When is Nativity?
I've been using the 4th edition of the Clear Recital a LOT since it was released. It's been very helpful for details on holidays, and was the first thing to tip me off that I was getting the day for Rosa Mundi wrong! (see also: this post)
The selection of Dec 25 also addressed a second issue. The end of December was filled with pagan gatherings and festivities (in honor of the “sun god” as he became victorious over the “god of darkness” as the days slowly began to become longer (the winter solstice). Christians were falling back to pagan temptations with these festivities, thus the church fathers wanted to provide them with their own reason to celebrate. This reason of course became the birth of the Son of God (who made the sun).
(from What Are the 12 Days of Christmas? on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America's website)
Given the Madrians' interest in preserving old traditions, seeing in them as they did the idea of a preserved faith from the mists of time, it doesn't feel right to me to have Nativity as a moveable feast. Even less so a moveable feast that can leap so far ahead, when it would make more sense to preserve a date as close as possible to the winter solstice (or making the winter solstice itself the day for Nativity).
Coupled with how much Nativity itself moves, Advent can be quite long -- or very short, getting down to 14 days in 2019!
- 2015: 24 days of Advent
2016: 33 days of Advent
2017: 26 days of Advent
2018: 25 days of Advent
2019: 14 days of Advent
2020: 30 days of Advent
2021: 29 days of Advent
2022: 19 days of Advent
There are longer Advents in the world -- Orthodox Christian Advent is 40 days long to mirror the 40 day Lent; the Ambrosian Rite and the Mozarabic Rite mark Advent for six weeks -- but most Christian denominations that celebrate Advent do so for four weeks. It would be disappointing to have only two weeks in Advent one year -- never mind the logistics of what to do with the Advent Wreath since you would hardly have the time!
The felicity of having both Advent and Lent match in duration is both beautiful and meaningful -- and it is something we ourselves have. If we mark Advent as beginning on the first of Astraea and continuing until Nativity on Dec 25, it is 27 days. And Moura also lasts for 27 days, as Med Moura is a day where the restrictions of the season are lifted.
Though I hardly know why certain changes were made in the Google Calendar, it seems a much better method. I'm sure you can't (or can't easily) make moveable holidays in it, but the days chosen are (accidentally?) perfect.
What do you think? Do you prefer the modern fixed dates, or the moveable feasts?
The fixed dates seem to have first come into usage among the Aristasians, but precisely when or why I'm afraid I couldn't say. Their fixed calendar is the one that carried into usage among the Chelouranyans, and hence the Chapel gives Advent as starting on 1 Astraea as a fixed date (http://www.mother-god.com/winter-festivals.html). The pattern across festivals seems to be that the Aristasians celebrated on the days that the Madrians had formerly used as the base point of the lunar calculation (e.g., the Madrians calculated the date of Nativity based on lunar phases following 28 Astraea, and the Aristasians simply celebrated Nativity on 28 Astraea; likewise with Rosa Mundi on 9 Rosea). Interestingly, the Madrians don't appear to have marked the Feast of the Conception (http://www.mother-god.com/feast-of-the-conception.html), so timing around that may have been a consideration in the change to Aristasian practice. If that theory is accurate, however, it still doesn't shed any light on why other moveable feasts became fixed.
ReplyDeleteAs to the Google calendar, I placed the fixed dates on it from the Chapel because: A) I didn't have a way to make Google reckon with the algorithms required to calculate the moveable dates, and B) those are the dates that serve as starting points for anyone wishing to calculate according to the Madrian usage anyway. I've always had the best of intentions to populate the moveable dates at the start of the year, but I fear I've never actually gotten around to doing it.
All that being said, I love your observation about the parallel between Advent and Moura when using the fixed date. That's given me a lot to think about!
(PS I'm glad to hear the fourth edition has been so helpful to you!)
Ahh, that would explain why I thought Rosa Mundi was earlier!
DeleteIt's interesting that you mention the Feast of the Conception, because I was just noticing it the other day that it seems an odd place to have it. When paired with Advent, it feels too early in the season; but since it is directly from the Catholic date for Mary, it makes more sense.
I could see losing the moveable nature of feasts because it is very taxing to do -- even if you have easy access to the internet. Checking all the dates for this post took it right out of me! Or, if not every moveable feast, at least certain things being lost -- only Advent being moveable, and Nativity falling at the end of Advent regardless would be better than having both needing calculation.
It's good to hear from you again! I hope you are doing well? The state of the world this past year...
The state of the world indeed... but such is the nature of the Iron Age! Speaking of which, I thought you might like to see the Madrian calendar for the Iron Age year 5083 (Gregorian 1981-82), which I've just added to the archives online: http://archives.racemochridhe.com/s/digital-archives-for-filianic-studies/item/219
ReplyDeleteHopefully you will find it helpful in your calendar studies, and perhaps a bit of design inspiration as well. The artwork was an original composition by Master Richard.
That calendar!! It's interesting how nearly all the month names stayed the same (with a few spelling changes, like "Brighde") but ALL of the autumn months changed? I wonder what happened there!
DeleteHappy to see the archives back! I missed them!