The lesser festivals are:—

For the Egyptian Christians, Good Friday was not a festival of either the first or second class. In this it stood in marked distinction from the preceding and following days—Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday, which were regarded as festivals of the second class.

The festivals observed in the latter period of the Byzantine Empire under the Paleologi are found in the treatise of an official of the palace, George Codinus, De Officiis Palatii, in which detailed information is given of the costume, insignia, etc., with which the Emperor and his courtiers attended divine service in the different churches of the capital. Beside the great festivals—Christmas, Epiphany, Hypapante, Easter, and Pentecost—the following days were distinguished by the attendance of the Court at divine service: the First Sunday in Lent, called by the Greeks Orthodox Sunday, Palm Sunday, Holy Saturday and the Easter Octave, the 1st September being New Year’s Day. To these were added a great number of saints’ days, i.e. 1st January, St Basil; 23rd April, St George; 21st May, Constantine; 24th June, Nativity of St John the Baptist; 30th June, the Feast of the Apostles; 8th August, the Transfiguration; 15th August, the Assumption (κοίμησις τῆς ὑπεραγίας θεοτόκου); 29th August, the Beheading of St John the Baptist; 31st August or 2nd July, the Translation of Our Lady’s garment to the Church of the Blachernæ; 8th September, the Nativity of Our Lady; 14th September, the Invention of the Cross (ὕψωσις τοῦ σταυροῦ); 26th October, Feast of the Martyr Demetrius Myroblyta; 13th November, St Chrysostom; 21st November, the Presentation of Our Lady in the Temple; and, finally, the day of the Resurrection of Lazarus, which was kept on the Saturday before Palm Sunday. The Court did not attend divine service on Good Friday, although it did on Holy Saturday. No mention is made of the Ascension.

The large increase in festivals in the Middle Ages was due to the fact that the bishops exercised the right given them by Canon Law,[68] of introducing new feasts within the limits of their dioceses. This arose from the ancient custom, that it belonged to them to watch over the cultus of the martyrs, and it depended upon their authorisation whether or not a given martyr should be recognised and venerated as such. Later, when the religious orders became widespread and influential, it usually happened that some monastery began to venerate a mystery or a saint, and then, as this cultus was taken up by the people, other monasteries, or the whole Order, adopted the festival,[69] and, finally, the bishops gave their approbation to the institution of the holy day in question. Lastly, the civil power and the Roman See intervened, and the new holy day was in this way fully sanctioned. Things, however, did not always proceed so far, for in many cases the festival was confined to a single diocese, the result being great variety in particulars and general uncertainty. These abuses became more deeply felt in course of time, and so Urban VIII., in his constitution Universa per orbem, published in 1642, warns the bishops not to use their rights in this respect for the future, and at the present day these rights, without having been abrogated, are regarded as antiquated.[70]

The fact that formerly the bishops enjoyed the right of introducing festivals into their dioceses, or of excluding them, must constantly be borne in mind, because, if it is left out of sight, the institution and development of even a single festival cannot be understood, much less the historical development of the whole festal cycle. When we realise that this principle was acted upon from the beginning, and for more than a thousand years, during a period remarkable for its rich development in many directions, the wonder is that the result is as harmonious and systematic as it is. No departure was made from the natural basis upon which the whole was built up, and the attempts of the Councils were all in the direction of uniformity.

The abuses resulting from the excessive multiplication of holy days was remarked upon even in Catholic times, especially by John Gerson, at a provincial synod at Reims in 1408, and by Nicholas de Clemangiis, who, in a work[71] devoted to that purpose, published about 1416, spoke out boldly against the introduction of any more festivals. In the sixteenth century, the Protestants in their Gravamina denounced the great number of festivals, and already in 1524 the legate Campeggio settled their number, and so put an end to their arbitrary increase for the future.[72]

By the introduction of diocesan and local festivals, the number of holy days became excessive in some localities, and great uncertainty arose as to which festivals should be celebrated by all, in accordance with the general precepts of the Church, and which should not. This, and the complaints of the poor that they were prevented by the number of holy days from gaining their livelihood, while others again took advantage of them to indulge in laziness or the pursuit of pleasure, was the ground which Gerson had already adduced in his time. The same reasons now induced Pope Urban VIII. to regulate the arrangements of festivals and to fix limits for the whole Church beyond which it would not be lawful to go. For this purpose, he published, on the 24th September 1642, the important constitution Universa per orbem, in which the following holy days are prescribed: 1. Feasts of our Lord—Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, with the two following days, New Year, Epiphany, the Ascension, Trinity, Corpus Christi, the Invention of the Cross. 2. Feasts of Our Lady—Candlemas, the Annunciation, the Assumption, and the Nativity. 3. Saints’ Days—St Michael (8th May), Nativity of St John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, St Andrew, St James, St John, St Thomas, SS. Phillip and James, St Bartholomew, St Matthew, SS. Simon and Jude, St Matthias, St Lawrence, St Silvester, St Joseph, St Anne, All Saints’, and the patron saint of the country. The actual reduction was small, and concerned chiefly the lesser saints days, such as St Mary Magdalene, St Cecilia, St Catherine, St Martin, etc. A more important consequence of this constitution was, that the original right of the bishop to appoint festivals, although recognised by the Council of Trent, was rendered practically ineffective.

In the eighteenth century, the hatred against the Church which showed itself at the Courts of the Bourbon sovereigns, and the so-called advance of culture, necessitated fresh regulations on this point. First of all, at the request of the provincial synod of Tarragona in 1727, Pope Benedict XIII. consented to the reduction of the number of festivals for a part of Spain. From this arose the distinction between half and whole holy days.[73] Rest from servile work was maintained only on the Sundays and seventeen festivals, i.e. half the number given in the list above, and for the other seventeen days it was enjoined that the faithful assist at Mass only. After attendance at divine service, all kinds of work were to be permitted. This permission was extended in 1748, by Benedict XIV., to Naples, Sicily, and several Spanish dioceses.

The same Pope extended this reduction of festivals to Austria in 1754, inasmuch as only fifteen complete holy days besides Sundays were left; while on the other days, which were to be observed according to the provisions of the bull, Universa per orbem, it was enjoined that Mass should be heard and the fast kept on their vigil. This last injunction soon fell into disuse, and even assistance at Mass on the suppressed holy days was not strictly observed. Accordingly, the Empress Maria Teresa desired an alteration, and Pope Clement XIV. issued a new brief in 1771. In this, the direction to keep a fast on the vigil of the suppressed festivals, and to attend mass, was set aside, and the following festivals were prescribed to be kept as complete holy days; Christmas, St Stephen’s Day, New Year, Epiphany, Easter (two days), the Ascension, Pentecost (two days), Corpus Christi, SS. Peter and Paul, All Saints, the five principle feasts of our Lady, and the festival of the patron saint of the country, i.e. eighteen days in addition to the Sundays. A similar arrangement was introduced, in 1772, into the then electorate of Bavaria, in 1775, into Poland and East Prussia, and in 1791, into the whole of Spain.[74]

Under Pius VI. permission was frequently given for the reduction of the number of festivals at the request of certain dioceses and districts as appears from the bullarium of this Pope.

It became necessary to make new arrangements concerning festivals for Prussia, after the incorporation of Silesia. This was effected by a brief of Clement XIV. of the 24th June 1772, especially granted to the diocese of Breslau, but applying to all Prussia as it then existed. The festivals retained were: Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas (each two days), the Circumcision, Epiphany, the Ascension, Corpus Christi, five feasts of Our Lady, (i.e. the Purification, Annunciation, Assumption, Nativity, and Conception), SS. Peter and Paul and All Saints. Where there were several patron saints, only one, the principal, was to be celebrated.

These regulations remained in force only until 1788, for King Frederick William II. requested a further reduction in the number of festivals through his agent in Rome, Ciofani. In consequence of this, Pius VI. transferred the feasts of the Assumption and Nativity of our Lady to the Sundays following, and, at the express wish of the King, appointed that the Wednesday in the third week after Easter, one of the Protestant days of penitence and prayer, should rank as a festival, an order that all might implore the same God for a fruitful harvest. In compensation for the suppressed festivals of the Apostles and other Saints, there was to be observed the commemoration of all the Apostles on the 29th June, and a similar commemoration of all the holy martyrs on the 26th December. These had already been appointed by Clement XIV.[75]

These regulations remained in force for Prussia, and were even extended to its newly acquired territories by a brief of Leo XII., dated 2nd December 1828. By this means, the districts on the left bank of the Rhine, which, while under French dominion had only kept the four holidays prescribed by the Code Napoleon, again enjoyed a notable increase in the number of festivals. In order that this might not interfere with the livelihood of the industrial classes, who had to compete with Protestants, it was conceded at the representations of Archbishop von Spiegel that, in the industrial districts, servile labour might be performed after attendance at Mass on the festivals introduced in obedience to the brief of Leo XII. Owing to the deeply religious character of the district in question, very little use was ever made of this concession, and it has accordingly become obsolete. This is the origin of the regulations for Catholic festivals at present in force in Prussia. In one point, however, an alteration has been made, for when the Protestant day of penitence in prayer which falls in November, was fixed by authority in 1893, the Catholics fell in with the arrangement, and now celebrate the Presentation of our Lady in the Temple as a movable feast on the same day.

The greatest alterations in respect of the Church’s holy days was caused by the French Revolution. By a decree of the Convention on 5th October 1793, the Christian mode of reckoning was abolished and a new mode substituted for it. The years were to be reckoned from the establishment of the French Republic on 22nd September 1792. The division of time into weeks was also abolished and the months, now uniformly of thirty days, were divided into the decades. The French observed this mode of reckoning until 1st January 1806. While it was in force, Napoleon undertook the re-establishment of ecclesiastical affairs in France, and as far as the regulations for holy days are concerned, traces of the then existing state of things survives until the present day. For the Church had to fall in with the reckoning then in force, to the extent of either abolishing all holy days which fell in the week, or of transferring them to the Sunday. According to the ordinance of the Cardinal Legate Caprara, dated Paris, 9th April 1802, only four holy days were left, i.e. Christmas, Ascension, the Assumption (because the 15th August was Napoleon’s name-day), and All Saints. This ordinance affected all France as it was then, that is including the Netherlands, and the whole left bank of the Rhine.

In the Appendix[76] will be found a detailed list of the festivals observed in different countries upon which servile work is forbidden. A list of this kind, in addition to its practical value, is instructive as showing how the interests of religion are affected by the culture and social conditions of each country at a given period, and also how politics have intruded themselves into the sphere of religion. The latter fact is especially prominent in Protestantism. From the beginning, Protestantism was affected by two opposing streams—one favourable to the observance of festivals, prevailing among the Lutheran, the other opposed to it, prevailing among the Calvinists. Luther wished to retain all feasts of our Lord, and even Epiphany, Candlemas, the Annunciation found favour with him as such. Saints days and the two festivals of the Holy Cross were alone to be abolished. Certain secular governments tolerated even more festivals, such as St Michael and St John the Baptist. The Church Order of Brandenburg retained the feasts of Apostles, and even Corpus Christi, but without a procession, and the Assumption—this last for the sake of the peasants.[77] The same regulations were observed in Saxony and Würtemburg. Strict Calvinism retained only Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost; its spread and increasing influence manifested itself gradually in the regulations concerning festivals. The Prussian Union, and the Agenda of the so-called Evangelical State Church of 1895 recognise as holy days of obligation only the three principal festivals, each with two holidays, i.e. the Sunday and the Monday, New Year, Epiphany, Good Friday, the Ascension, along with the days of penitence and prayer. Contrary to the principles of Calvinism, the Established Church of England possesses a Calendar richly furnished with festivals.[78]