The Feast of the Circumcision 2024

Christ, who art the end of Law unto justice to everyone that believeth (Rom. 10, 4), and the path of all good things; who didst become the corner-stone for them that came from the circumcision and the uncircumcision, as the mystery did once represent, when the stone placed beneath the head of Jacob was anointed (Gen. 28, 18); whom Abraham did also show in himself alone, when he foretold that some would come from the circumcision, and others from his faith (Rom. 4, 16-17 and Gen. 17, 4-5); we beseech Thee, we pray Thee, that Thou may make doers of Thy precepts even them for whom Thou didst fulfill the precepts of the Law, to release them from it; that we whom Thou has gained in Thy peace may obtain a peace that is pleasing to Thy majesty. R. Amen. Because Thou are our peace, and unbroken charity, thou livest and reignest with the Holy Spirit, one God, unto the ages of ages. R. Amen. (The prayer at the giving of the Peace in the Mozarabic Mass for the feast of the Circumcision.)

The Circumcision of Christ, 1480-88 ca. by the Spanish painter Fernando Gallego (1440-1507). Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.

Christe, finis Legis ad justitiam omni credenti et bonorum omnium limes, qui ex circumcisione et praeputio venientibus lapis effectus es angularis, olim mysterio figurante, cum Jacob capiti unctus est suppositus lapis, quem et Abraham in se uno ostendit, cum alios ex circumcisione, alios ex fide sua venire portendit: quatenus ex utraque gente, unam in se faceret plebem: Te quaesumus, te oramus, ut pro quibus praecepta Legis implesti ut absolveres, praeceptorum tuorum efficias effectores; ut qui nos in pace tua acquisisti, pace potiamur Majestatis tuae placabili. R. Amen. Quia tu es vera pax nostra et caritas indisrupta vivis tecum et regnas cum Spiritu Sancto, unus Deus, in sæcula sæculórum. R. Amen.

On behalf of the publisher and writers of New Liturgical Movement, I wish all our readers a most happy New Year, as we pray for peace in the Church and in the world.