The glorious company of the apostles praise you. The noble fellowship of the prophets praise you. The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
Throughout the Christmas octave we celebrate a great company of saints: Stephen, the first martyr; St. John, the apostle; The Holy Innocence; St. Thomas Becket; The Holy Family of Jesus: Mary and Joseph; Mary, Mother of God. In the Christmas season we celebrate Sts. Basil and Gregory; The Holy Name of Jesus, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. John Neumann. These faithful witnesses are the models of how we should be living our lives in praise of God. We sing in the last line of first verse of “Joy to the World”, “let every heart, prepare him room and heaven and nature sing”. No matter what our state is in life, we are called to be saints and join their company. We do that in the words of St. Paul with “heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.”(Colossians 3:12)