Circumcision of Christ
The Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox Churches on January 1[1] (or on January 14, which corresponds to January 1 in the Julian calendar for those churches retaining the Julian calendar)[2], and was a feast day formerly celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church as a holy day of obligation (a day on which Roman Catholics must attend Mass). [3] To believers, it is a feast celebrating not only Jesus consenting to submit to Jewish Law, but also the first time that Jesus spilled his blood for humankind.
Roman Catholic Church
In addition to Eastern Orthodox adherents, Traditional Catholics still celebrate this feast under this name, but most Roman Catholics now, with the revisions of the Mass that followed the Second Vatican Council, celebrate January 1 as the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, and it remains a holy day of obligation. The day is actually both of these feasts along with the Octave Day of Christmas, its name in the 1962 Missal, and the liturgy includes elements reflecting all three.
Church of England
The Church of England's Book of Common Prayer liturgy celebrates this day as the Circumcision of Christ. The modern Common Worship liturgy observes this day as a Festival called the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus.
Eastern Orthodox Churches
Eastern Orthodox Churches also celebrate this Feast on January 1 of either the Gregorian calendar or the Julian Calendar, depending on which style is used in a particular church. In Russia, the day of Old Style Circumcision (January 14 according to Gregorian calendars in 20th and 21st centuries) is known as "The Old New Year", because before 1918 it was the New Year day.
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