THE HOLY FAMILY

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

This Feast is a Roman Catholic religious festival falling on the first Sunday after Christmas. Although, there are other days dedicated to each member of the Holy Family—Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

The Feast of the Holy Family commemorates their life together, and the celebration focuses on religious family life. Because of the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt, a feast for the Holy Family has been observed by the Copts from early times.

In Western Christianity however, a cult of veneration for the Holy Family as a group, rather than as individuals, did not arise until the 17th century and was not officially recognized until the feast day was formally instituted in 1921 during the pontificate Benedict XV.

This Feast was originally celebrated on the Sunday after Epiphany (January 6), but was later moved to the Sunday after Christmas in 1969, bringing it down to the Christmas season.