What are the octave of Christmas?

The Octave of Christmas is the eight days beginning with Christmas Day and ending on New Year’s Day, January 1. Feast days and solemnities mark the period: the Nativity, December 25; St. Sylvester, December 31, and Mary, Mother of God, January 1. We recite the Gloria each day of the Octave.

What is the octave of Epiphany?

Until 1955, when Pope Pius XII abolished all but three liturgical octaves, the Latin Church celebrated Epiphany as an eight-day feast, known as the Octave of Epiphany, beginning on January 6 and ending on January 13. Eastern churches celebrate Epiphany (Theophany) on January 6.

Why does the church celebrate octaves?

The Church long ago realized that we need more than just a day to contemplate the sublime mysteries celebrated in the chief feasts of our faith, mysteries such as the Virgin Birth and the empty tomb. The feast day itself is the first day of the octave, and the eighth day is called the Octave Day.

What is octave week?

The Octave of Easter is the eight-day period, or octave, that begins on Easter and ends with the following Sunday. In Christian churches that celebrate it, it marks the beginning of Eastertide. The first seven of these eight days are also collectively known as Easter Week.

What is the last day of Christmas called?

Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night (also known as Epiphany Eve) is a festival in some branches of Christianity that takes place on the last night of the Twelve Days of Christmas, marking the coming of the Epiphany.

What does octave mean in Catholic Church?

“Octave” has two senses in Christian liturgical usage. In the first sense, it is the eighth day after a feast, reckoning inclusively, and so always falls on the same day of the week as the feast itself. The word is derived from Latin octava (eighth), with dies (day) understood.

What does Epiphany mean in English?

3a(1) : a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something. (2) : an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking. (3) : an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure.

Why is Christmas octave?

What is the significance of an octave?

Octave, in music, an interval whose higher note has a sound-wave frequency of vibration twice that of its lower note. Thus the international standard pitch A above middle C vibrates at 440 hertz (cycles per second); the octave above this A vibrates at 880 hertz, while the octave below it vibrates at 220 hertz.

Why is it called Quasimodo Sunday?

In the words of the story: “He baptized his adopted child and called him Quasimodo, either because he wanted to indicate thereby the day on which he had found him, or because he wanted the name to typify just how incomplete and half-finished the poor little creature was.”

When should you take the Christmas tree down?

Epiphany is the official end of the festive season on 6th January each year. It’s an ancient Christian feast day celebrating the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, and the arrival of the Three Wise Men.

Which is the first day of the octave of Christmas?

Christmas Day, is the first day in the eight-day celebration of the Octave of Christmas. We take joy in the story of the nativity and of our savior’s entrance into the world in the most humble of ways. December 26, the day after Christmas, is the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Martyr.

Who are the Saints that celebrate the octave of Christmas?

Today, the Octave of Christmas contains several other holy days: the feasts of the Holy Family, St. Stephen, St. John the Evangelist, the Holy Innocents, St. Thomas Becket and Pope St. Sylvester.

Why is the eighth day of the octave called Octave Day?

As a result, centuries ago the Church began the custom of prolonging the celebration of certain major feasts, including Easter and Christmas, across eight days. The feast day itself is the first day of the octave, and the eighth day is called the Octave Day.

What are the three octaves of the church?

The three main Church octaves are Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. The earliest octave celebration goes back to the Constantinian era, in the fourth century, when the churches of Tyre and Jerusalem were both dedicated to follow the dedication of the Jewish Temple. Both dedication celebrations kept going on for eight days.