luia_ is added to the antiphons, because the third
nocturn typifies the time of grace, in which we should express the joy
that is ours in the birth of the Saviour. In this nocturn, too, are
given three Gospel extracts, corresponding with the Gospels in the Mass
of Christmas. Matins are separated from Lauds by the first Mass because,
it is said at midnight, and Lauds is a day Office. At Prime the versicle
of the little response is _Qui natus est_.

_Rubrics_. Christmas is a primary double of the First Class. The third
of the new _Tres Tabellae_ (S.C.R., January, 1912) in the new Breviaries
gives the rules for concurrence of Vespers in the Octave of Christmas.

_Feast of St. Stephen_. The worship of St. Stephen may be said to be as
old as the Church herself, since St. Paul gave him the title of Martyr
of Christ (Acts XXII. 20). His name is to be found in the earliest
liturgical sources, e.g., the Arian martyrology belonging to about 360
and in all calendars, ancient and modern, excepting the Coptic. His
cultus received great impulse from the discovery of his relics at Kaphar
Gamala, on the shore of Lake Genesareth, and the wonderful miracles
wrought by them, A basilica in his honour was erected, in Rome in the
fourth century.

_St. John the Apostle_. The commemoration of St. John on the 27th
December was formerly united with that of St. James the Less. In time,
St. John's feast only was celebrated on this date, and such was the
case as early as the time of Bede.

_The Circumcision._ This festival was originally called _Octava Domini_,
and hence it may be inferred that it was not an independent festival and
passed unnoticed if it fell on a week day. Thus, in the _Homilarium_ of
Charlemagne (786) it is referred to by this name. But very shortly after
this, the name which we now use for the festival of the 1st January was
used in Rome, and spread through the Church. In the early days of
Christianity the first day of the civil year was given over to
rejoicings, dancing, feasting and rioting. And these abuses lingered in
France, though stripped of their pagan character, until the later middle
ages. A remnant of them is found in the so-called Feast of Fools, which
was held in churches, and which mocked several religious customs and
ceremonies. These feasts lasted till the middle of the fifteenth century.

_Epiphany_. The name is derived from a Greek verb employed to describe
the dawn, and the adjective derived from the Gree