The Feast of the Immaculate Conception: America’s Real National Day

Submitted by LocutusOP on Mon, 12/28/2020 - 20:29
Author: 
AvatarKyPerson ,  Avatarqoheleth ,Michael Paterson-Seymour ,                
Date: 
Monday, December 28, 2020 - 20:30
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The Feast of the Immaculate Conception: America’s Real National Day
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    KyPerson • a month ago

    I will certainly go to Mass today. Even though the obligation has been suspended because of the covid, I will go. It's the least I can do. I will admit the current state of the US has me quite depressed but as my confessor said, I can do my own little bit. As Padre Pio said, "pray, hope and don't worry" Ultimately God is in charge.

AcceptingReality KyPerson • a month ago

I don't accept the "dispensations". I proceed as if there are no dispensations. If one loves God, one attends Mass at the very least on Sunday's and Holy Days of Obligation. Dispensations are for pretenders. And I am not talking about those who are legitimately at risk here. So, let's not pile on here with criticisms.

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      qoheleth AcceptingReality • a month ago

      My wife and I have always brought our family to Mass on holy days, no matter what the bishops have said. I think it is ridiculous to transfer holy days to Sundays because it might be too inconvenient for people to go to Mass on, say, a Thursday AND a Sunday!

    Michael Paterson-Seymour qoheleth • a month ago

    I once remarked to some of my French friends that I thought it a pity that Corpus
    Christi (which the French call simply the « Fête-Dieu » or “Festival of
    God”) is nowadays transferred to the nearest Sunday.

    They explained to me that the government would allow the Church only one public
    holiday that always fell on a Thursday, as people would, inevitably, make it an
    excuse for a long weekend – « faire le pont » or “make a bridge,” as they say
    and so the bishops settled for Ascension Day.

    The notion that there could be a Holiday of Obligation that was not also a public
    holiday was quite beyond their comprehension.

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      qoheleth Michael Paterson-Seymour • a month ago

      That's very interesting, Michael. We, too, have some friends in France, and it is interesting to see how different cultures view life. The French are much better at vacations and relaxing than the Americans are. Most Americans will work all day anyway and try to find either a vigil Mass, an early morning Mass, or a Mass the evening of. The only holy day of obligation that is a national holiday here is Christmas, and that is only because Christmas is also celebrated as a nonreligious holiday.

    Michael Paterson-Seymour qoheleth • a month ago

    In France, as well as Christmas day, the Ascension, the Assumption and All Saints are public holidays, as well as Easter Monday and Whit Monday.

    New Year's Day used to be considered a religious holiday, but has been re-classified as a national one. The Festival of the Liberation on 8 May is also a double celebration, for it is the anniversary of the raising of the siege of Orleans by St Joan of Arc, a national heroine, as well as a popular saint.

    qoheleth Michael Paterson-Seymour • a month ago

    We are too secular here for all those holy days to be national holidays. I believe France was, at one time, officially Catholic. We have never officially had a religion.

    Michael Paterson-Seymour qoheleth • a month ago

    "I believe France was, at one time, officially Catholic."

    Until the Law of Separation 1905 ((Loi du 9 décembre 1905 concernant la séparation des Eglises et de l'Etat)

    Because the two "Lost Provinces" of Alsace and Lorraine were occupied by Germany between 1870 and 1918, the Law of 1905 was never applied there and Napoleon's Concordat of 1801 remains in force. The government pays the salaries of the clergy and the President of the Republic names the bishops of Metz and Strasbourg. This makes France the only country in the world where some Catholic bishops are still appointed by the head of state.

    In fact, the Briand-Ceretti Agreement of 1926 gives the President a veto on the appointment of the other French bishops. In both cases, however, diplomacy ensures there is never a conflict over episcopal appointments. Anomalous as the arrangement is, neither side wants to rock that particular boat.

    There are other curiosities. The Jules Ferry laws making education "obligatory, free and lay (obligatoire, gratuit et laïque) requires state schools to close for 1 day a week (in addition to Sundays) to allow those parents who wish to provide religious education to their children. They currently close on Thursday and Saturday afternoons. It is a very French arrangement; to allow time off for those whose parents request it would be a breach of Égalité or would require asking them their religion (strictly forbidden). In private schools (mostly Catholic) the state pays the salaries of the teachers and librarians (but not the Principal or other staff) for the pupils have a right to instruction at the pubic expense.

    Churches and rectories are public property, maintained by the state.

     

     

    Own comment: 

    Interesting tangent about France in the comments. I had no idea that the calendar was still very Catholic there, in fact, even more Catholic than the one in Sweden which still keeps many of the old Catholic feast days as public holidays.

    I also recently learned that the mid-summer celebrations were previously observed on the Feast of St. John the Baptist, until the 1950s, which did not surprise me in the least since there is certainly a lot of Christian influence in the songs they sing, but I was kind of stunned that they changed the date so late. The Feast of St. John the Baptist was, of course, the major summer celebration in Christian Europe.