prayer Book for Australia (1995) of the Anglican Church of Australia calls it "The Naming and Circumcision of Jesus".

==See also==
*[[Circumcision in the Bible]]
*[[Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus]]
*[[Holy prepuce]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/calendar/los/January/01-01.htm Russia Orthodox explanation of The Circumcision (''"Obrezanie"'') of the Lord]
* [http://morgue.anglicansonline.org/061231/ An essay on the feast of the circumcision] from [[Anglicans Online]]
{{Liturgical year of the Catholic Church}}
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox liturgical days]]
[[Category:Christmastide]]
[[Category:January observances]]
[[Category:Circumcision]]
[[Category:Nativity of Jesus]]
[[Category:Christ Child]]
[[Category:Life of Jesus in the New Testament]]
[[Category:New Year's Day]]
[[Category:Christian festivals and holy days]]
[[Category:Feasts of Jesus Christ]]
[[Category:Christian feast days]]