English national calendar
I see in my copy of Briefing, the official documentation and
information service of the Catholic Bishops' Conferences of England &
Wales and Scotland, that the Vatican has approved the new liturgical
calendar of saints' days for England. The Vatican has taken a certain
amount of stick, not least from members of this list, for messing about
with the calendar, but I think many members will applaud some of the
changes which are now being made. Some features are as follows
(remember, this is the Calendar for England, not the General Calendar):
* The up-grading of St George's Day from a Feast to a Solemnity;
* The only Feasts (as opposed to Solemnities and Memorias) are now Sts
John Fisher and Thomas More, the Patrons of Wales, Ireland and
Scotland, and - at the Vatican's request - the six patrons of Europe;
* The 40 canonised Martyrs (previously 25th October), have joined the
85 beatified Martyrs on 4 May, with other martyrs from the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries - this coincides with the Church of England
celebration of 'English Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation era';
* There are now 41 celebrations, when there were 15 previously.
New celebrations of particular interest to medievalists include:
12 Jan Aelred of Rievaulx, abbot.
19 Jan Wulstan, bishop.
19 May Dunstan, bishop
16 June Richard of Chichester, bishop
23 June Etheldreda (Audrey), abbess
31 Aug Aidan, bishop, and saints of Lindisfarne
19 Sept Theodore of Canterbury, bishop
24 Sept Our Lady of Walsingham (hooray!)
26 Oct Chad and Cedd, bishops
3 Nov Winefride, virgin
7 Nov Willibrord, bishop
16 Nov Edmund of Abingdon, bishop
17 Nov Hilda, abbess
Hugh of Lincoln, bishop
(Elizabeth of Hungary has been down-graded to optional memorial to
enable the celebration of Hilda or Hugh of Lincoln)
Adalbert - normally 23rd April in the general calendar - has been
transferred to 24 April and now joins St Fidelis of Sigmaringen, to
avoid a clash with George.
I for one (if I may express a personal view) am rather pleased with
these changes, which I think enhance our national liturgical life.
The Supple Dean.
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