Feast of the Holy Name (January 1)

On December 31, 1979, the newly revised Book of Common Prayer gave wider recognition to January 1 as the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. Earlier Anglican calendars commonly highlighted the Feast of the Circumcision, keeping the eighth day after Christmas in clear view. The revision did not set aside that covenant sign; it reframed the church’s attention toward what the circumcision and naming together declare: the Son truly entered our humanity, submitted to God’s law, and first shed His blood for us.

The setting is the quiet faithfulness of Bethlehem’s aftermath. Mary and Joseph, ordinary saints entrusted with an extraordinary Child, obeyed what God had spoken through Moses. Their steadfast, uncelebrated obedience is its own kind of heroism—protecting, nurturing, and presenting the Messiah without fanfare, resisting both fear and pride.

Circumcision and Covenant Sign

Circumcision marked belonging to the covenant people (Genesis 17) and testified that God keeps His promises through generations. Jesus’ circumcision shows He did not come to stand above the law but to fulfill it from within our condition. He entered our obligations, our frailty, and even the cost of blood. In that first wound, the gospel’s pattern is already visible: humility before glory, suffering before triumph.

The Name “Jesus”

The feast also centers on the saving Name given from heaven. “When the eight days were completed for His circumcision, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He was conceived.” (Luke 2:21) The Name is not a mere label; it proclaims His mission—“the LORD saves.” In one word, the church hears both promise and command: trust Him, worship Him, call upon Him.

“Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

Worship and Christian Life

By highlighting the Holy Name, the 1979 calendar encouraged reverent speech, humble obedience, and confident hope. The day invites believers to begin the year confessing that rescue is not found in self-improvement or cultural strength, but in the crucified and risen Lord whose saving Name endures forever.