NFORGETTABLE. Like every other music director, I’ve witnessed my fair share of unforgettable behavior by Catholic priests. I’m talking about “EF” priests (who offer the Extraordinary Form) and also “OF” priests (who offer the Ordinary Form). For example: in Texas many years ago, visiting priests were problematic, because I never knew how they’d act during Mass. One experience I’ll never forget. I needed to go over the musical plan with the guest priest, so I went into the sacristy to wait for him. “He must come into the sacristy before Mass,” I thought to myself. Suddenly, I looked out into the church and saw him marching down the aisle. He had driven to our church wearing his vestments, hopped out of his truck, and immediately began Holy Mass without ever setting foot inside the sacristy.1
Christmas Ends When? • Not every priest (sadly) is knowledgeable about the liturgy. Nor is every choirmaster. Nor is every Catholic blogger. Nor is every organist. I’m reminded of this reality every single year when people fight online—in a fanatical and intense way—about the “true” ending of the Christmas season. There are many different opinions, all of them expressed passionately. In a minute, I’ll comment on “when the season of Christmas ends.” But first, I must share something about FEBRUARY 2nd. When I wrote my response to Mike, I forgot to mention something. Many feasts ‘share’ the same hymn. For example, when it comes to FEBRUARY 2nd (the feast of the Purification) the official hymn for the Divine Office is Ave Maris Stella. But that self-same hymn is also used for many other feasts—demonstrating yet another reason why the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal contains multiple melodies. You can hear our volunteer choir singing a gorgeous version (with scrolling score) of the hymn for FEBRUARY 2nd:
If you don’t like that version of Ave Maris Stella, try the following (“Tempus Adest Floridum”), which my volunteer choir recorded on FEBRUARY 2nd:
Notice how it alternates between “unison” and “Soprano + Alto.”
When Does Christmas End?
So, when does the season of Christmas end? At the end of the day, the answer is complex. For instance, many centuries ago, the feast of the Epiphany used to include the mystery of Christ’s Nativity. What does that mean? What impact does that have on “the twelve days” of Christmas? Is FEBRUARY 2nd the end of the Christmas season? But what about when Septuagesima comes before it? In the Ordinary Form, is it still “Christmas season” on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord? Those who changed the calendar during the 1960s argued endlessly about that question.
Mind Of The Church • Why is there no precise answer? Catholics in former times did not strictly “label” or “divide” or “classify” the various feasts into seasons. That’s just not the way they thought. When we examine old missals, we see that feast followed feast without any HEADERS. In the following example, notice how Septuagesima begins without any type of header:
“Homo Modernus” • It’s a ‘modern’ tendency to desire to classify everything. The following Missal—from the 19th century—doesn’t say anything about which “season” it is on January 6th. In other words, it has no header:
1962 Changes Everything • But the 1962 Missal began giving “headers” to all the seasons. Notice how it says “Tempus Epiphaniae” in this 1962 Missal:
And notice how it says “Tempus Per Annum Ante Septuagesimam” in this 1962 Missal:
And notice how it says “Tempus Septuagesimae” in this 1962 Missal:
If you don’t believe me, please examine any 1962 Missal and you will see I’m telling the truth:
Consider page 41 from the 1962 edition of the MISSALE ROMANUM:
Dicitur “Glória in excélsis” si Missa dominicæ celebratur in feriis temporis Epiphaniæ, non vero, si post diem 13 ianuarii adhibetur.
Notice the precise wording, which (translated into English) means:
The “Gloria” is said if the Mass of Sunday is celebrated on the weekdays of the season of Epiphany, but it is not said if the Mass is celebrated after January 13.
The 1965 Missal is identical (in many ways) to the 1962 edition. Notice how “Tempus Epiphaniæ” has been translated into English:
Every 1962 missal uses the same wording. For example, consider the 1962 edition by Pustet:
Notice how the 1962 uses Tempus Per Annum, which would become the infamous “Ordinary Time” when translated by ICEL. Father Valentine Young (d. 2020) hated that translation, and always insisted upon: “Through The Year.” The words Tempus Per Annum Ante Septuagesimam were invented for the 1962 Missal, as far as I can tell. The 1965 Missal translates the phrase rather freely: “Season before Septuagesima.”
The 1962 Missal—for the first time, as far as I can tell—labels a particular season as “Tempus Septuagesimae” as you can see:
The 1965 Missal translates that into English as “Season of Septuagesima.”
Conclusions:
1962 Imperfect • The 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM clearly labels the seasons: Season of Christmas; Season of Epiphany; Season before Septuagesima; Season of Septuagesima. Just because something is found in the 1962 Missal, does that settle for all time potential objections? Certainly not. Just like the 1965 Missal, the 1962 edition was a transitional Missal. It contains typos, imperfections, and erroneous statements. Indeed, those who own a copy of the Saint Edmund Campion Missal, Third Edition—which includes a peerless and exhaustive comparison of the 1950 Holy Week vs. the 1962 Holy Week—realize the 1962 edition is far from perfect. To give just one example, those who reformed Holy Week explicitly said not to refer to the “blessing of the font” but the 3rd edition of the Campion Missal points out specific places in the official books which still refer to “blessing the font” (due to sloppy proofreading).
1970 Imperfect • Make no mistake about it: The 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM is not perfect. The 1970 edition is also imperfect, and contains all kinds of internal contradictions. Indeed, the 1960s reformers wanted desperately to rearrange the various feasts which occurred around Christmas and Epiphany, but they couldn’t agree—even on important questions. (Someone could easily write several doctoral dissertations on this subject.) An excellent summary is found in the book by Lauren Pristas: Collects of the Roman Missals: A Comparative Study of the Sundays in Proper Seasons before and after the Second Vatican Council. Professor Louis Bouyer, a close friend of Pope Saint Paul VI, later admitted that the 1960s reformers had no chance of success since their goal was “recasting from top to bottom—and in a few months!—an entire liturgy which had required twenty centuries to develop.” Consider just one point of confusion:
* PDF • USCCB calls “Baptism of the Lord” as “Ordinary Time”
Nor is such ‘calendar confusion’ anything new in the life of the church. In the 19th century, the liturgical calendar was unrecognizable due to all the local feasts (virtually all of them modern creations). Before the reforms of POPE SAINT PIUS X, Father Adrian Fortescue yearned for a pope “such as Benedict XIV who will give us back more of our old Roman Calendar,” writing that:
The great number of new Saints’ days and the multiplication of Masses had produced the result that many were never said at all, being always supplanted by others. […] The liturgical student cannot but regret that we so seldom use the old offices which are the most characteristic, the most Roman in our rite, of which many go back to the Gelasian or even Leonine book. And merely from an aesthetic point of view there can be no doubt that the old propers are more beautiful than modern compositions.
The “Correct” Answer • So when does the season of Christmas end? There is no “correct” answer, because our ancestors never would have asked such a question. Indeed, each and every Mass is a commemoration of our Lord’s Annunciation, Nativity, Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. Moreover, we have different calendars in the Catholic Church: Ordinary Form, Extraordinary Form, the Eastern rites, and so on.
That being said, it’s somewhat annoying to observe passionate (and prolonged) arguments online among so-called “TLM Catholics” who insist that SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY—in violet vestments, without the Gloria—took place “during the season of Christmas” this year. Some insist the season of Christmas doesn’t end until FEBRUARY 2nd. We have already seen how the 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM explicitly labels the “season” of Epiphany, the “season” before Septuagesima, and the “season” of Septuagesima. Can you imagine singing Christmas carols on SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY? Furthermore, is not the Glória In Excélsis the quintessential Christmas hymn?
Post Script • Sometimes what “goes without saying” needs to be said. In spite of its title, my article today doesn’t just answer a question. Rather, it explores topics I hope are valuable and enjoyable for readers. Sneering, Pontius Pilate asked our Redeemer: “What is truth?” On this blog, we don’t explore topics out of boredom. Nor do we proclaim that all truth is relative and “depends upon one’s point of view.” For the competent choral director, it is eminently necessary to have an understanding of liturgical seasons.
1 His actions were wrong on multiple levels. The priest is supposed to check over everything before Mass starts. He’s also supposed to pray before the beginning of Mass. A priest is not supposed to drive around town in vestments, park, hop out, and start offering Mass.
