The silence of the Octave of Christmas

As the shepherds made known the message that had been told them about the child, "Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart."

As things have slowed down in church, I thought that Christmas had turned quieter elsewhere. I was mistaken. People have not yet finished their shopping. Mall have devised a scheme to keep customers coming back - they declared holiday sales. Not satisfied with commercialism encroaching into Advent, it now invades the Christmas Octave. Many take advantage of the holiday spirit and prefer to spend the octave in leisure. People are everywhere...except in Church. 

This makes me wonder: How many of our faithful have taken time to sit in silence before the Manger of the Lord? I suppose that with all the activities that vie for our attention during the holidays, so very few can honestly say that they have spent time in silent prayer before the Lord's manger. 

Our Lady wrapped her new-born Son in swaddling clothes and laid him on a manger...and then, she silently reflecting on this great mystery that unfolded before her very eyes. She teaches us the proper attitude that we must take before this great mystery of the Incarnation. It is the attitude of prayerful silence.

I chanced upon a Mister Bean Christmas episode. It showed Mr. Bean playing with the figures of a Belen. The cow "moooed" and St. Joseph told it: "Shhhh." The donkey "neighed" and Our Lady said to it: "Shhhh." One of the magi coughed and his companions told him: "Shhhh." It is funny and it may seem irreverent for the standards of the pious and the devout. But from this funny episode, I realized that for one to stand before the manger, he must heed the warning: "Shhhh! Be quiet!" Be still, my soul, because you stand in the presence of God.

I suppose that the carol "Silent Night" did not only refer to the silence of the night when the Savior was born. It also referred to the silence of the mouth that is needed so that the heart may recognize the Savior who quietly came down from heaven.  Silence is needed so that we may enter into the depth of the mystery of the Lord's kenosis.

The Octave provides for us this opportunity for silence. The crowds prefer to stay away from Church and spend their time in places of leisure. And we have the Baby Jesus all for ourselves. Together with Our Lady and St. Joseph, we kneel in silence before the new-born Son of God. We kneel in the silence of a cave. 

And we take advantage of the silence of the octave. We should savor this silence before the guests (magi) come on Epiphany. When he is revealed on the Jordan River and in the marriage feast of Cana, it will noisy from then on. People will want to take hold of him: "Everybody is looking for you." The public ministry which epiphany will usher in will definitely be busy.

This is the reason why we have to keep the silence of the Lord's nativity while the octave gives us the opportunity to do so. When Epiphany comes, it will be busy for us once again.  Thus, while Epiphany is not yet here, let us go to Bethlehem and see this new-born king. let us be like Mary who kept all these things and reflect on them in her heart!

The Mishandling of the Octave

I am disappointed with the way we treat the Christmas Octave. Churches are filled with people for the 9-day Simbang Gabi. There is a heavy turnout of parishioners, servers, musicians, lectors, and other ministers. Even in the Extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, servers and choir members are excited over the Rorate Masses. So many candles were lit and so much incense was burned to make the days of the Rorate more solemn.

But after the Midnight Mass, everything changes. On the morning itself of Christmas day, the churches are almost empty. Maybe, it is because people have fulfilled their Christmas obligation with the Midnight Mass that they saw it unnecessary to return for Church on Christmas day. However, it becomes more disappointing beginning the Feast of St. Stephen. There, we begin to see less and less people coming to Mass. Lectors and other ministers do not report for duty. Servers were limited to the minimum (1). Even the Sacristan did not see it necessary to light all the 6 candles on the Altar nor to light the Christmas Lanterns in and outside of the Church. The Choir and Cantors are nowhere to be found. And I am not referring only to the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. This year, I committed myself to a daily offering of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite throughout the octave and also until Epiphany. I was dismayed by how the octave of Christmas is being treated.

There is something wrong with our liturgical culture. So many assist Mass during the last 9 days of Advent but almost nobody will be there during the Octave. Isn't the Octave the extension of Christmas day? I recall our studies on the Liturgical Year. We were taught that the celebration of the Octave is due to the fact that the Divine Mystery commemorated on Christmas (or Easter) day is so rich that one day is not enough to celebrate it. And so the celebration is extended to 8 days. The 8 days are considered as only 1 day. Thus, the Gloria and the Creed are sung as on the day of Christmas (or Easter). And so everyday of the Octave is Christmas day (or Easter Sunday).

If this were so, why do we treat the Octave days so very badly? Have the Simbang Gabi exhausted us so much that we find it reason enough to stay at home and sleep throughout the Octave? It is as if were have been very busy preparing for the Fiesta and so we disappear and sleep off the actual festivity itself. And allow me to remind you that Advent, the Simbang Gabi, the Rorate Masses are but preparations. YES, ONLY PREPARATIONS!!!!! The Christmas (or Easter) Octave is the REAL CELEBRATION.

We have allowed the commercialism of the secular Christmas to creep into the sacred liturgy itself. We have anticipated Christmas in Advent that there seem to be nothing else to celebrate when the real Christmas came. Where are the servers? Where are the cantors? Where are the lectors? Where are the other ministers? (Where are the priests?)  If only our Lord could speak directly to us, he might say: "There were so many of you present during the preparations for my coming but when I can, everybody went out for their vacation."

Is this the way to treat the Octave days? If this were so, then I might take my vacation as well. This is no way the Octave should be treated. This is simply WRONG LITURGICAL CULTURE.

When Religious Festivals Deteriorate

Another interesting article from the Philippine Daily Inquirer:

What is wrong with Dinagyang? Ask Edwin Duero - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos


"'The religiosity of the festival has long been in decrescendo,' he says. 'Just look at how they handle the image of the Santo Niño in their performances. May ginanunu sa siya, sa taming, sa bola, sa mais, sa bangkaw; bisan halu nagalu-ad sang Santo Niño [Some thrust it to the chair, to the shield, to the football, to the ear of corn, to the spear; even the monitor lizard is spitting a Santo Niño icon]—just because it’s a requirement of the choreography.'

His suggestion to give the Holy Child its pride of place—such as holding a procession bearing the image from church to church, or mounting an exhibit of antique Santo Niño icons—has been ignored by organizers.

To see how commercialization and tourism have secularized the Queen Festival of the Philippines and pushed its original religious devotion down the drain, one only has to listen to what the merrymakers are shouting the loudest in the streets. While they are shouting 'Viva Señor Santo Niño!' in the Ati-atihan and 'Pit Señor!' in the Sinulog, in the Dinagyang it is 'Hala bira!'