Prior to the revision of the Anglican Church of Canada's (ACC) Book of Common Prayer (BCP) in 1962, the national church followed the liturgical calendar of the 1918 Canadian Book of Common Prayer. Throughout most of the twentieth century, the situation in Canada resembled that which pertained in much of the Anglican Communion: There was uncertainty as to whether post-Reformation figures (with the exception of the martyred Charles I) could or should be commemorated. In the words of the calendar's introduction, "New names have been added from the ancient calendars, and also from the history of the Anglican Communion, without thereby enrolling or commending such persons as saints of the Church." The 1962 revision added twenty-six post-Reformation individuals, as well as commemorations of the first General Synod and of "The Founders, Benefactors, and Missionaries of the Church in Canada." Of the calendar days, twenty-eight were highlighted as "red-letter days" — that is, days of required observation.
With the publication of the Book of Alternative Services (BAS) in 1985, a revised and expanded calendar was introduced. This was supplemented, in 1994, with the publication of For All The Saints; a book of propers, short biographies and descriptions of the commemorations, and readings by or about the individuals or events commemorated (there were also some very minor changes to the 1985 calendar). As the BAS has largely supplanted the BCP for most Canadian Anglicans, so too has its calendar. Nonetheless, the BCP calendar is still in use and individuals and parishes can legitimately choose to observe it.
The chief difference between the 1962 and 1985 calendars is the elimination of observations for several European figures, in order to include individuals of interest to the Canadian Church, and to the worldwide Anglican Communion. Similar to the Calendar of saints of the Church of England, the Patriarchs of Old are omitted in both the Book of Common Prayer and the newer Book of Alternative Services, for the Anglican Church of Canada.
In the ACC, the calendar is officially referred to as the Canadian Calendar of Holy Persons.
The revised calendar follows the Anglican custom of delineating between days of required observance ("red-letter days") and days of optional observance ("black letter days"). The way the calendar breaks these down is as follows: [1]
In addition, some parishes observe other days commemorated elsewhere in the Christian tradition, such as Corpus Christi, Lammas-day, etc. Some individual parishes have their own calendars, which include the names of individuals significant to the parish or its identity, with which they supplement the national calendar.
The following is the calendar of the Anglican Church of Canada according to the Book of Alternative Services. On those days in which there are two commemorations, a pattern of alternating the observance by year is recommended.
Day | Commemoration | Year of death | Type1 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | The Naming of Jesus (known in BCP as "The Circumcision of our Lord") | n/a | Holy day |
2 | St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishops, Teachers of the Faith | 379, 389 | Memorial |
6 | The Epiphany of the Lord | n/a | Principal feast |
10 | William Laud, Abp of Canterbury | 1645 | Commemoration |
11 (or Dec 28) | The Holy Innocents | n/a | Holy day |
12 | Marguerite Bourgeoys, Educator† | 1700 | Commemoration |
12 | John Horden, Bishop, Missionary | 1893 | Commemoration |
13 | St. Hilary of Poitiers, Teacher of the Faith | 367 | Memorial |
15 | Richard Meux Benson, Religious | 1915 | Commemoration |
17 | St. Antony of Egypt, Abbot | 356 | Memorial |
18 | The Confession of St. Peter the Apostle | n/a | Holy day |
21 | St. Agnes of Rome, Martyr | 304 | Commemoration |
22 | Vincent of Saragossa, Deacon | 304 | Commemoration |
24 | Francis de Sales, Bishop, Teacher of the Faith† | 1622 | Commemoration |
25 | The Conversion of St. Paul | n/a | Holy day |
26 | St. Timothy and St. Titus, Missionaries | n/a | Memorial |
27 | St. John Chrysostom, Bishop, Teacher of the Faith | 407 | Memorial |
28 | St. Thomas Aquinas, Teacher of the Faith | 1274 | Memorial |
30 | Charles Stuart, King of England and Scotland, Martyr | 1649 | Commemoration |
Day | Commemoration | Year of death | Type1 |
---|---|---|---|
2 | The Presentation of the Lord (Candlemas) | n/a | HD |
3 | St. Anskar, Missionary | 865 | Com |
5 | Martyrs of Japan | 1597 | Mem |
9 | Hannah Grier Coome, Religious | 1921 | Com |
14 | Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Missionaries | 869, 885 | Mem |
15 | Thomas Bray, Priest, Missionary | 1730 | Mem |
23 | St. Polycarp of Smyrna, Bishop, Martyr | 156 | Mem |
24 | Philip Lindel Tsen, Bishop | 1954 | Com |
24 | Paul Shinji Sasaki, Bishop | 1946 | Com |
26 | Florence Li Tim Oi, Priest2 | 1992 | Mem |
27 | George Herbert, Priest, Poet | 1633 | Com |
Day | Commemoration | Year of death | Type1 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | St. David of Wales, Abbot Bishop | c. 544 | Mem |
2 | St. Chad of Mercia, Bishop, Missionary | 672 | Com |
3 | John and Charles Wesley, Priests, Evangelists | 1791, 1788 | Com |
7 | St. Perpetua of Carthage and Her Companions, Martyrs | 202 | Mem |
8 | Edward King, Bishop, Teacher of the Faith | 1910 | Com |
9 | St. Gregory of Nyssa, Bishop, Teacher of the Faith | 395 | Mem |
10 | Robert Machray, Archbishop | 1904 | Com |
17 | St. Patrick, Missionary, Bishop | 461 | Mem |
18 | St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop, Teacher of the Faith | 386 | Com |
19 | St. Joseph | n/a | HD |
20 | St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, Bishop, Missionary | 687 | Com |
21 | Thomas Cranmer, Abp of Canterbury, Martyr | 1556 | Com |
22 | Thomas Ken, Bishop | 1711 | Com |
23 | Gregory the Illuminator, Bishop | 332 | Com |
25 | The Annunciation of the Lord to the Blessed Virgin Mary | n/a | HD |
27 | Charles Henry Brent, Bishop | 1929 | Com |
29 | John Keble, Priest | 1866 | Com |
31 | John Donne, Priest, Poet | 1631 | Com |
Day | Commemoration | Year of death | Type1 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Frederick Denison Maurice, Priest | 1872 | Com |
2 | Henry Budd, Priest | 1875 | Com |
3 | St. Richard of Chichester, Bishop | 1253 | Com |
4 | Reginald Heber, Bishop | 1826 | Com |
5 | Emily Ayckbowm, Religious2 | 1900 | Mem |
9 | William Law, Priest | 1761 | Com |
11 | George Augustus Selwyn, Bishop, Missionary | 1878 | Com |
16 | Mollie Brant, Matron | 1796 | Com |
21 | St. Anselm of Canterbury, Abp of Canterbury, Teacher of the Faith | 1109 | Mem |
23 | St. George | 4th Century | Com |
24 | Martyrs of the Twentieth Century | n/a | Mem |
25 | St. Mark the Evangelist | n/a | HD |
29 | St. Catherine of Siena, Religious | 1380 | Mem |
30 | Marie of the Incarnation, Religious, Educator | 1672 | Com |
Day | Commemoration | Year of death | Type1 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Philip and James, Apostles | n/a | HD |
6 (or Dec 27) | John the Evangelist | n/a | HD |
8 | Julian of Norwich, Spiritual Teacher | c. 1417 | Com |
12 | Florence Nightingale, Nurse, Social Reformer | 1910 | Com |
14 | St. Matthias the Apostle | n/a | HD |
19 | St. Dunstan of Canterbury, Abp of Canterbury | 988 | Com |
25 | Bede, Priest, Religious, Scholar, Teacher of the Faith | 735 | Com |
26 | St. Augustine of Canterbury, Abp of Canterbury | 605 | Mem |
27 | John Charles Roper, Bishop | 1940 | Com |
30 | Roberta Elizabeth Tilton, Founder of the Anglican Church Women | 1925 | Com |
31 | Visit of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth | n/a | HD |
Day | Commemoration | Year of death | Type1 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | St. Justin, Martyr, Teacher of the Faith | c. 167 | Mem |
2 | Martyrs of Lyon | 177 | Com |
3 | Martyrs of Uganda and Janani Luwum, Archbishop, Martyr | 1886, 1977 | Mem |
4 | St. John XXIII, Bishop, Reformer | 1963 | Com |
5 | St. Boniface, Archbishop, Martyr | 754 | Mem |
6 | William Grant Broughton, Bishop | 1853 | Com |
9 | St. Columba, Abbot, Missionary | 597 | Mem |
11 | St. Barnabas the Apostle | n/a | HD |
16 | Joseph Butler, Bishop, Teacher of the Faith | 1752 | Com |
18 | Bernard Mizeki, Catechist, Martyr | 1896 | Mem |
22 | St. Alban, Martyr | c. 209 | Mem |
24 | Nativity of St. John the Baptist | n/a | HD |
28 | St. Irenaeus, Bishop, Teacher of the Faith | c. 202 | Mem |
29 | St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles | n/a | HD |
Day | Commemoration | Year of death | Type1 |
---|---|---|---|
3 | St. Thomas the Apostle | n/a | HD |
6 | Thomas More | 1535 | Com |
11 | St. Benedict of Nursia, Abbot | 547 | Mem |
13 | St. Henry of Finland, Bishop, Missionary | 1156 | Com |
22 | St. Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles | n/a | HD |
25 | James the Apostle | n/a | HD |
26 | St. Anne, Mother of the BVM | n/a | Com |
29 | William Wilberforce, Social Reformer | 1833 | Com |
Day | Commemoration | Year of death | Type1 |
---|---|---|---|
3 (or Dec 26) | St. Stephen, Deacon, Martyr | n/a | HD |
6 | The Transfiguration of the Lord | n/a | HD |
7 | John Mason Neale, Priest | 1866 | Com |
8 | St. Dominic, Priest, Friar | 1221 | Mem |
10 | St. Laurence, Deacon, Martyr | 258 | Mem |
11 | St. Clare of Assisi, Abbess | 1253 | Mem |
12 | The Consecration of Charles Inglis (1787) | n/a | Com |
13 | Jeremy Taylor, Bishop, Spiritual Teacher | 1667 | Mem |
14 | Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Maximilian Kolbe, Martyrs | 1945, 1941 | Com |
15 | St. Mary the Virgin | n/a | HD |
16 | Holy Women of the Old Testament | n/a | Mem |
17 | John Stuart, Priest, Missionary | 1811 | Com |
20 | St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot | 1153 | Mem |
24 | St. Bartholemew the Apostle | n/a | HD |
27 | St. Monnica, Matron | 387 | Com |
28 | St. Augustine of Hippo, Bishop, Teacher of the Faith | 430 | Mem |
29 | The Beheading of John the Baptist | n/a | HD |
30 | Robert McDonald, Priest, Missionary | 1913 | Com |
31 | St. Aidan, Bishop, Missionary | 651 | Com |
Day | Commemoration | Year of death | Type1 |
---|---|---|---|
2 | Martyrs of New Guinea | 1942 | Mem |
3 | St. Gregory the Great, Bishop, Teacher of the Faith | 604 | Mem |
4 | First Anglican Eucharist in Canada (1578) | n/a | Com |
8 | The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary | n/a | Mem |
10 | Edmund James Peck, Priest, Missionary | 1924 | Mem |
13 | St. Cyprian of Carthage, Bishop, Martyr | 258 | Mem |
14 | Holy Cross Day | n/a | HD |
16 | St. Ninian, Bishop | c. 430 | Mem |
18 | Founders, Benefactors, and Missionaries of the Anglican Church of Canada | n/a | Mem |
19 | Theodore of Tarsus, Abp of Canterbury | 690 | Com |
20 | John Coleridge Patteson (Bishop) and His Companions, Martyrs | 1871 | Com |
21 | St. Matthew the Evangelist | n/a | HD |
25 | St. Sergius of Zagorsk, Abbot, Spiritual Teacher | 1392 | Com |
26 | Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop | 1626 | Com |
29 | St. Michael and All Angels | n/a | HD |
30 | St Jerome, Teacher of the Faith | 420 | Mem |
Day | Commemoration | Year of death | Type1 |
---|---|---|---|
4 | St. Francis of Assisi, Friar, Spiritual Teacher | 1226 | Mem |
10 | St. Paulinus of York, Bishop, Missionary | 644 | Com |
13 | St. Edward the Confessor, King | 1066 | Com |
15 | St. Teresa of Avila, Religious, Spiritual Teacher, Reformer | 1582 | Com |
15 | St. John of the Cross, Priest, Spiritual Teacher | 1591 | Com |
17 | St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop, Martyr | c. 115 | Mem |
18 | St. Luke the Evangelist | n/a | HD |
19 | Jean de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues and Their Companions, Missionaries and Martyrs | 1642–1649 | Mem |
23 | James of Jerusalem | c. 62 | Mem |
26 | Alfred the Great, King | 899 | Com |
28 | St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles | n/a | HD |
29 | James Hannington (Bishop) and His Companions, Martyrs | 1885 | Com |
30 | John Wyclyf, Priest, Reformer | 1384 | Com |
30 | Jan Hus, Priest, Reformer | 1415 | Com |
31 | Saints of the Reformation Era | n/a | Com |
Day | Commemoration | Year of death | Type1 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | All Saints Day | n/a | PF |
2 | All Souls Day | n/a | Mem |
3 | Richard Hooker, Priest, Teacher of the Faith | 1600 | Com |
4 | Saints of the Old Testament | n/a | Mem |
7 | St. Willibrord, Religious, Archbishop | 739 | Com |
10 | Leo the Great, Bishop, Teacher of the Faith | 461 | Mem |
11 | St. Martin of Tours, Abbot, Bishop | 397 | Mem |
12 | Charles Simeon, Priest | 1836 | Com |
14 | The Consecration of Samuel Seabury (1784) | n/a | Com |
16 | St. Margaret of Scotland, Queen, Reformer | 1093 | Com |
17 | St. Hugh of Lincoln, Bishop | 1200 | Com |
18 | St. Hilda of Whitby, Abbess | 680 | Com |
19 | St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Reformer | 1231 | Com |
20 | St. Edmund the Martyr, King, Martyr | 870 | Com |
23 | St. Clement of Rome, Bishop | c. 100 | Com |
30 | St. Andrew the Apostle | n/a | HD |
Day | Commemoration | Year of death | Type1 |
---|---|---|---|
3 | Francis Xavier, Missionary | 1552 | Com |
4 | Nicholas Ferrar, Deacon and the Community of Little Gidding | 1637 | Com |
5 | St. Clement of Alexandria, Priest, Teacher of the Faith | c. 210 | Com |
6 | St. Nicholas of Myra, Bishop | c. 342 | Com |
7 | St. Ambrose of Milan, Bishop, Teacher of the Faith | 397 | Mem |
8 | The Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary | n/a | Mem |
9 | Prophets of the Old Testament | n/a | Mem |
14 | Simon Gibbons, Priest, Missionary | 1896 | Com |
25 | The Nativity of our Lord | n/a | PF |
29 | St. Thomas Becket, Abp of Canterbury, Martyr | 1170 | Com |
31 | John West, Priest, Missionary | 1845 | Com |
1PF: Principal Feast; HD: Holy Day; Mem: Memorial; Com: Commemoration
2Added to the calendar by resolution of the Council of General Synod, May, 2005.
The calendar of the Prayer Book stipulates: "When two lesser commemorations fall on the same day and it is desired to remember both, it is recommended that one of them be transferred to the nearest day before or after for which no special provision has been made." [2]
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints 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".
September 26 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - September 28
September 29 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - October 1
May 10 – Eastern Orthodox Church calendar – May 12
July 21 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - July 23
December 31 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - January 2
February 1 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - February 3
This article lists the feast days of the General Roman Calendar as they were at the end of 1954. It is essentially the same calendar established by Pope Pius X (1903–1914) following his liturgical reforms, but it also incorporates changes that were made by Pope Pius XI (1922–1939), such as the institution of the Feast of Christ the King, and the changes made by Pope Pius XII (1939–1958) prior to 1955, chief among them the imposition of the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary upon the universal Church in 1944, the inscription of Pius X into the General Calendar following his 1954 canonization, and the institution of the Feast of the Queenship of Mary in October 1954.
The Church of England commemorates many of the same saints as those in the General Roman Calendar, mostly on the same days, but also commemorates various notable Christians who have not been canonised by Rome, with a particular though not exclusive emphasis on those of English origin. There are differences in the calendars of other churches of the Anglican Communion.
The Lutheran Church has, from the time of the Reformation, continued the remembrance of saints. The theological basis for this remembrance may be best illustrated in the words of the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." The Apology of the Augsburg Confession states that the remembrance of the saints has three parts: "The first is thanksgiving. For we ought to give thanks to God because He has shown examples of mercy; because He has shown that He wishes to save men; because He has given teachers or other gifts to the Church. And these gifts, as they are the greatest, should be amplified, and the saints themselves should be praised, who have faithfully used these gifts, just as Christ praises faithful business-men. The second service is the strengthening of our faith; when we see the denial forgiven Peter, we also are encouraged to believe the more that grace truly superabounds over sin. The third honor is the imitation, first, of faith, then of the other virtues, which every one should imitate according to his calling."
The General Roman Calendar is the liturgical calendar that indicates the dates of celebrations of saints and mysteries of the Lord in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, wherever this liturgical rite is in use. These celebrations are a fixed annual date; or occur on a particular day of the week ; or relate to the date of Easter. National and diocesan calendars, including that of the diocese of Rome itself as well as the calendars of religious institutes and even of continents, add other saints and mysteries or transfer the celebration of a particular saint or mystery from the date assigned in the General Calendar to another date.
The word saint derives from the Latin sanctus, meaning holy, and has long been used in Christianity to refer to a person who was recognized as having lived a holy life and as being an exemplar and model for other Christians. Beginning in the 10th century, the Catholic Church began to centralise and formalise the process of recognising saints; the process whereby an individual was added to the canon (list) of recognised saints became known as canonisation.
The veneration of saints in the Episcopal Church is a continuation of an ancient tradition from the early Church which honors important and influential people of the Christian faith. The usage of the term saint is similar to Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Episcopalians believe in the communion of saints in prayer and as such the Episcopal liturgical calendar accommodates feasts for saints.
Lesser Festivals are a type of observance in the Anglican Communion, including the Church of England, considered to be less significant than a Principal Feast, Principal Holy Day, or Festival, but more significant than a Commemoration. Whereas Principal Feasts must be celebrated, it is not obligatory to observe Lesser Festivals. They are always attached to a calendar date, and are not observed if they fall on a Sunday, in Holy Week, or in Easter Week. In Common Worship each Lesser Festival is provided with a collect and an indication of liturgical colour.
The calendar of the Anglican Church of Australia follows Anglican tradition with the addition of significant people and events in the church in Australia.
This article lists the feast days of the General Roman Calendar as approved on 25 July 1960 by Pope John XXIII's motu proprioRubricarum instructum and promulgated by the Sacred Congregation of Rites the following day, 26 July 1960, by the decree Novum rubricarum. This 1960 calendar was incorporated into the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal, continued use of which Pope Benedict XVI authorized in the circumstances indicated in his 7 July 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum for use as an Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.
The Tridentine calendar is the calendar of saints to be honoured in the course of the liturgical year in the official liturgy of the Roman Rite as reformed by Pope Pius V, implementing a decision of the Council of Trent, which entrusted the task to the Pope.
August 23 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - August 25
November 15 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - November 17
In the Calendar of the Church in Wales, each holy and saint’s day listed has been assigned a number which indicates its category. Commemorations not included in this Calendar may be observed with the approval of the bishop.