"Feast of the Holy Family" in Orthodoxy?

[Eugenio]

Jan. 1 was the "Feast of the Holy Family" in the Roman Catholic Church. This celebrates the family unit and the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Here is a background of this Catholic feast:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Family

http://www.churchyear.net/holyfamily.html

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2009-12-27

Question: Is there a similar feast in the Orthodox Church? As I understand, holy tradition informs us that St. Joseph had fallen asleep in the Lord by the time Jesus began his ministry. But Luke tells us that when Jesus stayed at the temple "his mother and father looked for him." So St. Joseph must have been around for at least Jesus' early childhood.

Even though I'm Orthodox, I kind of like this Catholic feast. It is a way to honor families, and intact and funtional family units (which are becoming rarer and rarer in our day). Is there a day when the Orthodox honor families? Or how about St. Joseph for that matter? The RC Church seems to venerate him much more than the Orthodox Church.

[Deacon Lance]

Jan 1 is the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.  The Feast of the Holy Family is on th Sunday in the Octave of Christmas, or 12/31/09 if there is no Sunday.  It was celebrated 12/27/09.  The closest feast in the East is the Coptic Church's Feast of the Lord's Entry into Egypt.  The Byzantine tradition celebrates St. Joseph along with St. King David and St. James the brother of the Lord on the Sunday after Christmas.

[Tags:]

OrthodoxChristianity.net > Moderated Forums > Orthodox-Other Christian Discussion > Orthodox-Catholic Discussion (Moderator: username!) > Topic: "Feast of the Holy Family" in Orthodoxy?