This article is about the calendar promulgated in 1960 for the Tridentine Mass. For the liturgical calendar promulgated by decree of the Council of Trent, see Tridentine calendar.
Novum rubricarum replaced the former classifications of Doubles, Semidoubles, and Simples with I, II, and III class feasts and commemorations. It removed a few feasts, in particular duplications such as the Feast of the Cross (3 May and 14 September), the Chair of Peter (18 January and 22 February), Saint Peter (1 August and 29 June), Saint John the Evangelist (6 May and 27 December), Saint Michael (8 May and 29 September), and Saint Stephen (3 August and 26 December).
Novum rubricarum abolished the traditional ranking of Sundays, ferias, and feast days as doubles (of varying degrees) and simples—the rank of semidouble having already been suppressed by Pius XII in 1955—and introduced a new system of ranking the various liturgical days of the Roman rite. Feasts previously ranked as doubles of the I class were reclassified as feasts of the I class. Feasts previously ranked as doubles of the II class were reclassified as feasts of the II class. Feasts ranked in 1954 as greater doubles, doubles, and semidoubles were reclassified as feasts of the III class. Feasts that had formerly been ranked as simples and had been reduced to commemorations in Pius XII's 1955 revision of the calendar remained commemorations.[4]
The Sundays of Advent, Lent, and Passiontide, and Low Sunday were classified as Sundays of the I class. All other Sundays of the year—excluding those perpetually impeded by feasts of the I class—became Sundays of the II class.
Ash Wednesday, the ferias of Holy Week, the Paschal Triduum, and the days within the octaves of Easter and Pentecost (including the Ember Days of Pentecost) were classified as ferias of the I class. The ferias of Advent from 17 to 23 December inclusive, the days within the octave of Christmas not impeded by the feasts of saints (29–31 December inclusive), as well as the Ember Days of Advent, Lent, and September were ranked as ferias of the II class. The ferias of Advent, excluding 17–23 December, were ranked as ferias of the III class, as were the ferias of Lent and Passiontide. In addition, the ferias of Lent and Passiontide were given precedence over all feasts of the III class, with III-class feasts reduced to commemorations in years in which they fell during Lent or Passiontide. The remaining ferias of the year were classified ferias of the IV class.
The following feasts were reduced to commemorations:
the previous greater doubles of
Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (16 July)
Our Lady of Ransom (24 September)
The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Friday after the I Sunday in Passiontide)
the previous doubles of
The Impression of the Sacred Stigmata of St. Francis Confessor (17 September)
Ss. Eustace and Companions Martyrs (20 September)
St. Thomas [of Canterbury] Bishop and Martyr (29 December)
St. Sylvester I Pope and Confessor (31 December)
the previous simples (up to 1955, semidoubles) of
St. George Martyr (23 April)
St. Alexius Confessor (17 July)
Ss. Cyriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus Martyrs (8 August)
The following days of the II class became liturgical days of the I class:
Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord (1 January)
The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (2 November or 3 November if 2 November falls on Sunday)
The following greater doubles became liturgical days of the II class:
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph (I Sunday after Epiphany)
The Chair of Saint Peter (22 February)
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14 September)
Deletions and additions to the calendar
The following feasts were deleted from the calendar:
doubles of the II class
The Finding of the Holy Cross (3 May; considered a duplication of the 14 September feast of the Cross)
greater doubles
The Chair of Saint Peter Apostle at Rome (18 January; merged with the 22 February feast of St. Peter's Chair at Antioch)
St. John Apostle and Evangelist Before the Latin Gate (6 May; considered a duplication of the 27 December feast of St. John)
The Apparition of St. Michael Archangel (8 May; considered a duplication of the 29 September feast of the Dedication of St. Michael)
St. Peter Apostle in Chains (1 August; considered a duplication of the 29 June feast of Ss. Peter and Paul)
simples (up to 1955, semidoubles)
St. Leo II Pope and Confessor (3 July; removed as a result of the transfer of St. Irenaeus to 3 July)
St. Anacletus Pope and Martyr (13 July; merged with the 26 April feast of St. Cletus)
On the Finding of the Body of St. Stephen Protomartyr (3 August; considered a duplication of the 26 December feast of St. Stephen)
The commemoration of St. Vitalis Martyr (28 April) was likewise deleted, due to doubts about the historicity of his martyrdom.
The following feasts were inscribed in the calendar:
St. Gregory Barbarigo Bishop and Confessor (17 June, III cl.)
St. Anthony Mary Claret Bishop and Confessor (23 October, III cl.)
Other changes
The following feasts were transferred:
St. Irenaeus Bishop and Martyr (28 June to 3 July; to make room for celebration of the Vigil of Ss. Peter and Paul)
St. John Mary Vianney Confessor (9 to 8 August; to be nearer to his natalis)
The commemoration of Ss. Sergius, Bacchus, Marcellus, and Apuleius Martyrs was transferred from 7 to 8 October, due to rubrical changes that restricted the number of commemorations allowed on a II-class feast (in this case, the 7 October feast of the Rosary) to only one.
The following titles were changed:
The Circumcision of the Lord became the Octave Day of the Nativity (1 January)
The Octave Day of the Epiphany became the Commemoration of the Baptism of the Lord (13 January, II cl.)
The Chair of St. Peter Apostle at Antioch became The Chair of St. Peter Apostle (22 February)
The Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary became Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary (7 October)
The new rubrics also restricted the transferral of impeded feast days that occur in a given year on the same day as a liturgical day of higher rank solely to feasts of the I class (formerly doubles of the I class). Under the older rubrics, both doubles of the I class and doubles of the II class (feasts of the II class under the 1960 rubrics) were transferred when impeded.
Post-1960 developments
On 25 March 2020, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made public the decree Cum sanctissima, dated 22 February 2020, which introduced a number of options for use in contemporary celebration of the Office and Mass according to the 1961 Breviary and 1962 Missal.[5][6] With regard to the liturgical calendar, the decree grants permission for the celebration of feasts of saints canonized after 26 July 1960, using the dates set forth by the Holy See for the liturgical observance of these saints for the universal Church. The decree also allows the option for the celebration of certain III-class feasts during Lent and Passiontide, which heretofore had been forbidden by the 1960 Code of Rubrics.
January
1: Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord, I class.
2: Feria.
3: Feria.
4: Feria.
5: Commemoration of St. Telesphorus Pope and Martyr, Comm.
In leap year the month of February is of 29 days, and the feast of St. Matthias is celebrated on the 25th day and the feast of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows on the 28th day of February, and twice is said Sexto Kalendas, that is on the 24th and 25th; and the dominical letter, which was taken up in the month of January, is changed to the preceding; that, if in January, the dominical letter was A, it is changed to the preceding, which is g, etc.; and the letter f is kept twice, on the 24th and 25th.[7]
March
1: Feria.
2: Feria.
3: Feria.
4: St. Casimir Confessor, III class, Com. of St. Lucius I Pope and Martyr.
The 1962 typical edition of the Roman Missal—the edition incorporating the changes made for the 1960 General Calendar—collected many (though not all) Mass propers for feasts approved for celebration in certain places in a supplement placed at the end of the Missal; this supplement also incorporated changes mandated by Pope John XXIII regarding the suppression of some local feasts in his 14 February 1961 instruction De calendariis particularibus. Masses listed in this supplement may nowadays be said anywhere on days of the IV class.[8] Some saints listed below are also in the General Calendar above; these saints have proper Masses in the pro Aliquibus Locis supplement that may be said ad libitum in place of the Masses listed in the main body of the Missal.[9]
7 December: St. Ambrose Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor of the Church [proper Mass]
8 May: Our Lady, Queen of All Saints and Mother of Fair Love; Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Graces; Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus;[e] On the Apparition of St. Michael Archangel
15 May: St. Isidore Farmer and Confessor [Observed in some places on 22 March or 25 October]
In accordance with De calendariis particularibus (par. 32 & 33), the following local feasts "introduced since the Middle Ages by private devotion in the public worship of the Church" were suppressed, unless "truly special reasons" required their continued observance:[4]
The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus (Thursday after the [suppressed] octave of Corpus Christi)
The Humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary (17 July)
The Purity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (16 October)
In addition, the feast of Saint Philomena (11 August) was removed from all local calendars (save for those of churches named for her and select locations where her cultus was permitted either by indult or tacit approval by the diocesan bishop) due to [citation needed] doubt regarding the historicity of her existence and martyrdom.
National calendars
The following are the proper calendars for certain countries to be used in the celebration of the Roman Rite. National feasts and their ranks have been gathered from liturgical ordos published by various sources, including the FSSP, the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales, and Romanitas Press. This list details only those feasts celebrated in all dioceses and archdioceses of the following countries and does not include feasts proper to specific dioceses and archdioceses.
Australia and New Zealand
3 December: St. Francis Xavier Confessor, Principal Patron of All Missions, I class
1 February: St. Brigid Virgin, II class, Com. of St. Ignatius Bishop and Martyr
17 March: St. Patrick Bishop and Confessor, I class
19 March: St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Confessor, Principal Patron of Canada, I class
26 September: Ss. Jean de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues and Companions Martyrs, Secondary Patrons of Canada, II class, Com. of Ss. Cyprian and Justina Virgin, Martyrs
13 June: St. Anthony of Lisbon Confessor, Patron of Portugal, I class
20 June: Bb. Sancha and Mafalda Princesses of Portugal and Queen of Leon, Widow, Theresa Princess of Portugal, Virgins, III class, Com. of St. Silverius Pope and Martyr
15 July: St. Henry II Emperor, Confessor, III class, Com. of Bl. Inácio de Azevedo and Companions Martyrs
16 July: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, III class
27 October: Bl. Gonçalo of Lagos Confessor, III class
30 November: St. Andrew Apostle, Principal Patron of Scotland, I class
14 January: St. Kentigern Bishop and Confessor, III class, Com. of St. Hilary Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church, Com. of St. Felix Priest and Martyr
10 March: St. John Ogilvie Martyr, II class, Com. of the Forty Holy Martyrs
17 March: St. Patrick Bishop and Confessor, II class
9 June: St. Columba Abbot, III class, Com. of Ss. Primus and Felician Martyrs
16 September: St. Ninian Bishop and Confessor, III class, Com. of St. Cornelius Pope and St. Cyprian Bishop, Martyrs, Com. of Ss. Euphemia Virgin, Lucy and Geminianus Martyrs
16 November: St. Margaret Queen, Secondary Patroness of Scotland, II class, Com. of St. Gertrude Virgin
Spain
8 December: On the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Principal Patroness of Spain, I class
27 February: St. Leander Bishop and Confessor, III class, Com. of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
10 May: St. John of Ávila Confessor, III class, Com. of St. Antoninus Bishop and Confessor, Com. of Ss. Gordian and Epimachus
The following are the proper adaptions currently in use for all members of traditionalist institutes who make exclusive use of the 1961 Breviary and 1962 Missal.
Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP)
29 January: St. Francis de Sales, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor of the Church, Co-principal Patron of the ICKSP, I class
7 March: St. Thomas Aquinas, Confessor and Doctor of the Church, Co-principal Patron of the ICKSP, I class
21 March: St. Benedict, Abbot, Co-principal Patron of the ICKSP, I class
Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP)
22 February: Chair of St. Peter, Apostle, Principal Patron of the FSSP, I class, Com. of St. Paul
7 March: St. Thomas Aquinas, Confessor and Doctor of the Church, Secondary Patron of the FSSP, II class
1 August: St. Peter, Apostle, in Chains, III class, Com. of St. Paul, Com. of the Holy Machabees, Martyrs
4 November: St. Charles Borromeo, Bishop and Confessor, Patron of Seminarians, I class in all seminaries of the FSSP
To fully comply with the calendar requirements outlined in the 1960 Code of Rubrics that governs the 1962 Missal and the 1961 Breviary, a number of local feasts must be inscribed in the calendars of particular churches where the extraordinary form is offered (and of religious orders and societies dedicated to the use of the sacraments in their 1962 forms) in addition to those listed in the General Calendar and in the national calendars section above. These local feasts include, but are not limited to:
Feasts of the principal patrons of the nation, the ecclesiastical or civil region or province, and the diocese (I class)
Anniversary of the dedication of the diocesan cathedral (I class)
Anniversary of the dedication of the particular church (I class)
Feast of the titular saint of the particular church or religious order or congregation (I class)
Feast of the saint-founder of a religious order or congregation (I class)
Feasts of the secondary patrons of the nation, the ecclesiastical or civil region or province, and the diocese (II class)
Feasts of certain saints proper to a particular church or region (e.g., a saint whose body is preserved in a particular church) (II class)
Feast of the beatified founder of a religious order or congregation (II class)
Feasts of certain saints with some particular significance for a particular place, town, city, or region (e.g., a saint who was born in, had prolonged residence in, or died in a given place, town, city, or region) (II or III class or commemoration)
Other proper feasts inscribed in the local calendar of the diocese (III class or commemoration)
^Under the Code of Rubrics of 1960, in years in which the feast of the Epiphany (6 January) falls on Sunday, the feast of the Holy Family, which occurs on the following Sunday, takes precedence over the commemoration of the Baptism of our Lord. Under the older rubrics, the feast of the Holy Family was anticipated on the preceding Saturday in years when the Epiphany fell on Sunday, with the octave day of the Epiphany (retitled the commemoration of the Baptism of our Lord in 1960) being observed on Sunday, 13 January.
^In years in which 25 March falls in either Holy Week or within the octave of Easter, the feast of the Annunciation is transferred to the Monday after Low Sunday.
^Listed as 3 January in 1962 Missals, as that is the nearest day to his date of death (28 December) that is not outranked by the octave of Christmas.
^Listed as 3 January in 1962 Missals, as that is the nearest day to her date of death (22 December) that is not outranked by the greater Advent ferias or the octave of Christmas. In places where the Extraordinary Form of the Mass is celebrated, current practice is to transfer this feast to 13 November, the date of her beatification.
^These three local feast days in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary were transferred to 8 May from 31 May by decree of Pope John XXIII in De calendariis particularibus due to the insertion into the General Calendar of the feast of the Queenship of Mary (31 May) by Pope Pius XII in 1954.
^Transferred from the General Calendar date of 4 December
^Transferred from the General Calendar date of 12 November
^In places in the United States in which the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite is celebrated, by decree of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops the Votive Mass for Peace is said in honor of the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children for the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade.
^In years when 1 July (the Feast of the Most Precious Blood, of the I class) falls on Sunday, the External Solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul is not observed in the United States.
^"Decreto Cum sanctissima della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede circa la celebrazione liturgica in onore dei santi nella forma extraordinaria del Rito Romano, 25.03.2020". No. B0184. Holy See Press Office. Bolletino. March 25, 2020.
^Kalendarium, Missale Romanum: "In anno bissextili mensis februarius est dierum 29, et festum S. Matthiae celebratur die 25 ac festum S. Gabrielis a Virgine Perdolente die 28 februarii, et bis dicitur Sexto Kalendas, id est die 24 et die 25; et littera dominicalis, quae assumpta fuit in mense ianuario, mutatur in praecedentem; ut, si in Januario, littera dominicalis fuerit A, mutetur in praecedentem, quae est g, etc.; et littera f bis servit, 24 et 25.
^Sancta Missa Ordo for use with the 1962 Missale Romanum. Chicago: Biretta Books. 2016. p. 9.
^Liturgical Ordo and FSSP Directory. Fraternity Publications Service. 2015. p. 12. Whenever the Mass of a saint in the universal calendar is taken from one of the Commons, a proper Mass of the same saint found in the appendix, Proprium Sanctorum pro Aliquibus Locis, may nowadays be used instead anywhere ad libitum [Rub.Gen. 305a].
^Missel Quotidien Saint-Joseph. New York: Catholic Book Publishing Co. 1960. p. 1253.
