The
Holy Family consists of the
Child Jesus, the
Virgin Mary, and
Saint Joseph.
The
Feast of the Holy Family is a
liturgical celebration in the
Roman Catholic Church in honor of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and his foster father, Saint Joseph, as a family. The Feast of the Holy Family is celebrated on the Sunday following Christmas, unless that Sunday is January 1st, in which case it is celebrated on December 30th.
Veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Mgr
François de Laval, a Canadian bishop who founded a
Confraternity.
The feast of the Holy Family was instituted by
Pope Leo XIII in 1893 on the Sunday within the
Octave of the
Epiphany; that is to say, on the Sunday between January 7 through January 13, all inclusive (see
General Roman Calendar of 1962). The calendar of the 1962
Roman Missal, whose use is still authorized, keeps the celebration on that date.
In the 1962 calendar, the feast was always on a Sunday and, if it fell on 13 January, it replaced the
Commemoration of the Baptism of the Lord, to which the 1962 calendar assigned that date. It was never a
holy day of obligation, but when its celebration fell on a Sunday, there is an obligation to attend Mass on that day.
In the calendar promulgated in 1969, the feast was moved to the Sunday within the Octave of......
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