Calendar of saints

{{short description|Christian liturgical calendar celebrating saints}}
{{About|the calendar of saints in general|specific calendars of saints}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
[[File:Calendar of saints.jpg|thumb|A [[medieval]] manuscript fragment of [[Finland|Finnish]] origin, {{c.|1340|lk=no}}–1360, utilized by the [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] convent at [[Turku]], showing the liturgical calendar for the month of June]]
The '''calendar of saints''' is the traditional Christian method of organizing a [[liturgical year]] by associating each day with one or more [[saint]]s and referring to the day as the '''feast day''' or '''feast''' of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does not mean "a large meal, typically a celebratory one", but instead "an annual religious celebration, a day dedicated to a particular saint".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/feast|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120727200851/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/feast|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 July 2012|title=feast – definition of feast in English from the Oxford dictionary|work=oxforddictionaries.com}}</ref>

The system arose from the early Christian custom of commemorating each [[martyr]] annually on the date of their death, their birth into heaven, a date therefore referred to in [[Latin]] as the martyr's ''dies natalis'' ('day of birth'). In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], a calendar of saints is called a ''[[Menologion]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.learn.columbia.edu/treasuresofheaven/relics/|title=Relics and Reliquaries – Treasures of Heaven|work=columbia.edu|access-date=1 August 2012|archive-date=20 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620183514/http://learn.columbia.edu/treasuresofheaven/relics/|url-status=dead}}</ref> "Menologion" may also mean a set of icons on which saints are depicted in the order of the dates of their feasts, often made in two panels.

== History ==
[[File:P. 13 a calendar of saint days.jpg|thumb|A Welsh calendar of saints' days, {{c.|1488–1498}}]]
[[File:National Library of Ireland MS G10 p24.jpg|thumb|right|Excerpt from the Irish [[Martyrology of Oengus|Feastology of Oengus]], presenting the entries for 1 and 2 January in the form of quatrains of four six-syllabic lines for each day. In this 16th-century copy (MS G10 at the [[National Library of Ireland]]) we find pairs of two six-syllabic lines combined into bold lines, amended by glosses and notes that were added by later authors.]]

As the number of recognized saints increased during [[Late Antiquity]] and the first half of the [[Middle Ages]], eventually every day of the year had at least one saint who was commemorated on that date. To deal with this increase, some saints were moved to alternate days in some traditions or completely removed, with the result that some saints have different feast days in different calendars. For example, saints [[Perpetua and Felicity]] died on 7 March, but this date was later assigned to St. [[Thomas Aquinas]], allowing them only a commemoration (see [[Tridentine calendar]]), so in 1908 they were moved one day earlier.<ref>''Calendarium Romanum'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1969), p. 89</ref> When the 1969 reform of the Catholic calendar moved him to 28 January, they were moved back to 7 March (see [[General Roman Calendar]]). Both days can thus be said to be their feast day, in different traditions. The [[General Roman Calendar]], which list those saints celebrated in the entire church, contains only a selection of the saints for each of its days. A fuller list is found in the [[Roman Martyrology]], and some of the saints there may be celebrated locally.

The earliest feast days of saints were those of martyrs, venerated as having shown for Christ the greatest form of love, in accordance with the teaching: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."<ref>{{bibleverse||John|15:13}}</ref> Saint [[Martin of Tours]] is said to be the first<ref>{{cite web |url=http://allsaintsbrookline.org/celtic/saints/martin.html |title=Commemoration of St. Martin of Tours |publisher=All Saints Parish |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202052800/http://allsaintsbrookline.org/celtic/saints/martin.html |archive-date=2008-12-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1B1-371434.html |title=Saint Martin of Tours |publisher=Britannica Concise Encyclopedia |date=2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202013257/http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1B1-371434.html |archive-date=2008-12-02}}</ref> or at least one of the first non-martyrs to be venerated as a saint. The title "[[confessor]]" was used for such saints, who had confessed their faith in Christ by their lives rather than by their deaths. Martyrs are regarded as dying in the service of the Lord, and confessors are people who died natural deaths. A broader range of titles was used later, such as: [[Virgin (title)|Virgin]], [[Pastor]], [[Bishop]], [[Monk]], [[Priest]], Founder, [[Abbot]], Apostle, [[Doctor of the Church]].

The [[Tridentine Mass|Tridentine Missal]] has [[common (liturgy)|common formulæ]] for Masses of Martyrs, Confessors who were bishops, Doctors of the Church, Confessors who were not Bishops, Abbots, Virgins, Non-Virgins, Dedication of Churches, and Feast Days of the Blessed Virgin Mary. [[Pope Pius XII]] added a common formula for Popes. The [[General Roman Calendar of 1960|1962 Roman Missal of Pope John XXIII]] omitted the common of Apostles, assigning a proper Mass to every feast day of an Apostle. The present [[Roman Missal]] has common formulas for the Dedication of Churches, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Martyrs (with special formulas for missionary martyrs and virgin martyrs), pastors (subdivided into bishops, generic pastors, founders of churches, and missionaries), Doctors of the Church, Virgins, and (generic) Saints (with special formulas for abbots, monks, nuns, religious, those noted for works of mercy, educators, and [generically] women saints).

This [[calendar]] system, when combined with major [[church (building)|church]] festivals and movable and immovable feasts, constructs a very human and personalised yet often localized way of organizing the year and identifying dates. Some Christians continue the tradition of dating by saints' days: their works may appear "dated" as "The Feast of [[Martin of Tours|Saint Martin]]". Poets such as [[John Keats]] commemorate the importance of ''[[The Eve of Saint Agnes]]''.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

As different Christian jurisdictions parted ways theologically, differing lists of saints began to develop. This happened because the same individual may be considered differently by one church; in extreme examples, one church's saint may be another church's heretic, as in the cases of [[Nestorius]], [[Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria]], or [[Archbishop Flavian of Constantinople]].

== Ranking of feast days ==
{{Main|Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite|Liturgical calendar (Lutheran)#Structure}}
In the [[Catholic Church]] feast days are ranked in accordance with their importance. In the post-[[Second Vatican Council|Vatican II]] form of the [[Roman Rite]], feast days are ranked (in descending order of importance) as [[Solemnity|solemnities]], feasts or [[memorial (liturgy)|memorials]] (obligatory or optional).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scborromeo.org/litcal.htm|title=Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church of Picayune, MS – General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar|work=scborromeo.org|access-date=2008-08-13|archive-date=2014-09-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925094626/http://www.scborromeo.org/litcal.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Pope John XXIII]]'s 1960 [[Code of Rubrics]], whose use remains authorized by the [[motu proprio]] ''[[Summorum Pontificum]]'', divides liturgical days into I, II, III, and IV class days. Those who use even earlier forms of the Roman Rite rank feast days as doubles (of three or four kinds), Semidoubles, and Simples. See [[Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite#Feast days|Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite]].

In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] the ranking of feasts varies from church to church. In the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] they are: [[Great Feasts]], middle, and minor feasts. Each portion of such feasts may also be called feasts as follows: [[All-Night Vigil]]s, [[Polyeleos]], [[Great Doxology]], Sextuple ("sixfold", having six [[stichera]] at [[Vespers]] and six [[troparia]] at the [[Canon (hymnography)|Canon]] of [[Matins]]). There are also distinctions between Simple feasts and double (i.e., two simple feasts celebrated together). In Double Feasts, the order of hymns and readings for each feast are rigidly instructed in [[Typikon]], the liturgy book.

The [[Lutheran Church]]es celebrate Festivals, Lesser Festivals, Days of Devotion, and Commemorations.<ref name="Senn2012">{{cite book |last1=Senn |first1=Frank C. |title=Introduction to Christian Liturgy |date=2012 |publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=978-1-4514-2433-1 |page=103 }}</ref>

In the [[Church of England]], mother Church of the [[Anglican Communion]], there are [[Principal Feast]]s and [[Principal Holy Day]]s, [[Festival (Church of England)|Festivals]], [[Lesser Festival]]s, and [[Commemoration (observance)|Commemorations]].

== Connection to tropical cyclones ==
Before the advent of [[Tropical cyclone naming|standardized naming of tropical storms and hurricanes]] in the [[Tropical cyclone basins|North Atlantic basin]], [[tropical storm]]s and [[Atlantic hurricane|hurricanes]] that affected the island of [[Puerto Rico]] were informally named after the Catholic saints corresponding to the feast days when the cyclones either made landfall or started to seriously affect the island. Examples are: the 1780 San Calixto hurricane (more widely known as the [[Great Hurricane of 1780]], the deadliest in the North Atlantic basin's [[recorded history]]; named after [[Pope Callixtus I]] (Saint Callixtus), whose feast day is October&nbsp;14),<ref name=Mujica>{{Cite report|first=Frank|last=Mújica-Baker|title=Huracanes y tormentas que han afectado a Puerto Rico|publisher=Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, Agencia Estatal para el Manejo de Emergencias y Administración de Desastres|url=http://www.gobierno.pr/NR/rdonlyres/49EA64D0-305B-4881-8B85-04B518004BD5/0/Ciclones_en_PR.pdf|pages=4, 7–10, 12–14|language=es|access-date=October 12, 2018|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924022947/http://www.gobierno.pr/NR/rdonlyres/49EA64D0-305B-4881-8B85-04B518004BD5/0/Ciclones_en_PR.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> the [[1867 San Narciso hurricane]] (named after Saint [[Narcissus of Jerusalem]], feast day October&nbsp;29),<ref name=Mujica/> the [[1899 San Ciriaco hurricane]] (the deadliest in the island's recorded history; [[Saint Cyriacus]], August&nbsp;8),<ref name=Mujica/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ecu.edu/renci/StormsToLife/SanCiriaco/index.html|title=San Ciriaco Hurricane|work=East Carolina University, RENCI Engagement Center|access-date=12 October 2018|archive-date=19 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019002209/https://www.ecu.edu/renci/StormsToLife/SanCiriaco/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> the [[1928 San Felipe hurricane]] (the strongest in terms of measured wind speed; [[September 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)#Pre-Schism Western Saints|Saint Philip]], father of Saint [[Eugenia of Rome]], September&nbsp;13),<ref name=Mujica/> and the [[1932 San Ciprian hurricane]] ([[Cyprian and Justina|Saint Cyprian]], September&nbsp;26).<ref name=Mujica/>

This practice continued until quite some time after the [[United States Weather Bureau]] (now called the National Weather Service) started [[History of tropical cyclone naming|publishing and using official female human names]] (initially; male names were added starting in 1979 after the NWS relinquished control over naming to the [[World Meteorological Organization]]). The last two usages of this informal naming scheme in Puerto Rico were in 1956 ([[Hurricane Betsy (1956)|Hurricane Betsy]], locally nicknamed Santa Clara after Saint [[Clare of Assisi]], feast day August&nbsp;12 back then; her feast day was advanced one day in 1970) and 1960 ([[Hurricane Donna]], nicknamed San Lorenzo after Saint [[Lawrence Giustiniani|Lawrence Justinian]], September&nbsp;5 back then; feast day now observed January&nbsp;8 by [[Canons regular]] of St. [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]]).<ref name=Mujica/>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Saints|Holidays}}
<!-- PLEASE RESPECT ALPHABETICAL ORDER -->
* [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)]]
* [[Calendar of saints (Episcopal Church)]]
* [[Calendar of saints (Anglican Church of Southern Africa)]]
* [[Calendar of saints (Lutheran)]]
* [[Calendar of saints (Orthodox Tewahedo)]]
* [[Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar]]
* [[Coptic calendar]]
* [[General Roman Calendar]]
* [[Diario Romano]]
* [[Patronal feast day]]
* [[Gŵyl Mabsant]] – Welsh saints' days
* [[List of saints]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Saints days}}
* [http://saints.sqpn.com/today-on-the-calendar/ Today's Saints on the Calendar (Catholic Church)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090221053105/http://www.saintjosaphat.org.ua/kalendar/ Greek Catholic Saints' Calendar] ([[Greek Catholic Church]]) {{in lang|uk}}
* [http://www.oca.org/FSlives.asp?SID=4 Calendar of Saints] ([[Orthodox Church in America]])
* [https://ponomar.net/cgi-bin/menologion.cgi Orthodox Calendar] (Ponomar Project)
* [http://www.bartleby.com/210/ ''Butler's Lives of the Saints''] Bartleby.com
* {{cite web | url = https://www.ecatholic2000.com/saints.shtml | title = Selected lives, writings and devotions | website = ecatholic2000 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131114023922/https://www.ecatholic2000.com/saints.shtml | archive-date = November 14, 2013 | url-status = live | access-date = February 11, 2019 }}

{{Personal names}}
{{Catholic saints}}
{{Calendar of Saints}}
{{Calendars}}
{{Parties}}
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[[Category:Specific calendars]]
[[Category:Christian saints]]
[[Category:Saints' days]]
[[Category:Canonization]]