Saint John Damascene was an 8th-century Syrian monk, theologian, and Doctor of the Church who lived in the monastery of Mar Saba near Jerusalem. He is renowned for his defense of sacred images (icons) during the Iconoclast controversy, arguing that since God became incarnate in Christ, depicting Christ in images honors the Incarnation rather than violates the commandment against graven images. His major work, “The Fount of Knowledge,” is considered one of the most important systematic presentations of Christian theology and remained influential throughout the Middle Ages. John also composed many hymns still used in Eastern Christian liturgy and contributed significantly to both Eastern and Western theological traditions. He died around 749 AD.
December Feasts and Celebrations
DECEMBER 1
SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER, PRIEST
DECEMBER 4
SAINT JOHN DAMASCENE, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH
DECEMBER 6
SAINT NICHOLAS, BISHOP
Saint Nicholas was a 4th-century bishop of Myra in present-day Turkey, famous for his generosity and care for the poor. He is known for secretly providing gifts to those in need, including the famous story of providing dowries for three poor sisters. His reputation for gift-giving and kindness toward children inspired the modern figure of Santa Claus. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of children, sailors, merchants, and many cities and countries. His feast day celebrates Christian charity and generosity, reminding believers to give selflessly to others, especially during the Christmas season.
DECEMBER 8
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
This solemnity celebrates the Catholic dogma that Mary was conceived without original sin from the first moment of her existence. This unique privilege was granted to her by God in anticipation of her role as the Mother of Jesus Christ. The doctrine was formally defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854, though the belief had been held by many Catholics for centuries. The Immaculate Conception emphasizes Mary’s purity and her special preparation to be the vessel through which God entered the world.
DECEMBER 9
SAINT JUAN DIEGO CUAUHTLATOATZIN
Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin was an indigenous Mexican peasant to whom the Virgin Mary appeared four times in December 1531 on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City. He was a recent convert to Christianity, having been baptized around 1524, and worked as a simple farmer and laborer. During the apparitions, Mary asked him to tell the bishop to build a church on the site, and when the bishop demanded proof, she miraculously imprinted her image on Juan Diego’s tilma (cloak made of cactus fiber). This tilma with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe remains preserved and is displayed in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, drawing millions of pilgrims annually. Juan Diego was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2002, becoming the first indigenous saint from the Americas.
DECEMBER 10
OUR LADY OF LORETO
Our Lady of Loreto refers to a devotion centered on the Holy House (Santa Casa) in Loreto, Italy, which is believed to be the actual house where the Virgin Mary was born and raised in Nazareth and where the Annunciation took place. According to tradition, this house was miraculously transported by angels from the Holy Land to Italy in the late 13th century, first to Croatia in 1291 and then to Loreto in 1294, to protect it from Muslim invasion. The Holy House became one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Europe, attracting countless saints, popes, and faithful over the centuries who came to venerate the place where Mary said “yes” to God. Our Lady of Loreto was declared the patroness of aviators and air travelers by Pope Benedict XV in 1920, due to the tradition of the house’s miraculous “flight.”
DECEMBER 11
SAINT DAMASUS I, POPE
Saint Damasus I was Pope from 366 to 384 AD during a crucial period in the early Church’s development and faced significant challenges, including an antipope rival at the beginning of his pontificate. He is best known for commissioning Saint Jerome to produce a new Latin translation of the Bible, which became the Latin Vulgate, the standard biblical text for the Western Church for over a thousand years. Damasus worked to establish the primacy of the Roman See and was a great promoter of the veneration of martyrs, composing epitaphs for their tombs in the Roman catacombs and encouraging pilgrimage to these sacred sites. He also convened the Council of Rome in 382, which helped define the biblical canon and clarified important theological matters. He is remembered as a pope who strengthened Church unity, preserved sacred texts, and honored the early Christian martyrs.
DECEMBER 12
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
This feast commemorates the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Saint Juan Diego, an indigenous Mexican, in 1531 near Mexico City. Mary appeared as a mestiza woman and left her miraculous image imprinted on Juan Diego’s tilma (cloak), which remains preserved and venerated today. The apparitions led to the conversion of millions of indigenous people to Christianity and represent a profound moment of cultural and religious encounter. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of the Americas and is especially significant for Latin American Catholics. The feast celebrates Mary’s maternal care for all people and her special concern for the poor and marginalized.
DECEMBER 13
SAINT LUCY, VIRGIN AND MARTYR
Saint Lucy was a young Christian martyr who died during the persecution of Diocletian in the early 4th century in Syracuse, Sicily. According to tradition, she refused to marry a pagan and give up her Christian faith, leading to her martyrdom. Her name derives from “lux” (light), and she is associated with light in the darkness, often depicted carrying a wreath of candles. Saint Lucy is the patron saint of the blind and those with eye troubles, and her feast day is especially celebrated in Scandinavian countries with processions of light. Her story represents courage in faith and the triumph of spiritual light over physical darkness, particularly meaningful as her feast falls near the winter solstice.
DECEMBER 23
SAINT JOHN OF KANTY, PRIEST
Saint John of Kanty (also known as John Cantius) was a 15th-century Polish priest, theologian, and professor at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, where he taught Scripture, theology, and philosophy for most of his life. He was known for his brilliant intellect, humility, and extraordinary charity toward the poor, often giving away his meager possessions and even his own clothing to those in need. John made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem on foot and was renowned for his gentleness, never speaking harshly about anyone and counseling his students to avoid contentious arguments in theological debates. He lived an austere life of prayer and penance while maintaining his demanding academic responsibilities, and after his death in 1473, many miracles were attributed to his intercession. Saint John of Kanty was canonized in 1767. He is the patron saint of Poland and Lithuania as well as teachers and students.
DECEMBER 24
CHRISTMAS EVE
Christmas Eve is the vigil of the Nativity of the Lord and marks the culmination of the Advent season of preparation and expectant waiting for Christ’s birth. We celebrate a vigil Mass in the evening or afternoon, followed by the beloved Midnight Mass (Missa in Nocte) that ushers in Christmas Day itself, commemorating the moment when Christ was born in Bethlehem. Christmas Eve is a day of joyful anticipation as the faithful prepare their hearts and homes for the celebration of the Incarnation, the profound mystery of God becoming man to save humanity from sin.
DECEMBER 25
THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD (CHRISTMAS)
Christmas is the solemnity celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, the central event of Christian salvation history, when God became man. This feast commemorates the Incarnation—God taking on human flesh to redeem humanity from sin and death. The celebration includes the Christmas Eve vigil, Midnight Mass, and Masses throughout Christmas Day, each focusing on different aspects of Christ’s birth. Christmas represents God’s immense love for humanity and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. This is one of the most important solemnities in the liturgical year and a holy day of obligation worldwide.
DECEMBER 26
SAINT STEPHEN, THE FIRST MARTYR
Saint Stephen was one of the first seven deacons ordained by the Apostles in Jerusalem and the first Christian martyr, stoned to death for his faith around 34 AD. His martyrdom is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, where he gave a powerful testimony before the Sanhedrin and forgave his executioners as he died. Saul of Tarsus (later Saint Paul) witnessed Stephen’s death, an event that may have influenced his later conversion. Stephen’s courage and forgiveness exemplify perfect Christian witness and the cost of discipleship. His feast immediately following Christmas reminds believers that following Christ may require the ultimate sacrifice.
DECEMBER 27
ST. JOHN, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST
Saint John was one of Jesus’s twelve apostles, the “beloved disciple,” and the author of the Fourth Gospel, three epistles, and the Book of Revelation. He was the brother of James the Greater and one of Jesus’s closest companions, present at the Transfiguration and the Agony in the Garden. John stood at the foot of the cross when Jesus died and was entrusted with the care of Mary, Jesus’s mother. He lived to an advanced age and died a natural death, the only apostle not to be martyred. His feast celebrates divine love, as his writings emphasize that “God is love” and the intimate relationship between Christ and his followers.
DECEMBER 28
THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH
The Feast of the Holy Family celebrates Jesus, Mary, and Joseph as the model of Christian family life and is observed on the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas (or December 30 if there is no Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s). This feast honors the domestic life of the Holy Family in Nazareth, where Jesus grew up in a home characterized by love, faith, obedience, and daily work. The Holy Family represents the virtues that should characterize all Christian families: mutual love, respect, sacrifice, prayer, and the placing of God at the center of family life. Pope Leo XIII established this feast in the late 19th century, and it was later extended to the universal Church as a way to strengthen family values and provide families with a sacred example to emulate. The feast reminds Catholics that holiness is not only found in dramatic acts but also in the faithful living out ordinary family duties with love and devotion to God.
DECEMBER 29
SAINT THOMAS BECKET, BISHOP AND MARTYR
Saint Thomas Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury who was brutally murdered in his cathedral on December 29, 1170, by four knights who believed they were acting on the wishes of King Henry II of England. Thomas had been Henry’s close friend and Lord Chancellor before he was appointed archbishop, but after his consecration, he underwent a profound conversion and became a staunch defender of the Church’s rights and independence against royal encroachment. The conflict between Thomas and Henry centered on issues of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, clerical immunity from secular courts, and the king’s attempts to control Church affairs, leading Thomas to spend six years in exile in France. When Thomas returned to England and excommunicated bishops who had sided with the king, Henry’s angry outburst (“Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”) prompted the knights to travel to Canterbury and kill the archbishop as he prepared for Vespers. Thomas was canonized as a saint just three years after he died in 1173, and Canterbury became one of medieval Europe’s most important pilgrimage destinations, immortalized in Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales.”
DECEMBER 31
SAINT SYLVESTER I, POPE
Saint Sylvester I was Pope from 314 to 335 AD, serving during one of the most transformative periods in Church history when Christianity transitioned from a persecuted minority to an officially tolerated religion under Emperor Constantine the Great. His long pontificate of 21 years witnessed momentous events, including the Council of Nicaea in 325, which condemned Arianism and formulated the Nicene Creed, though Sylvester himself did not attend and sent legates instead. During his papacy, Constantine built the great basilicas of Rome, including the original St. Peter’s Basilica, the Basilica of St. John Lateran (the Pope’s cathedral), and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Although medieval legends later credited Sylvester with baptizing Constantine and performing miraculous healings, historical evidence shows Constantine was actually baptized near the end of his life by Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia. Saint Sylvester’s feast day is celebrated on December 31, the anniversary of his death, making him the last saint commemorated in the liturgical year and symbolizing the Church’s continuity through time.
