CALENDAR; - At first this term denoted among the Romans the register in which bankers recorded the interest on loans due on the first of each month (kalendae); the list of working and festive days was called the Fasti. The word kalendae, from a root kal- common also to Greek, with the meaning "to call" (καλέω, "kalein"), survives in Latin only in the sacred language, and refers to the summoning of the people to the Capitol by one of the minor pontiffs when the first crescent of the moon appeared in the sky, to notify them of the days on which the Nones (first quarter) and the Ides (full moon) would fall.
The term then came to mean the entire month (Ovid, Fasti, III, 99; Martial, I, 99, 6) and thus to reckon the annual measurement of time. The calendar is therefore closely connected with the observation of astronomical phenomena. All religions have a calendar that divides the year into monthly segments determined by the phases of the moon and have adopted various systems to reconcile this series of 12 lunations, which is shorter (354 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes, 58 seconds), with the solar year, which is longer (365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds).
Summary:
I. Primitive Calendars
II. Non-Christian Religions: 1. East Asia: China, Japan; 2. Pre-Columbian America: Mexico, Peru; 3. Egypt; 4. Semites: Babylonia, Hebrews, Arabs;5. Indo-Europeans: India, Iran and Persia, Greece, Rome
III. Christianity: 1. Western Church: origin of the year, Gregorian reform;6. Eastern Churches
IV. Calendar of the French Republic
V. Masonic Calendar
VI. Further proposals for reform.I. Primitive Calendars.
The objective determination of time, necessary among human groups that have reached a certain degree of civil and social stability, is not required among primitives, for whom the periodicity of lunar, solar, and stellar phenomena is of no interest in the conduct of the internal and social life of the clan, but only in so far as it relates to the return of seasons suitable for hunting, fishing, gathering the fruits of the earth, and the works of a primitive agriculture. More than a precise measurement, they take account of meteorological phenomena (summer, winter; drought, rain), especially in relation to the appearance of certain constellations, e.g., the Pleiades.
The beginning of the aforementioned operations is consecrated by special rites (festivals) intended to ensure, through the efficacy of action and formula, the seasonal rhythm. Apart from this sacred-magical concern, which in time would come to fix the religious calendar permanently, the primitive has no objective knowledge of time, which for him flows uninterruptedly and, above all, is not determined by fixed laws independent of his own action; indeed, this action is considered necessary so that the periodic vicissitudes of natural phenomena may recur for the benefit of the group. The festivals listed in the calendar serve to impress upon the community its unitary character, both through the recollection of myths and legends that narrate the origin and raison d’être of the group, and through the performance of rites (dances, processions, banquets, sacrifices) by which the group translates its social unity into action and truly experiences II.
Festivals interrupt the series of ordinary occupations; they are often prepared for by rites of purification (fasting, abstinence, "Truces of God") and are sacramentally consecrated by changes of clothing, competitions, fairs, and markets.
The annual calendar is regarded as a single cycle at whose entrance propitiatory rites are performed, while at its close rites of purification are carried out to remove all the evil accumulated during the year (v. NEW YEAR'S DAY). Broader divisions of the year itself are also conceived—triennial, quadrennial, octennial, nineteen-year, centennial—often in relation to astronomical phenomena; in these, the entire period of time elapsed between beginning and end is imagined as a unity and entails rites of purification and consecration.
II. Non-Christian Religions.
7. EAST ASIA: a) China
The Chinese calendar is lunar, consisting of 12 months, which have no proper names but are distinguished by their ordinal number and alternate between 30 and 29 days, making a total of 354 days. To reconcile the lunar year with the solar year, seven intercalary months are inserted over a span of 19 years. The New Year falls on the new moon of that lunation in which the sun enters the constellation of Pisces (February).The Jesuit missionary Fr. Matteo Ricci adapted the Chinese calendar to the lunisolar rhythm of the West, which remained in use until 1930, when the Chinese Republic, succeeding the Manchu dynasty in 1911, officially adopted the Gregorian calendar.
b) Japan. - Japan also adopted the Chinese calendar reformed by the Jesuits in 1684. After the restoration of Shinto as the national religion in 1869, the Gregorian reform was accepted on January 10, 1873, though the reckoning from 660 B.C., referring to the reign of Emperor Jimmu Tennō, founder of the imperial line, remained as a historical tradition. The present Japanese names of the months of the year, after the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, are:
- January, Shōgatsu (= month of beginning)
- February, Ni-gatsu (= 2nd month)
- March, San-gatsu (= 3rd month)
- April, Shi-gatsu (= 4th month)
- May, Go-gatsu (= 5th month)
- June, Roku-gatsu (= 6th month)
- July, Shichi-gatsu (= 7th month)
- August, Hachi-gatsu (= 8th month)
- September, Ku-gatsu (= 9th month)
- October, Jūichi-gatsu (= 11th month)
- November, Jūni-gatsu (= 12th month)
In the ancient lunisolar calendar formerly in use in Japan prior to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, each month (or rather, lunation) had various names, but the most commonly used, with their generally accepted meanings, are:
1. Mutsuki (= month of social relations)
2. Kisaragi (= month in which clothing is doubled)
3. Yayoi (= month gradually increasing)
4. Utsuki (= month of the deutzia scabra, a well-known flower in Japan)
5. Satsuki (= month of rice-sprout transplanting)
6. Minazuki (= humid month, corresponding to the period of summer rains)
7. Fumizuki (= month of literature)
8. Hazuki (= month of leaves, i.e., when the leaves fall)
9. Nagatsuki (= month of long nights)
10. Kaminazuki (= month without gods, because it was believed that in this month all the kami gathered at Izumo, abandoning the rest of Japan)
11. Shimotsuki (= month of frost)
12. Shiwasu (= perhaps contracted from toshi hatsu; the year ends).
Japanese scholars are not in agreement regarding the derivation of the above names and thus their meanings, but the above is the most generally accepted.
8. PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICA: a) Mexico
The Mexican year was divided into 18 months of 20 days each, making 360 days in all, to which were added at the end 5 supplementary days called "nemontemi," and a sixth nemontemi every 4 years.Months of the Mexican Calendar
| Months | Deity |
|--------|-------|
| Atlacahualco (Feb 2–21) | Tlaloc |
| Tlacaxipehualiztli (Feb 22–Mar 13) | Xipe |
| Tezoztontli (Mar 14–Apr 2) | Tlaloc |
| Hueytozoztli (Apr 3–22) | Centeotl |
| Toxcatl (Apr 23–May 12) | Tezcatlipoca |
| Etzalcualiztli (May 13–Jun 1) | Tlaloc |
| Tecuilhuitontli (Jun 2–21) | Huiztocihuatl |
| Hueytecuilhuitl (Jun 22–Jul 11) | Xilonen |
| Tlaxochimaco (Jul 12–31) | Yacatecuhtli and Huitzilopochtli |
| Xocotlhuetzli (Aug 1–20) | Xiuhtecuhtli |
| Ochpaniztli (Aug 21–Sep 9) | Toci |
Teutleco
(10–29 Sept.)
Tepeilhuitl
(30 Sept.–19 Oct.)
Quecholli
(20 Oct.–8 Nov.)
Pangueizalizali
(9–28 Nov.)
Atepazili
(29 Nov.–18 Dec.)
Tititl
(19 Dec.–7 Jan.)
Itzcalli
(8–27 Jan.)
28 Jan.–1 Feb.: five supplementary days (nemontemi).
b) Peru. – The Peruvian year was lunar, consisting of 12 months, and was adjusted to the solar year by intercalating 11 days in an ordinary year and 12 in a leap year.
The year began with the spring equinox (21 Sept. in the southern hemisphere), later shifted to the winter solstice (22 Dec.). The month was divided into decades, after each of which a day was set aside for rest.
Months of the Peruvian calendar
Camay chiglia (22 Dec.)
Atun pukuy (22 Jan.)
Pacia pukuy (22 Feb.)
Pancar buara (22 March)
Ayriluay (22 Apr.)
Huaca gliusche (22 May)
Canay (22 June)
Tarpui chiglia (22 July)
Coya raymi (22 Aug.)
Uma raymi (22 Sept.)
Aya marca raymi (22 Oct.)
Kapac raymi (22 Nov.)
9. Egypt
The ancient Egyptian year consisted of 12 months of 30 days each (360 days), to which five intercalary days, called epagomenai, were added at the end. These were dedicated respectively to Osiris, Horus, Seth, Isis, and Nephthys (Plutarch, De Iside, 12). The year was called “wandering” because it did not account for the six hours that make up the solar year; thus every four years the new year shifted by one day, every forty years by ten days, and so on, until within a period of 1460 years the new year, having fallen on every one of the 355 days, returned to its original point. This 1460-year period was called the “Great Year” and had a sacred significance of renewal; hence it was never abolished by the Egyptian priesthood, even after Ptolemy III Euergetes attempted in 239–38 BC to remove the “wandering” character of the year by adding a sixth epagomenal day. This reform had already been tried by him, but it was only implemented by the Romans in 30 BC.The beginning of the year was determined by the most important event in the Egyptian agricultural economy, namely the onset of the Nile flood, around the summer solstice, coinciding with the heliacal rising of Sirius (Sothis), the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (19 July). After the introduction of the sixth epagomenal day, the new year was fixed on 29 August.
Months of the Egyptian calendar
| Thouth | 29 Aug. | Pauni | 26 May |
| Paophi | 28 Sept. | Epiphi | 25 June |
| Athar | 28 Oct. | Mesori | 25 July |
| Choeac | 27 Nov. | 1 epagomenal day | 24 Aug. |
| Tybi | 27 Dec. | 2 epag. | 25 Aug. |
| Mechir | 26 Jan. | 3 epag. | 26 Aug. |
| Phamenoth | 25 Feb. | 4 epag. | 27 Aug. |
| Pharmuthi | 27 March | 5 epag. | 28 Aug. |
10. Semitic peoples: a) Babylonians
The Assyro-Babylonian year was lunar. The 12 months had either 29 or 30 days, with no regular alternation. The lunar year was adjusted to the solar year by inserting an intercalary month called dirigū, dēru (also called second Adāru because it was added after the month of Adāru) five times (in the 3rd, 6th, 11th, 14th, and 17th years) within a 19-year cycle, which brought the positions of the sun and moon back to the same point.
Given the development of astrology in Mesopotamia, the correspondence between the positions of the stars and the unfolding of life was particularly observed: celestial cycles were seen as images of earthly events, and it was the task of science to interpret them. The names of the months were all astral, and each month was dedicated to a special deity. In each month, the 1st, 7th, 15th, 21st, and 28th days were sacred, corresponding to the lunar phases.
The new year coincided with the spring full moon and was marked by the solemn expiatory and propitiatory ceremony of the akītu.
Months of the Babylonian calendar
| | Name | Deity |
|---|------------|---------------|
| 1 | Nisānu | (March) |
| 2 | Ajāru | (April) |
| 3 | Simānu | (May) |
| 4 | Du'ūzu | (June) |
| 5 | Abu | (July) |
| 6 | Ulūlu | (August) |
| 7 | Tīšrītu | (September) |
| 8 | Araḫsamna | (October) |
| 9 | Kislīmu | (November) |
|10 | Tebētu | (December) |
|11 | Šabaṭu | (January) |
|12 | Adāru | (February) |
b) Hebrews. – From the brief hints in the Bible, it is difficult to reconstruct the Hebrew calendar in its entirety. The day (yom) was reckoned from evening to evening (evening-morning: Gen. 1:4; Dan. 8:14; cf. ἡ ἡμέρα, II Cor. 11:25) and included evening, morning, and midday (Ps. 55:18). After the exile, the day was divided into four triple hours (Mk. 15:25) and also into 12 common hours (Mt. 20:3–6); the night was divided into three watches (Ex. 14:24; Judg. 7:19), later into four during the Roman period (Mk. 13:35). The division into weeks (šabūʿōt) was independent of the lunar cycle and was calculated continuously, unlike the Babylonian method, which divided months into four parts. The seventh day was the Sabbath (v.); later, the sixth day also acquired a name: προσάββατον (Lk. 8:6; Mk. 15:42) or παρασκευή (Mt. 27:62).
The month (hōdeš = new moon) was originally designated by the appearance of the seasons: ʾAbhīb, then Nisān, Zīv, ʾEthānīm, Būl are the only ancient Phoenician names used by the Hebrews that have survived. More common, however, was the designation by ordinal numbers, a method that persisted even after the introduction of Babylonian names.
The beginning of the month (v. neomenia) depended on the visibility of the new moon; some exegetes appeal to this empiricism to explain the uncertainties in calculations. Months were normally lunar, consisting of 29 or 30 days. To reconcile the lunar year with the solar year in the post-exilic period, the Babylonian practice of intercalating a second month of Adar (Wēʾādār) was adopted, seemingly every three years, presumably to ensure that Passover coincided with the full moon after the spring equinox.
In determining the year, the Hebrews did not have fixed rules, as the Egyptians did; only in later times did they adopt precise computations. Tradition attributes these norms to Hillel II (4th cent. AD), but in reality, the perfect codification occurred around the 10th cent. AD. The religious year, or “liturgical cycle,” seems to have begun in spring (Nisān); but the civil year (agricultural) began in autumn (Tišrī: Ex. 23:16), and this system has remained in use (Rosh ha-Shanah = 1 Tišrī).
The Bible does not speak of seasons as such, but only of summer and winter (Gen. 8:22), while the Gezer Calendar (v.) divides the 12 months into eight agricultural periods. The modern Hebrew calendar is lunisolar. The day consists of 24 hours, counted from evening, i.e., starting at 6 PM.
Months of the Hebrew calendar
| | Month | Festivals |
|---|------------|-------------------------------|
| 1 | Nisān | (March) | Passover |
| 2 | Iyyār | (April) | Shavuʿot ("Weeks" or Pentecost) |
| 3 | Sīvān | (May) |
| 4 | Tammūz | (June) |
| 5 | ʾĀb | (July) |
| 6 | Elūl | (August) |
| 7 | Tišrī | (September) | Rosh ha-Shanah; Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"); Sukkot ("Tabernacles") |
| 8 | Marḥešwān | (October) |
| 9 | Kislēv | (November) |
|10 | Ṭebēth | (December) |
|11 | Šēbāṭ | (January) |
|12 | ʾAdār | (February) |
Angelo Penna
c) Arabs. – The Islamic calendar is lunar, consisting of 354 days, with months of 29 and 30 days. It is not aligned with the solar year, so that each year falls 11 days earlier than the previous one, causing the festivals to shift through every season over a 33-year cycle.
Since 12 astronomical lunations amount to 354 days plus 12h and 44′, each lunar year in the Muslim calendar shows an annual shortfall of 8h and 48′, which, repeated 30 times, gives a total of 11 full days. These are added to the last month of the years 2, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16, 18, 21, 24, 26, and 29 of the thirty-year cycle; these are therefore called “full” years, as opposed to the other 19, which are called “common.”
The months of the Islamic year are divided into weeks, marked, as in the Hebrew and Christian religious calendars, by a progressive number starting from Sunday and not by the names of astral deities. On the sixth day (Friday), the religious assembly takes place in the main mosque of the locality.
Months of the Arab-Muslim calendar
1 Muḥarram = sacred
2 Ṣafar = empty
3 Rabīʿ I = first spring
4 Rabīʿ II = second spring
5 Ṣumādā I = first dry
6 Ṣumādā II = second dry
7 Raqab = perilous
8 Ṣaʿbān = assembly
9 Ramadān = burning
10 Ṣawwāl = labor
11 Dīʿl-Qaʿdah = of the reunion
12 Dīʿl-Ḥijjah = of the pilgrimage
The principal feasts of the Muslim religion are six; all begin at night and fall on:
1. The 10th of Muḥarram: the reunion of Adam and Eve after their expulsion from paradise; Noah’s departure from the ark; the death of Ḥusayn, the Prophet’s grandson.
2. The first of Rabīʿ I: the birth of Muḥammad.
3. The 27th of Raqab: the Ascension of Muḥammad.
4. The 27th of Ramadān: the Night of Destiny, when the angels fix the destinies of men for the coming year.
5. The first of Ṣawwāl: which concludes the monthly fast of Ramadān (the lesser baḥrām).
6. The 10th of Dīʿl-Ḥijjah: during the pilgrimage to Mecca (and the greater baḥrām).
11. INDO-EUROPEANS: a) India
In Vedic and Brahmanic India, the calendar was lunar and divided into three four-month sections corresponding to the three seasons: hot, wet, and cold, each marked by solemn festivals. The discrepancy with the solar year was remedied by inserting an intercalary month every fifth year (H. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, Berlin 1879, pp. 365 ff.).Today the Hindu calendar is lunisolar, intercalating a full lunation to align with the solar year. Each month is divided into two fortnights, one bright (śukla) and one dark (kṛṣṇa).
Months of the Hindu calendar
1 Caitra 5 Śrāvaṇa 9 Mārgāśīrṣa
15 March 15 July 15 November
2 Vaiśākha 6 Bhādrapada 10 Pausa
15 April 15 August 15 December
3 Jyaiṣṭha 7 Āśvina 11 Māgha
15 May 15 September 15 January
4 Āṣāḍha 8 Kārtika 12 Phālguna
15 June 15 October 15 February
The religious festivals of the Hindu calendar number eighteen; the principal ones are:
15 March (Caitra): New Year’s festival.
15 September (Āśvina): festival of Gaurī or Pārvatī, wife of Śiva. Special homage is paid to household deities (embodied in domestic objects) and to the deities of various crafts.
15 October (Kārtika): festival of the ancestors (Mahā-navamī, also called Daśaharā), with the usual sacrifices and oblations for nine days. Schools and the army also celebrate this solemnity.
Late November (Mārgāśīrṣa): festival of lamps (Dīpāvalī), dedicated especially to fire, with the lighting of lamps to promote vegetation.
15 February (Phālguna): festival of the most venomous serpents, called Nāga-pañcamī, with offerings of milk and vegetables to the cobra (= nāga).
When the sun enters the zodiacal sign of Capricorn, the festival of the rebirth of the sun, called Pongal or Makara-saṅkrānti, is celebrated; it coincides with the winter solstice and lasts three days:
1) visits and exchange of gifts;
2) solar festival: threshing (pongal) and tasting of rice;
3) cattle pongal: sprinkling of animals with water infused with saffron powder and seeds and leaves of special plants; triple circumambulation of the garlanded cattle by men (women are excluded) with quadruple prostration (satāṅga) at the four corners. Then the fruits are dried by those present, and the animals are driven at will into the fields for the rest of the day. This, the most popular festival in India, concludes with a procession of divine images accompanied by lewd songs and dances, intended to secure fertility.
b) Iran and Persia. – Before Zoroaster, the Iranian calendar followed that of neighboring Babylonia. The Zoroastrian reform gave it a distinctly Mazdean character, as the months were named after religious figures of Mazdean theology.
The Mazdean year begins at the spring equinox (21 March) and consists of 12 months of 30 days, plus 5 intercalary days at the end. The six annual hours not accounted for were, and still are, compensated every 120 years by the addition of a thirteenth month. This has not been added since Persia’s conversion to Islam, so that the present Mazdean (or Parsi) year is vague.
Each month is under the protection of saints (Ameša Spenta) and venerable beings (Yazata). It is divided into four sections, the first two of seven days each, the last two of eight.
Each day of the month also has its own tutelary genius or god.
Months of the present Mazdean calendar
(Listed with the names of the tutelary deities corresponding to those of the ancient Avestan calendar)
| Month | Deity | Month | Deity |
|-------|-------|-------|-------|
| 1 | Farvardīn | 7 | Mithra |
| begins 21 March | | begins 17 September |
| 2 | Ardībihišt | 8 | Ābān |
| begins 20 April | | begins 17 October |
| 3 | Khordād | 9 | Ādhar |
| begins 20 May | | begins 16 November |
| 4 | Tīr | 10 | Dai |
| begins 19 June | | begins 16 December |
| 5 | Murdād | 11 | Bahman |
| begins 19 July | | begins 15 January |
| 6 | Shahrīvar | 12 | Asfandārmad |
| begins 19 August | | begins 14 February |
From 16 to 20 March come the five intercalary days, which also bear the names of sacred Avestan entities and are therefore called Gah days (Gāthā): Ahunavaitī, Ushavaitī, Spenta Mainyu, Vohu Kshathra, and Vahishta.
Apart from the religious observances connected with the Mazdean sacred entities, the Parsis celebrate six seasonal festivals:
1) Mētōsarmā (mid-spring, 5 May): offering of first fruits and gifts of good omen;
2) Mētōksham (mid-summer, 4 July): closing of the hay harvest;
3) Paitisha (bringer of grain, 16 September): closing of the wheat harvest, offerings of grain and fruit;
4) Ayāthrem (end of summer, 16 October): festival for the fertility of cattle;
5) Mēdyāirya (mid-winter, 4 January);
6) Hamaspathmaēdaya (at the year’s end, 20 March): commemoration of the dead (fravaši).
c) Greece. – In ancient Greece each city-state had its own calendar, differing from others in the names of the months and the festivals. Of the fourteen calendars known to us, that of Athens is cited here as the best known and most important.
The Athenian year was lunar, of 354 days, beginning at the first new moon after the summer solstice (15 July). It was brought into alignment with the solar year by the insertion of intercalary months, first every two years, then every three and every eight years; from the time of Pericles, thanks to the calculations of the astronomer Meton, these months were distributed
The month was divided into three decades: the beginning of the month (i̇ τα με vov), middle (με σ ° ṽ v τ o ς), and waning (φϑ(νν ντ o ς); the third decade was counted backward, as with the Nones, Ides, and Kalends in Rome.
Principal months and festivals of the Athenian calendar:
1. Hekatombaion: Panathenaea (24–29) (July–Aug.)
12. Metageitnion (Aug
Sept.)13. Boedromion (Sept
Oct.)14. Pianepsion (Oct
Nov.)15. Maimakterion (Nov
Dec.)16. Poseideon (Dec
Jan.)17. Gamelion (Jan
Feb.)18. Anthesterion (Feb
Mar.)19. Elaphebolion (Mar
Apr.)20. Munichion (Apr
May)11. Thargelion (May–June)
12. Scirophorion (June–July)
Panathenaea (24–29)
Metagitnion (uncertain day)
Genesia (5)
Eleusinian Mysteries (16–24)
Thesmophoria (9–13)
Apaturia (19–21)
Maimakteria
Rural Dionysia (6)
Aloa (10)
Lenaea (12)
Anthesteria (11–13)
Lesser Mysteries (19–21)
Diasia (23)
Great Dionysia (9–14)
Delphinia (6)
Munichia (16)
Olympia (19)
Thargelia (6)
Callinteria (19)
Bendidia (20)
Plinteria (28)
Scirophoria (12)
Diipolie (14)
For descriptions of the festivals, see the individual entries below. For the Hellenistic period, knowledge of the names of the Macedonian calendar is useful, as it also began in mid-July.
| I | Loos | = 15 July | VII | Peritios | = Jan. |
|-----|-------------|-----------|-------|------------|--------|
| II | Gorpiaios | = Aug. | VIII | Dystros | = Feb. |
| III | Hyperberetaios | = Sept. | IX | Xanthikos | = Mar. |
| IV | Dios | = Oct. | X | Artemisios | = Apr. |
| V | Apellaios | = Nov. | XI | Daisios | = May |
| VI | Audnaios | = Dec. | XII | Panemos | = June |
d) Rome. — The Roman religious calendar was lunar, consisting of 12 months (the Romulean year of 10 months is to be rejected), alternating between 29 and 31 days. It originally began in March; but from 153 BC, the civil year was fixed to begin on January 1, the day the consuls took office. It was adjusted to the solar year by intercalating, every two years, a month of 22 or 23 days, called the intercalary or Mercedonius. The intercalation was decided by the pontifical college, whose discretion led to abuses that prompted Julius Caesar to reform the calendar, entrusting the task to the Egyptian astronomer Sosigenes. In 45 BC, Sosigenes gave that year 445 days (adding the 90 days accumulated over time, hence the name “year of confusion”), established from 45 BC a year of 365 days and 6 hours (though the actual solar year is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds), distributing the 11 missing days across the months in the order still in use today, and adding a leap day every four years to compensate for the unaccounted six hours. This day was placed after February 24 and thus was the second sixth day (bissextile) before the Kalends of March.
The month was divided into three major parts based on the phases of the moon (see above); the intermediate days were counted backward from the next division.
The Roman calendar served as an effective means of religious unification not only in Italy, where the 28 surviving calendars, more or less complete, reveal their fundamental uniformity, but also wherever imperial civil or military administration was in force.
The Roman calendar preserves its most ancient parts from the regal period (certainly before 509 BC) and is therefore attributed to Numa, who, according to tradition, systematized the sacred antiquities of the city. The oldest festivals are inscribed in surviving ferials in large capital letters. These are fixed-date (stativae) festivals, numbering 45; the months of September and November are devoid of them, perhaps because these months were of little interest to farmers. Later-added festivals are in smaller letters. The conceptivae festivals, i.e., those proclaimed annually according to the season (Sementivae, Fornacalia, Floralia, Augurium Canarium, Paganalia, Compitalia), are not fixed in the ferial.
Festivals of the same calendar:
January
- Carmentalia (11, 15)
- Agonalia (9, 21)
- Tiberinalia (23)
- Sementivae (24–26)
February
- Lupercalia (15)
- Quirinalia (17)
- Feralia (21)
- Terminalia (23)
- Regifugium (24)
March
- Equirria (14)
- Liberalia (17)
- Quinquatrus (19)
- Tubilustrium (23)
April
- Fordicidia (15)
- Cerialia (19)
- Parilia (21)
- Vinalia (23)
- Robigalia (25)
Calendars — An Anziate pre-Caesarean painting on plaster, discovered at Anzio in 1913 and transferred to the Museum of the Baths. Its peculiarities: the 13th month (Mercedonius); alternating months of 29 and 31 days; the names of Quintilis and Sextilis for July and August — Rome.
The rules for calculating Easter were such that Emperor Theodosius I sent Theophilus, later Alexandrian patriarch, to establish a new cycle. He fixed it at 437 years, later reduced by himself to 100 and by his nephew Cyril, who succeeded him in the patriarchate, to 95; whereas in the West, after notable discrepancies in the years 379, 403, 417, 428, 444, 455, Pope St Hilary (successor of St Leo the Great, who had already written [July 454] to the Churches of Gaul and Spain to agree for the sake of harmony with Eastern usage) asked the mathematician Victor of Aquitaine to find a way of reconciliation, which he did by proposing a cycle of 532 years. This cycle was accepted and perfected by Dionysius Exiguus by combining the solar cycle of 28 years with the cycles of Theophilus, Cyril, and Meton (525). This is the cycle that remained in force in Christendom until the Gregorian correction (1582), except for a small remnant that persisted in the Celtic Churches (Irish and Breton), which wished to remain faithful to the Roman usage received at the time of their first evangelisation and only towards the end of the 8th century adhered to the Dionysian cycle, which was the one received by the Anglo-Saxons together with the mission of Augustine of Canterbury.
b) Gregorian Reform. — The Julian year had already in the Middle Ages been subjected to various calculations that revealed between it and the tropical year minimal differences but such as to produce serious errors over the centuries, so that the equinox, according to the official calendar, was to fall on 11 March in the 16th century; the difference of one day every 312 years was also found for the phases of the moon.
Already a Scottish monk, John of Holywood, in 1232, in the *De ratione anni* had proposed a modification to the intercalation of the bissextile; in 1252 the astronomers who, by order of Alfonso X of Castile, drew up the Alfonsine Tables, calculated that the tropical year was not 365 days and 6 hours, but 365 days, 5 hours, 49′ and 12″; Roger Bacon, in the *Opus maius* addressed to Clement IV, proposed a reform. Clement VI in 1345 commissioned two French mathematicians to study II. In the 15th century the Councils of Constance and Basel dealt with it; Sixtus IV commissioned the famous Regiomontanus (Johann Müller of Königsberg) to study a reform. Leo X in the Fifth Lateran Council, convened by Julius II in 1511 and continued under the presidency of the Medici pope from 1513 to 1517, gave new impetus to the reform of the calendar, also benefiting from the cooperation of Paul of Middelburg, an impetus thanks to which the preparatory work could be considered almost complete. Emperor Maximilian also had the question examined: mathematicians (Pighius, Lucidus, Pitatus, Sepúlveda, and others) devoted themselves to it; finally, the Council of Trent, in its final session of 4 December 1563, entrusted the reform to the Pope, together with those of the Breviary and the Missal.
Gregory XIII therefore availed himself of the work of the most famous mathematicians, including the Calabrian Antonio Lilius (Lilio), whose brother Luigi had drawn up the project examined by the commission, the Dominican Ignazio Danti, constructor of the gnomon of S. Petronio in Bologna, the German Jesuit Christopher Clavius (Clavius), and the Spaniard Pedro Chacón (Chacón).
It has been calculated that the Gregorian reform still leaves an error of 6 days every 10,000 years, but in any case, for another 2,000 years no corrections are practically necessary.
The Gregorian calendar, almost immediately adopted in Catholic countries, met with resistance elsewhere, but was finally accepted by Sweden in 1753; in Switzerland, due to differing religion and the autonomy of the cantons, between 1584 and 1811; in Germany in the 18th century; in England in 1750; in Japan in 1873.
The schismatic countries of the East — Greeks, Russians, Serbs, Bulgarians, Romanians, Armenians, Georgians, Copts — did not accept the reform; indeed, the four Byzantine patriarchs and many bishops gathered in Synod in Constantinople in 1593 to launch an anathema against the reform, as if it were contrary to the decisions of Nicaea. The Soviet government accepted the reform in 1917, but it is still rejected by the Moscow patriarchate. With the bull *Inter gravissimas* of 24 February 1582, Gregory XIII decreed: 1) that the day following 4 October 1582 should be reckoned as 15 October, remedying the discrepancy between the civil year and the solar year, thus restoring the spring equinox to 21 March in conformity with the situation at the time of the Council of Nicaea; 2) that to avoid the recurrence of the error (taking into account that the civil year exceeds the solar year by 11 minutes and 12 seconds) every century a day should be subtracted, making the secular year common, except for that whose first two digits are divisible by 4. This subtraction is called the solar equation inasmuch as it restores agreement between the civil year and the solar year.
Carmelo Trasselli
2. EASTERN CHURCHES
The Eastern Churches of Byzantine rite still preserve the ancient tradition of Constantinople, according to which the ecclesiastical year begins in the month of September (on the 1st or the 13th, depending on whether they have accepted the Gregorian correction or not). In the reckoning of years, the Christian era is followed everywhere, and only on major solemnities is this followed by the Byzantine or Septuagint era.
When Gregory XIII proceeded with the reform of the old Julian calendar, he sought to reach an agreement with the Patriarch of Constantinople, but his attempts met with no positive result; indeed, his reform was explicitly condemned at the Synod of 1593. This aversion of the dissident Eastern Churches to the new calendar has persisted everywhere until 1923, the year in which the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Churches of Athens, Cyprus, Poland, and Romania adopted it for fixed feasts, followed later by the Georgians (1927) and the Melkites of Alexandria (1928). The “Pan-Orthodox” Synod of Moscow in 1948 left the Eastern Churches under the Soviet orbit free to choose in this matter (cf. G. de Vries, *Il Sinodo «panortodosso» di Mosca*, in *Civ. Catt.*, 1949, II, 157 ff.; 287 ff.).
The adoption of the Gregorian calendar by many national churches did not occur without difficulty, and throughout the Christian East, as regards movable feasts, the old Julian calendar continues to be used. Even the Catholic Churches of Byzantine rite have not all adopted Gregory XIII’s reform, and Rome wisely does not insist on this point, trusting in inevitable progress to introduce it everywhere. The Maronites, for example, accepted the Gregorian calendar as early as 1606, the Syrians in 1836, the Melkites in 1857, and the Romanians only in 1924. Among the Armenians, who have a completely distinct ecclesiastical year, the Gregorian reform was accepted by Catholics in 1890 and made obligatory in 1911. In the Chaldean rite, the year begins on December 1st, and the Gregorian calendar, introduced among Catholics in 1836, has been gradually accepted without great difficulty.
In the Antiochene rite—Syrians and Maronites—the ecclesiastical year for the sanctoral cycle begins on October 1st. The old calendar of the Church of Antioch has been reconstructed based on the collection of Homilies by Severus and filling in the inevitable gaps with the help of the Panegyrics of St. John Chrysostom and the Syriac martyrologies.
Nilles attempted to reconstruct the calendar of the Coptic Church of Alexandria with the help of indications provided by a Coptic bishop, Monsignor Agapio Basi. It is beyond doubt that the Copts must have inherited an already formed calendar, to which they made additions without altering its primitive core, which can be considered as consisting of a threefold division: Magical Feasts (Annunciation, 29 Phamenoth; Nativity, 28 Choiak; Baptism, 11 Tobi; Palm Sunday; Easter; Ascension; Pentecost), Minor Feasts (Circumcision, 6 Tobi; First Miracle, 13 Tobi; Presentation in the Temple, 8 Mechir; the Supper; Thomas Sunday, the first after Easter; Entry into Egypt, 24 Pachon), and simple feasts, called *Pinti* and *Pikudi*; the latter concern the Virgin and the saints, while the former pertain to the life, passion, and death of Jesus Christ. In the Coptic calendar of Alexandria, the ecclesiastical year begins on September 10th (1 Thout).
### Byzantine Calendar
1. *Septembrios*
2. *Octobrios*
3. *Noëmbrios*
4. *Dekembrios*
5. *Ianouários*
6. *Februários*
In the names and length of the months, the Byzantine calendar reproduces the Julian calendar. However, it begins with September 10th (the day of indiction), linked to the beginning of the public life of Jesus and His entry into the synagogue of Nazareth, where He announced the “acceptable year” and salutary day.
This calendar is proper to the Churches of Byzantine rite: Greek, Slavic, Romanian, Georgian, and Melkite.
Below are the names of the months in use in the regions of the Christian East.
### Syro-Arabic Calendar
1. *Tifrin* first = October
2. *Tifrin* second = November
3. *Kânûn* first = December
4. *Kânûn* second = January
5. *Sâbâ* = February
6. *Adâr* = March
7. *Nisân* = April
8. *Jifâr, ajjâr* = May
9. *Hazîrân* = June
10. *Tamnûz, tamûz* = July
11. *Ab* = August
12. *Ilûl* = September
### Armenian Calendar
1. *Navasard* = August 11 – September 9
2. *Hori* = September 10 – October 9
3. *Salmi* = October 10 – November 8
4. *Trê* = November 9 – December 8
5. *Khalots (Khaghots)* = December 9 – January 7
6. *Arats* = January 8 – February 6
7. *Mehekan* = February 7 – March 8
8. *Areg* = March 9 – April 7
9. *Ahekan* = April 8 – May 7
10. *Mareri* = May 8 – June 6
11. *Margats* = June 7 – July 6
12. *Hrotits* = July 7 – August 5
*Epagômeni*: *avelikh* = August 6–10
### Coptic Calendar
1. *Thout* = August 29 – September 27
2. *Paopi* = September 28 – October 27
3. *Athôr* = October 28 – November 26
4. *Choiak* = November 27 – December 26
5. *Tôbi* = December 27 – January 25
6. *Mechir* = January 26 – February 24
7. *Phamenoth* = February 25 – March 26
8. *Pharmouthi* = March 27 – April 25
9. *Pachon* = April 26 – May 25
10. *Paôni* = May 26 – June 24
11. *Epêp* = June 25 – July 24
12. *Mesôrê* = July 25 – August 23
*Epagômeni*: August 24–28
### Ethiopian Calendar
1. *Maskaram* = August 29 – September 27
2. *Têkêmt* = September 28 – October 27
3. *Hêdâr* = October 28 – November 26
4. *Tahsâf* = November 27 – December 26
5. *Têr* = December 27 – January 25
6. *Jakâtit* = January 26 – February 24
7. *Magâbît* = February 25 – March 26
8. *Mijâzâ* = March 27 – April 25
9. *Gênbôt* = April 26 – May 25
10. *Sanê* = May 26 – June 24
11. *Hamlê* = June 25 – July 24
12. *Nahasê* = July 25 – August 23
*Epagômeni*: August 24–28
IV. CALENDAR OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC
The calendar underwent another temporary reform during the French Revolution, which modified it seemingly both to make it easier for the people to forget Christian worship and to render the computation of time more rational, as well as to imitate the Roman computation *ab urbe condita*. The new calendar, approved by the Convention on October 5, 1793, began the year on September 22, 1792, the date of the proclamation of the Republic and the true autumnal equinox for Paris; on the report of Laplace, it was abolished by the Senate starting from January 10, 1806. It consisted of a year of 12 months of 30 days each, divided into three decades; the remaining five days (six in leap years), called *epagômeni* or *sans-culottides*, were added to the last day of *Fructidor*. It is fitting to begin the following outline with the date of its approval.
Concordance between the French calendar and the Gregorian year:
Gregorian year
Month in the French calendar
1 Vendémiaire
1 Brumaire
1 Frimaire
1 Nivôse
15 Nivôse
1 Pluviôse
1 Ventôse
1 Germinal
1 Floréal
1 Prairial
1 Messidor
1 Thermidor
1 Fructidor
5 complementary days
Year VII 1795–96
1 Vendémiaire 23 September 1795
1 Brumaire 23 October
1 Frimaire 22 November
1 Nivôse 22 December
15 Nivôse 5 January 1796
1 Pluviôse 21 January
1 Ventôse 20 February
1 Germinal 21 March
1 Floréal 20 April
1 Prairial 20 May
1 Messidor 19 June
1 Thermidor 19 July
1 Fructidor 18 August
5 complementary days
Year VII 1798–99
1 Vendémiaire 22 September 1798
1 Brumaire 22 October
1 Frimaire 21 November
1 Nivôse 21 December
15 Nivôse 4 January 1799
1 Pluviôse 20 January
1 Ventôse 19 February
1 Germinal 21 March
1 Floréal 20 April
1 Prairial 20 May
1 Messidor 19 June
1 Thermidor 19 July
1 Fructidor 18 August
5 complementary days
Year VIII 1799–1800
1 Vendémiaire 22 September 1799
1 Brumaire 22 October
1 Frimaire 21 November
1 Nivôse 21 December
15 Nivôse 4 January 1800
1 Pluviôse 20 January
1 Ventôse 19 February
1 Germinal 21 March
1 Floréal 20 April
1 Prairial 20 May
1 Messidor 19 June
1 Thermidor 19 July
1 Fructidor 18 August
6 complementary days
Year X 1801–1802
1 Vendémiaire 23 September 1801
1 Brumaire 23 October
1 Frimaire 22 November
1 Nivôse 22 December
15 Nivôse 5 January 1802
1 Pluviôse 21 January
1 Ventôse 20 February
1 Germinal 22 March
1 Floréal 21 April
1 Prairial 21 May
1 Messidor 20 June
1 Thermidor 20 July
1 Fructidor 19 August
5 complementary days
Year XIII 1804–1805
1 Vendémiaire 23 September 1804
1 Brumaire 23 October
1 Frumaire 22 November
1 Nivôse 22 December
15 Nivôse 5 January 1805
1 Pluviôse 21 January
1 Ventôse 20 February
1 Germinal 22 March
1 Floréal 21 April
1 Prairial 21 May
1 Messidor 20 June
1 Thermidor 20 July
1 Fructidor 19 August
5 complementary days
Year XIV 1805
1 Vendémiaire 23 September 1805
1 Brumaire 23 October
1 Frimaire 22 November
1 Nivôse 22 December
15 Nivôse 5 January 1805
1 Pluviôse 21 January
1 Ventôse 20 February
1 Germinal 22 March
1 Floréal 21 April
1 Prairial 21 May
1 Messidor 20 June
1 Thermidor 20 July
1 Fructidor 19 August
5 complementary days
XIII 1804–1805
1 Germinal 22 March 1 Floréal 21 April 1 Prairial 21 May 1 Messidor 20 June 1 Thermidor 20 July 1 Fructidor 19 August 5 complementary daysXIV 1805
1 Vendémiaire 23 September 1805 1 Brumaire 23 October 1 Frimaire 22 November 1 Nivôse 22 December 15 Nivôse 5 January 1805 1 Pluviôse 21 January 1 Ventôse 20 February 1 Frimaire 23 October 1 Frimaire 23 October 1 February 1 Frimaire 22 November 1 January 1805 1 January 1804 2 January 21 April 21 May 20 June 20 July 19 August 5 complementary days 5 complementary daysXII 1803–1804
24 September 1803
24 October
23 November
23 December
6 January 1804
2 January 22 January
21 February
22 March
21 April
21 May
20 June
20 July
20 July
19 August
19 August
4 complementary days
XIII 1804–1805
1 Germinal 22 March 1 Floréal 21 April 1 Prairial 21 May 1 Messidor 20 June 1 Thermidor 20 July 1 Fructidor 19 August 5 complementary daysXIV 1805
1 Frimaire 22 November 1 Nivôse 22 December
Calendar – The Prenestine calendar, known as the calendar of Verrius Flaccus (3–10 AD), because he commented on it for the municipality of Praeneste. The months of March and April are preserved intact – Rome, Museo delle Terme.
V. MASONIC CALENDAR
In the diplomas and acts of Freemasonry (v.) a particular chronological system is followed, known as the “Masonic era,” with its own calendar.It retains the division of the year into months and days according to common usage, but replaces the names of the months with a sequence of ordinal numbers from 1 to 12, beginning with the month of March, in accordance with the ancient Roman calendar and the Venetian style of the Christian era. The computation of the years is advanced by 4000 years over the Christian era and is expressed with the cardinal number preceded by the formula “year of the true light.” In documents, dating by the Masonic era is always given alongside the Christian era in the style of the circumcision. Thus, in an act of 15 June 1812, issued at the Masonic Lodge of Malta, one reads: “L’an de la V.․ L.․ [Vraie Lumière] 5812, le 150 Your du 40 Mois, et de l’ère vulgaire le 150 Juin 1812”; and in the escatocol: “Donné à l’Orient de Malthe, les Your, Mois et an que dessus” (cited by C. Paoli, Diplomatica, nuova ed. a cura di G. C. Bascapè, Firenze [1942], p. 211, note 2).
VI. Further reform proposals
These are suggested with the aim of: 1) fixing the date of Easter; 2) making the seasons begin on the same day: 1 April and 1 October for the spring and autumn equinoxes; 1 January and 1 July for the winter and summer solstices; 3) breaking the continuity of the days of the week, which do not take account of the
Calendar — Figurative Representation of Autumn, work by B. Antelami (ca. 1200) — Parma, Baptistery.
The extra day that accumulates each year beyond the 52 weeks, as well as the leap day added every four years, could be given their own proper names. Of all these reforms, the most important and delicate is that concerning the date of Easter, which follows the lunar cycle rather than the solar one and can vary from March 22 to April 25, thereby dragging along all the other movable feasts. Detaching Easter from the lunar calculation could be achieved by fixing the average date, among the possible Paschal full moons, at which the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord actually occurred. However, this would run counter to the uninterrupted liturgical tradition of the Church, which was consecrated by the Council of Nicaea and has always linked Easter to the lunar cycle.
Without revisiting the oldest proposals for calendar reform, it is worth recalling that in 1922 the International Astronomical Union, meeting in congress in Rome, presented its own project to the League of Nations; in 1930, a society for calendar reform was founded in New York, with the *Journal of Calendar Reform* as its official organ; in 1937, at the request of the International Labour Office, a project was submitted to the League of Nations aimed at fixing the position of weekdays within the month and establishing the date of Easter. The proposal sought to respect the division of the year into weeks by dividing the year itself into four quarters of thirteen weeks each, all beginning on Sunday and ending on Saturday, totaling 91 days, which multiplied by four gives 364 days. The 365th day would be added at the end of December, and the leap day every four years at the end of June. As for Easter, once detached from the lunar cycle, it could be fixed on Sunday, April 8. The most recent exposition of these ideas is found in the pamphlet by Fr. C.-M. Morin, cited in the bibliography.
Centennial: For the Western Church
V. CALENDAR OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH
Eastern Churches: N. Nilles, *Kalendarium manuale utriusque Ecclesiae Orientalis et Occidentalis academiis clericorum accomodatum*, 2nd ed., Innsbruck 1896; *Calendrier de l'Église copte d'Alexandrie*, compiled by Fr. N. Nilles, in *Revue de l'Orient Chrétien*, 2 (1897), pp. 307-39; C. Tondini de' Quarenghi, *Etude sur le calendrier liturgique de la nation arménienne*, Rome 1906; R. Janin, *Les Églises Orientales et les Rites Orientaux*, Paris 1926; C. Gatti-C. Kurolewski, *I riti e le Chiese Orientali*, I, Rome 1942, p. 107. — Gregorian Reform: F. Kaltenbrunner, *Die Vorgeschichte der Gregorianischen Kalenderreform*, in *Sitzungsberichte der Akademie*, Vienna 1876, 289-414; F. Ferrari, *Il calendario gregoriano*, Rome 1882; D. Mazzi, *La questione della riforma del calendario nel V Concilio lateranense*, Florence 1896; P. Tacchi Venturi, *Storia della Compagnia di Gesù in Italia*, I, 1, 2nd ed., Rome 1931, pp. 181-84.Proposals for Reform: V. Botto, *Il calendario unificato e comparato con la liturgia*, Rome 1919; A. Obrecht, *Il calendario gregoriano*, Bergamo 1925; Société des Nations, *Classification et résumé des projets de réforme du calendrier*, Geneva 1927; P. Seonzo, *Sulle questioni della nuova riforma del calendario*, Palermo 1935; Abbé Chauve-Bertrand, *Vers un calendrier nouveau*, in *Ephemerides liturgicae*, 54 (1940), pp. 67-87; C.-M. Morin, *L'année jubilaire 1930 sera-t-elle l'ère d'un nouveau calendrier civil et ecclésiastique?*, extract from *Culture*, Quebec, Dec. 1947. Nicola Turchi
CALENDAR OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH
A universal calendar can only be spoken of from the year 1568 onward, that is, from the time when Pius V imposed the reformed Breviary, along with its annexed calendar, upon the entire Latin Church. The same calendar is found in the Roman Missal, which was likewise reformed and prescribed by Pius V for the entire Latin Church in 1570. The Pope permitted only those religious orders and dioceses that had used their own Breviary and Missal for two hundred years to retain them. All branches of the Benedictine Order, the Dominicans, Carmelites, and Pre
Mostratensians, Carthusians, and a few dioceses (Milan, Aquileia, Paris, Lyon, etc.) later adopted almost all of these the Roman Missal and Breviary, so that the Latin Church as a whole now uses a single calendar in which individual churches and religious orders insert their proper feasts. Any change to this calendar—such as the insertion of new feasts, variations in rite, or shifts in the placement of feasts—is the exclusive prerogative of the Holy See, which exercises this authority through the Sacred Congregation of Rites (see).
It is not the place here to recount the history of the sanctoral cycle (see) or the origin and development of the feasts (see); suffice it to say that the foundation of this calendar was the liturgical books known as the "Curia" or Roman books, though with a wise reduction in the number of feasts and in ritual complexity, so as to restore in large measure the ferial liturgy. Indeed, the calendar of St. Pius V contained only 120 feasts: 30 semidoubles, 57 doubles, and 33 commemorations. The major feasts numbered 20 of the first class and 17 of the second. Clement VIII, in 1602, at the time of the new edition of the Breviary, introduced a new class of feasts, the *double major* (16 feasts). From that moment onward, the sanctoral cycle (see) began to prevail over the temporal cycle (see), and there followed an uninterrupted insertion of new feasts, increases in ritual complexity, and ever more refined distinctions among the categories of liturgical ranking. By the time of Benedict XIV, the number of feasts had already risen to 228. There were also 36 "ad libitum" feasts, meaning that a church or religious order could choose whether to include them in the calendar; once inserted, however, the feast had to be celebrated. The total number of feasts thus reached 264. Leo XIII, in 1893 and 1895, established a further distinction of rank, the *primary* and *secondary* feasts. The reform of St. Pius X in 1911 perfected the entire system of ranking and codified it definitively, though it did not in any way halt the addition of new feasts. At present, we have reached a total of 338 festal days, of which 50 are movable (including days of privileged octaves) and 288 are fixed feasts.
Below follows the calendar of the Universal Church in its present state, with an indication of the rite (D1 = double of the 1st class, D2 = double of the 2nd class, DM = double major, D = double minor, SD = semidouble, s = simple, c = commemoration), *ott.* = octave (r. = privileged; c. = common; s. = simple), and all changes made since St. Pius V (1568) up to the year 1949. The dates indicate the changes made; the date of the session of the Congregation of Rites is not noted, only the date of papal approval.
**January**
1. Circumcision and Octave of the Nativity, D2.
2. Octave of St. Stephen, D (1568), s (1914).
3. Octave of St. John, D (1568), s (1914).
4. Octave of the Holy Innocents, D (1568), s (1914).
5. Vigil of the Epiphany, SD; Commemoration of St. Telesphorus, Pope (1602).
6. Epiphany, D1 OTT. P.
7–12: Days within the Octave, SD (1914); 11. Commemoration of St. Hyginus, Pope (1568).
13. Octave of the Epiphany, D (1568), DM (1914).
14. St. Hilary, SD (1568), D and Doctor of the Church (Jan. 1, 1852); St. Felix, Priest and Martyr, c (1568).
15. St. Paul the First Hermit, SD (1568), D (Aug. 18, 1722); St. Maurus, Abbot, c (1568).
16. St. Marcellus, Pope, SD (1568).
17. St. Anthony, Abbot, D (1568).
18. Chair of St. Peter at Rome, D (1568), DM (1602); Commemoration of St. Prisca, Virgin and Martyr (1568).
19. SS. Marius, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum, Martyrs, s (1568); St. Canute, King and Martyr, SD *ad lib.* (Aug. 10, 1670), reduced to c (1914).
20. SS. Fabian and Sebastian, D (1568).
21. St. Agnes, D (1568).
22. SS. Vincent and Anastasius, SD (1568).
23. St. Emerentiana, s (1568); St. Raymond of Peñafort, SD (Mar. 23, 1671); St. Emerentiana, reduced to c.
24. St. Timothy, s (1568), SD (1602), D (May 18, 1854).
25. Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, D (1568), DM (1602).
26. St. Polycarp, s (1568), SD (1602), D (1914).
27. St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church, D (1568).
28. St. Agnes II, s (1568); St. Peter Nolasco, D (from the 31st; Mar. 25, 1936); St. Agnes reduced to c.
29. St. Peter Nolasco, SD (July 22, 1664); St. Francis de Sales, SD (Oct. 21, 1666; St. Peter Nolasco transferred to the 31st), D (Nov. 24, 1691), Doctor of the Church (Sept. 20, 1877).
30. St. Martina, SD (1635).
31. St. Peter Nolasco, SD (transferred from the 29th; 1666); D (July 13, 1672); St. John Bosco, D (Mar. 23, 1936; St. Peter Nolasco transferred to the 28th).
**February**
1. St. Ignatius, Martyr, SD (1568), D (Pius IX).
2. Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, D2 (1568).
3. St. Blaise, s (1568).
4. St. Andrew Corsini, SD *ad lib.* (Oct. 21, 1666), SD (Aug. 31, 1697), D (Jan. 3, 1731).
5. St. Agatha, SD (1568), D (Aug. 26, 1713).
6. St. Dorothy, s (1568); St. Titus, D (May 18, 1854); St. Dorothy, reduced to c.
7. St. Romuald, D (1602), SD (1631), D (Feb. 16, 1669).
8. St. John de Matha, D (May 31, 1694).
9. St. Apollonia, s (1568); St. Cyril of Alexandria, Doctor of the Church, D (July 28, 1882); St. Apollonia, reduced to c.
10. St. Scholastica, D (Feb. 1, 1729).
11. SS. Seven Founders of the Servites, D (Dec. 20, 1888); Apparition of the Immaculate Conception at Lourdes, DM (Jan. 1, 1908; Founders transferred to the 12th).
12. SS. Seven Founders, D (Jan. 8, 1908, from the 11th).
14. St. Valentine, s (1568).
15. SS. Faustinus and Jovita, s (1568).
18. St. Simeon, s (1568).
22. Chair of St. Peter at Antioch, D (1568), DM (1602).
23. St. Peter Damian, Doctor of the Church, D (Oct. 1, 1828).
23 or 24 (depending on whether the year is a leap year or not): Vigil (1568).
24 or 25. St. Matthias, Apostle, D2 (1568).
27 or 28. St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin, D (Apr. 13, 1932).
**March**
4. St. Lucius, Pope, s (1602); St. Casimir, SD (Aug. 7, 1621); St. Lucius reduced to c.
6. SS. Perpetua and Felicity, D (1908, from the 7th).
7. St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church, D (1568); SS. Perpetua and Felicity, c (1568; transferred to the 6th and elevated to D: 1908).
8. St. John of God, SD (May 5, 1714), D (Apr. 25, 1722).
9. SS. Forty Martyrs, SD (1568); St. Frances of Rome, without a fixed rite (June 1, 1606), D (Feb. 26, 1649); transfer of
Calendar of the Universal Church – Decree of the Insertion of the Feast of St. Raymond of Peñafort into the Calendar of the Universal Church (Mar. 23, 1671) – Vatican City, Archive of the Sacred Congregation of Rites.
August 21 (Aug. 21). — SS. Forty Martyrs, SD (1649, from the previous day). — 22. SS. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church, D (1568). — 27. SS. Patrick, C (1631), SD (Sept. 7, 1685), D (May 12, 1859). — 28. SS. Cyril of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church, D (July 28, 1882). — 29. SS. Joseph, D (1568), D2 (Dec. 6, 1670), D1 (Dec. 8, 1870); movable feast, assigned to the Sunday after March 19, D1 OTT. C. (July 2, 1911); restored to the 19th D1 without OTT. (July 24, 1911); D2 (Oct. 28, 1913); D1 (Dec. 12, 1917). — 30. SS. Joachim, SD (1584), D (May 18, 1623); transferred to the Sunday after the Octave of the Assumption (1738). — 31. SS. Benedict, D (1568), DM (July 5, 1883).
September. — 1. SS. Gabriel the Archangel, DM (Oct. 26, 1921). —
21. Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, D2 (1568), D1 (May 27, 1895)
3. SS. John Damascene, Doctor of the Church, D (Aug. 19, 1890). — 4. SS. John of Capistrano, SD (Aug. 19, 1890).April. — 2. SS. Francis of Paola, D (1585), SD (1602), D (May 4, 1613). — 4. SS. Isidore, Doctor of the Church, D (Apr. 25, 1722). — 5. SS. Vincent Ferrer, SD ad lib. (Nov. 29, 1667), SD (Mar. 25, 1706), D (Apr. 5, 1726). — 11. SS. Leo the Great, D (1568), Doctor (Oct. 15, 1754). — 13. SS. Hermenegild, SD (1631). — 14. SS. Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus, S (1568); SS. Justin, m., D (July 28, 1882); the martyrs reduced to C. — 17. SS. Anicetus, pope, S (1568). — 21. SS. Anselm (an attempt under Innocent XI, 1688, failed), SD (with the Mass of Doctors: Jan. 21, 1690), D (Feb. 8, 1720). — 22. SS. Soter and Caius, popes, SD (1568). — 23. SS. George, SD (1568). — 24. SS. Fidelis of Sigmaringa, D (Feb. 16, 1771). — 25. SS. Mark, D2 (1568). — 26. SS. Cletus and Marcellinus, popes, SD (1568). — 27. SS. Peter Canisius, Doctor of the Church, D (Nov. 24, 1926). — 28. SS. Vitalis, S (1568); SS. Paul of the Cross, D (Jan. 14, 1869); SS. Vitalis reduced to C. — 29. SS. Peter, m., D (Apr. 13, 1586), SD (1602), D (July 26, 1670); SS. Catherine of Siena, C (May 8, 1597); transferred to the 30th (1628). — 30. SS. Catherine of Siena, SD (Aug. 7, 1628, from the previous day), D (Oct. 9, 1670).
May. — 1. SS. Philip and James the Apostles, D2 (1568). — 2. SS. Athanasius, Doctor of the Church, D (1568). — 3. Finding of the Holy Cross, D (1568); D2 (1602); SS. Alexander, Eventius, Theodulus, and Juvenal, C (1568). — 4. SS. Monica, S (1568), SD (July 14, 1669), D (Aug. 26, 1730). — 5. SS. Pius V, pope, SD (Feb. 17, 1713), D (Apr. 26, 1775). — 6. SS. John at the Latin Gate, D (1568), DM (1602). — 7. SS. Stanislaus, bishop and martyr, SD (Nov. 22, 1594); on Feb. 21, 1595, it was elevated to D but the SD remained in force, D (Mar. 13, 1736). — 8. Apparition of the Archangel St. Michael, D (1568), DM (1602). — 9. SS. Gregory Nazianzen, Doctor of the Church, D (1568). — 10. SS. Gordian and Epimachus, mm., S (1568); SS. Antoninus, SD ad lib. (Aug. 17, 1683), SD (Apr. 16, 1707); the martyrs reduced to C, D (Sept. 12, 1845). — 12. SS. Nereus, Achilleus, and Pancratius, S (1568); with the addition of Domitilla (1597) following the discovery and translation of the bodies to the titular church of Baronius, SD (1602). — 13. SS. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church, D (Jan. 6, 1932). — 14. SS. Boniface, m., S (1568). — 15. SS. John Baptist de la Salle, D (1604). — 16. SS. Ubaldus, S (Dec. 17, 1605), SD ad lib. (Feb. 18, 1696), SD (Dec. 10, 1713). — 17. SS. Paschal Baylon, D (Mar. 13, 1784). — 18. SS. Venantius, m., SD (Nov. 11, 1670); D (July 23, 1774). — 19. SS. Pudentiana, S (1568); SS. Peter Celestine, SD (July 21, 1668); SS. Pudentiana reduced to C, D (Mar. 10, 1681). — 20. SS. Bernardino of Siena, SD (Nov. 15, 1657). — 25. SS. Urban, pope, S (1568); SS. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, SD (Nov. 29, 1690); SS. Urban reduced to C; SS. Gregory VII, D (Nov. 25, 1728); transferring SS. Mary Magdalene to the 27th. — 26. SS. Eleutherius, pope, S (1568); SS. Philip Neri, SD ad lib. (Nov. 6, 1625), SD (under Alexander VII; SS. Eleutherius reduced to C), D (June 8, 1669). — 27. SS. John, pope and martyr, S (1568); SS. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, SD (from Nov. 25, 1728); SS. Bede, the Venerable, Doctor of the Church, D (1899); transferring SS. Mary Magdalene to the 29th; SS. John reduced to C. — 28. SS. Augustine of Canterbury, D (June 28, 1882). — 29. SS. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, SD (1899, from the 27th). — 30. SS. Felix, pope and martyr, S (1568). — 31. SS. Petronilla, S (1568); SS. Angela Merici, D (June 11, 1861, with C of St. Petronilla).
June. — 2. SS. Marcellinus, Peter, and Erasmus, S (1568). — 4. SS. Francis Caracciolo, D (Aug. 5, 1807). — 5. SS. Boniface, bishop and martyr, D (June 11, 1874). — 6. SS. Norbert, SD (Nov. 16, 1620), transferred to the 11th (1625), returned to the 6th (1631 or 1634), D (Nov. 7, 1677). — 9. SS. Primus and Felician, S (1568). — 10. SS. Margaret, widow and queen of Scotland, SD ad lib. (Dec. 2, 1673), transferred to July 8 (Feb. 9, 1678), restored to the 10th (Mar. 4, 1693). — 11. SS. Barnabas, D (1568), DM (1602). — 12. SS. Basilides, Cyrinus, Nabor, and Nazarius, S (1568); SS. John of San Facondo, D (Nov. 19, 1729), C of the martyrs. — 13. SS. Anthony of Padua, D (Jan. 14, 1586), SD (1602), D (June 18, 1670), Doctor of the Church (Jan. 16, 1946). — 14. SS. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church, D (1568). — 15. SS. Vitus, Modestus, Crescentia, S (1568). — 18. SS. Mark and Marcellian, S (1568); SS. Ephrem the Syrian, Doctor of the Church, D (Oct. 14, 1920, with C of the martyrs). — 19. SS. Gervasius and Protasius, S (1568); SS. Juliana Falconieri, SD (Mar. 15, 1738, with C of the martyrs), D (Dec. 11, 1702). — 20. SS. Silverius, pope and martyr, S (1568). — 21. SS. Aloysius Gonzaga, D (July 23, 1842). — 22. SS. Paulinus, S (1568), D (Sept. 18, 1908). —
23. Vigil (1568)
24. Nativity of St. John the Baptist, D1 OTT. C. (1568), transferred to the Sunday before the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul (July 28, 1911), restored to its day (Oct. 28, 1913). — 25. Day within the Octave (1568); SS. William, abbot, D (Aug. 24, 1785). — 26. SS. John and Paul, SD (1568), D (May 21, 1728). — 28. SS. Leo II, SD (1568); SS. Irenaeus, D (Oct. 26, 1921, transferring SS. Leo to July 3). — 29. SS. Peter and Paul, D1 OTT. C. (1568). — 30. Commemoration of St. Paul the Apostle, D (1568), DM (1602).August. — 1. SS. Peter in Chains, D (1568), DM (1602); C of the Maccabees (1568). — 2. SS. Stephen, pope, S (1568); SS. Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori, D (Nov. 18, 1839, St. Stephen reduced to C), Doctor of the Church (July 7, 1871). — 3. Finding of St. Stephen the Protomartyr, SD (1568). — 4. SS. Dominic, D (1568), DM (1914). —
24. Dedication of the Blessed Virgin Mary ad Nives, D (1568), DM (1602)
6. Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ, D (1568), DM (1602), D2 (1914); SS. Sixtus### September
1. St. Giles, ab. s. (1568); SS. Twelve Brothers, mm., c. (1568).
2. St. Stephen, King, SD (19 Apr. 1687, transferred from 20 Aug. and elevated to SD).
3. St. Lawrence Giustiniani, SD ad lib. (16 Dec. 1690), SD (12 Sept. 1759).
8. Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, D2 OCT. c. (1568), OCT. s. (1914); St. Adrian, m., c. (1568).
9. Day within the Octave; c. of St. Gorgonius (1568); St. Gorgonius, s. (1914).
10. Day within the Octave (1568); St. Nicholas of Tolentino, D (22 Dec. 1585), SD (1602), D (Clement IX).
11. Day within the Octave; c. of SS. Protus and Hyacinth, mm. (1568); SS. Protus and Hyacinth, s. (1914).
12. Day within the Octave (1568); Name of Mary, DM (1914).
13. Day within the Octave (1568); feria (1914).
14. Exaltation of the Holy Cross, D (1568), DM (1602).
15. Octave of the Nativity of Mary; c. of St. Nicomedes, m. (1568); the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, D2 (1914).
16. SS. Cornelius and Cyprian, SD (1568); SS. Euphemia, Lucy, and Geminian, c. (1568).
17. Impression of the Stigmata of St. Francis (feast removed from the calendar by Pius V), D (Sixtus V), removed (1602), without determination of rite (28 Aug. 1615), SD ad lib. (2 Oct. 1627), SD (13 Aug. 1669), D (11 Aug. 1770).
18. St. Thomas of Villanova, SD ad lib. (17 June 1659), SD (11 Sept. 1694), D (9 Oct. 1694); St. Joseph of Cupertino, D (8 Aug. 1769; St. Thomas transferred to the 22nd).
19. SS. Januarius and Companions, mm., s. (1 Feb. 1586), SD (1602), D (7 Dec. 1676).
20. Vigil; c. of St. Eustace and Companions, mm. (1568); SS. Eustace and Companions, SD (24 Nov. 1625, with c. of the Vigil) D (26 Jan. 1671).
21. St. Matthew, Apostle, D2 (1568).
22. SS. Maurice and Companions, mm., s. (1568); St. Thomas of Villanova, SD (8 Aug. 1769, from the 18th, with c. of the mm.), D (4 Dec. 1801).
23. St. Linus, Pope, SD (1568); c. of St. Thecla (1568).
24. Feast of Our Lady of Ransom, D (18 Feb. 1696), DM (22 Mar. 1727).
26. SS. Cyprian and Justina, s. (1568).
27. SS. Cosmas and Damian, SD (1568).
28. St. Wenceslaus, SD ad lib. (26 July 1670), SD (14 Mar. 1729).
29. Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel, D2 (1568), D1 (1917).
30. St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church, D (1568).
### November
1. All Saints, D1 OCT. c. (1568).
2. Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, c. of the Octave of All Saints (1568); proper office for the celebration of the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (1914).
4. Day within the Octave, c. of SS. MM. Vitalis and Agricola (1568); St. Charles Borromeo, SD ad lib. (16 Dec. 1613), SD (10 Sept. 1652, with c. of the mm.), D (3 Aug. 1659).
3, 5, 6, 7: Days within the Octave (1568).
8. Octave of All Saints, D (1568), DM (1914); SS. Four Crowned Martyrs, c. (1568).
9. Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, D2 (1568); c. of St. Theodore, m. (1568).
10. SS. Tryphon, Respicius, and Nympha, mm., s. (1568); St. Andrew Avellino, SD (18 Aug. 1725, c. of the mm.), D (1 Feb. 1864).
11. St. Martin, D (1568); c. of St. Mennas, m. (1568).
12. St. Martin, Pope, SD (1568); St. Diego, without designation of rite (7 July 1588), SD (1602; c. of St. Martin); restoration of St. Martin, SD, transferring St. Diego to the 13th (27 Feb. 1671).
13. St. Diego, SD (from the 12th; 27 Feb. 1671).
14. St. Josaphat, D (28 July 1882).
15. St. Gertrude, D (19 May 1779); St. Albert the Great, Doctor of the Church, D (6 Jan. 1932, transferring St. Gertrude to the 16th).
16. St. Gertrude, D (6 Jan. 1932, from the 15th).
17. St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, SD (1568).
18. Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul, D (1568), DM (1914).
19. St. Pontian, s. (1568).
20. St. Elizabeth, SD ad lib. (13 Sept. 1670), D (2 Nov. 1670); c. of St. Felix of Valois, D (31 May 1694).
21. Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (feast removed by Pius V), D (1 Sept. 1585), DM (1602).
22. St. Cecilia, SD (1568), D (6 Dec. 1670).
23. St. Clement, Pope, SD (1568), D (1 Sept. 1804); c. of St. Felicitas, m. (1568).
24. St. Chrysogonus, s. (1568); St. John of the Cross, SD (5 Oct. 1738; c. of St. Chrysogonus), D (9 Sept. 1769), Doctor of the Church (24 Nov. 1926).
25. St. Catherine, D (1568).
26. St. Peter Alexander, s. (1568); St. Sylvester, ab., D (19 Feb. 1890, with c. of St. Peter).
29. Vigil; c. of St. Saturninus, m. (1568).
30. St. Andrew, Apostle, D2 (1569).
### December
2. St. Bibiana, s. (1568), SD (1628).
3. St. Francis Xavier, SD (6 Sept. 1663), D (4 June 1670), DM (1914).
4. St. Barbara, s. (1568); St. Peter Chrysologus, Doctor of the Church, D (10 Feb. 1729; c. of St. Barbara).
5. St. Sabas, ab., s. (1568).
6. St. Nicholas, SD (1568), D (6 Dec. 1670).
7. St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church, D (1568); Vigil of the Immaculate Conception (30 Nov. 1879).
8. Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, D (1568), DM (1602), D2 OCT. c. (15 May 1693); feast of precept (6 Dec. 1708); Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1855, with new office, due to the Jesuit Fr. Passaglia; another new office, the current one, 25 Sept. 1863), D1 with Vigil (30 Nov. 1879).
9, 12, 14: Days within the Octave (1693).
10. St. Melchiades, Pope, c. (1568).
11. St. Damasus, Pope, SD (1568).
13. St. Lucy, d. (1568).
15. St. Eusebius, s. (1602); Octave of the Conception of Mary, d. (1693, with c. of St. Eusebius); St. Eusebius transferred to the following day (1728); the Octave DM (1914).
16. St. Eusebius, SD (1728, from the previous day).
20. Vigil (1568).
21. St. Thomas, Apostle, D2 (1568).
24. Vigil (1568).
25. Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, D OCT. (1568, the Octave was in fact privileged); OCT. P. (1914).
26. St. Stephen, d. (1568; the three feasts after Christmas were defined by Pius V simply as "double"); liturgists long disputed their quality and almost all agreed to define them as Sundays, as was later expressed in the rubrics; they had the Octave anyway; D2 OCT. S. (1914).
27. St. John, Apostle, D2 OCT. S. (1914).
28. Holy Innocents, D2 OCT. S. (1914).
29. St. Thomas, Bishop and Martyr, SD (1568), d. (1914).
31. St. Sylvester, Pope, d. (1568).
Chi peruses these lists attentively, with the continual increases of feasts, of rank, or rite, will easily be persuaded that the liturgical year, in its broad fundamental outlines, is now almost completely occupied by the feasts of the saints. The increase of canonizations in our times makes the situation even more difficult. It appears from what we have written that in the time of Pius V, between the sanctoral and the temporal or ferial part, a fine balance prevailed. Clement VIII opened the way to the unlimited entry of the feasts of the saints. In the time of Clement X the Sacred Congregation of Rites was concerned about this state of affairs; thus arose the decree of 20 June 1671 by which it was forbidden to introduce any feast for the next fifty years. The decree was renewed for another fifty years by Clement XI (4 May 1714); yet it was not possible to maintain it in force. On the one hand, the continual canonizations, especially of founders of religious orders, the pressures for the insertion of feasts by Catholic princes, or other particular circumstances inevitably led to the decree’s non-observance. Benedict XIV recognized that the continual increase of the feasts of the saints was harmful to discipline, and the reform of the Breviary he envisaged would have put a stop to II. But it was especially from the second half of the past century that new increases and variations of rite have come. From this has arisen the keen desire for a definitive liturgical reform, already initiated by Pius X, who also yearns for a revision of the calendar. — See Plates XXII–XXIII.
LE. — One can speak of a universal calendar of the Church only from the year 1568 onwards, that is, from the moment when Pius V imposed the reformed Breviary, with its annexed calendar, on the whole Latin Church. The identical calendar is then found in the Roman Missal, reformed and likewise prescribed by Pius V to the whole Latin Church in 1570. The Pope permitted the retention of the Breviary and Missal proper only to those orders and dioceses that had used them for two hundred years. All branches of the Benedictine Order, the Dominicans, Carmelites, Pre-
Mostratensians, Carthusians, and a few dioceses (Milan, Aquileia, Paris, Lyon, etc.) later adopted the Roman Missal and Breviary, so that the Latin Church as a whole now uses a single calendar, in which individual churches and religious orders insert their proper feasts. Any change to this calendar—such as the insertion of new feasts, variations in rite, or the shifting of feast days—is the exclusive prerogative of the Holy See, which exercises this authority through the Sacred Congregation of Rites (see).
It is not the place here to recount the history of the sanctoral cycle (see) or the origin and development of the feasts (see); suffice it to say that the basis of this calendar was the liturgical books known as the "Curia" or Roman books, though with a wise reduction in the number of feasts and rites, so as to restore in large measure the ferial liturgy. Indeed, the calendar of St. Pius V contained only 120 feasts: 30 semidoubles, 57 doubles, and 33 commemorations. The major feasts numbered 20 of the first class and 17 of the second. Clement VIII, in 1602, on the occasion of the new edition of the Breviary, introduced a new class of feasts, the greater double (16 feasts). From this point onward, the sanctoral cycle (see) began to prevail over the temporal cycle (see), and the unbroken insertion of new feasts, expansions of rites, and increasingly refined distinctions among the categories of liturgical ranking followed. By the time of Benedict XIV, the number of feasts had already risen to 228. There were also 36 "ad libitum" feasts, meaning that a church or religious order could choose whether to include them in the calendar; once inserted, however, the feast had to be celebrated. The total number of feasts thus reached 264. Leo XIII, in 1893 and 1895, established a further gradation, the primary and secondary feasts. The reform of St. Pius X in 1911 perfected the entire system of ranking, codifying it definitively, though it did not in any way halt the addition of new feasts. At present, we have reached a total of 338 festal days, of which 50 are movable (including days of privileged octaves) and 288 are fixed feasts.
Below follows the calendar of the Universal Church in its present state, with an indication of the rite (D1 = double of the first class, D2 = double of the second class, DM = greater double, D = lesser double, SD = semidouble, s = simple, c = commemoration), ott. = octave (r. privileged; c. common; s. simple), and all changes made since St. Pius V (1568) up to the year 1949. The dates indicate the changes made; the date of the session of the Congregation of Rites is not noted, only that of papal approval.
**January**
25. Circumcision and Octave of the Nativity, D2
2. Octave of St. Stephen, D (1568), s (1914). – 3. Octave of St. John, D (1568), s (1914). –26. Octave of the Holy Innocents, D (1568), s (1914)
5. Vigil of the Epiphany, SD; Commemoration of St. Telesphorus, Pope (1602). – 6. Epiphany, D1 OTT. P. – 7–12: Days within the Octave, SD (1914); 11. Commemoration of St. Hyginus, Pope (1568). –27. Octave of the Epiphany, D (1568), DM (1914)
14. St. Hilary, SD (1568), D and Doctor of the Church (Jan. 1, 1852); St. Felix, Priest and Martyr, c (1568). – 15. St. Paul the First Hermit, SD (1568), D (Aug. 18, 1722); St. Maurus, Abbot, c (1568). – 16. St. Marcellus, Pope, SD (1568). – 17. St. Anthony, Abbot, D (1568). – 18. Chair of St. Peter in Rome, D (1568), DM (1602); Commemoration of St. Prisca, Virgin and Martyr (1568). – 19. SS. Marius, Martha, Audifax, Abachum, Martyrs, s (1568); St. Canute, King and Martyr, SD ad lib. (Aug. 10, 1670), reduced to c (1914). – 20. SS. Fabian and Sebastian, D (1568). – 21. St. Agnes, D (1568). – 22. SS. Vincent and Anastasius, SD (1568). – 23. St. Emerentiana, s (1568); St. Raymond of Peñafort, SD (Mar. 23, 1671); St. Emerentiana, reduced to c. – 24. St. Timothy, s (1568), SD (1602), D (May 18, 1854). – 25. Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, D (1568), DM (1602). – 26. St. Polycarp, s (1568), SD (1602), D (1914). – 27. St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church, D (1568). – 28. St. Agnes (Second Feast), s (1568); St. Peter Nolasco, D (from the 31st; Mar. 25, 1936); St. Agnes reduced to c. – 29. St. Peter Nolasco, SD (July 22, 1664); St. Francis de Sales, SD (Oct. 21, 1666; St. Peter Nolasco transferred to the 31st), D (Nov. 24, 1691), Doctor of the Church (Sept. 20, 1877). – 30. St. Martina, SD (1635). – 31. St. Peter Nolasco, SD (transferred from the 29th; 1666); D (July 13, 1672); St. John Bosco, D (Mar. 23, 1936; St. Peter Nolasco transferred to the 28th).**February**
1. St. Ignatius, Martyr, SD (1568), D (Pius IX). –
28. Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, D2 (1568)
3. St. Blaise, s (1568). – 4. St. Andrew Corsini, SD ad lib. (Oct. 21, 1666), SD (Aug. 31, 1697), D (Jan. 3, 1731). – 5. St. Agatha, SD (1568), D (Aug. 26, 1713). – 6. St. Dorothy, s (1568); St. Titus, D (May 18, 1854); St. Dorothy, reduced to c. – 7. St. Romuald, D (1602), SD (1631), D (Feb. 16, 1669). – 8. St. John de Matha, D (May 31, 1694). – 9. St. Apollonia, s (1568); St. Cyril of Alexandria, Doctor of the Church, D (July 28, 1882); St. Apollonia, reduced to c. – 10. St. Scholastica, D (Feb. 1, 1729). – 11. SS. Seven Founders of the Servites, D (Dec. 20, 1888); Apparition of the Immaculate Conception at Lourdes, DM (Jan. 1, 1908; Founders transferred to the 12th). – 12. SS. Seven Founders, D (Jan. 8, 1908, from the 11th). – 14. St. Valentine, s (1568). – 15. SS. Faustinus and Jovita, s (1568). – 18. St. Simeon, s (1568). – 22. Chair of St. Peter at Antioch, D (1568), DM (1602). – 23. St. Peter Damian, Doctor of the Church, D (Oct. 1, 1828). – 23 or 24 (depending on whether the year is a leap year or not): Vigil (1568) – 24 or 25. St. Matthias, Apostle, D2 (1568). – 27 or 28. St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin, D (Apr. 13, 1932).**March**
4. St. Lucius, Pope, s (1602); St. Casimir, SD (Aug. 7, 1621); St. Lucius reduced to c. – 6. SS. Perpetua and Felicity, D (1908, from the 7th). – 7. St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church, D (1568); SS. Perpetua and Felicity, c (1568; transferred to the 6th and elevated to D: 1908). – 8. St. John of God, SD (May 5, 1714), D (Apr. 25, 1722). – 9. SS. Forty Martyrs, SD (1568); St. Frances of Rome, without a fixed rite (June 1, 1606), D (Feb. 26, 1649); transfer of
Calendar of the Universal Church – Decree of the Insertion of the Feast of St. Raymond of Peñafort in the Calendar of the Universal Church (Mar. 23, 1671) – Vatican City, Archive of the Sacred Congregation of Rites.
August 21 (Aug. 21, 1649). — 10. ss. Forty Martyrs, SD (from the previous day, 1649). — 12. ss. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church, D (1568). — 17. ss. Patrick, C (1631), SD (Sept. 7, 1685), D (May 12, 1859). — 18. ss. Cyril of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church, D (July 28, 1882). — 19. ss. Joseph, D (1568), D2 (Dec. 6, 1670), D1 (Dec. 8, 1870); movable feast, assigned to the Sunday after March 19, D1 OTT. C. (July 2, 1911); restored to the 19th, D1 without OTT. (July 24, 1911); D2 (Oct. 28, 1913); D1 (Dec. 12, 1917). — 20. ss. Joachim, SD (1584), D (May 18, 1623); transferred to the Sunday after the Octave of the Assumption (1738). — 21. ss. Benedict, D (1568), DM (July 5, 1883). — 24. ss. Gabriel the Archangel, DM (Oct. 26, 1921). —
29. Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, D2 (1568), D1 (May 27, 1895)
27. ss. John Damascene, Doctor of the Church, D (Aug. 19, 1890). — 28. ss. John of Capistrano, SD (Aug. 19, 1890).April. — 2. ss. Francis of Paola, D (1585), SD (1602), D (May 4, 1613). — 4. ss. Isidore, Doctor of the Church, D (Apr. 25, 1722). — 5. ss. Vincent Ferrer, SD ad lib. (Nov. 29, 1667), SD (Mar. 25, 1706), D (Apr. 5, 1726). — 11. ss. Leo the Great, D (1568), Doctor (Oct. 15, 1754). — 13. ss. Hermenegild, SD (1631). — 14. ss. Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus, S (1568); ss. Justin, m., D (July 28, 1882); the martyrs reduced to C. — 17. ss. Anicetus, pope, S (1568). — 21. ss. Anselm (an attempt under Innocent XI, 1688, failed), SD (with the Mass of Doctors: Jan. 21, 1690), D (Feb. 8, 1720). — 22. ss. Soter and Caius, popes, SD (1568). — 23. ss. George, SD (1568). — 24. ss. Fidelis of Sigmaringa, D (Feb. 16, 1771). — 25. ss. Mark, D2 (1568). — 26. ss. Cletus and Marcellinus, popes, SD (1568). — 27. ss. Peter Canisius, Doctor of the Church, D (Nov. 24, 1926). — 28. ss. Vitalis, S (1568); ss. Paul of the Cross, D (Jan. 14, 1869); ss. Vitalis reduced to C. — 29. ss. Peter, m., D (Apr. 13, 1586), SD (1602), D (July 26, 1670); ss. Catherine of Siena, C (May 8, 1597); transferred to the 30th (1628). — 30. ss. Catherine of Siena, SD (Aug. 7, 1628, from the previous day), D (Oct. 9, 1670).
May. — 1. ss. Philip and James the Apostles, D2 (1568). — 2. ss. Athanasius, Doctor of the Church, D (1568). — 3. Finding of the Holy Cross, D (1568); D2 (1602); ss. Alexander, Eventius, Theodulus, and Juvenal, C (1568). — 4. ss. Monicus, S (1568), SD (July 14, 1669), D (Aug. 26, 1730). — 5. ss. Pius V, pope, SD (Feb. 17, 1713), D (Apr. 26, 1775). — 6. ss. John at the Latin Gate, D (1568), DM (1602). — 7. ss. Stanislaus, bishop and martyr, SD (Nov. 22, 1594); on Feb. 21, 1595, elevated to D., but the SD remained in force, D (Mar. 13, 1736). — 8. Apparition of the Archangel St. Michael, D (1568), DM (1602). — 9. ss. Gregory Nazianzen, Doctor of the Church, D (1568). — 10. ss. Gordian and Epimachus, mm., S (1568); ss. Antoninus, SD ad lib. (Aug. 17, 1683), SD (Apr. 16, 1707); the martyrs reduced to C, D (Sept. 12, 1845). — 12. ss. Nereus, Achilleus, and Pancratius, S (1568); with the addition of Domitilla (1597) following the discovery and translation of the bodies to the titular church of Baronius, SD (1602). — 13. ss. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church, D (Jan. 6, 1932). — 14. ss. Boniface, m., S (1568). — 15. ss. John Baptist de la Salle, D (1604). — 16. ss. Ubaldus, S (Dec. 17, 1605), SD ad lib. (Feb. 18, 1696), SD (Dec. 10, 1713). — 17. ss. Paschal Baylon, D (Mar. 13, 1784). — 18. ss. Venantius, m., SD (Nov. 11, 1670); D (July 23, 1774). — 19. ss. Pudentiana, S (1568); ss. Peter Celestine, SD (July 21, 1668); ss. Pudentiana reduced to C, D (Mar. 10, 1681). — 20. ss. Bernardino of Siena, SD (Nov. 15, 1657). — 25. ss. Urban, pope, S (1568); ss. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, SD (Nov. 29, 1690); ss. Urban reduced to C; ss. Gregory VII, D (Nov. 25, 1728); transferring ss. Mary Magdalene to the 27th. — 26. ss. Eleutherius, pope, S (1568); ss. Philip Neri, SD ad lib. (Nov. 6, 1625), SD (under Alexander VII; ss. Eleutherius reduced to C), D (June 8, 1669). — 27. ss. John, pope and martyr, S (1568); ss. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, SD (from Nov. 25, 1728); ss. Bede, the Venerable, Doctor of the Church, D (1899); transferring ss. Mary Magdalene to the 29th); ss. John reduced to C. — 28. ss. Augustine of Canterbury, D (June 28, 1882). — 29. ss. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, SD (1899, from the 27th). — 30. ss. Felix, pope and martyr, S (1568). — 31. ss. Petronilla, S (1568); ss. Angela Merici, D (June 11, 1861, with C of St. Petronilla).
June. — 2. ss. Marcellinus, Peter, and Erasmus, S (1568). — 4. ss. Francis Caracciolo, D (Aug. 5, 1807). — 5. ss. Boniface, bishop and martyr, D (June 11, 1874). — 6. ss. Norbert, SD (Nov. 16, 1620), transferred to the 11th (1625), returned to the 6th (1631 or 1634), D (Nov. 7, 1677). — 9. ss. Primus and Felician, S (1568). — 10. ss. Margaret, widow and queen of Scotland, SD ad lib. (Dec. 2, 1673), transferred to July 8 (Feb. 9, 1678), restored to the 10th (Mar. 4, 1693). — 11. ss. Barnabas, D (1568), DM (1602). — 12. ss. Basilides, Cyrinus, Nabor, and Nazarius, S (1568); ss. John of Saint Facundus, D (Nov. 19, 1729), C of the martyrs. — 13. ss. Anthony of Padua, D (Jan. 14, 1586), SD (1602), D (June 18, 1670), Doctor of the Church (Jan. 16, 1946). — 14. ss. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church, D (1568). — 15. ss. Vitus, Modestus, Crescentia, S (1568). — 18. ss. Mark, Marcellian, S (1568); ss. Ephrem the Syrian, Doctor of the Church, D (Oct. 14, 1920, with C of the martyrs). — 19. ss. Gervasius and Protasius, S (1568); ss. Juliana Falconieri, SD (Mar. 15, 1738, with C of the martyrs), D (Dec. 11, 1702). — 20. ss. Silverius, pope, S (1568). — 21. ss. Aloysius Gonzaga, D (July 23, 1842). — 22. ss. Paulinus, S (1568), D (Sept. 18, 1908). —
30. Vigil (1568)
24. Nativity of St. John the Baptist, D1 OTT. C. (1568), transferred to the Sunday before the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul (July 28, 1911), restored to its day (Oct. 28, 1913). — 25. Day within the Octave (1568); ss. William, abbot, D (Aug. 24, 1785). — 26. ss. John and Paul, SD (1568), D (May 21, 1728). — 28. ss. Leo II, SD (1568); ss. Irenaeus, D (Oct. 26, 1921, transferring ss. Leo to July 3). — 29. ss. Peter and Paul, D1 OTT. C. (1568). — 30. Commemoration of St. Paul the Apostle, D (1568), DM (1602).August. — 1. ss. Peter in Chains, D (1568), DM (1602); C of the Maccabees (1568). — 2. ss. Stephen, pope, S (1568); ss. Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori, D (Nov. 18, 1839, St. Stephen reduced to C), Doctor of the Church (July 7, 1871). — 3. Finding of St. Stephen the Protomartyr, SD (1568). — 4. ss. Dominic, D (1568), DM (1914). —
31. Dedication of the Blessed Virgin Mary ad Nives, D (1568), DM (1602)
6. Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ, D (1568), DM (1602), D2 (1914); ss. Sixtus### Settembre
1. St. Giles, ab. s (1568); the Holy Twelve Brothers, mm., c (1568).
2. St. Stephen, king, SD (19 Apr. 1687, transferred from 20 Aug. and elevated to SD).
3. St. Lawrence Giustiniani, SD ad lib. (16 Dec. 1690), SD (12 Sept. 1759).
8. Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, D2 OCT. c. (1568), OCT. s. (1914); St. Adrian, m., c (1568).
9. Day within the octave; c of St. Gorgonius (1568); St. Gorgonius, s (1914).
10. Day within the octave (1568); St. Nicholas of Tolentino, D (22 Dec. 1585), SD (1602), D (Clement IX).
11. Day within the octave; c of SS. Protus and Hyacinth (1568); SS. Protus and Hyacinth, s (1914).
12. Day within the octave (1568); Name of Mary, DM (1914).
13. Day within the octave (1568); feria (1914).
14. Exaltation of the Holy Cross, D (1568), DM (1602).
15. Octave of the Nativity of Mary; c of St. Nicomedes, m. (1568); the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, D2 (1914).
16. SS. Cornelius and Cyprian, SD (1568); SS. Euphemia, Lucy and Geminian, c (1568).
17. Impression of the Stigmata of St. Francis (feast removed from the calendar by Pius V), D (Sixtus V), removed (1602), without determination of rite (28 Aug. 1615), SD ad lib. (2 Oct. 1627), SD (13 Aug. 1669), D (11 Aug. 1770).
18. St. Thomas of Villanova, SD ad lib. (17 June 1659), SD (11 Sept. 1694), D (9 Oct. 1694); St. Joseph of Cupertino, D (8 Aug. 1769; St. Thomas transferred to the 22nd).
19. SS. Januarius and companions, mm., s (1 Feb. 1586), SD (1602), D (7 Dec. 1676).
20. Vigil; c of St. Eustace and companions, mm. (1568); SS. Eustace and companions, SD (24 Nov. 1625, with c of the vigil) D (26 Jan. 1671).
21. St. Matthew, Apostle, D2 (1568).
22. SS. Maurice and companions, mm., s (1568); St. Thomas of Villanova, SD (8 Aug. 1769, from the 18th, with c of the mm.), D (4 Dec. 1801).
23. St. Linus, pope, SD (1568); c of St. Thecla (1568).
24. Feast of Our Lady of Ransom, D (18 Feb. 1696), DM (22 Mar. 1727).
26. SS. Cyprian and Justina, s (1568).
27. SS. Cosmas and Damian, SD (1568).
28. St. Wenceslaus, SD ad lib. (26 July 1670), SD (14 Mar. 1729).
29. Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel, D2 (1568), D1 (1917).
30. St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church, D (1568).
### November
1. All Saints, D1 OCT. c. (1568).
2. Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, c of the octave of All Saints (1568); proper office for the celebration of the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (1914).
4. Day within the octave, c of SS. mm. Vitalis and Agricola (1568); St. Charles Borromeo, SD ad lib. (16 Dec. 1613), SD (10 Sept. 1652, with c of the mm.), D (3 Aug. 1659).
3, 5, 6, 7: Days within the octave (1568).
8. Octave of All Saints, D (1568), DM (1914); SS. Four Crowned Martyrs, c (1568).
9. Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, D2 (1568); c of St. Theodore, m. (1568).
10. SS. Tryphon, Respicius, Nympha, mm., s (1568); St. Andrew Avellino, SD (18 Aug. 1725 c of the mm.), D (1 Feb. 1864).
11. St. Martin, D (1568); c of St. Mennas, m. (1568).
12. St. Martin, pope, SD (1568); St. Diego, without designation of rite (7 July 1588), SD (1602; c of St. Martin); restoration of St. Martin, SD, transferring St. Diego to the 13th (27 Feb. 1671).
13. St. Diego, SD (from the 12th; 27 Feb. 1671).
14. St. Josaphat, D (28 July 1882).
15. St. Gertrude, D (19 May 1779); St. Albert the Great, Doctor of the Church, D (6 Jan. 1932, transferring St. Gertrude to the 16th).
16. St. Gertrude, D (6 Jan. 1932, from the 15th).
17. St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, SD (1568).
18. Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul, D (1568), DM (1914).
19. St. Pontian, s (1568).
20. St. Elizabeth, SD ad lib. (13 Sept. 1670), D (2 Nov. 1670); c of St. Felix of Valois, D (31 May 1694).
21. Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (feast removed by Pius V), D (1 Sept. 1585), DM (1602).
22. St. Cecilia, SD (1568), D (6 Dec. 1670).
23. St. Clement, pope, SD (1568), D (1 Sept. 1804); c of St. Felicity, m. (1568).
24. St. Chrysogonus, s (1568); St. John of the Cross, SD (5 Oct. 1738; c of St. Chrysogonus), D (9 Sept. 1769), Doctor of the Church (24 Nov. 1926).
25. St. Catherine, D (1568).
26. St. Peter Alexander, s (1568); St. Sylvester, ab., D (19 Feb. 1890, with c of St. Peter).
29. Vigil; c of St. Saturninus, m. (1568).
30. St. Andrew, Apostle, D2 (1569).
### December
2. St. Bibiana, s (1568), SD (1628).
3. St. Francis Xavier, SD (6 Sept. 1663), D (4 June 1670), DM (1914).
4. St. Barbara, s (1568); St. Peter Chrysologus, Doctor of the Church, D (10 Feb. 1729; c of St. Barbara).
5. St. Sabas, ab., s (1568).
6. St. Nicholas, SD (1568), D (6 Dec. 1670).
7. St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church, D (1568); vigil of the Immaculate Conception (30 Nov. 1879).
8. Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, D (1568), DM (1602), D2 OCT. c. (15 May 1693); holy day of obligation (6 Dec. 1708); Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1855, with new office, due to the Jesuit Fr. Passaglia; another new office, the current one, 25 Sept. 1863), D1 with vigil (30 Nov. 1879).
9, 12, 14: Days within