The Epiphany Proclamation and Date of Easter

One of the neatest things about being Catholic is that there's always something new to experience, especially with internet access and social media making things so readily accessible. Thanks to technology, you can pretty much know what the pope is up to.  If you have a Twitter account, His Holiness could also know what's going on with you!

Thanks to television coverage of the Papal Mass on the Epiphany a few years ago, I discovered the Epiphany Proclamation- when the Church announces the dates of Easter and other moveable celebrations. I knew how the Church determined the date of Easter every year (the Sunday after the first full moon of Spring in the northern hemisphere), but I didn't know the history behind it or that the proclamation was so solemn.

So I did some research. The tradition dates back to the early Church when calendars were not readily available. Prior to the Council of Nicaea in 325, different areas were celebrating Easter at different times because of the inconsistencies with the Jewish calendar. The Council established that a method independent of the Jewish calendar be used, and that Easter should be consistently celebrated throughout the universal Church. Interestingly enough, it would take several centuries before the Church achieves any consistency; it still has some differences even today.

Skipping over a lot of history, it became the norm for the Patriarch in Alexandria (the place with the most astronomers) to determine the date of Easter, and then notify the Bishop of Rome and other metropolitan bishops. Over time, it became custom to announce the upcoming date of Easter and the other moveable feasts on the Epiphany (January 6). This is done at the Vatican and many other metropolitan churches at Mass, either after the Gospel reading or after Holy Communion.

Based on the text of previous year's proclamations and an Ordo, here's what the Solemn Proclamation for 2013 should be at St Peter's Basilica:

Dear brothers and sisters, the glory of the Lord has shone upon us, and shall ever be manifest among us, until the day of his return. Through the rhythms of times and seasons let us celebrate the mysteries of salvation.

Let us recall the year's culmination, the Easter Triduum of the Lord: his last supper, his crucifixion, his burial, and his rising celebrated between the evening of the 28th of March and the evening of the 30th of March.

Each Easter - as on each Sunday - the Holy Church makes present the great and saving deed by which Christ has for ever conquered sin and death.

From Easter are reckoned all the days we keep holy:
Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, will occur on the 13th of February.
The Ascension of the Lord will be commemorated on the 8th of May.
Pentecost, the joyful conclusion of the season of Easter, will be celebrated on the 19th of May.
Corpus Christi will be celebrated on the 30th of May.
The First Sunday of Advent will be celebrated on the 1st of December.

Likewise the pilgrim Church proclaims the passover of Christ in the feasts of the holy Mother of God, in the feasts of the Apostles and Saints, and in the commemoration of the faithful departed.

To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come, Lord of time and history, be endless praise, for ever and ever.

Amen.

You may notice some differences between the Proclamation and when certain days are celebrated.  In many places within the Latin Rite, both Ascension Thursday and Corpus Christi are transferred to the following Sunday. (I talk more about that here.)  Also, the Eastern Churches that continue to follow the Julian calendar will have differing dates from the West most years.

If you want to catch the Epiphany Proclamation this year, EWTN will be broadcasting the Mass from St Peter's Basilica. Soon after someone will probably post the proclamation on YouTube. Here's a clip I found from 2009: 

So now I'm curious, did you know about the Epiphany Proclamation?  

Ascension Sunday?

Did you go to Mass on Ascension Thursday?  Wait, was the Ascension even celebrated on Thursday?  

If you missed it, I wouldn't panic.  The Ascension might be transferred to the following Sunday in your area.  In the United States, the Ascension was transferred to Sunday, except in the ecclesiastical provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Omaha, and Philadelphia. This may have led to some confusion; at least it did where I live.  In western Pennsylvania, the Ascension was celebrated on Thursday.  Drive a half-hour to a diocese in eastern Ohio or West Virginia, and the Mass would have been for the Thursday in the 6th Week of Easter since the Ascension is celebrated on Sunday.  This was the first year I've noticed that so few areas celebrated the Ascension of the Lord on it's usual place on the calendar- 40 days after Easter Sunday.   

So why the change up?  Transferring the Ascension to Sunday is actually not that new, and part of a larger trend to transfer holy days of obligation and other solemnities to the following Sunday.  Doing so allows greater exposure and more solemn celebration of the holy day among the faithful.  For the Ascension in the United States, this started on the west coast in the late 1990s and eventually spread.  Other parts of the world have also transferred this solemnity to Sunday including Australia, Canada, and some countries in Europe.  With the approval of the Holy See, the episcopal conference (the body of bishops in a country) can transfer solemnities and change some of the holy days of obligation (Canon 1246).  In the United States, each ecclesiastical province (the metropolitan archdiocese and its suffragan dioceses or territories) was permitted to decide whether to transfer the Ascension or not.

There are two additional solemnities that are usually transferred in the United States for the same reason.  The Epiphany is moved from January 6 (twelve days after Christmas) to the Sunday between January 2-8.  Corpus Christi is also moved from the Thursday after Trinity Sunday to the following Sunday. 

Are other days transferred?  Sometimes.  If a solemnity falls on a Sunday in Ordinary Time, then the solemnity replaces the Sunday.  An example would be the Assumption of Mary on August 15- if it falls on a Sunday, then the Assumption is celebrated.  However, Sundays during Lent, Advent, and Easter take precedent over any solemnity during the season.  Examples include the Immaculate Conception on December 8 which is transferred to the following Monday if it falls on a Sunday in Advent, and the Annunciation of the Lord (March 25) which is transferred to a following Monday if it falls on a Sunday in Lent, during Holy Week, or within the Easter Octave.  This isn't a local or regional thing, but done on the General Roman Calendar.

Confused yet?  Well, let's make it just a little bit worse and talk about the other holy days of obligation.

According to Canon 1246, there are 10 days (not including Sundays) that are holy days of obligation:

• Mary the Mother of God (Jan 1)
• the Epiphany (Jan 6)
• St Joseph (Mar 19)
• the Ascension (40 days after Easter)
• Corpus Christi (Thurs after Trinity Sunday)
• Sts Peter & Paul (Jun 29)
• the Assumption of Mary (Aug 15)
• All Saints (Nov 1)
• the Immaculate Conception of Mary (Dec 8)
• Christmas (Dec 25)

If this doesn't sound familiar, that's OK.  Each country has their own holy days of obligation set by the episcopal conference.  In the United States, the Immaculate Conception and Christmas are always holy days of obligation.  The additional three days, other than the Ascension, (Mary the Mother of God, the Assumption, and All Saints) are holy days of obligation unless they fall on Saturday or Monday, then the obligation is abrogated or dispensed.  (This also started in the 1990s.)

So why is the obligation sometimes abrogated?  The answers are both pastoral and practical.  It's no secret that Mass attendance is low in many places on a holy day of obligation.  Also, there are areas where the availability of priests is very low.  There are rural areas where the parish boundaries cover hundreds of miles- the Saturday vigil Mass may be over 100 miles away from where the Sunday Mass may be the following morning.  If you're the priest, that's hard to do; twice as hard if there's a holy day of obligation during the week.  For the priests that struggle to make it happen, they end up offering extra Masses for the people who aren't attending.

Here's my opinion on the matter.  I'm not a big fan of transferring the solemnity to Sunday.  Doing so does expose the occasion more to the faithful, but I think it also takes away from the universality of the Church, especially in modern times where more people are able to travel greater distances and have greater access to information via the internet.  Instead, I'd rather promote the solemnity and encourage its celebration.  Too many people think the that the Church calendar only runs on Sundays, not realizing that there are so many feasts and memorials during the week.  Maybe people can't make it to Mass that day, but they can celebrate a solemnity in other ways.  

As for abrogating the obligation on certain holy days, I can understand this.  This may be especially necessary in areas where there is limited access to sacraments for social, economic, or vocational reasons.  If you've never experienced it, it's hard to understand how getting to Mass may be difficult for either the priest and/or the faithful. 

Also, it's important to say that we shouldn't participate in Mass just because the Church obligates us to do so.  You can go to Mass anytime it's offered, even if we're not obligated.  Sundays and obligated days are just the essentials; there's plenty more that we can celebrate.

Canon Law says the following about holy days of obligation:

On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are obliged to participate in the Mass.  Moreover they are to abstain from those works and affairs which hinder the worship to be rendered to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s day, or the suitable relaxation of mind and body. (Canon 1247)

I'm a big fan of the "suitable relaxation of mind and body" part, next to participating in Mass of course!