Feasts and Saints of October

Solimena, The Martyrdom of Sts Placidus and Flavia,
1697-1708

This post provides a list of this month's feasts for the Benedictine calendar, as well as the 1962 Roman, 1953 Benedictine and modern Roman calendars.  I have given all feasts their 1962 equivalent rankings, but note that these do not always exactly translate!

Note that the Matins texts for feasts ranked as Class II (three nocturn) equivalents in 1953 and earlier, but reduced to Class III in 1962, such as Holy Guardian Angels,  as well as feasts omitted in the later calendar, such as the Maternity of the BVM, can be found in the appendix of the new reprint of the 1963 Benedictine Breviary).  Any missing texts for the day hours can be found in the Antiphonale Monasticum.

Three particular feasts worth noting are St John Henry Newman, on October 9, who is set to be declared a doctor of the Church on 1 November; St Wilfrid OSB, responsible for bringing the Rule to the Kingdom of Northumbria (Northern England) circa 660; and SS Maurus and Placid, disciples of St Benedict, on October 5.

SS Maurus and Placid

The feast of the SS Maurus and Placid is of course of particular importance to Benedictines, but has gone through several evolutions.

Originally, there were two separate feasts for these saints: St Maurus, focusing particularly on his mission to France, on January 15; and St Placid and Companions, martyred in Sicily around 541, on October 5.

The historicity of the stories around both saints has been strongly challenged over the last few centuries, and in response the readings that appear in nineteenth century and earlier breviaries for St Placid and his Companions were replaced, in the twentieth century to generic patristic readings relating to martyrs.  And then in 1960 the two feasts were combined and the readings taken from the accounts of the early life of the two saints that appear in St Gregory's Dialogues.

In essence the argument (in both cases) was that their legends as they have been preserved contain some dubious elements, therefore the whole story must be a fabrication.  And in the case of St Placid, it was claimed that the sixth century figure had been conflated with a earlier St Placid. 

These days, however, historians are becoming more inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to hagiography: while accounts written down long after their time often reflect contemporary agendas and assumptions, get a few facts mixed up and engage in a little creative 'filling in of the gaps', they are often thought, nonetheless, to preserve a core of truth.

Accordingly, it is entirely plausible, in my view, that St Placid and his companions, sent to found a monastery in Messalina, were eventually martyred by pagan pirates in Sicily. 

Date	1960 Benedictine	1962 Roman	1953 Benedictine	Benedictine Confederation/2025 Roman (where extra/different)	Other
1		St Remigius, Memorial		St Teresa of the Child Jesus (see Oct 3), Class III
2	Holy Guardian Angels, Class III	Holy Guardian Angels, Class III	Holy Guardian Angels, Class II	Holy Guardian Angels, Class III
3	St Teresa of the Child Jesus, Memorial [Class I in some places]	St Teresa of the Child Jesus, Class III
4	St Francis, Class III	St Francis, Class III	St Francis, Class II	St Francis, Class III
5	St Maurus and Placid, Class III	St Placid and companions, Memorial	St Placid and companions, Class	St Faustina Kowalska, (Virgin) Optional Class III
6	St Bruno, Memorial	St Bruno, Memorial	St Bruno, Class III	St Bruno, Optional Class III
7	BVM of the Rosary, Class III	BVM of the Rosary, Class II	BVM of the Rosary, Class II; SS Mark; Sergius, Baccius, Marcellus and Apuleius, memorials	BVM of the Rosary, Class III
8		St Bridget of Sweden, Class III
9		St John Leonardi, Class III		St Denis and Companions or St John Leonard, Optional Class III	St John Henry Newman, Doctor,  (England and Wales)
10		St Francis Borgia, Class III
11		Motherhood of the BVM, Class II	Motherhood of the BVM, Class II	St John XXIII, Optional Class III
12		St Edwards, Class III			St Wilfrid, Class III
13					St Edwards, Class II
14	St Callistus, Memorial	St Callistus, Class III	St Callistus, Class III	St Callistus, Optional Class III
15	St Teresa of Avila, Class III	St Teresa of Avila, Class III	St Teresa of Avila, Class III	St Teresa of Avila, Class III
16		St Hedwig, Class III		St Hedwig or St Margaret Mary Alacoque, Optional Class III	St Gall, Class I
17		St Margaret Mary Alacoque, Class III		St Ignatius of Antioch,  Class III [(MD [46], Feb 1]
18	St Luke, Class II	St Luke, Class II	St Luke, Class II	St Luke, Class II
19		St Peter of Alacantara, Class III		SS Jean de Brebeuf, Isaac Joques and companions or St Paul of the Cross, Optional Class III
20		St John Cantius, Class III
21	St Hilarion, Memorial	St Hilarion, Memorial	St Hilarion, Memorial
22				St John Paul II, Optional Class III
23		St Antony Mary Claret, Class III		St John Capistran, Optional Memorial
24		St Raphael, Class III		St Antony Mary Claret, Optional Class III	St Raphael, Class I
25	SS Chrysanthus and Daria, Memorial	SS Chrysanthus and Daria, Memorial	St Chrysanthus and Daria, Memorial
26		St Evaristus, Memorial
27			Vigil of SS Simon and Jude
28	SS Simon and Jude, Class II	SS Simon and Jude, Class II	SS Simon and Jude, Class II	SS Simon and Jude, Class II
29
30
31			Vigil of All Saints
Last Sunday of October	Christ the King, Class I	Christ the King, Class I	Christ the King, Class I

 

October 31: Halloween

Irish Halloween party, Daniel Maclise, 1833

Today used to be the Vigil of All Saints (aka Halloween), a night when traditionally the veil between Earth and purgatory thinned, the dead could come back to request prayers, and devils could appear to remind us of the reality of hell.

These days there are endless debates amongst Catholics infected by political correctness as to the appropriateness/catholicity of Halloween celebrations.  Personally, I'm with those who think we do need a reminder of the reality of death, demons and the workers of evil....

Feast of Christ the King

When Pope Pius XI instituted the feast of Christ the King in 1925 he specified for it the last Sunday of October; Paul VI moved to the last Sunday of the liturgical year.

In the traditional Benedictine calendar however, this Sunday is indeed the feast of Christ the King.

The Kingship of Christ

In Quas primas, Pope Pius XI explained the basis for the feast:

"...these manifold evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives; that these had no place either in private affairs or in politics: and we said further, that as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations. Men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ; and that We promised to do as far as lay in Our power. In the Kingdom of Christ, that is, it seemed to Us that peace could not be more effectually restored nor fixed upon a firmer basis than through the restoration of the Empire of Our Lord. We were led in the meantime to indulge the hope of a brighter future at the sight of a more widespread and keener interest evinced in Christ and his Church, the one Source of Salvation, a sign that men who had formerly spurned the rule of our Redeemer and had exiled themselves from his kingdom were preparing, and even hastening, to return to the duty of obedience....

It has long been a common custom to give to Christ the metaphorical title of "King," because of the high degree of perfection whereby he excels all creatures. So he is said to reign "in the hearts of men," both by reason of the keenness of his intellect and the extent of his knowledge, and also because he is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind. He reigns, too, in the wills of men, for in him the human will was perfectly and entirely obedient to the Holy Will of God, and further by his grace and inspiration he so subjects our free-will as to incite us to the most noble endeavors. He is King of hearts, too, by reason of his "charity which exceedeth all knowledge." And his mercy and kindness which draw all men to him, for never has it been known, nor will it ever be, that man be loved so much and so universally as Jesus Christ. But if we ponder this matter more deeply, we cannot but see that the title and the power of King belongs to Christ as man in the strict and proper sense too. For it is only as man that he may be said to have received from the Father "power and glory and a kingdom," since the Word of God, as consubstantial with the Father, has all things in common with him, and therefore has necessarily supreme and absolute dominion over all things created.


Do we not read throughout the Scriptures that Christ is the King?...Moreover, Christ himself speaks of his own kingly authority: in his last discourse, speaking of the rewards and punishments that will be the eternal lot of the just and the damned; in his reply to the Roman magistrate, who asked him publicly whether he were a king or not; after his resurrection, when giving to his Apostles the mission of teaching and baptizing all nations, he took the opportunity to call himself king, confirming the title publicly, and solemnly proclaimed that all power was given him in heaven and on earth. These words can only be taken to indicate the greatness of his power, the infinite extent of his kingdom...

Let Us explain briefly the nature and meaning of this lordship of Christ. It consists, We need scarcely say, in a threefold power which is essential to lordship. This is sufficiently clear from the scriptural testimony already adduced concerning the universal dominion of our Redeemer, and moreover it is a dogma of faith that Jesus Christ was given to man, not only as our Redeemer, but also as a law-giver, to whom obedience is due. Not only do the gospels tell us that he made laws, but they present him to us in the act of making them. Those who keep them show their love for their Divine Master, and he promises that they shall remain in his love.  He claimed judicial power as received from his Father, when the Jews accused him of breaking the Sabbath by the miraculous cure of a sick man. "For neither doth the Father judge any man; but hath given all judgment to the Son."[26] In this power is included the right of rewarding and punishing all men living, for this right is inseparable from that of judging. Executive power, too, belongs to Christ, for all must obey his commands; none may escape them, nor the sanctions he has imposed.


This kingdom is spiritual and is concerned with spiritual things..."

Reasons for celebrating the feast

If We ordain that the whole Catholic world shall revere Christ as King, We shall minister to the need of the present day, and at the same time provide an excellent remedy for the plague which now infects society....The empire of Christ over all nations was rejected. The right which the Church has from Christ himself, to teach mankind, to make laws, to govern peoples in all that pertains to their eternal salvation, that right was denied. Then gradually the religion of Christ came to be likened to false religions and to be placed ignominiously on the same level with them. It was then put under the power of the state and tolerated more or less at the whim of princes and rulers. Some men went even further, and wished to set up in the place of God's religion a natural religion consisting in some instinctive affection of the heart. There were even some nations who thought they could dispense with God, and that their religion should consist in impiety and the neglect of God. The rebellion of individuals and states against the authority of Christ has produced deplorable consequences...the seeds of discord sown far and wide; those bitter enmities and rivalries between nations, which still hinder so much the cause of peace; that insatiable greed which is so often hidden under a pretense of public spirit and patriotism, and gives rise to so many private quarrels; a blind and immoderate selfishness, making men seek nothing but their own comfort and advantage, and measure everything by these; no peace in the home, because men have forgotten or neglect their duty; the unity and stability of the family undermined; society in a word, shaken to its foundations and on the way to ruin.

We firmly hope, however, that the feast of the Kingship of Christ, which in future will be yearly observed, may hasten the return of society to our loving Savior. It would be the duty of Catholics to do all they can to bring about this happy result. Many of these, however, have neither the station in society nor the authority which should belong to those who bear the torch of truth. This state of things may perhaps be attributed to a certain slowness and timidity in good people, who are reluctant to engage in conflict or oppose but a weak resistance; thus the enemies of the Church become bolder in their attacks. But if the faithful were generally to understand that it behooves them ever to fight courageously under the banner of Christ their King, then, fired with apostolic zeal, they would strive to win over to their Lord those hearts that are bitter and estranged from him, and would valiantly defend his rights.

When we pay honor to the princely dignity of Christ, men will doubtless be reminded that the Church, founded by Christ as a perfect society, has a natural and inalienable right to perfect freedom and immunity from the power of the state; and that in fulfilling the task committed to her by God of teaching, ruling, and guiding to eternal bliss those who belong to the kingdom of Christ, she cannot be subject to any external power... Nations will be reminded by the annual celebration of this feast that not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and obedience to Christ."

SS Simon and Jude (Class II)

From a General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI:

Today, let us examine two of the Twelve Apostles: Simon the Cananaean and Jude Thaddaeus (not to be confused with Judas Iscariot). Let us look at them together, not only because they are always placed next to each other in the lists of the Twelve (cf. Mt 10: 3, 4; Mk 3: 18; Lk 6: 15; Acts 1: 13), but also because there is very little information about them, apart from the fact that the New Testament Canon preserves one Letter attributed to Jude Thaddaeus.

Simon is given a nickname that varies in the four lists: while Matthew and Mark describe him as a "Cananaean", Luke instead describes him as a "Zealot".

In fact, the two descriptions are equivalent because they mean the same thing: indeed, in Hebrew the verb qanà' means "to be jealous, ardent" and can be said both of God, since he is jealous with regard to his Chosen People (cf. Ex 20: 5), and of men who burn with zeal in serving the one God with unreserved devotion, such as Elijah (cf. I Kgs 19: 10).

Thus, it is highly likely that even if this Simon was not exactly a member of the nationalist movement of Zealots, he was at least marked by passionate attachment to his Jewish identity, hence, for God, his People and divine Law.

If this was the case, Simon was worlds apart from Matthew, who, on the contrary, had an activity behind him as a tax collector that was frowned upon as entirely impure. This shows that Jesus called his disciples and collaborators, without exception, from the most varied social and religious backgrounds.

It was people who interested him, not social classes or labels! And the best thing is that in the group of his followers, despite their differences, they all lived side by side, overcoming imaginable difficulties: indeed, what bound them together was Jesus himself, in whom they all found themselves united with one another.

This is clearly a lesson for us who are often inclined to accentuate differences and even contrasts, forgetting that in Jesus Christ we are given the strength to get the better of our continual conflicts.

Let us also bear in mind that the group of the Twelve is the prefiguration of the Church, where there must be room for all charisms, peoples and races, all human qualities that find their composition and unity in communion with Jesus.

Then with regard to Jude Thaddaeus, this is what tradition has called him, combining two different names: in fact, whereas Matthew and Mark call him simply "Thaddaeus" (Mt 10: 3; Mk 3: 18), Luke calls him "Judas, the son of James" (Lk 6: 16; Acts 1: 13).

The nickname "Thaddaeus" is of uncertain origin and is explained either as coming from the Aramaic, taddà', which means "breast" and would therefore suggest "magnanimous", or as an abbreviation of a Greek name, such as "Teodòro, Teòdoto".

Very little about him has come down to us. John alone mentions a question he addressed to Jesus at the Last Supper: Thaddaeus says to the Lord: "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world?".

This is a very timely question which we also address to the Lord: why did not the Risen One reveal himself to his enemies in his full glory in order to show that it is God who is victorious? Why did he only manifest himself to his disciples? Jesus' answer is mysterious and profound. The Lord says: "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him" (Jn 14: 22-23).

This means that the Risen One must be seen, must be perceived also by the heart, in a way so that God may take up his abode within us. The Lord does not appear as a thing. He desires to enter our lives, and therefore his manifestation is a manifestation that implies and presupposes an open heart. Only in this way do we see the Risen One.

The paternity of one of those New Testament Letters known as "catholic", since they are not addressed to a specific local Church but intended for a far wider circle, has been attributed to Jude Thaddaeus. Actually, it is addressed "to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ" (v. 1).

A major concern of this writing is to put Christians on guard against those who make a pretext of God's grace to excuse their own licentiousness and corrupt their brethren with unacceptable teachings, introducing division within the Church "in their dreamings" (v. 8).

This is how Jude defines their doctrine and particular ideas. He even compares them to fallen angels and, mincing no words, says that "they walk in the way of Cain" (v. 11).

Furthermore, he brands them mercilessly as "waterless clouds, carried along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars for whom the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved for ever" (vv. 12-13).

Today, perhaps, we are no longer accustomed to using language that is so polemic, yet that tells us something important. In the midst of all the temptations that exist, with all the currents of modern life, we must preserve our faith's identity. Of course, the way of indulgence and dialogue, on which the Second Vatican Counsel happily set out, should certainly be followed firmly and consistently.

But this path of dialogue, while so necessary, must not make us forget our duty to rethink and to highlight just as forcefully the main and indispensable aspects of our Christian identity. Moreover, it is essential to keep clearly in mind that our identity requires strength, clarity and courage in light of the contradictions of the world in which we live.

Thus, the text of the Letter continues: "But you, beloved" - he is speaking to all of us -, "build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And convince some, who doubt..." (vv. 20-22).

The Letter ends with these most beautiful words: "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God, our Saviour through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and for ever. Amen" (vv. 24-25).

It is easy to see that the author of these lines lived to the full his own faith, to which realities as great as moral integrity and joy, trust and lastly praise belong, since it is all motivated solely by the goodness of our one God and the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, may both Simon the Cananaean and Jude Thaddeus help us to rediscover the beauty of the Christian faith ever anew and to live it without tiring, knowing how to bear a strong and at the same time peaceful witness to it.


And to learn the Vespers hymn...