In the primitive Roman liturgy, the memory of Mary's birth and divine motherhood was celebrated on this day, as testified by the solemn statio of "Santa Maria ad martyres" on January 1st.
In the Byzantine East, however, the Synaxis of the Blessed Mother of God is celebrated the day after the solemnity of Christmas, on December 26th.
On Gallican influence, and following the introduction by Pope Sergius during the seventh century of various Marian feasts from the East, the feast of the Circumcision of the Lord took over the memory of Mary, aimed at historicizing the celebration of the mystery of the Incarnation through the symbolic separation of the crucial moments of the saving economy of the Word.
Finally, in medieval times, under the influence of Bede the Venerable, Bernard of Clairvaux and Francis of Assisi, developed the devotion to the Name of Jesus, that spread in the West, and was prescribed in 1721 as an obligatory feast for the whole church to be celebrated Sunday between January 1st and Epiphany.
The coexistence of different influences welcomed and ordered in a single solemnity today allows the Western Church to synthesize in the Octave of Christmas the fundamental meaning of the Incarnation, which is the condescension of the Word, who wanted to fully assume our human nature. being born in the flesh of the virgin Mary and submitting to the Law through circumcision.
And while contemplating the lowering of the Son, the church glorifies the Name of Jesus, which means "the Lord saves", imposed on him on the day of his circumcision, thus fully grasping the meaning of the Incarnation and turning to the celebration of the Epiphany of the Lord to the people of Israel, to the church and to the whole world.
