July. 2. SS. Processus and Martinianus (legendary soldier-martyrs at Rome). 10. Natale of the Seven Brethren (at Rome). 29. SS. Felix, Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix (Pope Felix II; the others commemorated at Rome on the Via Portuensis). 30. SS. Abdon and Sennen (martyrs at Rome).
August. 1. St Peter ‘in Vincula’ (more commonly ‘ad Vincula’: it is probable that the date marks the dedication of a church at Rome). 2. St Stephen, bishop (of Rome). 5. SS. Xystus, bishop, Felicissimus and Agapitus (all of Rome). 8. St Cyriacus (deacon, at Rome: perhaps marks the date of his translation by Pope Marcellus). 10. Natale of St Lawrence (Rome). 11. St Tiburtius (martyred outside Rome on the Via Lavicana). 13. St Hippolytus (martyr according to the legend at Rome). 14. St Eusebius, presbyter (at Rome). 15. Assumption of St Mary. 17. St Agapitus (at Praeneste). 22. St Timotheus (martyr at Rome). 28. St Hermes (at Rome). 29. St Sabina (virgin-martyr at Rome). 30. SS. Felix and Adauctus (both at Rome).
September. 8. Nativity of St Mary. 11. SS. Protus and Hyacinthus (both at Rome). 14. SS. Cornelius and Cyprian: also Exaltation of Holy Cross (Cornelius, Pope, Cyprian of Carthage). 15. Natale of St Nicomedes (presbyter martyr at Rome). 16. Natale of St Euphemia, and of SS. Lucia and Geminianus (all at Rome). 27. SS. Cosmas and Damian (Eastern). 29. Dedication of the Basilica of the Holy Angel Michael.
October. 7. Natale of St Marcus, Pope. 14. Natale of St Callistus, Pope.
November. 1. St Caesarius (an African deacon martyred in Campania). 8. The four crowned saints (at Rome). 9. Natale of St Theodorus (Asia Minor). 11. Natale of St Menna: likewise St Martin, bishop (Menna, Asia Minor: Martin of Tours). 22. St Caecilia (Roman). 23. St Clement: likewise St Felicitas (both Roman). 24. St Chrysogonus (Roman). 29. St Saturninus (a Roman, martyred at Toulouse). 30. St Andrew, Apostle.
December. 13. St Lucia (Syracuse). 25. Nativity of the Lord. 26. Natale of St Stephen. 27. St John, Evangelist. 28. Holy Innocents. 31. St Silvester, Pope.
When we examine these lists we find (1) the principal festivals of the Lord, of His Mother, and of His Apostles placed as they are still noted in the Kalendar. It may be observed that Jan. 1 is not styled the Circumcision; and there is no reference to the Circumcision in the collect. In the mass for the Epiphany the leading of the Gentiles by a star and the gifts of the Magi are the prominent features. The use of the name Ypapante as the first name for the Purification (Feb. 2) suggests the Eastern origin of the festival. We find (2) the great majority of the saints recorded to be Roman martyrs—or of martyrs connected with Rome, either in fact or by legend; but (3) there are a few famous martyrs from other regions of the world, as St George, St Vincent, SS. Cosmas and Damian, and St Lucy, of Dec. 13. And Martin of Tours has a place. We also find that some of the obscurer saints of the earlier list disappear. Frequent pilgrimages to the East, together with the interchange of literary correspondence between the churches, are sufficient to account for the appearance of the Oriental martyrs. The leading features of the Western Kalendar, as it prevailed in the mediaeval period, and has subsisted to the present day, are already apparent.
It will be seen that All Saints does not appear on Nov. 1; and yet it was certainly observed in many churches in England, France, and Germany during the eighth century. It is placed at Nov. 1 in the Metrical Martyrology attributed to Bede, who died in A.D. 735. Though therefore this Martyrology, as we now possess it, shows signs of having been re-handled, it seems hazardous to attribute the origin of the festival, as is done by some, to the dedication of a church at Rome ‘in honorem Omnium Sanctorum’ by Pope Gregory III (A.D. 731-741).
Much obscurity attends the origin of All Souls’ Day. It would seem that Amalarius of Metz, early in the ninth century, had inserted in his Kalendar an anniversary commemoration of all the departed, and this was probably (as the context suggests) immediately after All Saints’ Day; but the practice of observing the day did not at once become general, and the earliest clear testimony to Nov. 2 does not emerge till the end of the tenth century, when Odilo, abbot of Clugny, stimulated by a vision of the sufferings of souls in purgatory, reported to him by a pilgrim returning from Jerusalem, enjoined on the monastic churches subject to Clugny the observance of Nov. 2. The practice rapidly spread.