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Waverley
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I understand there is an Old and a New Liturgical Calendar. Can anyone tell me when the new calendar was implemented and the reasoning behind it?
Thanks.
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Waverley
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JennGM
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Waverly,
I love discussing this question. The calendar has been reformed or tweaked many times, but there was a major revision in 1969. So those that follow the Traditional Calendar usually follow the one that was in effect at 1962, and those that follow the Novus Ordo Mass use the one revised in 1969.
There have been many changes to the calendar since Vatican II. The Traditional Calendar in older missals is very different to our current calendar. The way saints' days were either simple, double, semi-double, commemoration, and vigils, and sometimes octaves. Saints' feast days were even different between different editions of 1949 and 1957 and 1962 of the St. Andrew Missal that I own, so I find it hard to sort it all out. There were also many, many more saint days, and sometimes these days could override the Liturgical seasons, even Sundays.
I'm going to post a series of answers taken from the Church documents, so you can see the reasoning. I think it's always best to get to the primary sources. I'll try to get back here tonight.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Cay Gibson
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JennGM wrote:
Waverly,
I love discussing this question. |
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And I love listening to you explain these things, Jenn. No one explains them better. 
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Cay Gibson
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Waverley
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Thanks, JennGM! That's exactly what I wanted to know.
I have another question for you while you're here - where did the Feast of the Visitation go this year? I know it usually falls on May 31 and that this year Pentecost falls on the same day. So, I'm assuming Pentecost preempts the Visitation. But does the Feast of the Visitation move to another date or is it not celebrated? I hope not, its one of my favorite feast days!
Thanks for helping me and my family grow in the faith.
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Waverley
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Mackfam
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I'm tagging onto this question if I may.
I've actually been wanting to ask Jenn this question for some time now...but I always think I'll sit down and ask it when I have more time to think about it and respond and consider...but that won't be happening, will it?
My question: Are there any ways to successfully blend the two calendars? Does anyone do this?
The reason I ask is this - we attend the Latin rite Mass and thus follow the Traditional Liturgical Calendar (1962), however, I am working very hard in my home to communicate the universality of the Church - that we are all One. The calendar is a challenge for me. I long to combine the 1962 calendar and the current calendar successfully. Not every feast has been changed, but there are enough inconsistencies to make it challenging for me.
First, I'll tell you what I do. I print the two calendars (see links below) and then on a weekly, or sometimes seasonal (Lent, Easter, etc.) basis I compare them researching the differences and making my own notes for observances.
General Roman Calendar of 1962 (referred to as the Traditional Calendar)
Current Roman Calendar of Saints (referred to as the Current Calendar)
I'll give you a couple of examples:
The Feast of St. Margaret of Scotland
Current Calendar - November 16 (Optional Memorial of St. Margaret or St. Gertrude the Great)
Traditional Calendar - June 10 (Widow, III Class)
This is a big feast for us as my husband and children are Scottish. I'm inclined (as I do with some of the Feasts on the Calendar) to celebrate her twice, but in this instance, it seems the current calendar day of November 16 is more fitting because that is the anniversary of her death and also when the Scots remember her. But, she was moved in order to leave St. Gertrude the Great on November 16. The traditional calendar leaves both these great saints a place in the liturgical year, while the current seems to offer an optional memorial.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus
Current Calendar - October 1 (virgin and doctor - Memorial)
Traditional Calendar - October 3 (virgin, III class)
Here's where we celebrate twice, celebrating once on October 1 and once again on the 3rd. Her feast was moved in 1969 to the day after her death (Sept. 30). I assume Pope Paul VI was just trying to move her Feast to as close the anniversary of her death as possible and since St. Jerome already occupied Sept 30, he moved her to Oct. 1.
There are many, many more examples of differences in the calendar. Though some things have stayed the same, both calendars are missing the benefit of the fullness of the other in my opinion. The current calendar is missing entirely the beauty of the Ember Days and Days of Rogation, the stability of certain Holy Days, etc., while the older calendar is missing the celebration of those saints beatified after 1962 as well as those changes made after 1962 (an example above, St. Therese was declared a doctor of the Church in 1997, but this is not reflected on the old calendar). I try to blend the two in a way that reflects the beauty of both, but I do wish there was one calendar that the Church Universal could follow - whether you attend the Extraordinary Rite after the Holy Father's Motu Proprio or you attend the Novus Ordo.
As I re-read my post, I suppose my question seems a bit of a rant, and I don't really mean it to be. It is frustrating, but a good learning experience for me nonetheless. I would never ordinarily look to see why a saint was added to the Roman calendar on a certain day otherwise, and I find the history fascinating. I suppose at the heart of this is the fact that I'm longing for unity, and I'm wondering if any of you do this (blend the two calendars), and to what extent, and if you have any other valuable helps, guidelines, cautions for me.
Thank you, Waverley, for providing the impetus for me to finally ask this question!
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Jen Mackintosh
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JennGM
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Waverley wrote:
| I have another question for you while you're here - where did the Feast of the Visitation go this year? I know it usually falls on May 31 and that this year Pentecost falls on the same day. So, I'm assuming Pentecost preempts the Visitation. But does the Feast of the Visitation move to another date or is it not celebrated? I hope not, its one of my favorite feast days! |
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I'm no expert, just love to dig up and share my enthusiasm. I have a great quote I want to share with your original question, but it's turning out too big to post here, so that's the delay in responding to your original question.
As far as the Visitation, as it's normally a feast, it won't be celebrated this year, except maybe in local/particular calendars (religious orders, churches or dioceses with that patron). I think it would be moved to Monday if it was celebrated, since that's the first day of Ordinary Time. Pentecost in the current calendar doesn't have an octave (I wish that would be changed).
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Jennifer G. Miller
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The change in the calendar was to again put the focus on the Paschal Mystery (passion and resurrection of Christ) at the heart of the Liturgical Year. Sundays were to take precedence. There were beginning to be too many saints' day, even celebrated on Sunday. One of the reasons was that the Matins (Morning Prayer) hour of the Divine Office (before that was reformed also) would require many more psalms than for a saint's day, so many were choosing the saint over the Sunday or ferial day.
I've mentioned this before, but the are two cycles in the Liturgical year, Proper of Time (Temporal, life of Christ and His Paschal Mystery) and Proper of the Saints (Sanctoral). So the emphasis was the Proper of Time.
This subject of reforming the calendar was brought up in Vatican II Council, to be specific, Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy). (Emphasis below mine). This was the not the first time reforms were suggested, nor the first time this emphasis or focus of the calendar was mentioned. It's consistent, but it was in 1969 that a radical adjustment was done.
Sacrosanctum Concilium wrote:
107. The liturgical year is to be revised so that the traditional customs and discipline of the sacred seasons shall be preserved or restored to suit the conditions of modern times. Their specific character is to be retained so that they duly nourish the piety of the faithful who celebrate the mysteries of the Christian redemption and, above all, the paschal mystery. If certain adaptations are necessary because of local conditions, they are to be made in accordance with the provisions of Articles 39 and 40.
108. The minds of the faithful should be directed primarily toward the feasts of the Lord whereby the mysteries of salvation are celebrated throughout the year. For this reason, the Proper of the Time shall be given due preference over the feasts of the saints so that the entire cycle of the mysteries of salvation may be suitably recalled. |
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So from Vatican II, Pope Paul VI issued a motu proprio which approved a reform on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar. Mysterii Paschalis or Approval of the General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the New General Roman Calendar.
General Norms wrote:
Celebration of the paschal mystery is of supreme importance in Christian worship and the cycle of days, weeks, and the whole year unfold its meaning: this is the teaching so clearly given us by Vatican Council II. Consequently, as to both the plan of the Proper of Seasons and of Saints and the revision of the Roman Calendar it is essential that Christ's paschal mystery receive greater prominence in the reform of the liturgical year, for which the Council has given the norms.
We do not see a conflict with this theme the splendor of feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary, "who is joined by an inseparable bond to the saving work of her Son,"[10] and of memorials of the saints, which are rightly considered as the birthdays of "the martyrs and victors who lead us."[11] Indeed "the feasts of the saints proclaim the wonderful work of Christ in his servants, and display to the faithful fitting examples for their imitation."[12] Further, the Catholic Church has always firmly and securely held that the feasts of the saints proclaim and renew Christ's paschal mystery.[13]
Undeniably, however, over the course of the centuries more feasts of the saints were introduced than was necessary; therefore the Council pointed out: "Lest the feasts of the saints take precedence over the feasts commemorating the very mysteries of salvation, many of them should be left to be celebrated by a particular Church or nation or religious family; those only should be extended to the universal Church that commemorate saints of truly universal significance."[14] [Highlight in bold mine]
To put these decrees of the Council into effect, the names of some saints have been deleted from the General Calendar and permission was granted to restore the memorials and veneration of other saints in those areas with which they have been traditionally associated. The removal of certain lesser-known saints from the Roman Calendar has allowed the addition of the names of martyrs from regions where the Gospel spread later in history. In consequence, the single catalogue displays in equal dignity as representatives of all peoples those who either shed their blood for Christ or were outstanding in the heroic virtues. |
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So then the General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar was issued by the Sacred Congregation of Divine Worship. This is really a wonderful document, because you can see the "science" of the liturgical calendar, what ranks and outranks what. Sundays take precedence over everything except solemnities or feasts of the Lord, but Sundays in Advent, Lent, and Easter override those solemnities and feast of the Lord. After that, we have the ranking order of Solemnity, Feast, Memorial, Optional Memorial, always with exceptions. See the table in the document for the breakdown. Table of Liturgical Days
The document also provides a little reasoning behind movement of some saints days or removal of some feasts. I'm working on a part of the "unofficial" part of that document that you can read more detail if you wish.
Sometimes there is confusion over Holydays of Obligation. They are not treated outside the list of ranking. The Holydays are all solemnities that the Church requires attendance at Mass, etc. See quote below from Canon Law:
Canon Law wrote:
Can. 1246 §1. Sunday, on which by apostolic tradition the paschal mystery is celebrated, must be observed in the universal Church as the primordial holy day of obligation. The following days must also be observed: the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Epiphany, the Ascension, the Body and Blood of Christ, Holy Mary the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her Assumption, Saint Joseph, Saint Peter and Saint Paul the Apostles, and All Saints.
§2. With the prior approval of the Apostolic See, however, the conference of bishops can suppress some of the holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday.
Can.1247 On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are obliged to participate in the Mass.
Moreover, they are to abstain from those works and affairs which hinder the worship to be rendered to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s day, or the suitable relaxation of mind and body. |
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The American Bishops have moved the feast of the Epiphany and Corpus Christi to Sundays, and now even Ascension (Thursday) in some dioceses. The bishops have chosen to not make the feasts of Saint Joseph, Saint Peter and Saint Paul the Apostles as holydays. (The references for the holydays of obligation can be found in Canons 1246-1248, referring to the first precept of the church. See also Catechism 2042, 2180.)
A great site on unraveling the mystery of the calendar is RomCal. His program is potentially a great science and math project for advanced students.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Family in Feast and Feria
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JennGM
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Mackfam wrote:
| My question: Are there any ways to successfully blend the two calendars? Does anyone do this? |
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I'd love to hear answers on this. I have a few ideas, but I just follow the current calendar and add some feast days we like to follow if they aren't on the current calendar.
MackFarm wrote:
| As I re-read my post, I suppose my question seems a bit of a rant, and I don't really mean it to be. It is frustrating, but a good learning experience for me nonetheless. I would never ordinarily look to see why a saint was added to the Roman calendar on a certain day otherwise, and I find the history fascinating. I suppose at the heart of this is the fact that I'm longing for unity, and I'm wondering if any of you do this (blend the two calendars), and to what extent, and if you have any other valuable helps, guidelines, cautions for me. |
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I wish we could just sit and talk this over together! I don't have a good answer, just share your frustration. It has frustrated me to embrace a "dead" calendar with the TLM. When I say dead, I mean that it's not reflecting the last 50 years. No new saints have been added, which living in America means there are very few American saints in the Traditional Calendar.
I have hopes that with Pope Benedict's move on the uniting of Extraordinary Form and the Ordinary Form, that he'll also unite the calendars. That's my hope. It's tricky because while you can use the old form from 1962, including the Roman Ritual and Calendar, the new Catechism and Code of Canon Law are in effect.
Okay, schoolwork and garden planning to do, but I hope to come back with that good document.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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MicheleQ
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JennGM wrote:
Mackfam wrote:
| My question: Are there any ways to successfully blend the two calendars? Does anyone do this? |
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I'd love to hear answers on this. I have a few ideas, but I just follow the current calendar and add some feast days we like to follow if they aren't on the current calendar. |
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I'd love to hear ideas too. We often attend the EF here and I feel the disunity as well. And I have been asked to make a planner based on the old calendar but would really like to see something of a combined effort rather than two separate calendars (and thus two separate planners).
JennGM wrote:
I have hopes that with Pope Benedict's move on the uniting of Extraordinary Form and the Ordinary Form, that he'll also unite the calendars. That's my hope. It's tricky because while you can use the old form from 1962, including the Roman Ritual and Calendar, the new Catechism and Code of Canon Law are in effect. |
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I hope for this too --but I also know that there are many who would not accept it and would still maintain the validity of only the 1962 calendar. 
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Michele Quigley
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Cay Gibson
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MicheleQ wrote:
And I have been asked to make a planner based on the old calendar but would really like to see something of a combined effort rather than two separate calendars (and thus two separate planners).
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Oh, me too.
That would be dreamy.
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Cay Gibson
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The other tricky thing about uniting the calendars is that the lectionary was revised, so both would need to be revised.
I agree, Michele, many wouldn't accept it.
I was just thinking about the Yahoo Group Catholic_Homeschool_Calendar that tries to unite the two, but I think the dominant is the Traditional Calendar. It just doesn't work well to combine the two. My personal option if I were attending TLM only on Sundays to follow the Sundays and holydays, but daily/weekly calendar from Novus Ordo.
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stellamaris
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Jennifer, can you please explain the terminology used in the Old Calender-simple, double, semi-double, etc.? Do these correspond in any way to memorial, feast, solemnity rankings? I had seen this in Dom Gueranger's Liturgical Year books (which I love), but wasn't sure what it meant. I really appreciate your wonderful, complete, and informative posts. Going back to primary sources is always the best!
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TracyFD
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I just want to voice similar concerns and frustrations about observing both the old and new calendars. I feel as though I am straddling a time warp sometimes when most of my liturgical year resources follow the new calendar but we attend weekly Mass based on the old. I find it unsettling.
I have to admit that when saint days differ I just pick the day most convenient for us if anything extra is involved. My DH is more of an old calendar purist but I feel that we (and especially the children) would be amiss if we didn't learn about the newer saints.
Do you suppose that publications like Magnifikid will eventually offer a TLM edition?
And, yes - I never thought to hope for the Holy Father to resolve the matter - what an ideal solution!
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stellamaris wrote:
| Jennifer, can you please explain the terminology used in the Old Calender-simple, double, semi-double, etc.? Do these correspond in any way to memorial, feast, solemnity rankings? I had seen this in Dom Gueranger's Liturgical Year books (which I love), but wasn't sure what it meant. I really appreciate your wonderful, complete, and informative posts. Going back to primary sources is always the best! |
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Caroline, I haven't figured it out. I mean, I haven't done a comparison to see the exact fit of how the old compares to the new classifications. The older calendar was confusing to me. I usually take the old missals I have to understand a little better and sort it out.
My computer time has been short, so it won't be until Monday or so that I can get back to finishing that resource. I haven't forgotten; it's just a busy week here!
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Mackfam
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MicheleQ wrote:
| I have been asked to make a planner based on the old calendar but would really like to see something of a combined effort rather than two separate calendars (and thus two separate planners). |
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I'd welcome this so much, Michele! I have used your calendar for our household planner for several years and having both the calendars (Ordinary and Extraordinary) combined would be just lovely!
I do have an idea for consideration. I found a calendar that follows both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary rites and includes them in a unique way - it's made by Saints Galore Catholic Publishing - find it here. It's a wall calendar though...and I long to have just one calendar - my planning calendar.
Each day has a listing of the saint's name or feast for that day. If the name appears in regular type - that is an Ordinary rite feast. If the name appears in italicized type - that is an Extraordinary rite feast. If the name appears in ALL CAPS - this saint or feast is celebrated in both forms on this day. Then, there is an abbreviation key listing:
S - Solemnity
F - Feast
M - Memorial
m - optional memorial
C - Commemoration
1 - First class
2 - Second class
3 - Third class
I thought it was nice to have the two calendars combined in one place.
I join my prayers with all of yours, that our Holy Father might one day be able to unify the two calendars and bring the Ordinary and Extraordinary rite together under one calendar for the Roman Rite that places great emphasis on the Paschal Mystery affording it the place of prominence it deserves while bringing in the wealth of traditions and saints from the older calendar. I know there will be those who will not accept the unifying of the two calendars, but I still long for the one-ness. I believe we are many, many years away from this. 
Jenn, your sources are so valuable and informative as always. Thanks!
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Jen Mackintosh
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Old vs. New Liturgical Calendar
