OXYGEN

31 Dec – Seventh Day within Christmas Octave; Commemoration of St Silvester, Pope
Sylvester (d. 335) was pope in the reign of Emperor Constantine I, who built the Lateran and other churches. He sent legates to the First Council of Nicaea, and was involved in the controversy over Arianism. The spurious Donation of Constantine was supposedly [...]

30 Dec – Sixth Day within Christmas Octave
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1 John 2:12-17
I am writing to you, my own children,
whose sins have already been forgiven through his name;
I am writing to you, fathers,
who have come to know the one
who has existed since the beginning;
I am writing to you, young men,
who have already overcome the Evil One;
I have written [...]

29 Dec – Fifth Day within Christmas Octave; Commemoration of St Thomas Beckect, Bishop, Martyr
Thomas (1118-1170) was of Norman ancestry. He was educated at Merton Priory, Paris, Bologna, and Auxerre. He was a civil and canon lawyer, a soldier and officer. He was archdeacon of Canterbury, and was a Friend of King Henry II, as [...]

28 Dec – Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs
The Holy Innocents are the children slaughtered by Herod the Great when he tried to kill the infant Christ.
- Patron Saint Index
The children died for Christ, though they do not know it. The parents mourned for the death of martyrs. The Christ child makes of those as [...]

27 Dec – Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph; Singapore: Family Life Sunday
The Holy Family
We celebrate that Holy Family of Nazareth which is the model for all who fear the Lord and walk in His ways.
- The Sunday Missal
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1 Samuel 1:20-22.24-28
Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son, and called him [...]

26 Dec -  Feast of St. Stephen, Protomartyr
St. Stephen was the first Christian martyr. A deacon and a preacher, all we know of him is related in the Acts of the Apostles. While preaching the gospel in the streets, angry Jews who believed his message to be blasphemy dragged him outside the city, and stoned [...]

25 Dec -  Solemnity of The Nativity of the Lord (Mass during the Day)
The Word Made Flesh
For us the Word of God is no longer the message spoken by prophets, but the messenger of God in person, the eternal Word begotten of the Father before time began.
- The Sunday Missal
The name “Christmas” was derived from [...]

25 Dec -  Solemnity of The Nativity of the Lord (Mass at Dawn)
The First Dawn Of A New Age
We celebrate the marvellous events of the first morning of a new world, when the kindness and love of God our Saviour made us his holy people, the Lord’s Redeemed, his ‘sought-after’, and his ‘city-not-forsaken’.
- The Sunday [...]

25 Dec -  Solemnity of The Nativity of the Lord (Mass at Midnight)
A Saviour Is Born For Us
Tonight we celebrate the birth of a Child who was to bring the joy of God’s saving love to the whole world. And we make our own the jubilant cry of the angels: “Glory to God in the [...]

25 Dec – Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Vigil Mass)

Jesus, Son of David
God prepared the people of Israel to receive His Son. May we too be ready to welcome Him.
- The Sunday Missal
The name “Christmas” was derived from Old English: “Cristes Maesse”, Christ’s Mass. It is a celebration of the anniversary of the [...]