On this 2nd day of Christmas, we honor the flight into Egypt and what is called a synaxis or common feast of the Theotokos/Mary, Mother of God. In her wisdom, Mother Church offers us yet another opportunity to give God the glory; the name of today’s feast signifies the gathering of the faithful in order to praise and glorify the All-Holy Virgin, who gave birth to Jesus, our Savior.
In Greek Christianity we often have the 2nd most important figure of a major feast celebrated the following day. So with Christmas, the 26th we find the feast of the Theotokos/Mother of God. At the Theophany/Baptism on January 6th you will find John the Baptist celebrated the next day.
Commenting on this icon, Melkite Father Romanus Russo writes,
“The boy walking with the Holy Family is Saint James (Ιάκωβος) youngest son of Saint Joseph by his late wife Salomea. In the Church of the Savior at Chora in Constantinople you’ll find two mosaic sequences, both of the Geneology of Christ — one patrilineal (St. Matthew), the second — matrilineal (St. Luke). The former shows a scene of St. Joseph the Betrothed registering in the census with his four sons.”
Christ is born.