Feasts of Jesus Christ

Jesus. Mural painting from the catacomb

Feasts of Jesus Christ are specific days of the year distinguished in the liturgical calendar as being significant days for the celebration of events in the life of Jesus Christ and his veneration, for the commemoration of his relics, signs and miracles. While Easter is treated everywhere as the central religious feast in the Christian liturgical year,^[1] the other feasts are differed in the liturgical practice.

Feast days of Jesus in the Catholic Church

Since the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic liturgical calendar distinguishes four ranks of celebrations: solemnities, feasts, memorials, and optional memorials. Most of the celebrations of events in the life of Christ are ranked as solemnities. However, there are a few celebrations related to titles or mysteries of Christ which are ranked as feasts, and these are known collectively as "Feasts of the Lord." In the current General Calendar from the Third Edition of the Roman Missal,^[2] these are:

• The Baptism of the Lord, celebrated on the Sunday after January 6 (or, where the Solemnity of the Epiphany is transferred to the Sunday that occurs on January 7 or 8, on the following Monday)^[3]
• The Presentation of the Lord, celebrated on 2 February
• The Transfiguration of the Lord, celebrated on 6 August
• The Exaltation of the Holy Cross, celebrated on 14 September
• The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, celebrated on 9 November (this is a feast of the Lord because the basilica is dedicated to him under the title of the Most Holy Saviour).

In the pre-Vatican II usage, the term feast denoted any celebration, not just a specific rank. Hence, also celebrations which are today termed solemnities of the Lord (e.g. Christmas, Easter, Pentecost) were once deemed Feasts of the Lord.

Feast days of Jesus in the Orthodox Church

Three main categories of feasts, distinguished in the Orthodox liturgical practice, namely

• Feasts of the Lord Jesus Christ (Russian: Господские праздники, or Russian: Владычные праздники)
• Feasts of the Theotokos (Russian: Богородичные праздники; by definition same to Marian feast days, the actual set differs between Catholic and Orthodox Churches)
• Feasts of Saints

While Easter is treated as Feast of Feasts, the following eight feasts of Christ are assigned the highest rank of the Great Feasts in the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendars:

• Feast of the Cross — 14 (27) September
• Christmas — 25 December (7 January)
• Baptism of Jesus — 6 (19) January
• Presentation of Jesus at the Temple — 2 (15) February
• Palm Sunday — (Moveable feast)
• Ascension of Jesus — (Moveable feast)
• Pentecost — (Moveable feast)
• Transfiguration of Jesus — 6 (19) August

Literature

• Настольная книга священнослужителя (Nastol’naya Kniga Sviashchenno-sluzhitelia), Volume 4, Moscow, 1983. Translated in «The Messenger» of St. Andrew’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral. Philadelphia, June, July–August, September, 1990.

See also

• General Roman Calendar of 1954
• General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII
• General Roman Calendar of 1960
• Tridentine Calendar

References

1. Aveni, Anthony (2004). "The Easter/Passover Season: Connecting Time's Broken Circle", The Book of the Year: A Brief History of Our Seasonal Holidays. Oxford University Press. pp. 64–78. ISBN 0-19-517154-3.
2. Roman Missal Third Edition. Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. 2011. ISBN 9780814633755.
3. "General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar". Congregation for Divine Worship. Retrieved 16 February 2013.