Divine Word College of Calapan

SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS

Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, 5200, Philippines

III. DOCUMENTS WHICH REGULATE THE CHURCH YEAR

1. The Roman Martyrology

The martyrology is - as the name indicates - a list of martyrs in the order of their feasts as
they were celebrated in the local church. Later on, saints who were not martyrs were added Mentioned in
the martyrology are usually the name of the saint or martyr, the date of his commemoration, the place of
martyrdom or cult and a brief remark about his life and death, sometimes legendary, sometimes historical.
These lists of martyrs regulated the celebrations of saints in the local churches.

The oldest martyrology we know dates back to the year 354. It was written by Furius Dionysius
Filocalus, begun in 336 and completed in 354. It is composed of two lists of saints: one containing the
bishops honored each year in the church of Rome (depositio episcoporum) and the other one containing
the names of martyrs (depositio martyrum) venerated in that church. Another martyrology was compiled
between 362 and 381, probably in the year 363. The original was lost but we have a Syriac copy of it from
the year 411, the so-called Syriac Breviary or the Calendar of Antioch. It carries the marvelous subtitle:
"The names of our Masters, the Martyrs and Victors, with the dates on which they received their crowns"
which shows the importance of the martyrs in the life of the Christian community and the pride the Christians
had in their saints.

Probably, the most important among the old martyrologies is the martyrology of St. Jerome
(martyrologium Hieronymianum) which appeared in Northern Italy about the year 430. It claimed as its author
St. Jerome hut this has been proven as false. The name Jerome was only used to give to this martyrology a
great weight and to contribute to its spread and acceptance. It is a compilation or lists of martyrs as they were
venerated in the church of Rome Carthage and in some Oriental churches. Throughout the Middle Ages we
see the publication of many martyrologies, and on January 14, 1584, Pope Gregory XIII published an official
Roman martyrology which became obligatory all over the Latin church. At present a new martyrology is being
worked on in the light of historical science and of modern times. While the martyrology is important for the
liturgical year because it orders the celebration of the feasts of the saints by assigning them to the
days of the year, it is not enough to regulate the whole year of the church. As Christian communities we do
not celebrate only feasts of saints but first of all the various mysteries of the life of the Lord distributed over
various seasons. To regulate this — together with the celebration of the feasts of the saints we have the
calendar.
2. The Roman Calendar

The term calendar derives from the Latin word "calendarium" which designated the first day of the month in
old Roman times. On this day the upcoming events and celebrations of the month ahead were announced
(calare - proclaim).

The calendar is therefore the book which contains the structure of the liturgical year and the rules
and regulations governing it. In the second part of this course the official commentary to the rules and the
explanation of the principles that were applied in the revision of the calendar. It was published in 1969 and
became effective on January 1, 1970.

This document contains the following parts:

a. the Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, dated March 21, 1969, in which some principles are
given for the implementation of the new calendar, especially for the difficult transition period from the old one
to the new one.

b. the Apostolic Letter, "Mysterii Paschalis", of Pope Paul VI, dated February 14, 1969. In this letter the
Pope explains how the church throughout the centuries always struggled to make the celebration of the
mysteries of the Lord the center of the Christian life Also the new calendar with its regulations has no other
purpose than to emphasize the centrality of the paschal mystery. The celebration of the feast of the saints
is legitimate, useful and in line with our tradition, but they should never be allowed to increase in such a way
as to obscure the paschal mystery "The Catholic church has always believed that the feast of the saints
proclaim and renew the paschal mystery of Christ" (Decree II)

c. General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the calendar Sixty-one norms and laws are given to
regulate the celebration of the liturgical year and to explain the principles governing the new calendar Nos.
1-47 concern the liturgical year the liturgical day in general, the various sea sons and the rogation and ember
days Nos. 48 - 61 concern the calendar: the kinds of calendars, the proper day for celebrations and the table
of liturgical days

d. The General Norms are followed by the new General Roman calendar, the new Litany of the Saints, and
the Roman calendar to be followed during the transition period until the publication of the new liturgical
books.

E. Next is a Commentary on the Liturgical Seasons, on the Feasts of the Saints and on the Litany of
the Saints. This commentary is invaluable because it does not give only the principles of the reform and their
explain nation but also sound, brief and precise historical information about the liturgical feasts, especially
the Saints.

The Roman calendar is a general book intended as basic structure and guideline. It had to be
adapted by the various local churches all over the world (and also by the religious communities) so that their
legitimate customs, feasts and traditions can be integrated. The Bishops Conference of the Philippines
(CBCP) decided in 1975 to have a national calendar valid for the whole of the Philippines and to do away
with diocesan calendars, valid only for an individual diocese. Also, in this national calendar however feasts
of saints popular in some localities can be celebrated on the customary date, at the discretion of the local
ordinary.

Overall view of the liturgical year and its explanation (chart)

"In the course of the year, holy mother Church unfolds the mystery of Christ from the incarnation and
nativity to the ascension, to Pentecost and the expectation of the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord"
(SC 102).

This statement of the Second Vatican Council could be easily misinterpreted in such a way that
centuries ago someone had made a wonderful plan and distributed the celebration of the various mysteries
of Christ over the period of a whole year. But the historical reality looks differently. It all began with a simple
weekly commemoration of the Lord's passion and resurrection on Sundays Afterwards a great yearly
celebration of the paschal mystery was added only much later came the com memo ration of the incarnation
and nativity. The liturgical year therefore developed in a living process over the centuries.
 The chart shows very beautifully how the fifty-two weeks of the year are situated around and
centered in the paschal mystery of Christ, symbolized by the cross (death) and the Easter candle
(resurrection) This is still specified by the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last letter of the Greek
alphabet, to signify that Christ is the beginning and end of everything. The black lines in the circle mark the
Sundays; they too are directed towards the symbols of the paschal mystery because before we had a yearly
Easter celebration, the Christians celebrated every Sunday the death and resurrection of their Lord. The
Lord’s Day is therefore truly a little Easter feast, the origins feast day, the foundation and kernel of the whole
liturgical year (SC 105). The chart shows clearly two special cycles the Christmas cycle (weeks 1 - 7) and
Easter cycle (weeks 14 -27).

• The Christmas cycle is composed of Advent and Christmas season. The Christmas season
can be divided again into the Christmas feast proper, the octave and the rest of the season.
• The Easter cycle has as its center and high point the Paschal Triduum, beginning Holy
Thursday evening and lasting until Easter Sunday. This is preceded by Lent and followed by
the Easter season. The Easter season can be subdivided again into the Easter octave and the rest
of the Easter season, until Pentecost.
• The remaining weeks of the church year (color green) is the so-called ordinary time" or "the
time throughout the year" in which no particular aspect of the mystery of Christ is
celebrated, but rather the Christ event in all its fullness and especially the power of Christ revealed
and manifested in the saints of the church It is divided into two parts the one from the end of the
Christmas season to Ash Wednesday, and the other one from the end of the Easter season to the
beginning of Advent.

In a schematic in the follow-up of the church year looks like this:

A. Christmas cycle

1. Advent the beginning of the liturgical year First of Advent until December 24 inclusive

2. Christmas

a. Feast proper December 25

b. Octave December 26 January 1 inclusive

c. The rest of the Christmas Season January 2 until Baptism of the Lord

B. Ordinary Time, Part I Monday after Baptism of the Lord until Tuesday before Ash Wednesday inclusive

C. Easter Cycle

I. Lent Ash Wednesday until the Holy Thursday Chrism Mass inclusive

II. Paschal Trillium Holy Thursday Last Supper Mass until Easter Sunday inclusive
 III. Easter Season

a. Octave Easter Sunday to Second Sunday of Easter

b. The rest of the Easter Season: Monday after Second Sunday of Easter until Pentecost
inclusive

D. Ordinary Time Part II: Monday after Pentecost until Saturday before First Sunday of Advent

The follow-up of the seasons of the Church Year can easily be kept in mind with the catchword
ACOLPEO, the word formed by the initials of the seasons

Advent Christmas
Ordinary time, Part I
Lent
Paschal Triduum
Easter Season
Ordinary Time, Part II

An overall view according to the historical origin looks very different from the one according to the
follow-up of the seasons. It is not easy to indicate the historical origin of the seasons and to place them in
the proper order, because they developed gradually and progressively and were often different from one local
Church to the other. The indicated time in the scheme below therefore has to be accepted with great caution:

1. Sunday: it is the oldest feast, the weekly commemoration of the death and resurrection of the Lord, going
back to apostolic times. The incarnation was included in this weekly Easter Feast.

2. Yearly Easter celebration: it originated in the middle of the second century (perhaps it also goes back to
apostolic times, but we do not have written testimonies for this). In the fourth and the fifth century this
celebration developed into a Triduum.

3 Lent: It is a preparation time for the yearly Paschal feast; it can be traced back to the fourth century.

4. Easter Season: It is the extended period of joy and festivity about the resurrection of the Lord which
included the Pentecost. The beginnings of this season are in the third to the fourth century

5. Christmas feast: Its origin is in the fourth century.

6. Advent Similar to Lent (as a preparation period for Easter) the Christians began to observe in the 4th
century a preparation period for Christmas. It was further developed in the sixth to the eighth century

7. Christmas Season (which included Epiphany, the Christmas feast of the East): It originated in the fourth
century and was further developed in the seventh century.

8. Ordinary time: An indication of is origin is not possible and it developed through all the centuries.
 From this schematic presentation it is obvious that the oldest and the most important part of the
liturgical year is the Easter feast with the preparation time of Lent and the time of festivity until Pentecost.
The Christmas feast, with its preparation period of Advent and the season of festivity (Christmas season),
followed in a later period.

E. The "church year”: word and concept

It is a relatively new term which is found for the first time in 1589 in a sermon of the Lutheran Pastor
of Magdeburg (Germany), Johannes Pomarius. That such a concept was coined is a sign and an indication
that, at that time, the civil year was looked at in a secularized way. In the middle ages the year from its
beginning to end was the "annus Domini" (the year of the Lord, abbreviated AD), belonging to God and
under his care. It seems that in the sixteenth century such an understanding of time was fading, and that is
why Johannes Pomarius created a "new year" which he called "church year" And this later came to be
known also in its latinized form as "liturgical year" (annus liturgicus)

In its origin the liturgical year was considered to be a kind of a counterpart to the secularized
understanding of the civil year. Today, it cannot be understood that way any longer. We believers know that
all our time is God's time and that every year -- civil or liturgical - is always the year of the Lord. After all,
Christ came into this world and made himself subject to time, and because of this everything was made holy
and became sanctified. When we make use today of the word "church year" or "liturgical year" we do not
intend to create a rival to the civil year, but we simply mean the follow-up of feasts and seasons celebrated
by the Christian community in the course of one year. Since the Middle Ages, Advent is considered to be the
beginning of the liturgical year.

Perhaps the time has come for us to have a critical look at the concept and reality of the church year.
We cannot dispense with a term to designate the follow-up of liturgical seasons and celebrations, and to
present it as a unity, similar to the term "school year", "business year", etc. But is it necessary that we go on
beginning the year of the church with Advent while the vast majority of humankind observes the beginning of
the year on the first of January? Could it not be that the beginning of the civil year and the beginning of the
liturgical year are celebrated on the same day namely on the first of January? By doing this there would be
a great occasion to give more spiritual and religious weight to the beginning of the civil year, which at present
is very much neglected by the official liturgy of the church.
a. Questions for Discussion:

1. What regulates Church Year? Give the importance of Martyrology and Roman Calendar.
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2. What are the important cycles we have in Liturgical Year? What is the center of this cycles?
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3. Do you think liturgical year develop in a living process over the centuries.? How does liturgical
celebrations affect our lives?
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b. Activity 3. Fill in the Blanks. Choose the correct answer from the box.

martyrology of St. Jerome martyrology oldest Roman Calendar

death and resurrection feasts of the saints. First Influential

_________1. The most important among the old martyrologies is the _____________

_________2. The oldest feast, the weekly commemoration of the _______________of the Lord.

_________3. The ____________is a list of martyrs in the order of their feasts as they were celebrated in the
local church.

_________4. Martyrology is important for the liturgical year because it orders the celebration of the______.

_________5. The ______ and the most important part of the liturgical year is the Easter feast

c. Application:

Active participation on liturgical activities is one way to integrate our life into the liturgical life of the Church. As we enter
into the seasons of the Christian year, we can use the material to symbolize the spiritual. Through our loving
participation in craft, story, song, and instruction we grow in the knowledge and love of God and Church.

Make a short reflection about your participation in church activities. On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest and
1 as the lowest how do you rate the level of your involvement and awareness of the Christian Liturgical Celebrations?
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Course References:

• Wostyn, Lode. DISCIPLESHIP IN COMMUNITY: A WORKBOOK FOR THEOLOGY 3. Quezon

City: Claretian Publications, 2003.
• Raas, Bernhard, SVD. LITURGY, MINISTRIES AND THE BIBLE. Manila: Logos Publications,Inc.,
2010.
• CBCP-ECCE. CATECHISM FOR FILIPINO CATHOLICS. Manila: Word and Life Publications,1997.
• Chupungco, Fr. Anscar, OSB. The Filipino Catholics and their Life of Worship And Prayer.
• DOCETE, Nos. 107 & 108, Issue Nos. 112, 113 & 114. Intramuros, Manila: ECCE National
Catechetical Office, Jan to Sept. 2003.
• Balon, Jess P. Liturgical Year, DOCETE, Nos. 107 & 108. MANILA: ECCE-National
Catechetical Office, 2015.

• Salud, Audrey Vincentine. Christ and the Church (Module 2), Letran Calamba Religious Education
Program. Katha Publishing Company, Inc., 2013.
• Knox, Ian. Theology for Teachers, Claretian Publications, 2011.