“In Nativitate Domini”

(said:  Ihn / Nah-tih-vee-tah-tay / Doh-mee-nee)

MERRY CHRISTMAS! I pray that this finds you all well.  I wanted to take some time and explain the entire Season of Christmas, or, Christmastide. According to the actual calendar of The Church, it begins on 24 December and goes to 2 February. The reasons for this are rooted in scripture. We anticipate the birth of Our Lord and Savior on the Vigil of the Nativity of Jesus (24 December) and Christmastide ends with Candlemas / Purification of Our Lady / Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, (2 February) depending on which church calendar you select, but all three are on the same day. There have been several interactions over the years with people asking me “Why are you still talking about Christmas in late January / early February?” Since we are in Christmastide, let’s take a deep dive into that very topic.

The above phrase is Latin from the early church and renders to “At the birth of the Lord”. It is often cut down to “Christmas Day”, which isn’t exactly correct, as Christmas is a shortening of “Christ’s Mass”, but that is what has happened with the passage of time. The explanation of the holiday remains unchanged in actuality, however.  Moreover, secular marketing and materialistic organizations would rather have us believe the error that Christmas starts at the end of September and ends on the 26th of December. Those folks are in sales and marketing for material goods and services, rather than the spiritual side of the season. So goes the world and the worldly ideations. 

Here are the actual matters of fact.

Christmastide stems from the Old Testament. First, we must establish and agree on some points for this basis of explanation.  Adam and Eve were our first parents and children of God.  Once they were exiled from the Garden of Eden as a result of “the apple eating debacle”, the tribes that came from them were the Jews.  These were God’s chosen people until the coming of Christ.  Christ then founded the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.  Those who converted to Christianity from A.D. 30 to present day became God’s chosen people.  Those who did not convert and remained in the old ways were no longer God’s chosen ones, as they rejected His only Son. Jesus came to satisfy the law, not abolish it.  This is the reason that Christians can eat lobster, pork, etc., as the 612 Hebraic laws were satisfied by the coming of Jesus. Now, we have the Ten Commandments and the two commandments Christ himself says in scripture “1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul. 2. Love your neighbor as yourself.” Pagans and gentiles, who converted to Christianity, were grafted into the vine that is Christ. It is a tough enough time adhering to these twelve commandments, so I don’t know how some folks claim to hold the 612 commandments in addition to these twelve. 

We can now proceed with the reasons Christmastide starts on 24 December and goes through to 2 February. 

According to the Levitical and Mosaic law, prior to Jesus establishing The Church in A.D. 30, He was subject to those same laws and customs.  The firstborn son of any family was to be consecrated to God, as written in Exodus, Chapter 13:  “The Lord said to Moses: consecrate to me all the firstborn, whatever is the first to open the womb among the Israelites, of man and beast, is mine.”  We learn from the Book of Numbers that this offering of the first-born son was to take place about one month after the child’s birth. Thus it was fitting to redeem the child at the same time as the mother’s purification, since they both occurred simultaneously. Why is this offering of the first born to be done?  Exodus 13:  “When in the future, your child asks ‘what does this mean?’ you shall answer: ‘With a strong hand did the Lord bring us forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. For when Pharaoh was hardened, and would not let us go, the Lord slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of man to the firstborn of beasts: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that opens the womb of the male sex, and all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.”  This explains the consecration of the first born to God. 

Now, we need to look at the purification of the birth mother.  This comes from the commandment given to Moses in Chapter 12 of Leviticus, where we read: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: If a woman [having received seed] shall bear a man child, she shall be unclean seven days, and on the eighth day the infant shall be circumcised. Eight days after the birth of Christ or Octave Day of Christmas, is The Feast of the Circumcision scripture continues “But she shall remain three and thirty days in the blood of her purification. And when the days of her purification are expired, she shall bring to the tabernacle, a lamb for a holocaust, and shall deliver them to the priest, who shall offer them before the Lord.”  Thirty-three days from the Feast of the Circumcision, 1 January, is 2 February. The Law specified a lamb to be offered, but for poor persons, a pair of two young turtle doves or pigeons sufficed. The law also instructed that of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. The Holy Family fulfilled the commandment to bring a lamb, for they brought the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, which is Christ the Lord. 

Doing the math for Jesus’ timeline: Day 1 is His birth, day 8 is His circumcision, and 33 days after that is Purification of Our Lady & Presentation of the Firstborn male in the temple.  Nowadays, we do not often think about this relation to the Mosaic context, which is where confusion starts.  Thus, the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple, the same day as the Purification of Our Lady, occurs 33 days after the Circumcision, 1 January which is itself 7 days after the Birth of Christ on 25 December. It is fitting that the Christmas season ends now, because every Old Testament ritual and ceremony having to do with the birth of a child is now finished.  Which is why you do not put up Christmas decorations or light the tree, as The Light of the World hasn’t arrived, yet. This happens 24 December. Christmastide ends on 2 February, which is when the decorations should be stored for next year.  Isn’t it a marvel how God weaves his tapestry and that we are all really connected? Truly amazing!

Now, over the centuries, secularism has bled into the actual meaning of Christmas. Materialism and greed have adulterated the actual meaning of Christmas. To those who say “Christmas is originally a pagan holiday.”  I refer you to the above scriptural references to refute that statement.  For those who say “We cannot know when Christ was born.”  Again, I respectfully disagree as that is also based in scripture with the Feast of the Annunciation on 25 March, as referenced in The Gospel of St. Luke 1:26-38. So, 25 March plus the nine months in the womb, birth falls on 25 December, and PRESTO! Christmas is 25 December. It is quite simple, really. For people who wish to deny and deny, well, those folks just have bad math skills. Know your faith and live it!  God bless you all and when I greet you with “Merry Christmas!” in January up to 2 February, you now know the reason! MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!