sacred time & sacred life: a simple study of the liturgical calendar
TRANSCRIPT
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Harrison W. Juliano
Senior Thesis
Sacred Time - The Liturgical Calendars Origins and Development:
A Study on the Liturgical Calendar of the Last Century and some
Ambiguities since Vatican II
Date Submitted: Monday December 10th
, 2012
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This final draft is dedicated to
St. Joseph, who always inspires me
to be a true lover of Jesus
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The Roman calendar is the system that the Roman Catholic Church uses as its guide for
the offering of Holy Mass. It tells the priest which mass is to be offered on a given day. Over the
last century the calendar has seen a number of revision it its contents and class system. This
essay seeks to examine the historical development of the Roman calendar up to and including the
reforms called for by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. After studying the reforms that
occurred following the Council, this essay will briefly discuss possible ambiguities in the
calendars structure. Lastly, this essay will present how the calendar is important to Catholic
worship and how it orients the prayer of the faithful.
Otherworl dly time
To understand the development of the calendar one first must examine how the Liturgical
Year of the Church began. The Liturgical Year, is the manifestation of Christ and His mysteries
in the Church and in the souls of the faithful.1
The Liturgical Year was always seen as renewing
the mysteries of Christ.2
How to orient the cycle of prayer became a question of how to present
Christ to the people.
The Liturgical Year began to develop from the time of the early Church. Its formation
was slow and organic. Usually a certain church would begin to celebrate a certain feast of Our
Lord, and that custom would spread to other churches. From looking at the Year one can see the
development of the liturgical cycles.3
This essay will examine the four main liturgical cycles
of Easter, Lent, Christmas, and Advent. These seasons compose the Temporalcycle of the
calendar. The second part is the Sanctoralcycle, which is composed of the cult of the saints who
1 William J. O'Shea, The Worship of the Church - A Companion to Liturgical Studies (Westminster,
Maryland: Newman Press, 1957), 230.2Ibid., 229.
3 Josef A. Jungmann S.J.,Public Worship A Survey, trans. Clifford Howell (Collegeville, Minnesota:
Liturgical Press, 1957), 178.
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make intercession to God on behalf of mankind.4
Their honoring will be briefly discussed, and
then a properly study of the origins of the calendar will be presented. Moreover, the center of the
Year is the Easter season. From it all other seasons began to blossom. Sunday became the day of
worship because it was associated early on with the Resurrection.5
To begin with the Resur rection
The origins of Christian worship on Sunday can be traced back to the first worshipers
during the time of the Apostles. The early converts to Christianity kept the Jewish Sabbath of
Saturday. The Saturday Sabbath was a day of rest for them, while Sunday was the day of the
Eucharist which celebrated Christs work of redemption.6
When the Romans leveled the Temple
in Jerusalem, around A.D. 70, the practice of Jewish observances ceased and Christians kept
Sunday as the day to commemorate the Resurrection and the sending of the Spirit.7
Since Sunday was chosen as the day of worship, some have suggested that it was a way
to integrate already existing pagan worship into Christianity. It seems more likely however was
that the motive was one of evangelization. With keeping of the pagan sun-day as Jungman points
out, was only possible because the Christians immediately thought of the symbolism Christ,
our Sun.8
One can see that by having Sunday as the day of worship it was a way to bring the
pagans out of false worship, and to worship the true God. It is important to understand that the
early Church saw Sunday as the Day of the Lord. The idea pagan influence is reduced to
4Dom Virgil George Michel, OSB , The Liturgy of the Church According to the Roman Rite (New York:
Macmillan Company, 1937), 97.5O'Shea, Studies, 232.
6 Jungmann, Public Worship, 231.7 O'Shea, Studies, 231.8 Jungmann, Public Worship, 231.
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nonsense when one understands that Sunday was seen as the Eighth Day in connection with
the Resurrection.9
The Sabbath of the Jewish observance was seen as a day of rest, while Sunday became a
day of worship of the Risen Lord. The thought behind the expression was twofold: on previous
days one was occupied with thinking about the Passion, and from this one just had to go forward
to the day of the Resurrection as the conclusion.10
Sunday as the day of worship orients a
Christians life to the Resurrection. Sunday was not seen as a day of rest until Constantine made
it so around 321.11
The Pasch eff ectChristian worship recalls the passion, death and resurrection of the Savior of the world.
Sunday is so essential because it is a weekly remembrance of Easter. A time to remember our
Lords rising from the dead can be traced back as early as the time of Tertullian (160-220) and
Origen (182-254).12
During the second century there was a controversy about the date of Easter.
Many of the converts from Judaism had a fixed date for Easter in their calendars. It was always
the fourteenth day of Nisan.13
These people became known as the Quartodecimans, or the
fourteenth dayers. They were following the Jewish lunar calendar and the fourteenth day of
Nisan could be anywhere in March or April.14
There was a claim from the Quartodecimans that
in Syria and Asia Minor the Apostles John and Philip set the date of Easter to be the fourteenth
9Ibid.,233.
10Ibid.11 Theodor Klauser,A Short History of the Western Liturgy: An Account and some Reflections, trans. John
Halliburton (London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1969), 85.12 Archdale A. King,Liturgy of the Roman Church (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Bruce Pub. Co., 1957), 196.13 John H Miller, CSC,Fundamentals of the Liturgy (Notre Dame, Indiana: Fides Publishers Inc., 1960),
372.14Ibid., 371.
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day of Nisan.15
In A.D. 190, Pope Saint Victor (189-90) set the date as the first Sunday after the
vernal equinox.16
But it was not until 325 when the matter was settled at the council of Nicea.17
Easter is the foundation of the liturgical cycles. It was celebrated as a Christian feast well
before Christmas was established. Easter became the new Passover for Christians. Ideologically
the connection is very real, for what happened to the world through Christs death and
Resurrection found its type and figure in the Jewish feast.18
The Passover for the Jews was a
remembrance of their freedom from Pharaohs hands and the protection of Israel by shedding of
the lambs blood. Christ became the new lamb of sacrifice by His dying on the Cross. Thus, one
can see why the termPasch is used in connection with Easter: [] but the phase of the Passion
and Death has never been separated from it, and the original complete meaning of the day
survives in the wordPascha, which means Passover.19
A Wholly Di ff erent Week
From the celebration of the Resurrection, Christians began to attribute special
significance to the week leading up to Easter. St. Athanasius (296-373) in his letter to the African
Christians used the term, holy week.20
It is possible that even while the Apostles were still
living this week was marked with great fasts.21
The original Triduum of the Church was
composed of the days from Good Friday to Easter Sunday and began to develop during the
fourth century.22
It was later on that Holy (Maundy) Thursday night was added to the days of
15Ibid., 372.
16 Jungmann, Public Worship, 180.17 King,Roman, 196.18 Miller,Fundamentals, 370.19 O'Shea, Studies, 247.20 Miller,Fundamentals, 372.21Ibid., 373.22 Josef A. Jungmann S.J., The Early Liturgy To the Time of Gregory the Great, trans. Francis A. Brunner,
C.SS.R. (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1959), 254
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Triduum. Jungman points out that the old Triduum, of Friday to Sunday, had an effect on the
development of Lent.23
The Great Fast
The Christian spirit has never been opposed to penance and fasting. Before going out to
preach the Kingdom, our Lord fasted for forty days and forty nights (Matthew 4:2). By the fourth
century a forty day preparation began in honor of not only our Lords fast, but also in
remembrance of Moses on the mountain and the journey of Elias.24
The start of Lent has always
been on a Sunday. St. Leo the Great (440-61) emphasized this season as a time for spiritual
exercises.25
Fasting during the fifth century was at first was only on Wednesdays, Friday and
Saturdays.26
Rome had sticker fast of three weeks.27
After that, fasting was practiced every day
of the week with the exception of Sundays.28
That is why to this day Sundays are not technically
considered part of Lent and the fasts are not held on those days. Fasting developed out of the will
of the faithful. It was not imposed by the Church in the early development of Lent.29
Though the days of fasting were set, individual churches did not always have the same
exact calculations.30
Rome saw that by leaving out the Sundays the six week period it had was
23Ibid.
24 Jungmann, Public Worship, 181.25 Jungmann,Early, 254.26Ibid.27Ibid., 255.28Ibid.
29 Jungmann, Public Worship, 184.30 Miller,Fundamentals, 395.
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missing four days. Thus, the beginning of Lent was moved to the Wednesday before the first
Sunday of their six week period.31
This change led to the development ofQuinquagesima.32
The Tuesday before the beginning of Lent became known as Shrove Tuesday, or
Confession Tuesday.33
The practice of imposing ashes on Wednesday before the First Sunday
traces its roots to the Prophet Jonas and his announcement of the destruction of Ninive. Public
penances were practiced by the people, who would sprinkle themselves in ashes. Public penance
would fall out of disuse by the tenth century, but the faithful still continued to receive ashes on
their as a sign of penance.34
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
As with the date of the Resurrection, so the date of the Incarnation of the Lord has a
significant place in the Liturgical Year. It is clear that modern society values Christmas much
more than it does Easter. However, the opposite should be true for Christians.
The exact date of the Saviors birth is unknown. Many liturgists and scholars have tried
for years to pinpoint an exact date. King states that around the time between Sts. Optatus (c. 387)
and Fulgentius (ob. 533) Christmas began to be observed in Africa and reached Rome through
Spain.35
However, Christmas as it is observed now is clearly a Roman feast that is listed on the
Philocalian calendar of 354.36
31Ibid.32Ibid. (This and the other pre-Lent Sundays and their removal from the Novus Ordo Missale will be
discussed in the second section of this essay)33Ibid., 397.34Ibid.35 King,Roman, 187.36 Miller,Fundamentals, 406.
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The picking of December 25th
as Christmas comes from very early evidence. Jungman
presents the idea of H. Frank, O.S.B. that is might have been chosen due to the dies natalis Solis
Invicti, a festival of Mithraism.37
This is only an idea of a possible connection. As with the
controversy of Sunday, this claim will not be dealt with here. OShea presents another idea on
the choice of this date: It is possible that the birthday of Christ was determined by working from
the traditional date of the Incarnation, March 25th
; nine months after that is Christmas. All we
can say for certain is that the feast has been celebrated on December 25th
at Rome since the
fourth century.38
One of the unique features of early worship during Christmastide was the three masses
celebrated. These are divided into the Midnight Mass, Mass at Dawn, and Mass during the Day.
In Jerusalem around A.D. 400 they held nocturnal services where a pilgrimage to Bethlehem
took place and the Mass was offered over the Grotto of the Nativity.39
This became the
archetype for the Midnight Mass. It however was not the first Mass in honor of the Incarnation,
as the Mass during the Day is the oldest in origin and was the principal service.40
Mass at Dawn
came into being some time before Gregory the Great (590-604). In Rome only the Pope could
celebrate all three masses.41
By the tenth century permission was granted for three different
priests to offer the masses.42
It was not until the twelfth century that permission was given for an
individual priest to offer all three Masses.43
Temporus Adventus
37 Jungmann, Public Worship, 206.38 O'Shea, Studies, 241.39 Jungmann,Early, 268.40 O'Shea, Studies, 241.41 King,Roman, 187.42Ibid.43 O'Shea, Studies, 241.
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Much in the way that Easter has Lent so Christmas has its preparation season of Advent.
This season is marked by more joy than Lent. However, there is also the consciousness of the
sinful condition of humanity.44
Advent is a penitential season that reminds us that theLogos had
to come as a man and die for our sins. Advent thus gives solid food for our faith in the
knowledge of the consequences of sin and the coming of the Redeemer.45
Advent was first seen in Spain around the fourth century.46
By the sixth century Gaul
developed its own Advent.47
Rome seemed to develop its own Advent after it reached Gaul. The
fasting (according to the old practice) was not a part of Advent until the thirteenth century.48
Miller further states that the Advent Liturgy in Rome in the beginning was very different from
the current practices. He says that the custom of violet vestments, the removal of the Gloria and
Te Deum come from the Gallican Liturgy.49
Jungman supports this and says that because of the
influence of the Gallican Liturgy Advent took on a more penitential character even before fasting
was introduced.50
The Sanctoral Cycle
The second part of the calendar is called the Sanctoralcycle. It is compose of the feast
days of saints. There are several different classes of saints. From the earliest times of the Church,
the saints were seen as models to guide the faithful into living holy lives.51
44 Dom Virgil, The Liturgy,101.45Ibid.46 King,Roman, 186.47 O'Shea, Studies, 238.48 Miller,Fundamentals, 413.49Ibid.50 Jungmann, Public Worship, 209.51Miller,Fundamentals, 414.
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The liturgical feasts reveal something crucial about the individual saint. Whether they are
a confessor, bishop, or virgin, there was a specific mass that honors them. Their liturgical
festivals will, accordingly reveal the marked characteristics which relate them either to Christs
Passion and Resurrection, or to His Incarnation.52
Miller makes a great point here. The saints
are honored because they shared a great likeness to Christ.
The custom of honoring particular saints was part of the life of individual Christian
communities.53
They would remember from their local parishes and communities those men and
women who lived lives of tremendous virtue. The festivities were always on the day that they
died; or rather it has always been seen as their birthday into heaven, the dies natalis.54
In his work Miller points out that the martyrs shared a great connection with the Easter
season.55
They are meant as shining examples of how the grace of the paschal mysteries became
operative for our forebears in the Mystical Body.56
It is the paschal mystery of Christ that gave
the early Christians the grace necessary to bare persecutions.
A particular saint worth mentioning is St. Ignatius of Antioch (d.ca. 108). He is a good
example to show that the cult of martyrs was very much a local affair. He wrote an epistle to the
Christians in Rome telling them not to try to free him from being martyred in the Coliseum.
Miller states that he is distinctly absent from the Gelasian or Gregorian Sacramentaries, which
were some of the earliest liturgical books of Rome.57
This example is meant to show how the
early liturgical calendars were determined by local ordinaries. Usually the saints who were part
52Ibid.53 Jungmann, Public Worship, 223.54 Miller,Fundamentals, 416.55Ibid., 41456Ibid., 415.57Ibid., 416.
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of the calendar were very important to local communities. They might have been a martyr who
grew up in the community, and for them the memorial would try to be celebrated at their grave.58
Feasts of Our Lord would become very popular. These feasts and those of Our Lady tended to be
shared between communities.59
As previously stated of, in reference to St. Ignatius of Antioch, some of the earliest
Sacramentaries contained feast days to the saints. Two examples used very early on in Rome
were the Leonine and Gelasian Sacramentaries. In the Leonine Sacramentary there were fourteen
Masses for the feast of St. Lawrence and twenty eight for Sts. Peter and Paul.60
In the Gelasian
one finds in the second section of the Sacramentary the saints feast from January to December. 61
These Sacramentaries date back to the seventh and eighth century respectively.62
One can see clearly that there is not a general calendar followed by all the Churches.
With so many different feasts and commemorations one could think that Sunday and Easter
would have lost their prestige, as Klauser suggests.63
What is clear is that a uniform calendar,
much like a unified Roman Rite, would not be present until the reforms of Pius V (1566-1572).64
The Tr identine M issal
Until the time of the Council of Trent (154563) there was not a single Missal that was
designated as the official text for use in the Latin Church. Moreover, the calendar continued to
grow without much Magisterial intervention. By the time the Council of Trent was called the
58 Jungmann, Public Worship,223.59Ibid.
60 Josef A. Jungmann S.J., The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development (Missarum
Sollemnia), trans. Francis A. Brunner, C.SS.R. (New York: Benziger Bros., 1959), 46.61Ibid.62Ibid.63 Theodor Klauser,A Short History of the Western Liturgy: An Account and some Reflections, trans. John
Halliburton (London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1969), 91.64 Jungmann, Public Worship, 223.
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feasts had increased significantly and according to Jungman this overburden the missal.65
It was
clear that a reform was necessary.
At Trent during the twenty-second session66
, between 1546 and 1547 the Holy Mass was
just being touched upon as the consideration was focused on the Sacred Scriptures.67
The
commission in charge of the investigation was taking a very close look at many aspects of the
Missal. Detailed reports of what exactly the commission did for the Council are not available for
further study.68
The only document that came from Trent on the Mass was the Bull of Pius V that
codified the Missal and imposed it as the only one to be used in the Western Church.69
It is unfortunate that in this essay cannot fully explore fully the reforms of the Council of
Trent or their benefits. The Missal that was produced was, according to the commission, very
much a return to the Liturgy of the city of Rome.70
This Roman Missal was essential for unifying
the Church in its worship. It was a solid foundation that stood in opposition to the various attacks
from Protestant theologians. Nevertheless, it would be a bit of a stretch to call this a reactionary
missal. Some have even called it a rigid legalistic time.71
However, the reforms of Trent must be
seen in light of what was going on both inside and outside of the Church. This was a call to
guard what Catholics hold as the most sacred gift from God. Guardianship of liturgical law was
65 Jungmann, Origins, 103.66Alcuin Reid, OSB, The Organic Development of the Liturgy: The Principles of Liturgical Reform and
Their Relation to the Twentieth-Century Liturgical Movement Prior to the Second Vatican Council (San Francisco:
Ignatius Press, 2005), 40.67 Jungmann, Origins, 100.68Ibid., 102.69Ibid.70Ibid., 103.71 Reid,Development, 45.
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given to the Sacred Congregation of Rites (S.R.C.), which was established in 1588 by Sixtus V
(1585-1590).72
Following the Council of Trent, there were no major no major reforms to the Liturgy. In
1747, Pope Benedict XIV (1740-58) had a project that would have reformed the Roman breviary
and the calendar, but it was never developed.73
It was not until the time of Pope Pius X that a real
reform of the Liturgy would begin. Before examining the contributions of Pius X, one must first
understand that he was influence heavily by a certain movement in the Church. This became
known as the Liturgical Movement which took place in the 19th
century.
The Beginning Movement and the fir st Pius reformerRenewed interesting in the liturgical life of the Church reached a high point in the 19
th
century. Many new scholars were exploring the richness of the Holy Mass. A pivotal character is
Dom Prosper Guranger (1805-1875). Dom Guranger was a French secular priest who sought to
revive the Benedictine Monastic life of his country. Hes initial contribution to the Liturgical
Movement was displacing the attempted reforms of Gallicanism in France.74
Gallicanism was an
attempted reform by some Enlightenment liturgists in France that was controlled mostly by the
Jansenist heretics.75
The monks of Solesmes under Guranger became a quasi-school for the liturgical
movement: the opus Dei as performed in the new centers of monasticism, dignified, replete
with the spirit of adoration, became a drama in the best sense of the word, drawing to itself the
72Ibid.73Ibid., 62.74Ibid., 56.75Ibid., 50.
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eyes of all.76
Gregorian Chant was beginning to be rediscovered in the life of the Churchs
worship. The focus of these scholars was on liturgical piety as noted by Reid: the activity of the
twentieth-century Liturgical Movement, many of the leaders of which imbibed liturgical piety
either personally at Solesmes or in monasteries whose founders had.77
The focus of the
Liturgical Movement was not so much on reform of ritual, but on authenticity in worship. The
Benedictine movement in Gregorian Chant would have a huge impact on early life of Pope Saint
Pius X (1903-1914).78
This would lead him as Pope to bring the Liturgical Movement into the
world in a main-stream way.
In 1903 Pope Pius X issued motu proprio his document to restore sacred music called Tra
le sollecitudini. In 1911 he promulgatedDivino afflatus, which reformed the Roman breviary and
the calendar.79
Divino afflatus put more of an emphasis on the temporal cycle over the sanctoral
cycle in the recitation of the breviary.80
The reform of the breviary and integration of a revised
calendar into the missal was far as thePio reform would go as Pius X died in 1914.81
Reform of the L itu rgy Proper up to 1962
The general rubrics of the Missal were still left untouched. The idea of reforming the
rubrics was not seen until the 1940s and was a project of the Liturgical Commission. This
commission came into existence under Venerable Pope Pius XII (1939-1958). In 1947 he issued
76 Jungmann, Origins, 120.77 Reid,Development, 66.78 Jungmann, Origins, 120.79 Reid,Development, 75.80Ibid.81Ibid., 78.
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his encyclical on the sacred Liturgy entitledMediator Dei. The encyclical did not directly cause
any changes, but it served as a spiritual guide for the Commission.82
Around this time as well Father Joseph Lw, who was vice-relator general of the S.R.C.,
drafted a document entitledMemoria sulla riforma liturgica. This document had two developed
points on the Liturgical year and the Divine Office.83
In 1948 the Commission was appointed for
the purpose of liturgical reform.84
The first official work of the Commission was the revision of
the Easter Vigil in 1951. On a one year experimental basis, the Easter Vigil was reformed and
placed on the Saturday night before Easter Sunday85
Before this reform the Vigil was Sunday
morning. There are many differences between the two Masses, but apart from the change of
which day Mass was offered, the Calendar was left untouched. By 1954 the Commission had
presented Pius XII a document with the entirety of Holy Week to be reformed. It was sent to the
S.R.C., approved by them, and was promulgated in November of 1955.86
With the changes to Holy Week completed, Pope Pius XII also approved a work of the
S.R.C. that would promulgate a new Roman calendar. In the general decree, Cum nostra hac
aetate which contained the documentDe rubricis ad simpliciorem formam redigendis, a new
calendar was published with several changes. The main effects on the calendar were that the
ranking of a feast day as a semi-double was suppressed and reclassified as simple days.87
82
Annibale Bugnini, The Reform of the Liturgy 1948-1975, trans. Matthew J. OConnell (Collegeville,Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1990), 7.
83Ibid.84Ibid., 885 Reid,Development, 172.86Ibid., 226.87 Sacred Congregation of Rites, By General Decree Cum nostra hac aetate; De Rubricis Ad Simpliciorem
Formam Promulgated by Pope Pius XII, Found inActa Apostolicae Sedis Vol. 47, 1955,
http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS%2047%20[1955]%20-%20ocr.pdf (accessed November 11,
2012), 219.
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This rule applied to all Sunday Masses, feasts of saints, and commemorations at the collect,
secret, and post-communion prayers. This was a significant revision of the calendar for its time.
In July of 1960, Pope John XXIII published motu proprio Rubricarum instructum. This
established that in January of 1961 all Latin rite priests were to observe the new code of rubrics
of the Roman breviary and missal.88
With the new rubrics came a new Roman calendar. This one
does vary in several ways from that of Pius XII. It removed the classifications of feasts as
Doubles, Semi-doubles, and Simple with the numbering the feasts from I-IV.89
This
classification and the arrangement of feasts on the calendar is what would remain in effect until
the revision of the Missal which took place after the decree by the Second Vatican Council
(19621965).
Vatican I IBeginnings and Call ings
In the winter of 1959 Pope John XXIII announced that the Second Vatican Ecumenical
Council would take place. This would be the first major Ecumenical council of the Church since
the First Vatican Council was interrupted by warfare. The main document that all the revisions
for the Liturgy stemmed from is Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC). The revision intended by the
Council for the calendar are found in chapter five, The Liturgical Year. Articles 102-111 are a
window into what the Council Fathers wished to see in the revisions of the calendar.
There is an important distinction to make. There is a popular misconception in modern
thought that the Second Vatican Council is directly responsible for how the Mass is offered
88 John XXIII, Apostolic Letter Rubricarum instructum issued Motu Proprio, 25 July 1960,
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_xxiii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jxxiii_apl_19600725_rubricarum_lt.html
(accessed November 11, 2012).89Missale Romanum 1962Promulgated by Pope John XXIII,
http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books-1962/missale-romanum-1962.pdf (accessed November 11, 2012),
XII.
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today. The Councils document is a guide for a Commission that would actually be in charge
with the revision. The preparatory commission was formed in 1960 by Pope John XXIII with
Cardinal Cicognani as the president and Father Annibale Bugnini as the secretary.90
The
workings of the commission must be examined in light of what SC says on the Liturgical Year.
Article 105 of SC states: In the various season of the year and according to its traditional
discipline, the Church completes the formation of the faithful by means of devout practices for
soul and body, by instruction, prayer, and works of penance and of mercy.91
The purpose of the
liturgical year is reemphasized as formative to the lives of the faithful. Article 107 called for the
liturgical year to be revised: That the traditional customs and usages of the sacred seasons are
preserved or restored to suit the conditions of modern times.92
The Council was not calling for
a break with tradition at all. To the contrary they wanted the customs that were part of Catholic
piety to remain.
Further they wanted the Proper of Season, Easter and Christmas etc., to be given
precedence over the feasts of saints.93
This was done to avoid overloading the calendar with
excess commemorations of saints that would have distracted from the importance of the
mysteries of salvation in the temporal cycle. Devotion to the saints was not to be disregarded,
however. Article 111 makes that very clear: The saints have been traditionally honored in the
Church and their authentic relics and images held in veneration. For the feast of saints
proclaimed the wonderful works of Christ in his servants and display to the faithful fitting
90 Bugnini,Reform, 14.91 Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium; Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Proclaimed by Pope Paul
VI, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-
ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html (accessed November 10 th, 2012), art10592Ibid., art 107.93Ibid., art 108.
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examples for their imitation.94
The Council was clearly not calling for a radical change in this
regard. The revision was not intended to break from the traditional way the calendar was
arranged or how the saints were honored.
Roots of the changesAs stated before there were commissions that the Holy Fathers, both Pope John XXIII
and Pope Paul VI formed to revise the liturgy. The Consilium is name of the Commission that
was directly responsible after the council for bringing forth its wishes. This next section will
examine how the modern calendar was developed.
The first meeting of the Consilium for the revisions of the calendar was in Janurary of
1965. By April of that year they approved a schema which would be presented under certain
guidelines. Bugnini outlines the nine points of their first report. The nine points are as follows:
the Liturgical Year begins with the first Sunday of Advent; Janurary 1st
has three objects to it;
the time of Septuagesima (pre-lent) loses its penitential nature; Lent begins on the first Sunday
with Ashes allowed to be imposed up to that Saturday before hand; The Triduum begins on Holy
Thursday night; the octave of Pentecost is to be suppressed; Ascension Thursday can be
transferred to Sunday; the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity does not change; and lastly, that the
reform of the saints would be a further work guided by these principles established.95
This first draft contains some radical changes. Before this document, the concept of
suppressing an entire season was never considered. To remove a penitential nature of an already
established season would be an innovation. The classification of saints was changed as well. It
94Ibid., art 111.95 Bugnini,Reform, 306-307.
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was suggested that the terms solemnity, feast, commemoration, and memorial be used.96
These new terms would be different than the existing numbering system established under Pope
John XXIII.
In 1967 these documents were presented to the Holy Father, Pope Paul VI (1963-78), and
were later sent to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (C.D.F.) and the S.C.R. The
C.D.F. then issued a four part document based upon what they read, which according to Bugnini,
was contrary to their usual practice.97
They suggested that if these reforms were to be carried out
then a joint commission should be formed with representatives from their own Congregation and
members of the Consilium.98
In addition to this the Holy Father sent word to the Consilium of his own concerns. He
was concerned that the reduction of the rank of celebrating the saints was dangerous to religious
practice.99
As well he wished Ash Wednesday to remain the beginning of Lent as it had been
according to tradition.100
It is worth noting as well that the Consilium was told that, the calendar
should remain open to further saints feasts.101
Clearly, the intention of the Holy Father was to
ensure that the Consilium not close off the calendar from authentic growth.
In Feburary of 1969 Pope Paul VI promulgated the new calendarmotu propioMysterii
paschalis. This motu proprio would take effect on Janurary 1st
of 1970. This new calendar was
published with the new Missal created by the Consilium and promulgated by Paul VI. This is the
so calledNovus OrdoMissale, or Mass of Paul VI (or as it is more commonly called today the
96Ibid., 309.97Ibid., 310.98Ibid.
99 Ibid.100Ibid.101Ibid., 311.
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Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite).102
InMysterii pashcalis Paul VI pointed out that the purpose
of reordering the calendar was, that through faith, hope and love, the faithful may share more
deeply in the whole mystery of Christ as it unfold throughout the year.103
This calendar, which was completed by 1975, will be the guide for continued study. It is
the current calendar that is in use for most of the Roman Church. Some considered it to be the
only calendar that was to be used in the celebration of Holy Mass and the Divine Office (Liturgy
of the Hours). However, in 2007 our current Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, issued a document
that would change that understanding. This is his document issued motu proprio, Summorum
Pontificum.
Rein tegration with Tradition
In July of 2007 the Holy Father gave permission for any priest of the Roman Rite to offer
Mass according to the Missal of Blessed John XXIII. In Article one he distinguishes that the
Missal of Paul VI as the ordinary expression and the Missal of Bl. John XXIII the
extraordinary expression of the same Lex orandi(law of prayer) and Lex credendi (law of
belief).104
He further goes onto say that the Missal of Bl. John XXII was never abrogated.105
Therefore, it is permissible to use the Liturgical books which were in promulgation in 1962.106
This means that when a priest is offering Mass according to the Missal of Blessed John XXII
(Usus Antiquor, ancient use, hereafter called Usus) they would follow the older calendar that was
102Pope Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter "Summorum Pontificum" issued Motu Proprio, 7 July 2007,
http://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/b16summorumpontificum.htm (accessed November 10th, 2012).103Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Mysterii Paschalis issued Motu Proprio, 14 February 1969,
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-vi_motu proprio_19690214_mysterii-
paschalis_en.html (accessed November 10, 2012).104 Pope Benedict XVI, "Summorum Pontificum" art1.105Ibid.106Ibid., art 2.
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promulgated in 1962.107
Thus, as it stands today there are two general calendars that exist in the
same Roman Rite. Therefore, one can see where the two calendars differ both in the temporal
cycle and the sanctoral cycle.
Time travels
The two calendars vary in a number of ways. In a way the Ordinary Forms (OF)
calendar is a simplification of the 1962 calendar. The simplifications, created by the Concilium,
are similar to the reforms carried out under both Pope Pius XII and Blessed John XXIII.
However, unlike the previous reforms to the calendar entire seasons were not removed. In
addition major feast days were not moved from one date to another. This section will show the
major differences between the OF and Usus calendars.
In the Usus calendar Lent is prefigured by three Sundays called, Septuagesima,
Sexagesima,and Quinquagesima. These three Sundays are a numerical countdown to Easter
from 70, to 60, to 50. The history of these preceding days can be traced back to the Gregorian
sacramentary of the early Church.108
These Sundays were marked with a penitential nature. The
Alleluia, Gloria, and Te Deum were not said, and the vestments were violet.109 Fasting was not
mandatory and began when Lent started.110
It confusing why exactly these Sundays were removed from the new Calendar. Bugnini
remarks in footnote six on page 307 of his work, The Reform of the Liturgy 1948-1975, that there
was a disagreement about the suppression of the Septuagesima season.111
He even notes that Paul
VI spoke of this season like bells calling the people to Sunday Mass.112
The ringing of them an
107Ibid.
108 King,Roman, 189.109 Jungmann, Public Worship, 183.110
Ibid.111 Bugnini,Reform, 307 footnote 6.112Ibid.
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hour, a half-hour, fifteen, and five minutes before the time of Mass has a psychological effect
and prepares the faithful materially and spiritual for the celebration of the Liturgy.113
Despite
this the season was suppressed in order for simplification.
In addition to the absence of the season ofSeptuagesima is the omission of Ember days
from the calendar in the OF. Ember days were traditional days of fasting and penance with
purple vestments for the liturgy. From the earliest Roman liturgies there were at least three times
a year when Ember says occurred.114
These days were seen as a retreat for the Church.115
They
were three months apart in summer, fall, and winter.116
Later on the fourth time was added
during spring. They were also seen as a time of thanksgiving and were connected with the
harvest time in Italy.117
It is worth noting that St. Leo the Great (440-61) attributes the institution
of these days back to the time of the Apostles.118
Ember days were a significant part of the life of Catholics for centuries. Ember Saturday
became a day connected with the priesthood and the lessons (readings) at Holy Mass were seven
to reflect the traditional progression to the holy priesthood. This practice began with Pope
Gelasius I (492-96), who prescribed that the Holy Orders be conferred on Ember Saturdays.119
Their absence from the OF missal is also directly against what the S.C.R. states in its document
General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, issued in 1969. Article 45 states, On
rogation and ember days the practices of the Church is to offer prayers to the Lord for the needs
of all people, especially for the productivity of the earth and for human labor, and to give him
113Ibid.114 Jungmann,Early, 271.115Ibid.116Ibid., 272.117Ibid.118 Miller,Fundamentals, 366.119 Franz Xaver Weiser,Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs: The Year of the Lord in Liturgy and
Folklore (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1958), 32.
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public thanks.120
Further, it states in art. 46, In order to adapt the rogation and ember days to
various regions and the different needs of the people, the conference of bishops should arrange
the time and plan of their celebration.121
The main reason that ember days are excluded is because the power was left up to the
Bishops Conferences to set their dates. If the calendar stated exactly when the ember days were
they would still be practiced by the entire universal Church. It seems that in this age the only
Conference to have set ember days is the Conference of Australia. The Australian Catholic
Bishops Conference (ACBC) decided, in accordance with paragraph 394 of the General
Instruction of the Roman Missal (2002), that the first Fridays of Autumn and Spring should be
reserved as special days of prayer and penance.122
Rogation days were a day of penance when processions took place and the Litany of
Saints was recited. The term Rogation days became a popular term during the High Middle
Ages, according to Weiser.123
They can be traced back to the year 400 in southern Gaul when a
great famine occurred.124
There are two litanies that would be chanted depending on what day in
the calendar it was. The first is the litania major, major litany, was chanted with a solemn
procession and soon came to share the same feast day of St. Mark, April 25th
.125
The origin of the
second litany, the minor litany is closely connected with origin the major litanies. The difference
between the major and minor is when the minor litany was used fasting was not mandatory, but a
120
Sacred Congregation of Rites, General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar Promulgated byPope Paul VI, 14 February 1969, http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDWLITYR.HTM (accessed November 11,
2012), art 45.121Ibid., art 46.122Liturgy Office of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, Australia, Ember Days, Catholic Archdi ocese
of Sydney, http://www.liturgy.sydneycatholic.org/documents-aresources/catholicism-101/ember-days (accessed
November 11, 2012).123 Weiser,Handbook, 42.124 Jungmann, Public Worship, 202.125 Weiser,Handbook, 41.
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penitential procession was still held.126
These processions were important in Rome especially as
they were a way to counteract the pagan culture, and Gregory the Great (590-604) used them to
evangelize.127
The Saint March off
The examination above demonstrates how the temporal cycle has changed from the
reforms of the Consilium. In addition to this the sanctoral cycle has also changed. It can be
estimated that about three-fourths of the saints feasts days on the calendar have changed. The
total number of feast days as it stands is 191.128
This is composed of various feasts of Our Lord,
Our Blessed Mother, St. Joseph and many other saints ranked in as memorials or optional
memorials.
The goals of the Consilium seemed to have been, to assign to each saint as the day of his
or her celebration the dies natalisor day of death, unless something prevents this.129
This is
certainly a noble goal. However, this does not explain some of the radical changes that happened
to the calendar.
To start two feasts days of our Lord were removed. Those were the feast of the Holy
Name of Jesus and the Most Precious Blood. This seems to be particularly contrary to the
Christocentric nature of the calendar. Article 102 of SC states, Within the cycle of a year,
moreover, the Church unfolds the whole mystery of Christ.130
The whole mystery cannot be
126Ibid., 42.127 King,Roman, 197.128 Laszlo Dobszay, The Restoration and Organic Development of the Roman Rite, ed. Laurence Paul
Hemming (London & New York: T & T Clark, 2010), 135.129 Bugnini,Reform, 321.130 SC, art 102.
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present without honoring the Holy Name and remembering our Lord sheading His Precious
Blood.
The loss of a specific day to remember the shedding of the Precious Blood was
particularly troubling for many. After the publication of the first edition of the OF missal and
calendar, 367 petitions were sent to the Consilium to restore the feast to July 1st.131
This once
mandatory feast was reduced to a votive mass. A Votive Mass is a mass that can be offered on a
feria day (a weekday Mass with no feast). Certainly it is praise worthy for the Consilium to want
more masses to honor Christs shedding of His blood. However, in the Missal of 1962 a votive
mass already existed that commemorated the Passion of the Lord.132
This removal of the Most Precious Blood from the calendar also has an effect on the
Solemnity of Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi was traditionally the Thursday that followed Most
Holy Trinity Sunday. However, much like Ascension Thursday could be moved if the Episcopal
Conferenced desired, so Corpus Christi could be moved to Sunday. This, however, severs the
connection that Corpus Christi has with Holy Thursday. The name of Corpus Christi also has
changed in the OF missal and calendar. It is now called the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of
Christ. This name came from an article inLOsservatore Romano written by Msgr. R. Masi on
June 5th
, 1969.133
The Consilium actually accepted his proposal and in 1970 and subsequently in
1975 changed the title in the document, Variationes in Calendarium Romanum inductee.134
Another peculiar development that arose from the Consiliums work was the allowance
of white vestments forrequiem masses. Permission was granted for white vestments to be used if
131 Bugnini,Reform, 315.132
Missale Romanum,Votive Mass [62].133Ibid., 316 see footnote 31.134Ibid., see footnote 32.
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All Souls day was to be observed on a Sunday.135
In the Usus missal the only option for funerals
was black. Black represents the mourning over the loss of a loved one. White vestments are used
on days of saints. This could cause confusion pastorally, and some might think The Church is
canonizing the person after death. No document has been issued say white vestments are now the
only vestments for funerals. Despite this, white vestments seemingly have become the common
vestment for funeral masses.
A final example will demonstrate some of the difficulties behind the ranking system of
the calendar. The feast of the Archangels in the OF calendar is on September 29th
. It is ranked as
a Feast, which is the second highest rank under Solemnity which the first. Observed on this day
are Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Previously, in the Usus calendar Gabriel was on March
24th
(the day before the Annunciation), Raphael was on October 24th
.136
St. Michaels feast was
September 24th
, but this was the dedication of the Church build in honor of his name. It was a
first class feast. Now all the Archangels have been combined and a first class feast has been
reduced to second ranking in the OF calendar.137
Practical View
How the calendar is structured, as seen before, has an effect on how Catholics pray. A
worshippers sense of time has to be sacred. The feasts of the calendar are very important. As
Pope Benedict, then Cardinal Ratzinger put it, The great feasts that structure the year of faith
are feasts of Christ and precisely as such are ordered toward the one God who revealed himself
135Ibid.136 See Appendix IComparative Calendar, A. 4.137
Ibid.
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to Moses in the burning bush and chose Israel as the confessor of the faith in his uniqueness.138
The calendar orients one to a life of prayer to the Father through Jesus Christ. By remembering
the feasts of the Lord in the temporal seasons one is brought more into the mystery of Gods
infinite love for mankind. The saints are an important part of the Catholic identity. They are
examples for believers to follow to Christ the light: we men are in constant need of a little
light [Christ], whose hidden light helps us to know and love the light of the Creator, God one and
triune. That is why the feasts of the saints from earliest times have formed part of the Christian
year.139
Without a well formed calendar Catholics lose an important part of their identity. Human
nature is oriented to consistency. The repeating of the cycles year after year forms Catholics to
worship a certain way. If the calendar is not strong then the faithful will suffer. It [liturgical
worship] teaches us how to pray with the Church through the Liturgy: primarily in the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass.140
To pray with the Church is to follow her calendar. By being formed by
a proper Liturgy given by the Church, worshipers are drawn more into the mystery of Christ.
When the liturgy lacks beauty, as is a frequent complaint against the liturgical life right now141
,
the people are disconnected from the fount of grace. When the calendar is formed properly,
Catholics are able to experience more as sense of beauty in worship.
Conclusion
138 Card. Joseph Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy, trans. John Saward (San Francisco: Ignatius Press,
2000), 110.139Ibid.140 Dietrich von Hildebrand,Liturgy and Personality (Manchester, New Hampshire: Sophia Institute Press,
1943), x.141 M. Francis Mannion,Masterworks of God Essays in Liturgical Theory and Practice (Chicago &
Mundelein, Illinois: Hillendrand Books, 2004), 108.
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The Liturgical Calendar has seen a great deal of development since the early Church.
Slowly each season has grown organically in the life of the Church. The universal calendar was
codified by Trent, and the Liturgical Movement around the time of Pius X wished to give proper
dignity to reforming the calendar. From Pius XII to John XXIII calling Vatican II there were
many changes occurring. The most significant ones would come with the work of the Consilium
following Vatican II. Now, because Pope Benedict has made it clear that the Missal of John
XXIII was never, abrogated there exist two calendars. Now is the time to look at both calendars
and see what ambiguities exist. This is an important task because the calendar provides Catholics
with a Sacred Time in which to worship.
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OF Date OF Rank Saint EF Date EF Rank
01-01 Solemnity Mary, Mother of God (Octave of the Nativity of OurLord / Circumcision of Our Lord)
1-1 & 10-11 II cl
01-02 Memorial Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, bishopsand doctors
6-14 & 5-9 III cl
01-03 Holy Name of Jesus Sun between
1-1 and 1-6,or 1-2
II cl
01-06 Solemnity Epiphany of Our Lord 01-06 I cl
01-07 Raymond of Penyafort, priest 01-23 III cl
01-13 Hilary, bishop and doctor 01-14 III cl
01-17 Memorial Anthony, abbot 01-17 III cl
01-20 Fabian, pope and martyr 01-20 (withSebastian)
III cl
01-20 Sebastian, martyr 1-20 (withFabian)
III cl
01-21 Memorial Agnes, virgin and martyr 01-21 III cl
01-22 Vincent, deacon and martyr (Vincent andAnastasius, martyrs) 01-22 III cl
01-24 Memorial Francis de Sales, bishop and doctor 01-29 III cl
01-25 Feast Conversion of Paul, apostle 01-25 III cl
01-26 Memorial Timothy and Titus, bishops 1-24 & 2-6 III cl
01-27 Angela Merici, virgin 06-01 III cl
01-28 Memorial Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor 03-07 III cl
01-31 Memorial John Bosco, priest 01-31 III cl
02-02 Feast Presentation of the Lord (Purification of Mary) 02-02 II cl
02-03 Blase, bishop and martyr 02-03 Commem
02-03 Ansgar, bishop
02-05 Memorial Agatha, virgin and martyr 02-05 III cl
02-06 Memorial Paul Miki and companions, martyrs02-08 Jerome Emiliani, priest 07-20 III cl
02-08 Josephine Bakhita, virgin
02-10 Memorial Scholastica, virgin 02-10 III cl
02-11 Our Lady of Lourdes (Apparition of the BlessedVirgin Mary Immaculate)
02-11 III cl
02-14 Memorial Cyril, monk, and Methodius, bishop 07-07 III cl
02-17 Seven Founders of the Order of Servites 02-12 III cl
02-21 Peter Damian, bishop and doctor 02-23 III cl
02-22 Feast Chair of Peter, apostle 02-22 II cl
02-23 Memorial Polycarp, bishop and martyr 01-26 III cl
03-04 Casimir 03-04 III cl
03-07 Memorial Perpetua and Felicity, martyrs 03-06 III cl
03-08 John of God, religious 03-08 III cl
03-09 Frances of Rome, religious 03-09 III cl
03-17 Patrick, bishop 03-17 III cl
03-18 Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop and doctor 03-18 III cl
03-19 Solemnity Joseph, husband of Mary 03-19 I cl
03-23 Turibius de Mongrovejo, bishop
03-25 Solemnity Annunciation 03-25 III cl
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04-02 Francis of Paola, hermit 04-02 III cl
04-04 Isidore, bishop and doctor 04-04 III cl
04-05 Vincent Ferrer, priest 04-05 III cl
04-07 Memorial John Baptist de la Salle, priest 05-15 III cl
04-11 Stanislaus, bishop and martyr 05-07 III cl
04-13 Martin I, pope and martyr 11-12 III cl
04-21 Anselm, bishop and doctor 04-21 III cl
04-23 George, martyr 04-23 Commem
04-23 Adalbert, bishop and martyr
04-24 Fidelis of Sigmaringen, priest and martyr 04-24 III cl
04-25 Feast Mark, evangelist 04-25 II cl
04-28 Peter Chanel, priest and martyr
04-28 Louis Marie de Montfort, priest
04-29 Memorial Catherine of Siena, virgin 04-30 III cl
04-30 Pius V, pope 05-05 III cl
05-01 Joseph the Worker 05-01 I cl
05-02 Memorial Athanasius, bishop and doctor 05-02 III cl
05-03 Feast Philip and James, apostles 05-11 II cl05-12 Pancras, martyr 5-12 (with
Nereus andAchilleus)
III cl
05-12 Nereus and Achilleus, martyrs 5-12 (withPancras)
III cl
05-13 Our Lady of Fatima
05-14 Feast Matthias, apostle Matthias,apostle
II cl
05-18 John I, pope and martyr 05-27 Commem
05-20 Bernardine of Siena, priest 05-20 III cl
05-21 Christopher Magallanes, priest and martyr, and
companions, martyrs05-22 Rita of Cascia, religious
05-25 Gregory VII, pope 05-25 III cl
05-25 Venerable Bede, priest and doctor 05-27 III cl
05-25 Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, virgin 05-29 III cl
05-26 Memorial Philip Neri, priest 05-26 III cl
05-27 Augustine of Canterbury, bishop 05-28 III cl
05-31 Feast Visitation 07-02 II cl
06-01 Memorial Justin, martyr 04-14 III cl
06-02 Marcellinus and Peter, martyrs 06-02 Commem
06-03 Memorial Charles Lwanga and companions, martyrs
06-05 Memorial Boniface, bishop and martyr 06-05 III cl
06-06 Norbert, bishop 06-06 III cl
06-09 Ephrem, deacon and doctor 06-18 III cl
06-11 Memorial Barnabas, apostle 06-11 III cl
06-13 Memorial Anthony of Padua, priest and doctor 06-13 III cl
06-19 Romuald, abbot 02-07 III cl
06-21 Memorial Aloysius Gonzaga, religious 06-21 III cl
06-22 Paulinus of Nola, bishop 06-22 III cl
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06-22 John Fisher, bishop and martyr, and Thomas More,martyr
06-24 Solemnity Birth of John the Baptist 06-24 I cl
06-27 Cyril of Alexandria, bishop and doctor 02-09 III cl
06-28 Memorial Irenaeus, bishop and martyr 07-03 III cl
06-29 Solemnity Peter and Paul, apostles 06-29 I cl
06-30 First Martyrs of the Church of Rome
07-03 Feast Thomas, apostle 12-21 II cl
07-04 Elizabeth of Portugal 07-08 III cl
07-05 Anthony Zaccaria, priest 07-05 III cl
07-06 Maria Goretti, virgin and martyr
07-09 Augustine Zhao Rong, priest and martyr, andcompanions, martyrs
07-11 Memorial Benedict, abbot 03-21 III cl
07-13 Henry 07-15 III cl
07-14 Camillus de Lellis, priest 07-18 III cl
07-15 Memorial Bonaventure, bishop and doctor 07-14 III cl
07-16 Our Lady of Mount Carmel 07-16 Commem07-20 Apollinaris, bishop and martyr 07-23 III cl
07-21 Lawrence of Brindisi, priest and doctor 07-21 III cl
07-22 Memorial Mary Magdalene 07-22 III cl
07-23 Bridget of Sweden, religious 10-08 III cl
07-23 Sharbel Makhluf, priest
07-25 Feast James, apostle 07-25 II cl
07-26 Memorial Joachim and Anne, parents of Mary 8-16 & 7-26 II cl
07-29 Memorial Martha 07-29 III cl
07-30 Peter Chrysologus, bishop and doctor 12-04 III cl
07-31 Memorial Ignatius of Loyola, priest 07-31 III cl
08-01 Memorial Alphonsus Liguori, bishop and doctor 08-02 III cl
08-02 Eusebius of Vercelli, bishop 12-16 III cl
08-02 Peter Julian Eymard, priest
08-04 Memorial John Vianney, priest 08-08 III cl
08-05 Dedication of St Mary Major 08-05 III cl
08-06 Feast Transfiguration 08-06 II cl
08-07 Sixtus II, pope and martyr, and companions,martyrs
08-06 Commem
08-07 Cajetan, priest 08-07 III cl
08-08 Memorial Dominic, priest 08-04 III cl
08-10 Feast Lawrence, deacon and martyr 08-10 II cl
08-11 Memorial Clare, virgin 08-12 III cl
08-13 Pontian, pope and martyr, and Hippolytus, priestand martyr (Hippolytus and Cassian, priests andmartyrs)
11-19 & 8-13 Commem
08-14 Maximilian Maria Kolbe, priest and martyr
08-15 Solemnity Assumption 08-15 I cl
08-16 Stephen of Hungary 09-02 III cl
08-19 John Eudes, priest 08-19 III cl
08-20 Memorial Bernard, abbot and doctor 08-20 III cl
08-21 Memorial Pius X, pope 09-03 III cl
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08-22 Memorial Queenship of Mary 05-31 II cl
08-23 Rose of Lima, virgin 08-30 III cl
08-24 Feast Bartholomew, apostle 08-24 II cl
08-25 Louis 08-25 III cl
08-25 Joseph Calasanz, priest 08-27 III cl
08-27 Memorial Monica 05-04 III cl
08-28 Memorial Augustine, bishop and doctor 08-28 III cl
08-29 Memorial Beheading of John the Baptist, martyr 08-29 III cl
09-03 Memorial Gregory the Great, pope and doctor 03-12 III cl
09-08 Feast Birth of Mary 09-08 II cl
09-12 Holy Name of Mary 09-12 III cl
09-13 Memorial John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor 01-27 III cl
09-14 Feast Exaltation of the Holy Cross 09-14 II cl
09-15 Memorial Our Lady of Sorrows (Seven Sorrows of theBlessed Virgin Mary)
09-15 II cl
09-16 Memorial Cornelius, pope and martyr, and Cyprian, bishopand martyr
09-16 III cl
09-17 Robert Bellarmine, bishop and doctor 05-13 III cl09-19 Januarius, bishop and martyr (and companions,
martyrs)09-19 III cl
09-20 Andrew Kim Taegon, priest and martyr, PaulChong Hasang, martyr, and companions, martyrs
09-21 Feast Matthew, apostle and evangelist 09-21 II cl
09-23 Memorial Pio of Pietrelcina, priest
09-26 Cosmas and Damian, martyrs 09-27 III cl
09-27 Memorial Vincent de Paul, prest 07-19 III cl
09-28 Wenceslaus, martyr 09-28 III cl
09-28 Lawrence Ruiz, martyr, and companions, martyrs
09-29 Feast Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels 9-29 & 3-24 &
10-24
III cl & I*
cl09-30 Memorial Jerome, priest and doctor 09-30 III cl
10-01 Memorial Theresa of the Child Jesus, virgin 10-03 III cl
10-02 Memorial Guardian Angels 10-02 III cl
10-04 Memorial Francis of Assisi, religious 10-04 III cl
10-06 Memorial Bruno, priest 10-06 III cl
10-07 Memorial Our Lady of the Rosary 10-07 II cl
10-09 Denis, bishop and martyr, and companions,martyrs
10-09 Commem
10-09 John Leonardi, priest 10-09 III cl
10-14 Callistus I, pope and martyr 10-14 III cl
10-15 Memorial Teresa of Avila, virgin 10-15 III cl
10-16 Hedwig, religious 10-16 III cl
10-16 Margaret Mary Alacoque, virgin 10-17 III cl
10-17 Memorial Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr 02-01 III cl
10-18 Feast Luke, evangelist 10-18 II cl
10-19 Paul of the Cross, priest 04-28 III cl
10-23 John of Capistrano, priest 03-28 III cl
10-24 Anthony Mary Claret, bishop 10-23 III cl
10-28 Simon and Jude, apostles 10-28 II cl
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11-01 Solemnity All Saints 11-01 I cl
11-02 All Souls 11-02 I cl
11-03 Martin de Porres, religious
11-04 Memorial Charles Borromeo, bishop 11-04 III cl
11-09 Feast Dedication of St John Lateran 11-09 II cl
11-10 Memorial Leo the Great, pope and doctor 04-11 III cl
11-11 Memorial Martin of Tours, bishop 11-11 III cl
11-12 Memorial Josaphat, bishop and martyr 11-14 III cl
11-15 Albert the Great, bishop and doctor 11-15 III cl
11-16 Margaret of Scotland 06-10 III cl
11-16 Gertrude, virgin 11-16 III cl
11-17 Memorial Elizabeth of Hungary, religious 11-19 III cl
11-18 Dedication of the churches of Peter and Paul,apostles
11-18 III cl
11-18 Rose Philippine Duchesne, virgin
11-21 Memorial Presentation of Mary 11-21 III cl
11-22 Memorial Cecilia, virgin and martyr 11-22 III cl
11-23 Clement I, pope and martyr 11-23 III cl11-23 Columban, abbot
11-24 Andrew Dung-Lac, priest and martyr, andcompanions, martyrs
11-25 Catherine of Alexandria, virgin and martyr 11-25 III cl
11-30 Feast Andrew, apostle 11-30 II cl
12-03 Memorial Francis Xavier, priest 12-03 III cl
12-04 John Damascene, priest and doctor 03-27 III cl
12-06 Nicholas, bishop 12-06 III cl
12-07 Memorial Ambrose, bishop and doctor 12-07 III cl
12-08 Solemnity Immaculate Conception 12-08 I cl
12-11 Damasus, pope and confessor 12-11 III cl
12-13 Memorial Lucy, virgin and martyr 12-13 III cl12-14 Memorial John of the Cross, priest and doctor 11-24 III cl
12-21 Peter Canisius, priest and doctor 04-27 III cl
12-23 John of Kanty, priest 10-20 III cl
12-25 Solemnity Christmas 12-25 I cl
12-26 Feast Stephen, first martyr 12-26 II cl
12-27 Feast John, apostle and evangelist 12-27 II cl
12-28 Feast Holy Innocents, martyrs 12-28 II cl
12-29 Thomas Becket, bishop and martyr 12-29 Commem
12-31 Sylvester I, pope 12-31 Commem
Sunwithin
Octave ofChristmas
Feast Holy Family 1st Sun afterEpiphany
II cl
Sun afterJan 6
Feast Baptism of the Lord 01-13 II cl
First Sunafter
Pentecost
Solemnity Holy Trinity Octave Dayof Pentecost
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Thursafter Holy
Trinity
Solemnity The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Our Lord(Corpus Christi)
Thurs afterHoly Trinity
I cl
Fri after2
ndSun
after
Pentecost
Solemnity Sacred Heart Fri after 2n
Sun afterPentecost
I cl
Sat after2
ndSun
afterPentecost
Solemnity Immaculate Heart of Mary 08-22 II cl
Last Sunof theyear
Solemnity Christ the King Last Sun inOctober
I cl
*This Comparison was provided by Miss Claire Gilligan on July 19, 2012. All work and findings
are her own.
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