Holy Family Feast Days
Pre-1969
Sunday After Epiphany
New Calendar
December 26th
First Reading: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14
Responsorial Pslam: Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
Second Reading: Col 3:12-21
Gospel: Mt 2:13-15, 19-23
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Luke 2:41-47
“41 And his parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the solemn day of the pasch. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, 43 And having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem. And his parents knew it not. 44 And thinking that he was in the company, they came a day’s journey and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. 45 And not finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him. 46 And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking them questions. 47 And all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers. “
The Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual
Editio Typica of The Roman Missal and Breviary, 1962, Summorum Pontificaum Edition, 2004
“The special devotion which sets forth the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as the model of virtue for all Christian households began in the 17th century. It commenced almost simultaneously in Canada and France:-the association of the Holy Family being founded in Montreal in 1663and the Daughters of the Holy Family in Paris in 1674. Numerous other congregations and associations under the patronage of the Holy Family have been established since that time, and they are spread over the world. The archconfraternity was established by Bl. Pus IX in 1847. In 1893 Leo XIII approved a Feast for Canada and Pope Benedict XV extended the Feast of the Holy Family to the whole Church and ordered its celebration to take place on the Sunday after the Epiphany.”
Collect from the Mass of the Feast of the Holy Family, 1962
“O Lord Jesus Christ, who, being subject to Mary and Joseph, didst sanctify home life with ineffable virtues: grant that, with the aid of both, we may be taught by the example of Thy Holy Family, and attain to eternal fellowship with them: who livest and reignest…”
Saint Joseph Continuous Sunday Missal, 1957
“The Church proposes for our imitation the virtues of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in their hidden and humble life at Nazareth, especially the subjection of the Son of God, throughout His early life, by obedience to Mary and Joseph.”
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Pope Leo XIII
“To all fathers of families, Joseph is verily the best model of paternal vigilance and care. In the most holy Virgin Mother of God, mothers may find an excellent example of love, modesty, resignation of spirit, and the perfecting of faith. And in Jesus, who was subject to his parents, the children of the family have a divine pattern of obedience which they can admire, reverence, and imitate. ”
Pope Benedict XVI
“The Holy Family is an icon of the domestic Church, which is called to pray together. The family is the first school of prayer where, from their infancy, children learn to perceive God thanks to the teaching and example of their parents.”