The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does not mean "a large meal, typically a celebratory one", but instead "an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint". The system arose from the early Christian custom of commemorating each martyr annually on the date of their death, or birth into heaven, a date therefore referred to in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

as the martyr's ''dies natalis'' ('day of birth'). In the Eastern Orthodox Church, a calendar of saints is called a '' Menologion''. "Menologion" may also mean a set of icons on which saints are depicted in the order of the dates of their feasts, often made in two panels.

History

As the number of recognized saints increased during Late Antiquity and the first half of the Middle Ages, eventually every day of the year had at least one saint who was commemorated on that date. To deal with this increase, some saints were moved to alternate days in some traditions or completely removed, with the result that some saints have different feast days in different calendars. For example, saints

Perpetua and Felicity Perpetua and Felicity ( la, Perpetua et Felicitas) were Christian martyrs of the 3rd century. Vibia Perpetua was a recently married, well-educated noblewoman, said to have been 22 years old at the time of her death, and mother of an infant son s ...

died on 7 March, but this date was later assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas, allowing them only a commemoration (see Tridentine Calendar), so in 1908 they were moved one day earlier. When the 1969 reform of the Catholic calendar moved him to 28 January, they were moved back to 7 March (see General Roman Calendar). Both days can thus be said to be their feast day, in different traditions. The General Roman Calendar, which list those saints celebrated in the entire church, contains only a selection of the saints for each of its days. A fuller list is found in the Roman Martyrology, and some of the saints there may be celebrated locally. The earliest feast days of saints were those of martyrs, venerated as having shown for Christ the greatest form of love, in accordance with the teaching: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." Saint Martin of Tours is said to be the first or at least one of the first non-martyrs to be venerated as a saint. The title "

confessor Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways. Confessor of the Faith Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Virgin, Pastor, Bishop, Monk, Priest, Founder, Abbot, Apostle, Doctor of the Church. The Tridentine Missal has common formulæ for Masses of Martyrs, Confessors who were bishops, Doctors of the Church, Confessors who were not Bishops, Abbots, Virgins, Non-Virgins, Dedication of Churches, and Feast Days of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pope Pius XII added a common formula for Popes. The 1962 Roman Missal of Pope John XXIII omitted the common of Apostles, assigning a proper Mass to every feast day of an Apostle. The present Roman Missal has common formulas for the Dedication of Churches, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Martyrs (with special formulas for missionary martyrs and virgin martyrs), pastors (subdivided into bishops, generic pastors, founders of churches, and missionaries), Doctors of the Church, Virgins, and (generic) Saints (with special formulas for abbots, monks, nuns, religious, those noted for works of mercy, educators, and enericallywomen saints). This calendar system, when combined with major church festivals and movable and immovable feasts, constructs a very human and personalised yet often localized way of organizing the year and identifying dates. Some Christians continue the tradition of dating by saints' days: their works may appear "dated" as "The Feast of Saint Martin". Poets such as John Keats commemorate the importance of '' The Eve of Saint Agnes''. As different Christian jurisdictions parted ways theologically, differing lists of saints began to develop. This happened because the same individual may be considered differently by one church; in extreme examples, one church's saint may be another church's heretic, as in the cases of

Nestorius Nestorius (; in grc, Νεστόριος; 386 – 451) was the Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to August 431. A Christian theologian, several of his teachings in the fields of Christology and Mariology were seen as contr ...

Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria Dioscorus I (), also known as Dioscorus the Great, was the pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the See of St. Mark who was deposed by the Council of Chalcedon in 451. He was recognized as patriarch by the Coptic Church until his death. He die ...

, or

Archbishop Flavian of Constantinople Flavian ( la, Flavianus; grc-gre, Φλαβιανος, ''Phlabianos''; 11 August 449), sometimes Flavian I, was Archbishop of Constantinople from 446 to 449. He is venerated as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Ch ...

Ranking of feast days

In the Catholic Church feast days are ranked in accordance with their importance. In the post-

Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

form of the Roman Rite, feast days are ranked (in descending order of importance) as

solemnities In the liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite, a solemnity is a feast day of the highest rank celebrating a mystery of faith such as the Trinity, an event in the life of Jesus, his mother Mary, his earthly father Joseph, or another important sain ...

, feasts or memorials (obligatory or optional). Pope John XXIII's 1960 Code of Rubrics, whose use remains authorized by the motu proprio '' Summorum Pontificum'', divides liturgical days into I, II, III, and IV class days. Those who use even earlier forms of the Roman Rite rank feast days as doubles (of three or four kinds), Semidoubles, and Simples. See

Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite The Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite is a regulation for the liturgy of the Roman Catholic church. It determines for each liturgical day which observance has priority when liturgical dates and times coincide (or "occur"), which texts a ...

. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the ranking of feasts varies from church to church. In the Russian Orthodox Church they are:

Great Feasts In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus, called Pascha (Easter), is the greatest of all holy days and as such it is called the "feast of feasts". Immediately below it in importance, there is a group of Twelve Great F ...

, middle, and minor feasts. Each portion of such feasts may also be called feasts as follows: All-Night Vigils,

Polyeleos The Polyeleos is a festive portion of the Matins or All-Night Vigil service as observed on higher-ranking feast days in the Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Lutheran, and Byzantine Rite Catholic Churches. The Polyeleos is considered to be the high point of ...

, Great Doxology, Sextuple ("sixfold", having six

stichera A sticheron (Greek: "set in verses"; plural: stichera; Greek: ) is a hymn of a particular genre sung during the daily evening (Hesperinos/Vespers) and morning ( Orthros) offices, and some other services, of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Cat ...

at Vespers and six

troparia A troparion (Greek , plural: , ; Georgian: , ; Church Slavonic: , ) in Byzantine music and in the religious music of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a short hymn of one stanza, or organised in more complex forms as series of stanzas. The wi ...

at the

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

of Matins). There are also distinctions between Simple feasts and double (i.e., two simple feasts celebrated together). In Double Feasts, the order of hymns and readings for each feast are rigidly instructed in Typikon, the liturgy book. The Lutheran Churches celebrate Festivals, Lesser Festivals, Days of Devotion, and Commemorations. In the Church of England, mother Church of the Anglican Communion, there are

Principal Feast Principal Feasts are a type of observance in some churches of the Anglican Communion, including the Church of England, the Episcopal Church (United States), and the Anglican Church of Canada The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the p ...

s and Principal Holy Days, Festivals, Lesser Festivals, and Commemorations.

Connection to tropical cyclones

Before the advent of standardized naming of tropical storms and hurricanes in the North Atlantic basin,

tropical storm A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Dependi ...

s and

hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

that affected the island of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

were informally named after the Catholic saints corresponding to the feast days when the cyclones either made landfall or started to seriously affect the island. Examples are: the 1780 San Calixto hurricane (more widely known as the

Great Hurricane of 1780 The Great Hurricane of 1780 was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record. An estimated 22,000 people died throughout the Lesser Antilles when the storm passed through the islands from October 10 to October 16. Specifics on the hurricane's tra ...

) (the deadliest in the North Atlantic basin's

recorded history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world his ...

; named after

Pope Callixtus I Pope Callixtus I, also called Callistus I, was the bishop of Rome (according to Sextus Julius Africanus) from c. 218 to his death c. 222 or 223.Chapman, John (1908). "Pope Callistus I" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 3. New York: Robert A ...

(Saint Callixtus), whose feast day is October 14), the

1867 San Narciso hurricane The San Narciso Hurricane was the ninth and last known hurricane of the 1867 Atlantic hurricane season. Forming in late October, the hurricane, the costliest and deadliest storm of the 1867 Atlantic hurricane season, caused at least 811 deaths in ...

(named after Saint

Narcissus of Jerusalem Saint Narcissus of Jerusalem (c. 99 (reputedly) – c. 216) was an early patriarch of Jerusalem. He is venerated as a saint by both the Western and Eastern Churches. In the Roman Catholic Church, his feast day is celebrated on October 29, while ...

, feast day October 29), the

1899 San Ciriaco hurricane The 1899 San Ciríaco hurricane, also known as the 1899 Puerto Rico Hurricane or The Great Bahamas Hurricane of 1899, was the longest-lived Atlantic hurricane on record, and the second-longest-lived tropical cyclone globally on record (in terms ...

(the deadliest in the island's recorded history; Saint Cyriacus, August 8), the 1928 San Felipe hurricane (the strongest in terms of measured wind speed;

Saint Philip Saint Philip, São Filipe, or San Felipe may refer to: People * Saint Philip the Apostle * Saint Philip the Evangelist also known as Philip the Deacon * Saint Philip Neri * Saint Philip Benizi de Damiani also known as Saint Philip Benitius or Fili ...

, father of Saint

Eugenia of Rome Eugenia of Rome (died c AD 258) was an early Christian Roman martyr whose feast day is celebrated on December 25 in the Roman Catholic Church, on December 24 (January 6, New Style) in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and on January 23 in the Armenia ...

, September 13), and the 1932 San Ciprian hurricane ( Saint Cyprian, September 26). This practice continued until quite some time after the

United States Weather Bureau The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the ...

(now called the National Weather Service) started publishing and using official female human names (initially; male names were added starting in 1979 after the NWS relinquished control over naming to the

World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics. The WMO originated from the Intern ...

). The last two usages of this informal naming scheme in P.R. were in 1956 ( Hurricane Betsy, locally nicknamed Santa Clara after Saint Clare of Assisi, feast day August 12 back then; her feast day was advanced one day in 1970) and 1960 ( Hurricane Donna, nicknamed San Lorenzo after Saint Lawrence Justinian, September 5 back then; feast day now observed January 8 by

Canons regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by ...

of St.

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North A ...

References

External links

Today's Saints on the Calendar (Catholic Church)

Greek Catholic Saints' Calendar
(

Greek Catholic Church The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...

)
Calendar of Saints
(

Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA is partly recognized as autocephalous and consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions ...

)
''Butler's Lives of the Saints''
Bartleby.com * {{authority control Specific calendars Christian saints Saints days Canonization

History

Ranking of feast days

Connection to tropical cyclones

See also

References

External links