Changes to Holy Days of Obligation

Categories: faith

Date: 09 January 2007 13:59:14

The Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales have decided, in their wisdom, to move some of the Holy Days of Obligation kept by the Catholic Church to the nearest Sunday. It applies to "those Solemnities of the Lord (apart from Christmas Day) which fall on a weekday." The proffered reasoning for this change strikes me as odd, especially as one of the days so moved is the Ascension, which, as any fule kno, is 40 days after Easter. Says so in the Bible.

The other two days that have been moved are Epiphany, (so the tradition of the Twelve Days of Christmas apparently mean nothing to the Conference), and Corpus Christi, (the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, which is itself the Sunday after Pentecost). These dates are tied intimately to the cycle of the Church's year, and by breaking this link and moving them to the nearest Sunday, we run the risk of giving the Faithful the impression that "religion is only for Sundays," rather than "your faith should inspire and breathe through your every waking moment, it's not something you keep in the wardrobe and only get out for an hour or so on a Sunday, along with your best hat."

The reason for this change given by the Conference is "In order to foster the celebration of the rhythm of the liturgical year and to celebrate more profoundly the mysteries of the life and mission of the Lord, the Bishops have decided to transfer to Sunday those Holy Days of Obligation which are Solemnities of the Lord (other than Christmas Day)." Frankly, this makes no sense to me. How can breaking the link with the cycle of the Church's year possibly "foster the celebration of the rhythm of the liturgical year"? By moving the Feasts, the Conference is doing the very opposite of its stated aim. And as for "celebrating more profoundly the mysteries of the life and mission of the Lord," surely His Ascension forty days after His Resurrection is a part of that mission, and, indeed, rather more so than "His Ascension 43 days after His Resurrection so you lot don't have to miss an episode of Eastenders by, horrors, having to go to Mass on a weekday,"?

From the Archbishop's pastoral letter, "The main reason for this change is the fact that the observance of Holy Days of Obligation has become increasingly difficult for very many Catholics." Again, this strikes me as, if not nonsensical, at the very least, unlikely. We are no longer living in the dark days of life in England before the Catholic Emancipation Act, nor yet are we members of the Suffering Body of Christ in places where being a Christian is illegal or heavily persecuted. There is a Catholic Church in most English towns of any size, and sometimes more than one. I appreciate that, living in London, I have more access to Catholic Churches than, say, the people living in the small town where I grew up, but even there, a vigil Mass (Mass offered the evening before) and Mass on the day itself is available on all Holy Days of Obligation.

Call me cynical and mean-spirited, but I don't reckon it's a case of "increasingly difficult." I reckon it's more a case of "increasingly can't be bothered." Or, if I'm being charitable, "poorly catechised and hadn't realised it was important."

Just about the only advantage I can see to moving Corpus Christi is that it will make it easier to hold a Corpus Christi Procession* on a Sunday after the main Mass of the day, rather than on a Thursday morning or evening, when most attendees at Mass don't have time to process round the streets, having a need to either get to work or get home to deal with family responsibilities. Other than that, however, I cannot see how breaking the link with the Church's liturgical cycle will help with the celebration of the Church's liturgical cycle.

As for "this will make it easier to attend Mass," since when has the Christian life been about "making life easy for yourself"? As Justina Reilly, a 19th century member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, once said about the life of the consecrated Religious, "Do not think I am sitting here to pass the time away telling you that religious life is poetry. It is the roughest kind of prose." Frankly, if the worst "persecution" you face is that you have to make a bit of an effort to get to Church on eight extra days of the year, you're doing well.

The full list of Holy Days of Obligation, when the Faithful are required to attend church, are, as well as every Sunday of the year:

Circumcision/Mary, Mother of God (January 1st). Actually, on checking the calendar, I discover that this one has been got rid of entirely. Gah. Heaven forbid that anyone should have to get up and do something on New Year's Day, like, oooh, dedicating the year ahead to Our Lord, for instance, rather than lie in bed and nurse their hangover.
Epiphany (January 6th. Or not).
Ash Wednesday (forty days before Easter Sunday, not counting Sundays).
Good Friday (the Friday before Easter Sunday).
Easter Sunday (there's a complicated formula to do with full moons before March 21st, or something)
Ascension (forty days after Easter. Or not).
Corpus Christi (the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. Or not).
SS Peter & Paul (29th June)
Assumption (15th August)
All Saints (1st November)
Christmas (25th December). I suppose I should be grateful that hasn't been moved to the nearest Sunday.

If you're going to move some, why not go the whole hog and move them all? Except I think that then we'd never get to celebrate the Assumption, or SS Peter and Paul, because if I remember the game of Holy Days Top Trumps that is the Liturgical Calendar correctly, ordinary Sundays beat Solemnities of Our Lady, and feasts of Saints, unless the Saint in question is the Church or Diocese's Principal Patron.

*Corpus Christi Procession - The Body, Blood Soul and Divinity of Our Lord, under the species of bread, is enthroned in a monstrance and processed through the streets with candles, incense, singing and so on. They're great fun, and we should have more of them.

[I have edited this a bit - I originally wrote and posted it in a bit of a rush during my lunch break].