Circumcision of Christ

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The Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord is a feast day formerly celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church on 1 January as a holy day of obligation (a day on which Catholics must attend Mass). It was a feast celebrating not only Christ consenting to submit to Jewish Law, but also the first time that the Redeemer spilled his blood for mankind.

Traditional Catholics still celebrate this feast under this name, but most Catholics now, with the revisions of the Mass that followed the Second Vatican Council, celebrate January 1 as the Solemnity of St Mary, the Mother of God, also a holy day of obligation.

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 under the name of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus.

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 in XX and XXI centuries) is known as "The Old New Year", because before 1918 it was the New Year day.