Why did the Church change some saints' days?

[GraceSofia]

Why did the Church change some saints’ days and why are there two calendars?
For example, Feb. 6th is now “Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions, martyrs” but
“Old Calendar: St. Titus, confessor and bishop; St. Dorothy, virgin and martyr” according to the calendar at Catholic Culture.

 

[bpbasilphx]

The various pre-reformation Churches of East and West have always modified and rearranged their calendars as new saints and pastoral need directed.

There have been MANY calendars in the Roman Church, because the different religious orders have had saints on different dates, and even different from, the Universal Roman Calendar.

The modern Roman Calendar is seeing to be more inclusive by urging general commeormation of saints from other places besides Western Europe (as before V2), such as St. Paul Miki of Japan.

There is, in fact, NO “universal calendar” for the entire Catholic Church, because the Eastern Churches have always commemorated different saints.

Be glad you’re not among the Byzantine churches that follow the Julian Calendar, which is presently 13 days out of synch with the rest of the world.

 

[Frbrendan]

Be glad you’re not among the Byzantine churches that follow the Julian Calendar, which is presently 13 days out of synch with the rest of the world.

That is why some Russians and others in the Byzantine tradition celebrate “Christmas” on January 7–of course, for them, it is the 25th of December.

Confused?

Here is a link to explain the Old (or Julian) Calendar
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar

 

[Mrs_Sally]

Why did the Church change some saints’ days and why are there two calendars?
For example, Feb. 6th is now “Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions, martyrs” but
“Old Calendar: St. Titus, confessor and bishop; St. Dorothy, virgin and martyr” according to the calendar at Catholic Culture.

The Church has always moved the calendar around basically to make room for new Saints. A Saint’s feast day is usually the day of their death (entrance to heaven), but some have been moved to dates that commemorate important events in their lives. Also, as some Saints become less ‘popular’ their feasts are quietly dropped from “universal” calendars like the one you are looking at. In fact, that Saint could still be celebrated with as much joy in their native area as always. When you think of how huge the universal/Catholic church is and how many Saints have been recognized over the years, we’d have 10, 15, 20 on every day if we listed them all!

 

[OraLabora]

The Church has always moved the calendar around basically to make room for new Saints. A Saint’s feast day is usually the day of their death (entrance to heaven), but some have been moved to dates that commemorate important events in their lives. Also, as some Saints become less ‘popular’ their feasts are quietly dropped from “universal” calendars like the one you are looking at. In fact, that Saint could still be celebrated with as much joy in their native area as always. When you think of how huge the universal/Catholic church is and how many Saints have been recognized over the years, we’d have 10, 15, 20 on every day if we listed them all!

One way to get an appreciation for may saints that are not memorialized either in general or on your calendar, is to read the Martyrology every day.

 

[GraceSofia]

To All,
Thanks for the replies.

That is why some Russians and others in the Byzantine tradition celebrate “Christmas” on January 7–of course, for them, it is the 25th of December.

Confused? YES.

Here is a link to explain the Old (or Julian) Calendar
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar

Interesting link.
I do wish we Christians would all get on the same calendar-- for the sake of
celebrating Easter together. I know in some countries, it is not much of an issue,
but for minority Catholics in majority Orthodox countries, it has a big impact and is a sad reminder that we are not united.

 

[LilyM]

For lots of reasons, the most obvious being to avoid clashes between feast days of saints as new saints are canonised and/or saints wax and wane in popularity.

Example - here in Australia, August 8 is the feast day of Saint Mary MacKillop. Being our only Australian saint, her feast is of great importance to Australian Catholics.

BUT it’s also the feast of St Dominic - another incredibly popular and influential saint in Oz, as in the rest of the Catholic world. Of course there’s also the Feast of the Transfiguration on August 6, and other special saints’ days around that time.

As the best possible compromise, to accommodate those who are very devoted to both St Dominic and St Mary MacKillop, his feast has been transferred to August 5 for the Australian church. Win-win.

 

[Frbrendan]

Interesting link.

I do wish we Christians would all get on the same calendar-- for the sake of
celebrating Easter together. I know in some countries, it is not much of an issue,
but for minority Catholics in majority Orthodox countries, it has a big impact and is a sad reminder that we are not united.

Oh I agree! Just as there are Catholics in Orthodox countries that are impacted, but Orthodox in Roman Catholic countries. I pray that one day the schism will end, and all will be able to celebrate Pascha (Easter) on the same day!

The Orthodox one!

Just kidding!

 

[bpbasilphx]

To All,
Thanks for the replies.

Interesting link.
I do wish we Christians would all get on the same calendar-- for the sake of
celebrating Easter together. I know in some countries, it is not much of an issue,
but for minority Catholics in majority Orthodox countries, it has a big impact and is a sad reminder that we are not united.

As a matter of fact, in the Middle East and Greece, it is common for Latin Catholics to observe Pascha on the same day as the Orthodox.

 

[GraceSofia]

Yes, I know but we are *still aware *that the rest of the Catholic Church is on a different schedule.
If we watch the Pope on EWTN, for instance, everything is off. Last year everything was off by (I think) a week.
Any online Catholic sources are different, the Magnificat readings are off (or we are off, however you want to look at it) for weeks and weeks after, etc.
Thank goodness, we have 2 years coming up when the dates coincide, but I still think it is a grief and a wound in the Body of Christ. Being dramatic, perhaps, but I really feel strongly about this issue. One of the things that made me question and leave off protestantism was the horrendous lack of unity; Christ told us to be united. Finally, I question whether Latin Rite Catholic parishes should even be giving up their unity with the Pope and the Catholic Church for the sake of local unity with the Orthodox, but that’s a whole 'nother topic.

 

[bpbasilphx]

Look at it this way:

God has given us a TWO YEAR opportunity to come to a common celebration of Pascha.

This is the first time it has happened–or at least, that I’ve been aware of it–in my lifetime.