Jan. 1 Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God (Holy Day of Obligation USA), Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord, Solemnity

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, our Lady’s greatest title. This feast is the Octave Day of Christmas. In the modern Roman Calendar only Christmas and Easter enjoy the privilege of an octave. According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord, also the Circumcision of Our Lord.