Patron
The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Saint Joseph. In Jesus, God takes on an entire human nature. (God made man, the Word made flesh). He enters fully into human experience, and part of that experience is family.
The Feast of the Holy Family is
normally held on the Sunday within the
Octave of
Christmas, between Christmas and
New Year's Day, except when Christmas and New Year
fall on a Sunday (as in 2011) when it moves to Friday
30th December.
The Feast of the Holy Family is not just about the Holy Family, but about our own families too. The main purpose of the Feast is to present the Holy Family as the model for all Christian families, and for domestic life in general. St. John Chrysostom urged all Christians to make each home a "family church," and in doing so, we sanctify the family unit.