Epiphany 2012 on Friday

[JReducation]

The Epiphany is still January 6th for the Universal Church, Latin and Eastern. However, bishops’ conferences may move it for practical reasons.

In the USA there is a very practical reason. Religious orders have pulled most of their priests from parishes. As a result there are less parish priests, because most parishes are now run by diocesan priests. This means that the typical parish priest celebrates 2 or 3 masses on a Sunday, depending on the size of his parish.

When Christmas falls on a weekday the situation becomes critical for these parish priests. Let’s use a hypothetical calendar

Wed - Midnight mass
Thu - Christmas mass
Sat - Vigil mass
Sun - Sunday mass
Thu - Mother of God
Sat - Vigil mass
Sun - Sunday mass
Tue - Epiphany

If you’re a priest who has two or three masses, this is a burnout situation. In between, you have to hear confessions, care for the sick, run the parish, attend meetings and attend to whatever comes up. Even if you said two masses, you have 16 masses in a 12 day period, not counting the weekday masses in between the holy days.

In most countries, the parishes are not organized like our own in the USA. They usually have one or two masses on Sundays and solemnities. and they do not have all of the ministries and other activities that our parishes have. Our American parishes have become very complex.

Very rarely can a parish priest get a priest from a religious order to help on a major holiday. Many religious superiors will not lend their priests out on holidays. They want them in community on those days.

That’s how the USA came to move the Epiphany and Ascension to the nearest Sunday. It’s one day less of running around for the poor guy who has no help.

The move to Sunday has nothing to do with EF and OF. Epiphany is still Jan 6 except in those countries where the bishops agree to move it. If it’s moved, then Jan 6 remains a day of penance, if it falls on Friday. You go by the Church’s calendar, not the calendar of the form. The calendar of the form dictates the mass of the day, not the life of the Church. It’s kind of awkward and that’s why work is being done to have one calendar for secular Catholics. That will probably take a very long time.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[ByzCathCantor]

I just got back from the EF of the Mass and I bought a calendar for the next year. If I look at the solemnity of the Epiphany of our Lord, there is a fish next to it because it is on a Friday. Am I missing something or is it wrong? Abstinence during a solemnity?

I know that in the Byzantine Church the abstinence is moved to Thursday.

Same thing for the Solemnity Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 15th and for the Solemnity of St. Peter & Paul on June 29th (In the Byzantine Church looks like it is still a day of abstinence).

Just an FYI - in the Byzantine Catholic Ruthenian Church in the US, the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul is a day of precept [Holy Day of Obligation]. If it were to fall on a Friday, fasting would be transferred to the Thursday prior.

Likewise, Theophany [Epiphany] is also a day of precept. We also do not transfer feasts of any level (Great, Solemn or Simple, in our vernacular) to a Sunday - fixed (immoveable) feasts are observed on the days in which they naturally fall.

Peace be to all!

 

[w_s_s]

While not at all disagreeing with you, Brother JR, I’d like to point out that, as a practical matter, the facts on the ground are different. In traditional personal parishes, there is generally not the slightest mention of the “reformed” calendar and Jan 6 was the first class feast of Epiphany and Jan 8 was “merely” the feast of the Holy Family.

That is to say, in pretty much every way, shape, and form, the new calendar does not exist in a practical sense as far as these parishes are concerned. The only time it has ever come up in my experience is when the priest remembers to note that, despite the three masses scheduled (including solemn Mass) on some given major feast day, that the actual obligation is waived because the new calendar transfers the feast – and the priest doesn’t always remember to make that note. But then again it doesn’t matter because even if he does remember, everyone treats it as an obligation day anyway…

Someone in the liturgy and sacraments forum posted a question about how he can familiarize himself with the new Mass, having entered the Church 12 years ago in an EF parish, and having never before seen a new Mass living, as he put it, “as if Vatican II had never happened.”

That adequately describes the situation.

 

[TrueLight]

While not at all disagreeing with you, Brother JR, I’d like to point out that, as a practical matter, the facts on the ground are different. In traditional personal parishes, there is generally not the slightest mention of the “reformed” calendar and Jan 6 was the first class feast of Epiphany and Jan 8 was “merely” the feast of the Holy Family.

I agree.

And this even applies to some parishes that celebrate both the OF and EF.

We observed the Epiphany on Friday and the feast of the Holy Family today in the Latin mass.

I’m assuming the OF calendar was followed in the OF mass.

 

[JReducation]

I think we got side tracked on the thought of creating a common calendar. My point was not that at all. That was an aside. As we know, that will take years to do.

My point is that the Epiphany was celebrated Jan 8, not because of an OF calendar, but because of a practical choice of the USCCB. The Roman Liturgical Calendar has the Epiphany on Jan 6. Most of the world celebrates it on Jan 6, be it in the Ordinary Form or the Extraordinary Form, be it in the Latin Church or the Oriental Churches.

However, in the Latin Church, there is a rule that allows a national conference to move certain feast days for practical reasons. As per the example that I gave above, in most American parishes, it relieves the priest to have the feast on a Sunday, because of the great number of masses that must be celebrated in a 12 day period, not counting the daily mass.

In those places where the priest celebrates only one mass per day, it is not an issue. In places where the priest has several masses in one day or where he has to travel between two and three parishes, this becomes a major issue of logistics and burnout.

As I said, we did not have this problem in the USA when religious orders helped to run parishes. Today, most religious will not take on parishes. The parish has to be closed, merged, share a priest or have less priests. When you have this situation, you have the potential for burning out the priest.

In a nutshell, while everyone else is celebrating the Christmas Season, the priest is running around like a chicken without a head trying to stay on top of his usual obligations and all of these additional masses. I know one priest who loves it when Christmas falls on Sunday, because he can pray. When it falls in the middle of the week, there is hardly time for prayer with so many Christmas activities on top of the masses and the usual parish workload.

As you can see, there is no usch OF calendar that moves the Epiphany to the 8th. It’s a national thing for very practical reasons. The parish priests themselves are very grateful for it. We have to think of these men and the fact that they are stretched to the max, not just about our preferences.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[5Loaves]

I agree.

And this even applies to some parishes that celebrate both the OF and EF.

We observed the Epiphany on Friday and the feast of the Holy Family today in the Latin mass.

I’m assuming the OF calendar was followed in the OF mass.

It was in my parish which meant that this so important manifestation of the Holy Trinity was pretty much unnoticed. At coffee today I mentioned it, related to my taking a photo of our beautiful stained glass window of the baptism of Christ in the Jordan by John, and my coffee mate, cradle Catholic who was in Mass with me less than an hour earlier, didn’t seem to realize what the feast day had been today. Not for lack of mention of His baptism in the readings and the homily.