|
Published: February 25, 2008
"Not a day for partying”
U.S. bishops decide to change the date of St. Patrick’s Day
This year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Sacramento doesn’t fall on St. Patrick’s Day, and for a very simple reason. The United States bishops have decided to change the date of the feast commemorating the Apostle of Ireland.
 This year, the U.S. bishops changed the traditional March 17 date of St. Patrick’s Day to March 14 because it would fall on Monday of Holy Week. They have done the same for the Solemnity of St. Joseph, March 19, which this year coincides with Spy Wednesday – the day in Holy Week that traditionally marks Judas Iscariot’s deal with the Sanhedrin to betray Christ for 30 pieces of silver. St. Joseph’s this year falls on March 15, the day before Palm Sunday.
Both saints’ days are dear to ethnic groups in the United States and abroad. St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland (and, by the way, of both the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Diocese of Sacramento.) St. Joseph, the husband of Mary and foster-father of Jesus, is the patron saint of Italy.
Since Masses honoring saints may not be celebrated in Holy Week, the bishops decided to move St. Patrick’s Day because festivities associated with it are not befitting the holiest seven days in the Church year. "This is a time of penance and reflection; it is a very solemn week," the Rev. James Murphy, spokesman for the Sacramento diocese, told the Sacramento Bee. "It is not a day for joyous celebration, for partying. All of our focus should be on the Passion."
Catholics honoring St. Patrick will, then, have to get their “partying” done on March 14 – a Friday, for which the bishops have given a dispensation from the discipline of abstinence.
The bishops’ decision, however, took organizers of Sacramento’s 12th annual St. Patrick’s Day parade by surprise. "This is the first I've heard of it. I'm embarrassed that no one has said anything," Nancy Mallory, parade coordinator for the Old Sacramento Business Association, told the Feb. 23 Bee. Chris Brown of the Shamrock Club of Sacramento told the newspaper that, "mean[ing] no disrespect to Catholics in any way,” his group will still celebrate St. Patrick's Day on March 17.
Will Catholics keep away from the parade during Holy Week? One Catholic, Cindy Pontes, said she would. "I totally agree with the church on this one," she said. "That week is a time of contemplation… And in this day and age, the church really doesn't ask a lot of us." Monsignor Edward Kavanagh of St. Rose’s parish in the city, however, said he saw no problem with Catholics attending the parade, “as long as people behave themselves.”
Fr. Dan Madigan of St. Joseph’s parish in Clarksburg agreed with Kavanagh. But, he added, "In my opinion, we have complicated the church too much with all these minor rules and regulations. There's bigger stuff going on in the world – like rampant poverty," Madigan, founder of the Sacramento Food Bank, told the Bee.
Posted Monday, February 25, 2008 8:28 AM By Anonymous
May God bless the bishops.
|
Posted Monday, February 25, 2008 10:52 AM By FrMichael
If quoted correctly here, Fr. Madigan seems to consider the proper celebration of Holy Week a matter of "minor rules and regulations." Just lovely.
|
Posted Monday, February 25, 2008 10:56 AM By Ken
March 14 is for the novus ordo. The traditional Latin Mass, in places that have a feast day for Saint Patrick, is to be on 2 April.
|
Posted Monday, February 25, 2008 12:13 PM By Grisha
Ken --- HUH? We have two sets of "alternate" saint's days in the Church. How can that be? Why?
|
Posted Monday, February 25, 2008 1:01 PM By Josh
Grisha: the rubrics of the Traditional Latin Mass require that impeded feasts be moved forward to the next unimpeded day, which would be the Wednesday after Easter for St. Patrick this year (the Annunciation is moved to the Monday and St. Joseph to the Tuesday after Easter this year). The Novus Ordo moves impeded feasts to the nearest day, whether before or after the usual date.
|
Posted Monday, February 25, 2008 1:47 PM By Fr. M.P.
Grisha, as Josh mentioned, there are two calendars, the Tridentine 1962 and the Novus Ordo calendar, so there are two days for every saint, sometimes the same day, sometimes not. The Tridentine 1962 calendar can be seen here [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Roman_Calendar_of_1962]) and the current Novus Ordo. It is unfortunate that the calendar was changed, because it is confusing.
|
Posted Monday, February 25, 2008 1:48 PM By Patrick
I am quite upset....St. Patrick's Day is a high Holy Day for me!
|
Posted Monday, February 25, 2008 8:01 PM By Laurette Elsberry
Fr. Madigan makes his own rules about Mass. I went to a funeral Mass a his church once and he had his pet Great Dane wandering around, even during Communion, receiving adulation from the parishioners. To me it was a scandal. I wrote to the Bishop, but his minion wrote back that no one else had complained!!!!. How's that for an answer?
|
Posted Monday, February 25, 2008 10:14 PM By John L. Sillasen
Laurette, there were animals where Jesus was born.
|
Posted Tuesday, February 26, 2008 7:53 AM By Mary Ann Kreitzer
I'm with Laurette. John, does your response mean you think it would be appropriate to turn our churches into stables with the ox, the ass, and the sheep all wandering the church during the Mass? Should parishioners be encouraged to bring their beloved puppies to Mass and carry them in their arms up to Communion? Makes about as much sense as the padre bringing his dog into the church.
|
Posted Tuesday, February 26, 2008 4:46 PM By John L. Sillasen
Depends on how the Magisterium calls it. I don't know that animals inherently would defile a Mass; I don't think so. St Paul offers, perhaps, a perspective when he instructs that feasting and "partying" is not proper at Mass. In other times and places, wouldn't you think there have been conditions where animals at Mass was better than otherwise?
|
Posted Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:47 PM By Grisha
You people find weird masses which I've never heard of. Clown masses Barney masses and now Great Danes in church. In my 60 years as a Catholic I've only seen animals in church as service dogs, during the blessing of the animals on St. Francis day and when Father's Labrador retriever came into mass to see the children and the deacon had to round him up and take him back to the rectory.
|
Posted Tuesday, February 26, 2008 7:27 PM By John L. Sillasen
Grisha, there was a news story a several years ago about a dog in England, who would walk several miles to church each sunday, and then back to his home. Maybe he was checking to see if St Francis might be there that day. Now, my bird hunting dogs might do that hoping St Francis would be preaching to a great collection of birds, including of course, game birds = ))) BTW, speaking of weird masses, I was driven to search for something better by an extremely strident choir voice ... and that's how I went off and found the TLM.
|
Posted Tuesday, February 26, 2008 11:43 PM By Maria C
John L. Sillasen I remember once hearing that in the infant days of our church, there was blessings of food, animals (herd) etc during or after a mass. I agree with you I don't think it is bad, I guess perhaps the other comments where geared at people who pretty much treat their dogs better than children. I remember a lady when asked if she saw a homeless person and a stray dog hungy, who would she give food to? She responded with "the dog of course". I thought that was said that she thought little of a human being. With all do respect John I agree with you, St. Francis was a perfect example, but I think that in today's world, here in San Diego, you would see more pink poodles, all for show and in strollers during mass than those beautiful humble days of our St. Francis era.
|
Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2008 3:31 AM By Grisha
At my mother's church in San Diego , puppies being trained to be service dogs were brought to mass to get used to being in crowds. They would go up with their trainer families at communion. The priest wouild give them a blessing. It was neat!
|
Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2008 4:00 PM By John L. Sillasen
Maria C, I've long since moved out of big city life. I'm half way between it and rural living, trying desparately to figure out a way to make a living in the outback. It is now odd, almost funny, to see people who obviously have recently retired from cities and are enjoying the wilderness nature here ... having stepped 30-40 feet away from the curb and letting their tiny dog wander an even further 20 feet from civilization, while probably monitoring their exact location by gps, just in case. You can see the looks of unfettered joy on their faces to see actual dirt without a lawn and actual plants that no one put there ... and actual mud too deep to walk in, or listen to the bone chilling squeals of coyote packs at night. I think this long absense of society from any form of actual natural wilderness living has damaged their sense of who we are. Isolate a person from creation by putting him or her in manmade environments has a bad spiritual effect over a few generations.
|
Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2008 5:16 PM By Dave N.
This strikes me as one of those "deck chairs on the Titanic" stories.
|
Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2008 6:23 PM By Bruce
I’ve never heard of such an event for bishops to move saints feast days so that the people get to party? Please don’t someone come along and try to convince us that it was done a few hundred years ago too when the Easter calendar lined up like it did this year! It will only be deception. I just can’t imagine that Saint Patrick and Saint Joseph would agree with these imposter bishops. Rather out of their humble love for God they would sweetly accept the calendar and put God before themselves kindly stepping out of the limelight. Shame on the Vatican 2 (V2) american imposter bishops! Did BXVIth agree with this? Grisha, Sorrry to say but it sounds like your mother's V2 church has GONE TO THE DOGS! NO PUP, I mean NO PUN Intended! It is hard to imagine these ANIMAL CRACKER Novus Ordo Services would be met with a smile from God. Rather it is easier to imagine God is displeased, afterall recall His anger when He overturned the money changers booths outside of the Temple, His Father’s House, telling the money changers that they have turned it into a den of thieves. To think this is cute. Yes, animals were at the stable when Our Lord was born, but where do you read about animals attending His ignominious crucifixion and excruciating death on His Holy Cross? Who would have danced for joy or been disrespectful bringing the pets to see Him hanging there and while His Holy Mother was in terrible sorrow? Contrary to what V2 teaching is, Holy Mass is not celebrating Our Lord’s Holy Birth nor His Last Supper, but His Ignominious Crucifixion and Excruciating Death on His Holy Cross; shedding His Holy Blood to redeem each of us, whom wish to pick up our crosses and follow Him. Taking pets to even a disrespectful Novus Ordo Service adds only further to the insults to God. Is it any wonder that episodes like this led to this weeks Associated Press report that “The Roman Catholic Church has lost more members than any faith tradition because of affiliation swapping, the survey found. While nearly one in three Americans were raised Catholic, fewer than one in four say they're Catholic today. That means roughly 10 percent of all Americans are ex-Catholics.” Find a TLM
|
Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2008 7:24 PM By John L. Sillasen
St John the Evangelist sat on one of those deck chairs on a high mountain looking down on the Great City burning.
|
Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2008 7:42 PM By John L. Sillasen
Bruce, it is hard to believe, but animals are mentioned in Scripture. I know you're not old enough to have been there, but be assured that animals were in the presense of the Crucifixion, even if not specifically mentioned. Ask yourself what the scene looked like 150 mere years ago ... animals everywhere. Before there were screens on windows, and prior to airconditioning, do you suppose that there might have been birds and bats flying around inside churches? Rats? Cats stalking the rats and mice in the churches? Hmn, ever heard the term, church mouse? I wonder if St Francis ever attended Mass with animals all around ... food for thought. Oh yeah, what about snakes stalking the church mice in the church buildings? I wouldn't go so far, however, as to call them church snakes. And maybe some churches kept pigs outside to control the snake population. You don't suppose that any horses, mules, donkeys, cows, goats or sheep might have peeked in a doorway or a window of a church during Mass, do you? And then there are chickens; what if someone forgot to clip the wing of a rooster and it flew through the church? Hey, what about that rooster crowing for St Peter prior to the Crucifixion? And then dogs licking the wounds of beggars; also, not to forget is the dogs taking the table scraps tossed to them ... not sure if dogs might have been at sedar meals, which is what the Last Supper was. Dirty dogs?! Ever got sick from a dog? What about did you ever catch an illness from people? OK, what about ritual uncleaness ... does the Church have instructions on this topic? I've never heard of any. If you were to write about Mass, would you mention automobiles? So, why should Gospel writers mention camels that transported people to the Crucifixion ... supposing that not all people there had walked to it?
|
Posted Thursday, February 28, 2008 1:34 PM By Grisha
John L: I was once at a Passover seder at a rabbi's home and their dog, a setter named Yoffi was there. He didn't beg for scraps but just looked woeful. The small children took care of him!
|
Posted Thursday, February 28, 2008 9:54 PM By John L. Sillasen
Grisha, I used to watch the late Zola Levitt TV shows. He was a Jewish Christian, and presented Christianity from that perspective. He produced a series on the Seder meal, and it is chock full of profound symbolism, all of which is fulfilled by the Eucharist. For example, there is no need for the Catholic to go to the door during the Mass and keep an eye out for the return of Elijah, since Jesus told us that that was fulfilled in St John the Baptist. I find that it helps unite heaven and earth the more one knows about the Seder meal, especially when one is in communion with God through the Eucharist. Without the unity of heaven and earth, there are all sorts of bad things that tend to happen.
|
Posted Thursday, February 28, 2008 10:41 PM By Maria C
John L. Sillasen sounds wonderful that you can getaway and enjoy rural living. God bless you and help you find a living so you can enjoy it. Growing up, I use to visit my grandma in Mexico in a small pueblo. I loved it, we were near the wilderness, the fresh air. I enjoyed the goats, sheep, and the donkeys. What a peaceful life. I must admit, I still love living in San Diego because of all the modern conveniences but I don't mind visiting and getting away every so often.
|
Posted Friday, February 29, 2008 4:36 PM By John L. Sillasen
Maria C, my drive to work takes me through some semi-rural areas. This morning and this afternoon, I took special note of the growing population of goats in people's yards. Also, with the rains and the following lush green carpet everywhere, the shepherds have moved in some large flocks of sheep all around here. Can see a bison or two every few years. And there was one country place that had large circus animals for a few years ... giraffe, camel, elephant. Often one sees small llama herds, and emus. It's not a big waterfowl area, but there are wild ducks all over the place ... different species, all very colorful. Big honkers come in from time to time also (ten pound Canada geese). But it's not Eden, and when the weather turns hot, the rattlers come out in droves. Cattle and horses are common, and in the mountains one can find wild hogs, deer, sheep. Last winter I drove up a canyon in the eastern Sierras and found a herd of 21 big horn sheep, grazing about 150 yards up the mountain. They are planted in an effort to replenish the population; the old leader had a drooping neck from the big radio collar placed on it, and he didn't look too happy about the fact. Bear can be seen, and the sign sometimes is everywhere. Saw a small cougar a few years ago while driving a forest trail. Last Fall in Idaho while riding in a truck back to the hunting camp, we surprised a wolf. The next day the others chased a young moose along the trail for a half mile. And there were flocks of wild turkey just about everywhere. BTW, you can find wild turkey in the mountains of San Diego. Zoos are nice, but wilderness is altogether different ... but of course it takes some time to run into all these kinds of animals in the wild.
|
Posted Friday, February 29, 2008 6:45 PM By Natalie
John, You are funny and a frequent poster of your inputs. Do you work at this website? If so, its easy to see you enjoy your job. Keep having fun.
|
Posted Friday, February 29, 2008 9:24 PM By John L. Sillasen
Natalie, no, I do not work at this site. I'm merely working off a debt (to God, Who else?); my joy is in the Lord. BTW, Maria C, I forgot to include some of the other animals in the wild, which I've seen or seen evidence of. Wild horses ... one day we saw over twenty of them grazing out in the middle of Nevada. And there are burro signs out there ... in fact there are burros fairly close in to civilization but I've not seen them. We once ran into a pack train outfitter at the base of some mountains ... specially bred giant burros; they'd get people together and head off into the mountains for a month with all their supplies carried by the burros. I think the vacationers, themselves, hiked. I also forgot to mention the wetlands birds ... various huge birds like giant egrets and blue herons can be found all over the place where there are wetlands. We found a ruddy duck drake 20 miles from the Colorado River in the desert on a small natural spring. Lot of wild animals out there, but a lot of vast space and time to deal with too.
|
Posted Monday, March 03, 2008 3:18 PM By Raymond
This wild life conversation has taken a BIG detour from the subject of the original article. Mr/Ms Editor, I thought readers comments were suppose to address the subject at hand. These animal discussions have gotten way off track.
|
Posted Monday, March 03, 2008 5:19 PM By Raymond
Anyone who thinks pets have a place in church or religious worship must be a member of the animal family, a baboon!
|
Posted Thursday, March 06, 2008 5:44 PM By Jeanie
Bruce, Your sincere comments make me tremble. May God forgive us! John, As a farmer’s wife I find your comments repugnant, and shallow-minded trying to sway the children of God with your humanly view. Only God’s Divine View matters! You missed Bruce’s point. Is your respect for animals greater than your respect for God in condoning norvus ordo services hosting pets? Your comments that animals have been hither and dither are ridiculous. Respectable congregations would have rushed and escorted wayward animals outside for respect of God. Parading pets in those services is not the same and is disrespectful to God and distracts worshippers. Your approval of pets in the church may insult St Francis. Think back to the movie, ‘The Passion of the Christ’. Those scenes accurately portray the crucifixion of Jesus and are re-enacted in an unbloody way during the Tridentine Latin Mass (TLM) at the Consecration. Is the V2 church so far out of touch they cannot see the grave injury they do to Jesus like the Roman soldiers? As a V2 convert, you show a lack of being taught the immense significance of what takes place during a TLM! None of us can comprehend the infinite value of merit we gain in Grace from our omnipotent God while we devoutly and reverently attend a TLM! Yes St Francis loved animals, and they can be blest; however there is a proper place and time for everything, and neither the TLM nor norvus ordo service is it! St Francis put respect for God before the animals. To many people seem to think God is a good old boy, one of the family, and in-turn don’t show the love, respect, and allegiance to Him that they owe. How many of us would defend our catholic faith and willingly die as martyrs? Our Creator, Our Father holds and sustains our very existence in His loving and just pure thoughts. He knows the exact number of hairs on our heads, our temptations, sins, and thoughts in our minds. Nothing can be hidden from God! Pray and encourage the return to the TLM and the 7 Holy Sacraments. Pray the Rosary and seek on www.traditio.com to find a TLM congregation. May Jesus and Mary bless those that are devoted to their Hearts, and treat them respect
|
Posted Monday, March 10, 2008 9:04 PM By a
St. Patrick's day is the 17th, i don't care what anyone says. no one not even the pope can change that.
|
Posted Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:25 PM By Aaron
Word up im paying my respect to guiness on the 15th and 17th ...maybe even the 18th.
|
Posted Thursday, March 13, 2008 9:53 AM By Chris Purdy
Are they serious...the cathoilc church thinks they rule the world. This is rediculous and should not be tolerated by any means. St Patricks day takes prescidence over any sort of holy week.
|
Posted Thursday, March 13, 2008 7:47 PM By Joe Offer
It's interesting that people make such a big deal about this. Whenever St. Patrick's Day falls on a Sunday, the Church celebrates the Sunday instead of the Feast of St. Patrick - and nobody seems to notice that. Sometimes, St. Pat's Day is celebrated by the Church on a different day, and sometimes not. But after our parish's Reconciliation Service on March 17, I think I'll follow Aaron's advice and go out for a pint of Guinness.
-Joe-
|
© California Catholic Daily 2008. All Rights Reserved.
|