Copyright
© 1999 by Michael Segers, All rights
reserved
Pardon me, but you may
remember that last
time
There is another year
imposed onto our pagan calendar. That is the Christian or ecclesiastical or
church year, which begins four Sundays before Christmas with Advent. Although
this calendar has been preserved in Roman Catholic, Episcopal, and Lutheran
churches, in recent years, more and more Christian denominations have recognized
its value as a teaching tool as well as an aid for personal devotions. The
church calendar moves from a time of penance and renunciation to a great feast
day (Advent before Christmas, Lent before Easter), as it commemorates great
events in the history of Christianity.
Advent recalls the Old
Testament prophecies, the preparation, for the coming of the Messiah. Christmas,
the "Christ-mass," is the celebration on December 25th of
the birth of Jesus—although there is nothing in the Bible that indicates the
date of his birth. Twelve days later, Epiphany on January 6th brings
to an end the twelve days of Christmas (or the "old twelve days" for
those traditional farmers who "plant by the signs") with the
commemoration of the visit of the Three Kings and of the presentation of Jesus
in the Temple.
The season of Epiphany (the
"showing forth" or presentation of Jesus) is observed until Ash
Wednesday, the beginning of Lent (the "lengthening" days of spring).
The date of Ash Wednesday, which occurs forty days, excluding Sundays, before
Easter, moves around on the calendar, because Easter also moves around. Lent
provides the faithful an opportunity to fast and prepare themselves solemnly for
the great festival of Easter. Sundays are omitted, because all Sundays are
regarded as "little Easters," festive celebrations of the
Resurrection.
Ash Wednesday is preceded
by a day known as Carnival, Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday. According to some
writers, "carnival" literally means "good-by to meat" (in
Latin, carne, vale!) at the beginning of the period of fasting.
"Mardi Gras" is French for "fat Tuesday," and "Shrove
Tuesday" indicates that this would be a good day to make confession (to be
shriven) to prepare for Lent. It is a day for excess, for using up the booze,
meat, and hormones that should be avoided during Lent. The British indulge in
the excesses of eating pancakes to use up butter and sweeteners, a custom
observed on that Tuesday in many Episcopal churches, which continue the heritage
of the Church of England in our country.
After Easter, the festival
of the Resurrection, there are the festivals of the Ascension and of Pentecost,
commemorating other great events in the growth of Christianity. Then, for
months, there is the long, uneventful time identified as simply "after
Pentecost," which seems to reflect some sound psychology of spiritual
development, that there are long times when nothing much seems to be happening.
But then, four Sundays before Christmas, the whole story begins again. That is
typical of religious time, which moves in circles, rather than of historical
time, which moves in straight lines.
Another calendar, another
year, is the Julian calendar, the calendar of ancient Rome and its emperor
Julius Caesar. The 365-day year of the Julian calendar was not exactly in synch
with the natural solar year. Over many centuries the Julian calendar would
gradually get so far behind the solar calendar that New Year's Day would become
a summer holiday—on this side of the equator; south of the equator, of course,
New Year's Day takes place in the summer.
In the year 1752, England and
its American colonies changed to the Gregorian calendar, with a loss of eleven
days. If you think people get upset about the difference of an hour in changing
from daylight savings time to standard time and back, imagine the confusion and
anger that resulted from the loss of eleven days. One odd result is that
technically, George Washington was born on February 11, 1732 on the Julian
calendar (or O.S., for Old Style), but we observe his birthday on the 22nd,
unless we just cram him into the generic President's Day.
There is still another
year, leap year. When the Gregorian calendar was introduced, it needed a little
fine tuning to get it in line with the natural solar calendar, Adding a 29th day
to the month of February every four years was an overcompensation, so this
further amendment was made. Years divisible by four (1980, 1984, 1988,
1992—years of presidential elections in the United States) are leap years.
Although all centennial years are divisible by four (1900, 2000), centennial
years are leap years only if they can be evenly divided by 400. So, 2000 will be
a leap year, but 1900 was not, and 2100 will not be either.
And so, we finally get back
to Hallowe'en, with which this series of articles began. In recent years, two
very different things have happened to Hallowe'en. For one, adults have more and
more gotten involved in the festivities--and spending more and more money on
costumes and parties. At the same time, many Christians have grown uncomfortable
with the celebration, a continuation of a great pagan holiday when, according to
ancient traditions, the dead return to earth.
Hallowe’en represents not
so much the invasion of a more or less Christian society by paganism as an
invasion of paganism by Christianity. Many of the most imposing cathedrals of
Latin America were constructed on holy sites of the native religions, just as
many churches in Rome are built on sites once sacred to the Roman gods and
goddesses. Such construction was done on purpose, to show that the new religion
was stronger than the old.
Similarly, Christian
holidays were imposed onto pre-Christian holidays. Even the great Christian
festivals of Easter and Christmas still have many pagan elements, from the eggs
and rabbits of Easter (which derive from pagan fertility cults) to the trees,
mistletoe, and Yule logs of Christmas (which derive from ancient Germanic
religious practices).
In the Christian calendar,
every day of the year is dedicated to the commemoration of one or more saints or
events in the lives of saints. In this country, just about the only saints whose
days are well known are St. Valentine and St. Patrick, but the actions
associated with their feast days, from red candy hearts on February 14th
to green beer on March 17th, seem far removed from religious
observance. But, every day of the year is associated with one or more of the
great heroes and heroines of the church, for example, Matthew (September 21st),
Mark (April 25th), Luke (October 18th), and John (December
27th).
November 1st is
assigned for the commemoration of All Saints (or Hallowed Ones), and November 2nd,
All Souls—of the faithful who have preceded us in death—or día de los
muertos, Day of the Dead, in Spanish. The church took over a perhaps natural
human need to remember the dead, to get in touch with the dead, whether or not
they get in touch with us, at the end of the old agricultural year (reflected in
Hallowe’en hayrides) and put it into a Christian context. October 31st
is no longer the pagan Samhain but "All Hallows’ Eve" (hence,
Hallowe’en), the day before we commemorate the saints, two days before we
pause to remember, honor, and be grateful for our loved ones who have died.
Every day of the year
resonates with all kinds of historical, spiritual, and personal significance.
Some years, I have approached All Souls’ Day with no new losses during the
past year. Perhaps it is indicative of my age that this year, I have experienced
the deaths of six people who touched my life in various ways. Two were my age,
two a generation younger, two older than my parents. This year, on the 2nd
of November, I’ll sit on the bank of my favorite river and light a candle, sit
a while, and remember sorrows and joys. Then, wherever I rove or however loudly
I rave, with dry feet and heart full of noble thoughts of my departed friends,
there will be a little silent spot in my heart—crowded in by those noble
thoughts—where they will live on: Zan, Margaret, Christine, Gene, Freddie, and
Chris…. One mistake the pagans made was saying that there is only one night
when the dead are with us.
Last week, I concluded the first
installment of these ravings with a reference to a special treat now
available on the Internet, the new free Encyclopedia
Britannica site. The truth is, it is not all that available. I have not yet
been able to get through to it, and neither have thousands of other people.
Before you close up your treat bags and go home to check your goodies for razor
blades, I’ll give you my favorite reference site, one of the first sites I
discovered, which gives you access to hundreds of online dictionaries:
And, to get the surprising
truth about the razor blades in the treats, check:
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/mayhem/needles.htm
Religiously Rovin': Internet Pilgrimages