Three men stand in the jordan River. Photo in public domainSUNDAY, JANUARY 13: Today, the news from Rome will be the baptism of nearly two dozen infants in the Sistine Chapel by Pope Benedict XVI. That practice of marking the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord by publicly baptizing infants in the famous chapel began under the reign of Pope John Paul II. It’s one more sign of the evolving nature of this important and potentially confusing milestone in the life of Jesus and the history of Christianity.

Many Christians still have lingering Christmas decorations in their homes, yet the turning of the traditional Christian calendar suddenly jumps the baby Jesus through about three decades of his life. In the Catholic baptism feast today, Jesus shows up as an adult believed to be about 30 years old at the Jordan River—requesting baptism by his cousin John the Baptist.

Here is the Christian theme of this ancient celebration: In Greek, this turningpoint in the Christian calendar traditionally was called “Epiphany” or “Theophany,” terms that refer to the startling revelation that Jesus was, indeed, God. For many centuries, the celebrations of Jesus’s birth and the arrival of three kings to honor Jesus all were clustered at January 6—along with Jesus’s baptism. The cluster was called Epiphany in the West and Theophany in the East. The kings showed the world that Jesus was Divine; and in the biblical account of the Jordan River baptism, God above revealed that Jesus was Divine.

However, during the 20th century, Roman Catholic instructions from the Vatican separated the two celebrations—Epiphany and Baptism—so that the Feast of the Baptism now falls on Sunday January 13 this year. The goal, enacted through a series of Vatican changes in the rules, was to focus the faithful more fully on the baptism on a date later than January 6. John Paul II added the public baptisms in the Sistine Chapel; Benedict continues that custom.

BAPTISM OF JESUS—BY THE BOOK

Bernini’s Chair of St. Peter with the Holy Spirit as Dove window at the Vatican. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.According to Gospels and Christian tradition: John the Baptist was a well-known prophet who lived a life of intentional poverty along the Jordan River, calling people to baptism in the river to cleanse their sins. However, when Jesus showed up, John was not prepared for what happened: As Jesus emerged from the water, following baptism, the heavens opened and Spirit of God descended in the form of a dove. That famous image of a descending dove forms one of the most-photographed stained glass windows in the world. Shown at right, the window showing the Holy Spirit as Dove was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini to be placed above Bernini’s “Chair of St. Peter” within St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

For further Catholic perspectives, read more at Fish Eaters or at Catholic Culture.

St. Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologica, argues that there were three reasons for Christ to be baptized: so that baptism might be sanctified; so that John would spread this good news for the world—and so that people would do likewise, preparing themselves for baptism.

DE-BAPTISM OF THE DUTCH

Citizens of the Netherlands—the world’s first nation to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001—have been up in arms over Pope Benedict XVI’s recent messages denouncing same-sex marriage. In protest, some Dutch are publicly leaving the church. (The Christian Post reported.) Reuters reports that a new website has been assisting people in attempts to “de-baptize” themselves, even though Church representatives have labeled the act as impossible.

CROSS DIVING AND HOLY WATER

In most countries, Christianity is alive and well—including Greek Orthodox communities in the United States. (ReadTheSpirit reported on a new Pew-sponsored map of world religions.)

That means Christian customs associated with various ethnic communities still draw big crowds! In Tampa Bay, Florida, the Baptism of Jesus was marked with a cross-diving event reportedly drawing crowds of 30,000. (Details are at ABC News.) In Ukraine, a cross of ice melts into a tub of water and provides holy water for the homes of the faithful; priests also visit parishioners in their homes, sprinkling holy water and wishing the dwellers a year of favor with God.

Scripture points to the Holy Family as a supreme example for all families. Photo in public domain SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30: As we head into 2013, Pew’s new global map of religion shows us that 1 in 3 people on the planet identify as Christian. Half of those men and women call themselves Catholic. So, a huge number families around the Earth are approaching New Year’s Day with a special emphasis on shoring up their families—as they reflect on Jesus’s “Holy Family.” The idea of honoring Jesus as a baby with his parents stretches all the way back to Gospel accounts of shepherds and Wise Men visiting the infant. Various Christian customs associate these visits to the holy infant with the Christmas period and especially Epiphany. This traditional time of year culminates in the revelation that Jesus is God’s son. Eastern Orthodox traditions, in particular, have a distinctive series of liturgies to bring Jesus quickly from his birth to his revelation as divine. (Here is our 2012 Epiphany story.)

But, Western Christian veneration focusing on the Holy Family took on new forms in the 17th century. Then, an official Vatican decree establishing a Feast of the Holy Family came from Pope Leo XIII in 1893. The liturgical celebration honors the three members of the family from Nazareth: the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and the child Jesus. (Wikipedia has details.)

In Catholic teaching, this feast emphasizes the church’s teaching on the sacrament of marriage, insisting that its purpose is to form a Christian family. (Access a consecration to the Holy Family at Fish Eaters.) In many churches, a blessing of children is held today; alternatively, married couples are encouraged to renew their vows. Families hoping to keep the feast and strengthen family bonds can read more about Pope Leo XIII and his encyclical On Christian Marriage, or click over to the Vatican’s site for Papal documents on the Family. Catholic Culture also suggests cooking up an authentic Lebanese dinner—the same type Mary would have prepared for Jesus and Joseph—or praying for the well-being of families everywhere.

Christmas parade in Oaxaca, MexicoSUNDAY, DECEMBER 16:A Christmas display in Puebla, Mexico. Photo courtesy of Fotopedia You think that Christmas is huge in the United States? Then, you haven’t visited Mexico during the December holidays: twinkling lights everywhere, big-city parades, small-town religious processions. In fact, the big news this month from CNN is: Mexico is recommended among CNN’s top Christmas destinations on the planet.

Specifically, CNN highlights the central Mexican town of San Miguel de Allende, which CNN describes like this: Piñatas, posadas and ponche sum up the festivities in this colorful Mexican city, where Christmas is both a solemn and a celebratory affair. Leading up to December 24, you’re likely to stumble upon Mary and Joseph strolling the streets, as locals make pilgrimages from home to home, singing to “ask for posada” or “beg for shelter” as they re-enact the journey to Bethlehem. Ponche—a mulled fruit drink—and piñatas cap a long evening of peregrinations around this cobblestoned city, which was recently designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

MEXICO IN AMERICA: LAS POSADAS

Hispanic neighborhoods across the U.S. have carried these customs northward through many generations of Latino families—especially the nine-day celebration known as Las Posadas—which begins tonight.

Originally from Spain, Las Posadas now floods the streets of Mexico, Guatemala and, in particular, parts of the American Southwest with processions, songs, piñatas, Nativity stories and plenty of food and drink for everyone. For many Mexican Catholics, Christmas Day is merely a day of relaxation and this—Las Posadas—is the grandest festival of all.

Humble beginnings created Las Posadas: For more than 400 years, townspeople joined in a procession mimicking Mary and Joseph’s trek through Bethlehem, in search of an inn. (Wikipedia has details.) For nine nights (representing the nine months of Mary’s pregnancy), actors parade from house to house, singing seasonal songs and asking for shelter. As planned, several houses turn the guests away with another song. Finally, a last house accepts Mary, Joseph and any accompanying angels and shepherds. Everyone enters the final home, offers Nativity prayers, and joins in traditional food and drink, merriment and a piñata. (Did you know? The Las Posadas piñata is shaped like a star with seven protruding cones, to represet the seven deadly sins.) Remarkably, this ritual has survived for centuries with very few changes.

Hosting a Las Posadas fete? No Mexican Christmas party would be complete without tamales, ponche (a traditional fruit drink) and a batch of buenelos cookies. Sing along to Spanish songs, too!

From Texas to New York to Toronto: While Texans will be watching a procession along the San Antonio River Walk for Las Posadas, New Yorkers will be sipping Atole, a corn-sugar drink native to Mexico. Further north in Toronto, members of the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe mark a full nine-night Posadas. (Read the story at Catholic Register.)

WHERE ARE THE HISPANIC CHRISTMAS MOVIES?

This year, ReadTheSpirit is asking readers to recommend great Christmas movies. We published a fun story about holiday films by ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm, who argues that there really are only 5 Christmas movie plots among the 100s of DVDs available each year. So, some of our readers have asked in responding emails: If Hispanic Americans comprise such a large and growing minority—and if Christmas is such a big celebration in Hispanic culture—then, why haven’t we seen more Latino Christmas movies?

The answer is: There are at least a few recommended by film critics. The most frequently mentioned is Nothing Like the Holidays, released in 2008 with an ensemble of Hollywood’s Latino actors and actresses. Word of warning, though: Even thought Nothing Like the Holidays appears to be the most popular Hispanic Hollywood Christmas movie, it gets mixed reviews. Film critics compare it to a Mexican soap opera, crammed with so many odd-ball characters that it’s unclear whether it hopes to be a comedy or a drama—and winds up being a sort of screwball melodrama. Still, it’s a chance to see leading Hispanic actors and actresses strut their holiday stuff for a change from the typical Scrooge and Wonderful Life movie plots.

To that we say: Feliz Navidad!

DID YOU KNOW? St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, the peasant who witnessed Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531, was declared a saint just 10 years ago in 2002. The reason for the delay? A lack of quality evidence regarding Juan Diego. Proper evidence finally was established, making St. Juan Diego the first indigenous American to be declared a saint. To the north, St. Kateri Tekakwitha was declared a saint this year.

Interior of the world-famous Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City where the original tilma of Juan Diego hangs just below the main cross. Photo by Jan Zatko, couresy of Wikimedia Commons.The original Tilma of Saint Juan Diego which hangs above the altar of the Guadalupe Basilica, Mexico City. It is encased in bulletproof glass in a low-oxygen atmosphere. Photo by Jan Zatko, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12: A simple peasant’s witness produced one of the Catholic Church’s most favored miracles—one that is exploding in popularity today, circling the globe from its longstanding Mexican roots: Our Lady of Guadalupe, an image of the Virgin Mary. One of the most widely visited pilgrimage sites in the world, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe sees upward of 6 million pilgrims each year, especially focused on the feast.

Of course, most of the world’s billion-plus Catholics can’t make it to Mexico, so countless adaptations have been made. Latino parishioners at St. John Neumann Parish in Pennsylvania have welcomed a replica—reproduced from a photograph taken by a designated artist at the Basilica, and then printed onto cloth.

The story goes that on the morning of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1531, peasant Juan Diego saw a young girl surrounded by light. Atop the Hill of Tepeyac, the girl spoke to Diego in his native language (Nahuatl), asking that a church be built at the site in her honor. (Wikipedia has details.) When Diego approached the Spanish archbishop with his request, he was ordered to demand a miraculous sign from the girl. The second time, the girl told Diego to gather Castilian roses—which were not native to Mexico and, even in Spanish gardens, were out of season—and bring them to the archbishop. Diego searched for the flowers, surprised to find them at the top of the Hill of Tepeyac, and stored them in his tilma cloak. When Diego returned to the archbishop, he opened his cloak: the roses fell to the floor, and in their place was an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, imprinted miraculously in the fabric.

MODERN EVIDENCE

One unique aspect of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the yet-unproven material evidence of the miracle: more specifically, the tilma of Juan Diego. Despite its rough, woven material—unsuitable for long-term preservation and the detailed depictions of the Virgin image—the cloak remains in pristine condition. Researchers, physicists and biochemists alike have tested the material, claiming that it should have lasted no more than 15 years before suffering degradation. In the early 20^th century, an image was discovered in the Virgin’s eyes: when a duplicated image of the eyes was enlarged 2500x, researchers reportedly found 14 figures reflected in her eyes—assumed to be a mirror image of all the witnesses present when Diego opened his cloak. Moreover, the cloak has survived numerous disasters since 1531, including a significant ammonia spill and a bomb.

By 1995, the Virgin of Guadalupe was renowned in Mexico but lacked sufficient evidence to meet Vatican standards for the canonization of Juan Diego. That year, Father Xavier Escalada (a Jesuit writing an encyclopedia of the legend) produced a deerskin codex that illustrated the apparition, life and death of Juan Diego, also bearing the signatures of two well-known 16^th century scholar-priests. 

PRESERVATION IN FIRE

The sole remains of St. Augustin Chapel in Mexico, following a June 13 fire, were a concrete slab and blackened cinder blocks: except for a framed portrait of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which remained in nearly perfect condition. As reported by Fox News last summer, the artwork was found lying face down in a corner of the church, brought to the Rev. Benjamin Gaytan by a fireman who had extinguished the flames. Gaytan declared: “It’s more than a miracle; it was extraordinary, considering everything else in the church was destroyed.”

The late Pope John Paul II making one of his three visits to Our Lady of Lourdes.SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8: The celebration of Christ’s birth is on the horizon for 2 billion Christians around the world—but about half of the world’s Christians, Catholics, pause on December 8 to recall the birth of another figure central to the Nativity: the Virgin Mary.

Most American Christians readily agree that they believe in an “immaculate conception,” thinking that it refers to Mary’s pregnancy and the eventual birth of Jesus at Christmas. National polls have documented this confusion and Catholic teachers regularly admit that even many of their own church members are confused. In fact, this infallible doctrine was only declared by the Vatican in the mid-1800s in a troubling era when the popes were eager to demonstrate their authority.

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: WHAT IS THIS CATHOLIC DOCTRINE?

The doctrine in a nutshell: This official teaching of the Catholic church isn’t about Jesus’s conception; it’s about Mary’s own conception many years earlier.

The Chrisian world is divided on the doctrine: To this day, the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity does not accept the Vatican declaration from the 1800s—even though Eastern Christians readily affirm that Mary was without sin throughout her entire life. Most American Protestants aren’t even aware of the specifics of this Catholic doctrine. Some Anglicans who feel close to the Catholic church do affirm the doctrine; most American Episcopalians don’t. Even early Catholic theologians, including St. Thomas Aquinas, argued against the doctrine of immaculate conception. Aquinas argued that Mary must have sinned at some point and must have been redeemed like all other humans.

What the Immaculate Conception doctrine says: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website recommends that Catholics follow the presentation of these teachings in the current Catechism of the Catholic Church. On the Immaculate Conception, the Catechism says:

Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: “The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.” The “splendor of an entirely unique holiness” by which Mary is “enriched from the first instant of her conception” comes wholly from Christ: she is “redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son.”

WORLD FAMOUS BOOST TO IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Catholic Day of Obligation:
In some Catholic countries, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is a public holiday. In the United States, the majority of the nation’s Catholics don’t attend the special services—especially this year, since the Saturday feast day would mean going to Mass two days in a row.

The Famous Declaration at Lourdes:
In the early years of this doctrine, a startling event in France sealed the church teaching in the popular imagination of Catholics around the world. The 14-year-old peasant girl now known as St. Bernadette Soubirous began witnessing apparitions of Mary in early February 1858 at Lourdes. Then, in late March, the miraculous apparition declared: “Que soy era immaculada concepciou.” (In English: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”) The millions of pilgrims who flock to Lourdes see this inscription beneath the statue of Mary in the world-famous grotto. Each year at the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a torch-lit procession draws thousands and ranks as one of Lourdes’ biggest annual events.

WANT TO HONOR MARY?

Try taking a virtual tour of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Symbols for the day include the color blue, a crown of 12 stars and lilies—any of which can be combined for celebration. (Make a candle with help from CatholicCulture.) Catholics also may want to recite the Prayer to the Immaculate Conception, courtesy of Global Catholic Network, and continue appropriate prayers for nine days following.