Posted on 08/02/2006 6:30:42 AM PDT by NYer
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Because of conflicts in the Catholic Church's liturgical calendar, the Vatican has decided that in 2008 the dates of the feasts of St. Joseph and of the Annunciation of the Lord will be moved.
Working a year and a half in advance to meet the needs of publishers of church calendars, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments published its notification on the 2008 changes in mid-July.
In 2008, if the feast of St. Joseph were to be celebrated as usual on March 19, it would fall on the Wednesday of Holy Week and if the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord were to be celebrated March 25, it would fall on the Tuesday during the octave of Easter.
While the two feasts are among the 14 solemnities marked with special care in the Catholic Church, they do not take precedence over the commemoration of Christ's suffering, death and resurrection.
Therefore, the congregation said, in 2008 the feast of St. Joseph will be celebrated March 15, the day before Palm Sunday, and the feast of the Annunciation will be celebrated March 31, the Monday after the second Sunday of Easter, which also is Divine Mercy Sunday.
Wow, Holy Week is really early in 2008.
From Wikipedia:
In the Western Church, Easter has not fallen on the earliest of the 35 possible dates, March 22, since 1818, and will not do so again until 2285. It will, however, fall on March 23, just one day after its earliest possible date in 2008. Easter last fell on the latest possible date, April 25 in 1943, and will next fall on that date in 2038. However, it will fall on April 24, just one day before this latest possible date in 2011.
For Catholics in 2008 the Pasch is March 23rd. For the Orthodox it is on April 27th.
That's a big difference. Their Lent will just have started when we are in Holy Week.
How precisely do they pick these dates? I used to think it was based on the Jewish calendar but I'm not so sure.
well this is totally wrong!!!! March 25th used to be the first day of the year. It's the date that Frodo saved Middle Earth AND it's my birthday. You can't go moving that important of a date around.
It's the first Sunday after the first full moon in Spring.
SD
The Vatican is not changing anything. The media makes it sound like the Church is just acting on a whim.
There have been rubrics on the books for centuries (in both the pre and post V2 books) which dictate the exact manner in which these two feasts are to be transferred. The Feast of St. Joseph, normally Mar 19th., is always transferred to the second Wednesday after Easter if Holy Week should begin on or before that date. The Annunciation is likewise always transferred to the second Monday after Easter for the same reason. The latter scenario is more common, and this actually last occurred two years ago when Easter fell on Mar. 31st.
Very early - before our whole batch of birthdays (March 27, March 30, April 2, April 6).
It will be nice not having all the birthdays in Lent for a change. Gosh, maybe Lent will be over before we get Girl Scout cookies, too!
thanks jrny! Can always count on you for some good info on this stuff!
From the article:
"In 2008, if the feast of St. Joseph were to be celebrated as usual on March 19, it would fall on the Wednesday of Holy Week" ... "Therefore, the congregation said, in 2008 the feast of St. Joseph will be celebrated March 15, the day before Palm Sunday"
Hmm, why isn't the Feast of St. Joseph being transferred to the second Wednesday after Easter? Holy Week will begin before March 19th in 2008.
Very early!
Oh, fiddlesticks! I will always celebrate the feast of St. Joseph on March 19, regardless of what these Vatican hacks say.
It all follows certain timing after the First Sunday of Advent.
Because the days of Lent, Holy Week and the Resurrection take precedence.
Well, according to the article, the Vatican is moving St. Joseph's Day to the day before Palm Sunday in 2008. That is during Lent, so I guess Lent doesn't take precedence over the Feast of St. Joseph.
You are correct -- it's just Holy Week and Easter.
Sounds like the Novus Ordo rubrics may allow for more variations. Perhaps not, though.
But, the 1962 rubrics specifically state that St. Joseph is transferred to the Wednesday after Low Sunday when Palm Sunday occurs on or before March 19th. I will try to find the exact passage which states this.
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