1 January: The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

We start our year of journey through feast-days with the 8th day of Christmas. It would probably make more sense to group the last days of Christmas with the start of Christmas at the end of this year, but hey, I've got a schedule to try to keep.


As you may have guessed, this feast is in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This feast was celebrated as far back as the 5th century, although not on January 1st. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ was the big feast on the 1st, and this celebration was expanded to the whole of the Roman Catholic Church in 1570 by Pope Pius V. 


In 1914 the Portuguese began to celebrate the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on October 11th. In 1931, Pope Pius XI expanded this to the entire Church. Finally, in 1974 as part  of Vatican II, Pope Paul VI removed the Feast of the Circumcision and replaced it with the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.


This day is considered by some to be the most important of the 12 Days of Christmas. Also, it is a Holy Day of Obligation, which means that all Catholics must attend Mass on this day. In the United States, this is waived if January 1st is a Saturday or Monday, in which case the traditional Mass will be taken care of during normal Sunday Mass. Some other countries also abide by this rule, others still obligate Mass. It all depends on the diocese. Luckily for all in 2012, it falls on a Sunday, so Catholics don't need to add an extra Mass to their week.


As far as special celebrations, I haven't found anything other than Catholics going to Mass. It is marked as a 'feast day,' but that doesn't necessarily mean much. The Liturgical color for this day is white. Also, as Jesus is the Prince of Peace, Mary is the Queen of Peace, and many recognize January 1st as the World Day of Peace.


As far as the reason for the Solemnity goes: Pope Paul VI thought it is more fitting to celebrate Mary, Mother of God on this day, rather than the Circumcision of Christ. He felt it was a more fitting tribute to celebrate the Mother one week after the birth of Jesus. And if you are confused by the whole "Mother of God" thing and haven't figured it out yet: it's an assertion of the trinity; Jesus is God and God is Jesus, therefore as Mary is the mother of Jesus, Mary is the Mother of God.


There is another Saint to celebrate this day, although with much less notice and fanfare. January 1st is also the feast day of Blessed Waldo.


More Information (my sources):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solemnity_of_Mary,_Mother_of_God
http://catholicism.about.com/od/holydaysandholidays/f/January_1_Holy.htm
http://catholicism.about.com/b/2011/12/26/celebrate-all-twelve-days-of-christmas.htm
http://catholicism.about.com/b/2011/01/01/celebrating-the-new-year-with-mary-the-mother-of-god.htm
http://www.churchyear.net/motherofgod.html