THE HOLY FAMILY

The feast of the Holy Family is observed
on the first Sunday after Epiphany…The
Church keeps before the people the great
lesson and example of the Holy Family as it
once existed at Nazareth; for it is for all time
the type and model of the Christian family.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph represent the highest
and holiest standards of family life and
virtue. The Child was the Incarnate Son of
God, the Prince of Heaven. The two
guardians of His home at Nazareth are the
models of all Christian parents.

The history of that Family is the history of
the average Christian family. It was poor,
humble, obscure; it was subject to sorrow,
change and suffering, its members passed
away one by one to death; its one glory was
the virtue of its members; it became
immortal through its glorious flower, the
Child Jesus, whose history is thus briefly
told: “And He went down with them and
came to Nazareth, and was subject to them;
and His Mother kept all these things
carefully in her heart. And Jesus advanced in
wisdom and age and grace before God and
men.” (Luke 2: 51, 52)

PRAYER: O Lord Jesus Christ, who, by
subjecting Thyself to Mary and Joseph
consecrated family life with wonderful virtues,
grant that, by their joint assistance we may
fashion our lives after the example of Thy Holy
Family, and obtain everlasting fellowship with
it. Amen.

Lives of the Saints, pgs. 29-30