The introduction to the Missal of Pope Paul VI defines the Mass as a “sacred synaxis [meal] or assembly of the people of God met together under the presidency of the priest to celebrate the memorial of the Lord.” Notice that in this definition, the term “sacrifice” is missing. In fact, many TLM-writers before me have noticed that the Protestants who helped write the Mass of Pope Paul VI purposefully removed many references to “sacrifice” in the Propers, Prefaces and even the new “Eucharistic Prayers.”
Their new calendar is also missing references to blood and sacrifice. In the old calendar, the feast of the Circumcision of Jesus was replaced by the Mother of God on the 1st of January. However, in the old calendar, the Mother of God was already on 11 Oct under the title of “The Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” Thus, it was not out of love of the Blessed Virgin Mary that the circumcision of Jesus on 1 Jan was replaced by a Marian feast day. The latter was already on the calendar.
In the old calendar (the calendar that had certain feast days established even as early as the days of the Apostles) the 1st of January had two titles: The Octave of Christmas and the Circumcision of Jesus. Notice that the short Gospel from the 1st of January in the Traditional Latin Mass links blood to the name Savior (Jesus in Hebrew): “And at the end of eight days, when He was circumcised, He was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.”—St. Luke 2:21. This is why the Sunday after the Circumcision of Jesus is always titled: “The Holy Name of Jesus.” Do you see how the calendar links the name Savior to the Most Precious Blood in several ways?
Yes, all male Jews were circumcised on the eighth day after being born. Because we traditional Catholics really believe Jesus was born on 25 December (just a few days before the threshold between BC and AD) this means that Jesus would have been truly circumcised on the 1st of January (at least in the new Gregorian calendar. ) As this shedding of blood was the beginning of the blood shed for our redemption, this is the tantamount to what I call in this blog post: The sacrifice in the Octave of Christmas.
Fr. Gabriel confirms this in his renowned book on the interior life, Divine Intimacy:
The law of circumcision could in no way affect Jesus, the Son of God, the Most Holy One. But Jesus willed to submit to it as the least of the sons of Abraham, for as St. Paul says, “It behooved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren…that He might be a propitiation for the sins of the people.” (Heb 2:17.). The rite, which Joseph may have performed in the intimacy of the family, caused the first drops of the Precious Blood to be shed from the immaculate flesh of Jesus. Thus eight days after His birth, He is beginning His redemptive mission. He has not yet spoken; the world does not know Him; but He is already shedding His blood for the salvation of Mankind.
Photo credit: John Pio on Twitter.