Heortology

by K. A. Heinrich Kellner

III

(p. [35])
The Festivals of Obligation as observed in Different Countries

Rome. Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, one day each; Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, St Joseph (19th March), the Annunciation, Ascension, St Philip Neri (26th May), Corpus Christi, the Nativity of St John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, the Assumption, Nativity of Our Lady, All Saints, the Immac. Conc., St John the Evangelist (27th December). The civil law of the Italian Kingdom recognises the following days as legal holidays: the Epiphany, Ascension, Corpus Christi, SS. Peter and Paul, the feasts of Our Lady on the 15th August, 8th September, and 8th December, Christmas and the patron saint of the city and diocese.

France. In accordance with the concordat of Napoleon four feasts were celebrated: Christmas, Ascension, the Assumption, and All Saints. All other festivals when they fell on a week day were transferred to the following Sunday. Even in Belgium and in the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, in the part of Limburg belonging to Holland, and in the bailiwick of Meisenheim in the diocese of Treves, this scanty provision of feasts holds good.

Austria. The Cis- and-Transleithan countries observe the same holy days. Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, two days each; the Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, the Annunciation, the Ascension, Corpus Christi, SS. Peter and Paul, the Assumption, All Saints, the Immaculate Conception. The feasts of the patron saints were transferred by Joseph II. to the following Sunday, but in each of the Crown-lands the local patron is commemorated on his proper day, i.e. in Austria above and below the Enns, the feast of St Leopold: in Upper Austria, St Florian: in Moravia, SS. Cyril and Methodius: in Galicia, St Stanislaus and St Michael: in Silesia, St Hedwig: in Bohemia, St Wenceslaus and St John Nepomuk: in Styria, Carinthia, Camiola, the provinces of the Litoral, Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg, St Joseph: in Sclavonia, St John the Baptist: in Hungary, St Stephen the Confessor: in Croatia, St Elias: in Transilvania, St Ladislaus: in Salzburg, St Rupert: in Dalmatia, St Jerome: in Goritz, St Hermagoras and St Fortunatus.

In the eight old provinces of Prussia, the festivals recognised by the state are: Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, two days each; the Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, Ascension, Corpus Christi, SS. Peter and Paul, All Saints, the (Protestant) day of penitence and prayer, the Annunciation and the Immaculate Conception. In the archdiocese of Posen, the Nativity of Our Lady, and the Assumption as well as St Stanislaus are observed, and in Gnesen, St George as patron of the diocese. The new provinces have had also to adopt the Protestant day of penitence.

Hanover, the dioceses of Hildesheim and Osnabrück. Besides the days observed in Prussia, the Nativity of St John the Baptist, the Nativity and Assumption of Our Lady, St Michael, and the local patrons St Bernward and St Martin.

For the countries of the Northern Mission in the diocese of Osnabrück, the following are omitted from the list just given: Nativity of St John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, and all the feasts of Our Lady, thus leaving only Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, each with two days; the Circumcision, the Epiphany, the Ascension, Corpus Christi, All Saints. This applies to Bremen, Hamburg, Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, both the Mecklenburgs and Denmark.

Bavaria. The following festivals are observed: Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, each for two days; the Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, St Joseph, the Annunciation, the Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Nativity of St John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, the Assumption and Nativity of Our Lady, All Saints, the Immaculate Conception. Each diocese of Bavaria celebrates its own particular patron as well.

The Palatinate, diocese of Spires. Here the effects of the French dominion are still observable, and the only festivals of obligation observed are: the Circumcision, the Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Assumption, All Saints. Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost are kept each for two days.

The Kingdom of Saxony. The festivals of obligation are: the Circumcision, the Epiphany and Annunciation, the Ascension, Corpus Christi, SS. Peter and Paul, the Assumption, the Nativity of Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception, All Saints; Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, each for two days.

In the ecclesiastical province of the Upper Rhine there are different regulations in each diocese.

Würtemburg, diocese of Rottenburg. The Circumcision, the Epiphany, Candlemas, the Annunciation, Ascension, Corpus Christi, Nativity of St John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, the Assumption and Nativity of Our Lady, All Saints, the Immaculate Conception; Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, each for two days.

Baden, archdiocese of Freiburg. The five chief feasts of Our Lady are kept on the day itself; so too is the feast of St Joseph, and the other festivals are the same as in Würtemburg, with the exception of the 24th June.

Hesse-Nassau: the dioceses of Fulda and Limburg. Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, each for two days; the Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, Annunciation, Ascension, Corpus Christi, SS. Peter and Paul, Assumption, All Saints; the Prussian day of penitence is observed in November, and in Limburg, the patron saint on his own day.

Hesse-Darmstadt: diocese of Mainz. The same regulations as in the Palatinate.

Alsace-Lorraine. The four French holy days. An edict of 10th October 1887 adds to these Good Friday, Easter Monday, and Whit Monday, as general holidays in the legal sense, and as holidays and days of rest in the sense of the Code de procédure civile.

In Holland, in the archdiocese of Utrecht, and in the diocese of Harlem, the following rank as full holy days on which no work is to be done: the day following the three chief feasts of the year, the Circumcision, Epiphany, Annunciation, and the Assumption. It is of obligation to hear mass only on Candlemas, the Nativity of Our Lady, and the Immaculate Conception. In the dioceses of Breda and Bois-le-Duc, these three festivals are days of full obligation.

For England, Pope Pius VI. appointed the following holy days on the 9th March 1777: Easter and Pentecost, each two days: Christmas, the Circumcision, Epiphany, the Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Annunciation, the Assumption, SS. Peter and Paul, All Saints, and the feast of the patron saint. At the present time are observed, Easter, Pentecost and Christmas, one day each, the Circumcision, Epiphany, Ascension, Corpus Christi, SS. Peter and Paul, the Assumption, and All Saints. St Andrew’s day is added for Scotland, and St Patrick’s day and the Annunciation for Ireland. The Immaculate Conception is a purely ecclesiastical festival.

Switzerland affords an interesting study owing to the great varieties existing within so small a space. The diocese of Basel-Soleure: Christmas, the Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, Corpus Christi, the Assumption, All Saints, and the Immaculate Conception. In the canton of Lucerne, St Joseph’s day and the Annunciation are celebrated, the latter also in the canton of Zug. The three chief festivals are kept for day only. The diocese of Coire, comprising the cantons of Grisons, Schwyz, Uri, Unterwalden, Zurich, Glarus, and the principality of Liechtenstein: the three chief festivals, each two days, the Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas and St Joseph. The last two days do not rank as holy days in the canton of Zurich, nor does the Annunciation in the cantons of Zurich and Schwyz. The Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Nativity of St John the Baptist, and SS. Peter and Paul are not kept in either of these two cantons, but the Assumption and All Saints are kept everywhere. The Nativity of Our Lady is not kept in Zurich and Schwyz, but the Immaculate Conception is kept everywhere except in the canton of Zurich. The following patron saints are kept, St Fridolin (6th March) in the canton of Glarus, Nicholas von der Flu (21st March) in Unterwalden, St Martin with an octave in Schwyz and Uri, St Lucius (3rd Dec.) in Coire. St Gall, comprising the cantons of St Gall and Appenzell, keeps the Epiphany, Candlemas, Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Assumption, All Saints, and the Immaculate Conception; the three chief feasts, each for two days, and St Gall’s day (16th Oct.) as patron of the diocese. In the diocese of Geneva-Lausanne, consisting of the four French cantons: the Circumcision, the Epiphany (with the exception of the cantons of Geneva and Vaud), Candlemas, the Annunciation (with the exception of Vaud and Neuchâtel), the Ascension, Corpus Christi, Assumption, All Saints, and the Immaculate Conception (with the exception of Geneva, Vaud, and Neuchâtel). The three chief feasts are kept for one day each. This is also the case in the canton of Valais, diocese of Sion, but the following days are also kept in this canton: the Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, Annunciation, Ascension, Corpus Christi, Nativity of St John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, Assumption and Nativity of Our Lady and her Immaculate Conception, and St Maurice as Patron Saint (22nd Sept.).

Russian Poland. The three chief feasts, each for two days, the Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, St Joseph, Annunciation, Ascension, Corpus Christi, Nativity of St John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, Assumption, Nativity of Our Lady, All Saints, the Immaculate Conception, St Stanislaus as patron. This last named day is not observed in the schools and law-courts on account of its nationalistic character.

Spain. The Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, St Joseph, Annunciation, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Corpus Christi, SS. Peter and Paul, Assumption, Nativity of Our Lady, All Saints, the Immaculate Conception, Christmas. The three chief festivals are kept for only one day each.

Portugal. The three chief festivals for one day each. The Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, St Joseph, Annunciation, Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Sacred Heart, St Antony of Padua (13th June), SS. Peter and Paul, Assumption, All Saints, the Immaculate Conception. Before the last reduction, the Nativity of Our Lady, and from mid-day on Maundy Thursday to mid-day on Good Friday were also holy days of obligation. Lisbon keeps the feast of St Vincent (22nd January) as patron of the city.

The United States observe only six festivals which may fall on week-days; all the others are transferred to the Sunday. These are Christmas, the Circumcision, Ascension, Assumption, All Saints, and the Immaculate Conception. The three chief festivals are kept for one day only. Since the number of festivals varied originally in the different states, an attempt was made after uniformity, and the council of Baltimore in 1852 desired to retain only four festivals as in France. Rome, however, was not satisfied with this, and, in 1866, the six festivals mentioned above were adopted. The provincial synod of Cincinnati in 1861 agreed to adopt the Epiphany, Annunciation, and Corpus Christi as well.

Brazil. The three chief festivals, each for one day. The Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, Annunciation, Ascension, Corpus Christi, Nativity of St John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, Assumption, Nativity of Our Lady, All Saints and the Immaculate Conception.

Russia. Easter, Pentecost, Christmas, the Circumcision, Epiphany, Ascension, Transfiguration, Candlemas, Annunciation, our Lady’s Presentation and Assumption, and the Exaltation of the Cross (14th Sept). All these are, of course, kept according to the Julian calendar. To these are added the following feasts peculiar to Russia: the three feasts of the Jordan so-called, i.e. the Blessing of the Water, and the thirteen so-called Gala-feasts, i.e. the commemoration of the reigning dynasty (see Kirchenlexikon, X., 2nd ed. 1399). The schismatics in Austria-Hungary keep their festivals according to the Julian calendar, so that where the population is mixed, each feast is as a rule kept twice.