All of Advent is focused on
preparing for the Christmas feast, and now we’re here! On the second of twelve
days of celebration.
But the first three of these days
following the Christ Mass are actually pretty special in their own rights:
today is St. Stephen’s Day, the 27th is St. John’s Day, and the 28th
is Holy Innocents.
St. Stephen was the first martyr of
the church, and his death (and marvelous testimony just before his death) is
recorded in the book of Acts. He was one of the first deacons, and as he died,
he saw the Lord Jesus standing and awaiting him.
St. Stephen’s Day is also known as “Boxing
Day” in the English world, after the tradition of packing up the remnants of
the Christmas feast and delivering it to the poor. Variations of this tradition
had servants bringing boxes to their employers’ homes and the employers filling
them with good things. These days, many people take Boxing Day as an opportunity to go
through their home and donate what they can to charity.
St. John was, of course, the beloved
disciple of Jesus, writer of the fourth gospel, three epistles, and the book of
Revelations, and was known as St. John the Divine (i.e., St. John the
Theologian).
The last of these three feasts, Holy
Innocents, is, perhaps, the saddest. In it, we remember the young children
slaughtered by a jealous King Herod, as he sought to destroy the infant Messiah
he feared would supplant him. Though we ought always to be praying for those
in danger and trouble throughout the world, this is a particularly good day to
spend time in prayer for the persecuted. Perhaps this year, you can remember
those in Syria, or in South Sudan.
Finally, here are prayers for each
day:
A Collect for St. Stephen’s Day:
We give thee thanks, O Lord of
glory, for the example of the first martyr Stephen, who looked up to heaven and
prayed for his persecutors to thy Son Jesus Christ, who standeth at thy right
hand; where he liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, in
glory everlasting. Amen.
A Collect for St. John’s Day:
Shed upon thy Church, we beseech
thee, O Lord, the brightness of thy light; that we, being illumed by the
teaching of thine apostle and evangelist John, may so walk in the light of thy
truth, that we may at length attain to the fullness of life everlasting;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for the Holy Innocents’
Day:
We remember this day, O God, the
slaughter of the holy innocents of Bethlehem by the order of King Herod.
Receive, we beseech thee, into the arms of thy mercy all innocent victims; and
by thy great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish thy rule
of justice, love, and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and
reigneth with thee, in unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
(All collects from the Book of
Common Prayer.)
Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell
