In some places where the pre-1955 Missale Romanum is being used (recently reprinted by the monks of Norcia – unboxing video HERE), for Mass the formulary for the Vigil of Epiphany is used with violet vestments. Already by the 1962 Missale, it is the formulary for 5 January celebrated in white and the readings are Titus 2:11-15 and Luke 2:21 … again.
The formulary for the pre-55 Mass is quite different. Let’s have a look at the readings and then make some comments.
Lesson from the letter of St. Paul the Apostle to the Galatians Gal 4:1-7
4 Brethren: [T]he heir, as long as he is a child, is no better than a slave, though he is the owner of all the estate; 2 but he is under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. 3 So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. 4 But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.
Continuation ? of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew Matt 2:19-23.
[In illo tempore] 19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 20 “Rise, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archela?us reigned over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
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What is our liturgical context?
The Vigil of Epiphany situates the Church in a moment of quiet expectancy.
We are still within the radiance of Christmas, yet already looking toward the manifestation of Christ to the nations.
The readings chosen in the older Missal form the mind to understand what sort of revelation Epiphany will bring and what kind of people we have already become through Christ’s coming. The readings given in the older Missal are deliberate in their restraint. They do not yet show us the Magi. Instead, they tell us what kind of world Christ enters and what kind of sons we become because He has come.
Saint Paul, writing to the Galatians, reflects on inheritance and maturity. An heir possesses everything by right, yet during childhood he lives under supervision, awaiting the appointed time. Paul applies this image to the whole history of salvation. Humanity, before Christ, lived under forms of governance that restrained and instructed. The Law, customs, and even fear itself served as guardians, preserving what was promised while delaying its full possession.
When the appointed moment arrived, God acted with precision. Paul describes this moment as the fullness of time. The Son enters history through a woman and under the Law, sharing fully in the human condition. Redemption unfolds from within that condition. Those subject to the Law are gathered into a new family, receiving adoption as sons. The Spirit of the Son takes residence in the heart and gives voice to a new form of prayer: “Abba, Father.” This cry expresses a genuine change of status and a new intimacy with God.
Saint Irenaeus describes this mystery:
“For this reason did the Word of God become man, and the Son of God become the Son of man: that man, having been taken into the Word, and receiving adoption, might become a son of God.” (Adversus haereses III, 19, 1)
To be Christian is not simply to obey a new law, it is to live a new relationship. “No longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, an heir.”
The Gospel presents this same mystery through the obedience of Saint Joseph, who is the true King of the Jews, and the hidden life of the Child, Joseph’s heir. With Herod’s death, the path opens for return. Guidance comes again through a dream, and Joseph acts decisively. Political realities still require caution, and the Holy Family settles in Nazareth. The evangelist sees in this settlement the fulfillment of prophetic expectation. God’s promises unfold through ordinary places and faithful decisions. Paul in 2 Cor 8:9:
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
Nazareth teaches the Church how divine sonship takes shape in daily life. Adoption into God’s household does not remove the believer from ordinary circumstances. It transforms them from within. The Son grows in wisdom and stature within a family, under authority, in obscurity. This pattern forms the lives of those who belong to Him.
Bl. Ildefonso Schuster remarks:
Humility is the mother of order and justice, and portrays the full beauty of the divine perfection. In the Holy Family of Nazareth authority and personal dignity are seen in inverse order. Jesus is the last in the house and is obedient to all. Mary, indeed, commands her divine Son, but yields obedience to Joseph; and he, out of obedience to the eternal Father who so ordains it, serves both Jesus and Mary, giving them commands, thus setting an example of the manner in which all prelates and superiors should act in the Church of God. The virtue of St Joseph, although proportioned to his high office as foster-father of Jesus and spouse of the Immaculate Virgin, is very much less than that of those who are subject to him; yet almighty God maintains the order of rank which he has established, and communicates his will, not to Jesus, not to Mary, but to Joseph as being the head of the house.
As the Church still waits for Epiphany – REAL Epiphany – these Mass readings invite an our examination of our identity and conscience. The inheritance has already been granted. The Spirit already prays within us. The path of obedience remains the ordinary means by which this inheritance is lived. Vigilance, trust, and fidelity prepare the heart to recognize Christ when He is manifested.
The Son has come. The Spirit has been given. The household of God stands open. The Vigil teaches us to remain attentive and obedient, so that the glory revealed to the nations may also be revealed within us and through our words and deeds to others.
Saint Leo the Great draws the conclusion for the Christian life:
“Recognize, O Christian, your dignity, and having become a sharer in the divine nature, do not return to former baseness by unworthy conduct.” (Sermon 1, 3)
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It is a shame that some of the so-called reforms of the liturgy lessen its richness and power. The richness and power of the ancient forms (including the lectionary) expresses something greater than our human knowledge. Our vanity and pride is uncomfortable with this; so there is impetus to “simplify” liturgy so we can “get our hands around it”. We need to overcome that vanity and pride and stop trying to put the Faith “in a box”.