8.196. Why does the traditional calendar have different feast days and many more fasting and penance days?
1. The Church’s Liturgical Calendar: Not Just a Schedule, But a Teacher
The traditional Catholic liturgical calendar, in place for centuries before Vatican II, reflects the spiritual wisdom, discipline, and priorities of the Church. It is not just a schedule of celebrations — it’s a sacred framework for sanctification, guiding the faithful through the mysteries of Christ’s life and the lives of the saints, punctuated by fasting, penance, and feasting in their proper order.
In contrast, the modern post-Vatican II calendar (established in 1969) introduced numerous changes: the removal or downgrading of traditional feast days, simplification of fasting rules, suppression of Ember Days and Rogation Days, and replacement of centuries-old saints with more recent or ecumenically “relevant” figures.
This shift reveals a deeper theological and spiritual rupture.
2. Why Are the Feast Days Different?
In the traditional calendar:
Saints’ days are fixed and widely commemorated, including many ancient Roman martyrs.
The feasts of Our Lady, major apostles, and Church Fathers are emphasized.
Octaves (eight-day celebrations) extend key feasts like Christmas and Pentecost.
In the Novus Ordo calendar:
Hundreds of saints were removed or made “optional.”
Feasts like the Circumcision of Our Lord (Jan 1) were replaced with vague titles like “Mary, Mother of God.”
The Sunday focus shifted toward the “Ordinary Time” model, reducing the richness of the Church’s liturgical cycles.
This reflects a modernist tendency to flatten tradition, minimize supernatural emphasis, and cater to secular sensibilities.
3. Why Were Penance and Fasting Days Removed?
Fasting and penance days in the traditional calendar are essential tools for sanctification, modeled after Christ Himself who fasted for 40 days. The Church, as a wise mother, instructed the faithful to practice regular bodily mortification as an act of love, humility, and reparation.
Traditional practices included:
Fasting during Lent, Ember Days, vigils of feasts, Advent, and some saints’ days.
Abstinence from meat on Fridays (and many Wednesdays and Saturdays).
Vigils before major feasts, often involving both fasting and prayer.
After Vatican II, these were drastically reduced or made optional, under the pretense of “modern sensibilities.” But this led to a decline in discipline, awareness of sin, and understanding of reparation. Pope St. Leo the Great taught:
“Fasting gives strength against sin, represses evil desires, and repels temptation.”
4. The Calendar Was a Spiritual Formation
The traditional calendar formed Catholics spiritually through its rhythm of preparation and celebration. Ember Days taught thanksgiving for nature’s gifts. Rogation Days reminded us to pray for good harvests. Octaves immersed the faithful in the mysteries of the Resurrection, Pentecost, and Christmas.
By contrast, the new calendar emphasizes pastoral flexibility and “simplicity” — but at the cost of erasing centuries of Catholic identity and spiritual discipline.
| Category | Traditional Catholic View | Novus Ordo View | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feast Days | Centered on ancient saints, martyrs, and doctrinal feasts | Streamlined, many saints suppressed or optional | Loss of Catholic memory and historical continuity |
| Octaves | Extended celebrations for major feasts (e.g., Pentecost) | Most octaves abolished after 1969 | Undermines liturgical richness and reflection |
| Fasting & Abstinence | Frequent and regular: Lent, Ember Days, vigils, Fridays | Minimal or optional; Friday abstinence not required in many regions | Loss of discipline and reparation; spiritual laziness encouraged |
| Formation | Calendar shapes the year with cycles of penance and joy | Focus on pastoral convenience and modernization | Leads to forgetfulness of Catholic identity and duty |
| Theology | Reflects traditional Catholic view of time, sin, and reparation | Aligns with ecumenical and secular worldviews | The new calendar is a rupture, not a reform |
Summary:
The changes to the liturgical calendar after Vatican II were not minor adjustments — they were a systematic dismantling of the Church’s traditional rhythms of penance, prayer, and celebration. The traditional Catholic calendar served as a spiritual framework guiding the faithful throughout the year, calling them to repentance, reflection, thanksgiving, and doctrinal clarity.
By replacing ancient feasts, erasing time-tested fasts, and reducing penitential days, the modern calendar replaced the sanctification of time with pastoral minimalism. Gone are the days where Ember fasts reminded the faithful of their dependence on God’s blessings, where Rogation processions expressed Catholic culture, and where Lenten fasting taught children and adults alike the value of self-denial.
The saints calendar was also revised to promote a “contemporary” feel, removing countless ancient martyrs and replacing them with figures who were deemed more ecumenical, less controversial, or politically correct. In doing so, modern liturgists severed Catholics from their liturgical ancestors, treating the past as an embarrassment rather than a foundation.
These innovations reflect a broader mindset of the Novus Ordo: a rejection of supernatural realities in favor of natural comfort. The true Church has always understood that fasting and penance are not burdens but gifts — powerful spiritual weapons against sin and occasions of grace.
The Church has also always taught that the calendar is not neutral. It shapes our priorities, our culture, and our spiritual lives. When the calendar is stripped of its demands and made into a shallow cycle of vague seasonal celebrations, it ceases to form saints.
Returning to the traditional liturgical calendar means returning to a tried and true roadmap to sanctity. It means joining the Communion of Saints who walked before us. It means embracing the Cross and all its fruits — purification, humility, and joy.
“If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”