In 1954, Pope Pius XII (1939–1958) made changes to the General Roman Calendar, incorporating the same calendar established by Pope Pius X (1903–1914) following his liturgical reforms, as well as changes that were made by Pope Pius XI (1922–1939), such as the institution of the Feast of Christ the King (assigned to the last Sunday in October). Some of Pope Pius the XII's changes include the institution of the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (August 22, which was previously the octave day of the Assumption of Mary) in 1944, the inscription of Pius X into the General Calendar (September 3) following his 1954 canonization, and the institution of the Feast of the Queenship of Mary (May 31) in October 1954.
The General Calendar of 1954 is generally not authorized for liturgical use by traditional groups in communion with the Holy See. Some sedevacantistsPre-Vatican II Liturgical Changes : Road to the New Mass by Most Rev. Daniel L. Dolan, The Roman Catholic, June 1983Liturgical Revolution by Rev. Francesco Ricossa, The Roman Catholic, February–April 1987Is Rejecting the Pius XII Liturgical Reforms Illegal? by Rev. Anthony Cekada, 27 April 2006More on the Legal Issue by Rev. Anthony Cekada, 10 July 2006 continue to use it, as well as Old Roman Catholics, as their members consider it to be the last calendar before the revisions that began in 1955. Indults have been granted, however, to certain communities in full communion with Rome, such as some apostolates of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter.
Rank of feast days The ranking of feast days that had grown from an original division between doubles and simplesCatholic Encyclopedia, s.v. Christian Calendar and that by the time of the Tridentine calendar included semidoubles, with Pope Clement VIII adding in 1604 to the distinction between first and second class doubles the new rank of greater double, was in until 1955, when Pope Pius XII abolished the rank of semidouble.
The rank of feast days determines which Mass is said when two feast days occur on the one day, as well as when a feast day falls on Sundays or certain other privileged days. Feast days were classified as Simple, Semidouble, or Double, with feast days of the Double Rite further divided into Double of the I Class, Double of the II Class, Greater Double or Major Double, and Double, in order of descending rank. On ferias and many feast days of simple rank, the celebrant was permitted to substitute a Mass of his own choice such as a votive Mass, or a Mass for the Dead.
What the original meaning of the term "double" may have been is not entirely certain. Some think that the greater festivals were thus styled because the antiphons before and after the psalms were "doubled", i.e. twice repeated entire on these days. Others, with more probability, point to the fact that before the ninth century in certain places, for example at Rome, it was customary on the greater feast days to recite two sets of Matins, the one of the feria or week-day, the other of the festival. Hence such days were known as "doubles".
The Catholic Encyclopedia of the early years of the twentieth century shows the incremental crowding of the calendar (which had increased further by 1954) in the following table based on the official revisions of the Roman Breviary in 1568,For more information on this calendar of Pope Pius V, see Tridentine calendar. 1602, 1631, 1882 and on the situation in 1907.
PopeDateDoubles, I ClassDoubles, II ClassGreater DoublesDoublesSemidoublesTotalPius V1568191705360149Clement VIII16021918164368164Urban VIII16311918164578176Leo XIII188221182412874275-190723272513372280
In 1907, when, in accordance with the rules in force since the time of Pope Pius V, feast days of any form of double, if impeded by falling on the same dayCatholic Encyclopedia, s.v. Occurrence (in liturgy) with a feast day of higher class, were transferred to another day, this classification of feast days was of great practical importance for deciding which feast day to celebrate on any particular day. Pope Pius X simplified matters considerably in his 1911 reform of the Roman Breviary. In the case of occurrence the lower-ranking feast day could become a commemoration within the celebration of the higher-ranking one. Further retouches were made by Pope Pius XII in 1955,General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII Pope John XXIII in 1960,General Roman Calendar of 1960 and Pope Paul VI in 1969.General Roman Calendar
Sundays Sundays were divided into greater and lesser Sundays, with the greater Sundays being further divided into two classes. The Greater Sundays of the I class were the I Sunday of Advent, the four Sundays of Lent, Passion Sunday, Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday, Low Sunday, and Pentecost. No feast day whatsoever could be celebrated on these days, although they admitted commemorations except on Easter and Pentecost. Greater Sundays of the II class permitted the celebration of Doubles of the I Class only, and consisted of the other three Sundays in Advent and the three pre-Lenten Sundays. All other Sundays (II to V after Easter and the Sundays after Epiphany and Pentecost, except for those that might occur during an Octave, which followed the rules for the Octave), were lesser Sundays or Sundays per annum ("through the year"), and only the celebration of Doubles of the I or II Class, or a feast of the Lord, took precedence over them. The Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity was a special case, due to the fixed date of Christmas and the high rank of the feast days following it. If December 29, 30, or 31 were a Sunday, the Mass assigned to it was celebrated on that day; otherwise, it was celebrated on December 30.
Before the reform of Pope Pius X in 1911, ordinary Doubles took precedence over most of the Semidouble Sundays, resulting in many of the Sunday Masses rarely being said. While retaining the Semidouble rite for Sundays, the reform permitted only the most important feast days, Doubles of the I or II class, to be celebrated on Sunday. When a feast of the rank of double of the I or II class fell on a Sunday, the Mass would be that of the feast, with a commemoration of the occurring Sunday; the Gospel of the omitted Sunday Mass would be read at the end of Mass instead of the usual Gospel "In principio erat Verbum" of St. John. When a feast of a rank lower than that occurred with a Sunday, the feast would be commemorated in the Sunday Mass by including a commemoration of the feast, and its Gospel would be read at the end of Mass, provided it was a "proper" Gospel, i.e. one not taken from the Common.Additiones et Variationes in Rubricis Missalis, IX, 3.
Following the reform of Pope Pius X, only three feasts were assigned to a Sunday: the feast days of the Holy Name, the Holy Family, and the Most Holy Trinity. A fourth, Christ the King, was added in 1925.
Ferias Ferias also were classified into three categories:
Greater privileged ferias: Ash Wednesday and Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week. No feast day could be celebrated on these days. Greater non-privileged ferias: The ferias of Advent, Lent, and Passion Week, Rogation Monday, and the Ember Days. Any feast day except a Simple could occur on these days, with a commemoration of the feria. On all other ferias, any feast day of whatever rank could be celebrated without any commemoration of the feria.
Ember Days are four separate sets of three days within the same week — specifically, the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday — roughly equidistant in the circuit of the year, that were formerly set aside for fasting and prayer. These days set apart for special prayer and fasting were considered especially suitable for the ordination of clergy. The Ember Days are known in Latin as quatuor tempora (the "four seasons"), or jejunia quatuor temporum ("fasts of the four seasons"). They occur in the weeks between the third and fourth Sundays of Advent, between the first and second Sundays of Lent, between Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, and beginning the first Wednesday after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14), which is between the liturgical third and fourth Sundays of September.
Rogation Days are, in the calendar of the Western Church, four days traditionally set apart for solemn processions to invoke God's mercy. They are April 25, the Major Rogation (or Greater Litanies), coinciding with St. Mark's Day (but transferred to the following Tuesday if they fell on Easter); and the three days preceding Ascension Thursday, the Minor Rogations (or Lesser Litanies). These are indicated below in the main body of the calendar and in the Movable Feasts section.
Vigils In the Tridentine calendar the vigils of Christmas, the Epiphany, and Pentecost were called "major vigils"; the rest were "minor" or "common" vigilsCatholic Encyclopedia: Eve of a Feast In early times, every feast day had a vigil, but the increase in the number of feast days and abuses connected with the evening and night service of which the vigils originally consisted, led to their diminishment. Nevertheless, the Roman Rite kept many more vigils than other Latin liturgical rites such as the Ambrosian Rite and the Mozarabic Rite. If a Vigil fell on a Sunday, it was transferred to the previous Saturday, although the Vigil of Christmas took precedence over the IV Sunday of Advent.
Prior to the suppression of some vigils by Pope Pius XII in 1955, there were three classes of Vigils. The Vigils of Christmas and Pentecost were of the I class, and took precedence over any feast day. The Vigil of Epiphany was of the II class, and permitted only Doubles of the I or II classes, or any feast of the Lord. All other vigils were "common" and took precedence only over ferias and Simple feast days, but were anticipated on Saturday if they fell on Sunday. Most feasts of the Apostles had Vigils; the exceptions being those that fell in Eastertide, when Vigils were not permitted. The Vigil of St. Matthias was unique, in that it was normally commemorated on February 23, the feast day of St. Peter Damian, but in leap year, was kept on February 24, the traditional leap day of the Roman calendar.
Octaves The Tridentine calendar had many octaves, without any indication in the calendar itself of distinction of rank between them, apart from the fact that the Octave Day (the final day of the octave) was ranked higher than the days within the octave. Several octaves overlapped, so that, for instance, on 29 December the prayer of the saint of the day, Saint Thomas Becket, was followed by the prayers of Christmas, of Saint Stephen, of Saint John the Evangelist and of the Holy Innocents. The situation remained such until the reform of Pope Pius X.See, for instance, Missale Romanum, published by Pustet in 1862
To cut down on the monotony of repeating the same prayers in Mass and Office every day for eight days, Pope Pius X classified the octaves as "privileged", "common" or "simple"
The privileged octaves were of three "ranks". The first rank belonged to the octaves of Easter and Pentecost (no feast day could be celebrated in these octaves or even, until Vespers on Tuesday, be commemorated), the second to those of Epiphany and Corpus Christi (the Octave Day ranked as a Greater Double, the days within the octave as Semidoubles, giving way only to Doubles of the I Class, and on the Octave day itself only to a Double of the I class that was celebrated in the entire Church), the third rank to those of Christmas, the Ascension, and the Sacred Heart (these gave way to any feast day above the level of Simple).