Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed]

To find the Dominical or Sunday Letter for any given Year of our Lord, add to the year its fourth part, omitting fractions, and also the number, which in Table I. standeth at the top of the column, wherein the number of hundreds contained in that given year is found: Divide the sum by 7, and if there is no remainder, then A is the Sunday Letter; but if any number remaineth, then the Letter, which standeth under that number at the top of the Table, is the Sunday Letter.

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]

8

B

7200

7300

7400

[blocks in formation]

7900

[blocks in formation]

4700

14

8200 8300

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]

24

26

26

27

28

27

28

29

29

[blocks in formation]

To find the Month and Days of the Month to which the Golden Numbers ought to be prefixed in the Calendar, in any given Year of our Lord consisting of entire hundred years, and in all the intermediate years betwixt that and the next hundredth year following, look in the second column of Table II. for the given year consisting of entire hundreds, and note the number or cypher which stands against it in the third column; then, in Table III. look for the same number in the column under any given Golden Number, which when you have found, guide your eye side-ways to the left hand, and in the first column you will find the Month and Day to which that Golden Number ought to be prefixed in the Calendar, during that period of one hundred years.

The letter B prefixed to certain hundredth years in Table II. denotes those years which are still to be accounted Bissextile or Leap Years in the New Calendar; whereas all the other hundredth years are to be accounted only common years.

8 The Dominical or Sunday Letters. The second column of the Calendar is occupied by the first

seven letters of the alphabet, which are repeated throughout the year, beginning with A on the first of January. If the first of January is on a Sunday, A is the Sunday Letter for that year;

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][subsumed][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

if on a Saturday, B is the Sunday Letter, and so on in a retrograde order; the letter which indicates the first Sunday in the year indicating it throughout, except in Leap Year. In Leap Year the letter which indicates the first Sunday of the year indicates it up to the end of February only; and from March onward to the end of the year the next letter backward is taken, so that if B is the Sunday Letter for January and February in Leap Year, A is that for the succeeding months; and G for the year following. The days of the year recur on the same days of the week throughout only after the lapse of twenty-eight years. The cycle of Sunday Letters extends therefore over this period, as may be seen in "the Table of Moveable Feasts for the remainder of the nineteenth century." It is sometimes, but erroneously, called the Solar Cycle," the name having doubtless arisen from "Dies Solis," as the cycle has no relation to the course of the Sun.

[ocr errors]

§ The Golden Numbers.

This title was given to the Lunar Cycle invented by Meton the Athenian [B.C. 432], which was called after him the Metonic Cycle, and was anciently written in letters of gold, and

hence received its name. It extends over nineteen years, which are numbered respectively from 1 to 19. These were formerly marked throughout the year in the first column of the Calendar; but since 1752 they have been inserted only beside those days which are included within the Paschal full moon limits, i. e., between March 21st and April 25th. At the end of the cycle the phases of the moon begin to recur upon the same days of the month, in the same succession, with a difference of one hour and a half. This difference so far disturbs the application of the cycle of Golden Numbers that it will have to be re-adjusted in the year 1900, and one of the foregoing Tables is already provided for the purpose of making the necessary alteration.

The Golden Numbers in the Calendar indicate the day on which the Ecclesiastical Paschal Full Moon occurs; the Sunday Letter next after indicating (as has been already shown) the Festival of Easter itself.

The three "General Tables" are only of use to those who have to make historical calculations, and all might well be left to the Act of Parliament, and to works on Chronology, but they have been printed here in deference to the custom which has placed them in all our Prayer Books for some time past.

AN

INTRODUCTION TO THE CALENDAR.

THE Ecclesiastical Calendar comprises two things: first, a table of the order of days in the year; and, secondly, a catalogue of the saints commemorated in the Church. To this, in the Book of Common Prayer, there is also annexed a table of the daily lessons throughout the year.

Calendars are known to have been in use at a very early date in the Church. One was printed by Bouchier in his Commentary on the Paschal Cycle [Antwerp, 1634], which was formed about the middle of the fourth century, or perhaps as early as A.D. 336; and another is given by Mabillon in his Analecta, which was drawn up for the Church of Carthage, A.D. 483. Many others are preserved of early times, and a number are printed by Martene in the sixth volume of his Collection of Ancient Writers.

The origin of Christian Calendars is clearly coeval with the commemoration of martyrs, which began at least as early as the martyrdom of Polycarp, A.D. 168. [Euseb. iv. 15.] The names of these, and their acts, were carefully recorded by the Church in Martyrologies; and Diptychs-tablets of wood or ivory-were inscribed with their names, to be read at the time when the memorial of the departed was made at the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. From one or both of these, lists of names would naturally be transcribed for use at other times, and as a memorial in the hands of private Christians, the names being placed against the day on which the martyrs suffered, or that (generally the same) on which they were annually commemorated. To these two columns of the days of the year and the names of the martyrs were afterwards added two others of Golden Numbers and Sunday Letters, the use of which has been explained in the notes to the Tables.

Several very ancient English Calendars exist in our public libraries; but the earliest known is one printed by Martene [Vet. Scrip. vi. 635], under the title "Calendarium Floriacense," and attributed by him (with apparently good reason) to the Venerable Bede, with whose works it was found in a very old MS. at Fleury. Bede died at Jarrow, A.D. 735, so that this Calendar must date from the earlier half of the eighth century. There is a general agreement between this Calendar and the Martyrology of Bede which seems to show that it is rightly attributed to him, and we may therefore venture to take it as the earliest extant Calendar of the Church of England, dating it from the latest year of Bede's life.

In the course of ages the number of names recorded in the Martyrologies of the Church increased to a great multitude, as may be seen in the vast folio "Acta Sanctorum," printed for every day of the year by the Bollandists, which was commenced two hundred and twenty years ago, and is not yet nearly complete, though it extends to fifty-eight volumes. The Calendars of the Church also began to be crowded, although there was always a local character about them which did not belong to the Martyrologies. In the twelfth century the original method of recording the names of saints (which was by the Bishop of each Diocese in some cases, and in others by a Diocesan Council) was superseded by a formal rite of Canonization, which was performed only by the Popes; and from this time the names inserted in the Calendar ceased to be those of Martyrs or Confessors only.

The Calendar of the Church of England was always local in its character, and one of the eleventh or twelfth century, which is preserved in the Durham Chapter Library, seems to differ but little from another of the fifteenth century, which is contained in an ancient Missal of that Church, or from that which has been reprinted from a Missal of 1514, belonging to Bishop Cosin's Library, in the following pages. Comparatively few names were added to the English Calendars during the mediaval period, though many were added to the Roman.

Some changes were made in the Calendar by the "Abrogation of certain Holydays" in the reign of Henry VIII., great inconvenience being found to arise from the number of days which were observed with a cessation from labour; and the two days dedicated to St. Thomas of Canterbury being especially obnoxious to the King were altogether expunged, though by very ques tionable authority.

When the English Prayer Book was set forth in 1549, it was thought expedient to insert only the chief of the names which had been contained in the Calendar of the Salisbury Use. Two of these were taken away (though the erasure of St. Barnabas was probably a printer's error), and four others added in 1552. In the following year, 1553, the old Salisbury Calendar was reprinted (with three or four omissions) in the Primer of Edward VI., and in the "Private Prayers" of Queen Elizabeth's reign, printed in 1584; but not in any Book of Common Prayer. In 1559 the Calendar of 1552 was reprinted with one omission. It seems now to have been felt by persons in authority, that greater reverence ought to be shown for the names of those who had glorified God in a special manner by their deaths or their lives, and in the Latin Prayer Book of 1560 nearly every day of the year was marked by the name of a saint, the list being com. piled from the old Salisbury Calendar and the Roman. This appears to have led to the appointment of a Commission, which met in 1561, and, with a few changes in the Tables and Rules, made also a revision of the list of Saints, bringing it into its present state, with two exceptions, the names of St. Alban and the Venerable Bede having been added since. These successive changes (as far as is necessary to illustrate the transition from the ancient to the modern Calendar) are represented in the fol lowing Table :

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

From the early part of Queen Elizabeth's reign [1561], until the present day, only three additions have been made to the Saints commemorated by the Church of England; those three being the national saints, St. Alban and the Venerable Bede, previously mentioned, and St. Enurchus. These three names, together with the particular designations by which most of the Saints in the Calendar are now distinguished, are to be found in the Calendar prefixed to Bishop Cosin's Devotions: and, as the first published edition of that work was printed in 1627, we may conclude that they were taken thence into the Book of Common Prayer at the Revision of 1661, as some of the Tables and Rules were. No records remain to show what was the principle adopted in

the re-formation of the Calendar in Queen Elizabeth's reign: but the list of names in itself elucidates that principle to a ccr. tain extent, as the following Table will show. It seems a singular omission that the names of two of our greatest national saints, St. Aidan and St. Cuthbert, should have been overlooked, both in 1561 and in 1661. The omission of St. Patrick is almost as extraordinary; and it might have been expected that St. Thomas of Canterbury's name would have been restored when the bitterness of the Tudor times had passed away. The latter two names were always inserted in ordinary Almanacks, which were not bound up with the Prayer Book, and are also found in some Calendars of Queen Elizabeth's time.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[ocr errors]

In Calendars of the Church of England not printed in the Prayer Book, but published by the Stationers' Company under the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the following names are also to be found :-St. Patrick, St. Thomas of Canterbury, and All Souls. King Charles the First was likewise included among the Martyrs in all English Calendars until the special Form of Prayer for the 30th of January was given up in 1859.

It will be seen that the whole number of individual Saints commemorated is seventy-three. Of these, twenty-one are especially connected with our Blessed Lord; twenty are Martyrs in the age of persecutions; twenty-one are specially connected with our own Church; and eleven are either great and learned defenders of the Faith, like St. Hilary and St. Augustine, or Saints of France, whose names were probably retained as a memorial of the ancient close connexion between the Churches of France and England.

The Calendar itself was not in any way altered by the Act of Parliament of 1752, for the alteration of the style, the present tables of the months being a fairly exact reprint of those in the

1 This authority is not now given, but was up to 1832.

Sealed Books. They are here given from the Act, but are inserted after the Tables and Rules as in the Sealed Books. This order was evidently adopted with the object of making a definite Festival and Ferial division of this part of the Prayer Book, instead of confusing the two divisions together as in the Act; and while the improved text of the latter has been adopted, it has been thought better to take the more convenient and more ecclesiastical arrangement (in this respect) of the former.

In the "comparative view" of each of the months, all the names in that of Bede, the Salisbury Use of 1314, and the Modern Roman, are represented: but a selection only has been made from the Oriental Calendar, as the great majority of Eastern Saints are unknown to English readers, and their names would convey no information whatever. Those selected are chosen for the object of illustrating the points of similarity between the Calendars of East and West; and they are taken from the Byzantine Calendar printed in Neale's Introduction to the History of the Holy Eastern Church, vol. ii. p. 768. Some remarkable coincidences may be observed between it and the Calendar of Bede, which help to confirm the theory of a direct connexion between England and the Oriental Church.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][subsumed][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
« ZurückWeiter »