Updated with new links in 2021.
This is one of those (many, perhaps) aspects of the post-Vatican II liturgical changes that really, really makes you go, “Huh?”
It’s bizarre for many reasons having to do with the normal reasons of upending tradition via committee work, but also because it’s such an unecumenical move, and, on paper at least, Vatican II was, we hear, informed by ecumenical concerns.
Backtrack:
To those of you involved in the Extraordinary Form as well as the Anglican Use, this is not news, but today (February 1) on the older calendar has a special name. It’s called Septuagisima Sunday. It’s the beginning of a little mini-liturgical season. From Fr. Kirby:
In three weeks our heads will be marked with the ashes of penitence. A special time of preparation for Lent emerged in the liturgy of the 6th and 7th centuries. The three Sundays preceding Ash Wednesday were called Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima, meaning respectively, the seventieth, sixtieth, and fiftieth days before Pascha. The First Sunday of Lent is, of course, Quadragesima, the beginning of the Lenten fast of forty days.
Here is an excellent, thorough article in Dappled Things:
In the chapter titled “The History of Septuagesima,” Dom Guéranger added, “The Church, therefore, has instituted a preparation for the holy time of Lent. She gives us the three weeks of Septuagesima, during which she withdraws us, as much as may be, from the noisy distractions of the world, in order that our hearts may be the more readily impressed by the solemn warning she is to give us, at the commencement of Lent, by marking our foreheads with ashes.”
Septuagesima Sunday is the ninth Sunday before Lent, and it is the day on which the Septuagesima season of preparation for Lent has begun for more than 1,000 years in the traditional calendar. The Septuagesima season is made up of three Sundays: Septuagesima (which means seventieth), Sexagesima (which means sixtieth), and Quinquagesima (which means fiftieth), and it extends until Ash Wednesday.
Quadragesima is the name given in most languages to the season of Lent that starts on Ash Wednesday. For a few examples, in Spanish the name is cuaresma, in Portuguese quaresma, in French carême, and in Italian quaresima. In English, in contrast, the word for spring, lent, was used, which derives from the German word for long, because at this time of year the days get longer.
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How the Church Keeps Septuagesima
Beginning with Compline (Night Prayer) on the Saturday before Septuagesima Sunday the Alleluia, Gloria, and Te Deum are not said any more until Easter. Two extra Alleluias are said at Vespers on that Saturday. In some places charming ceremonies have been practiced in which an Alleluia is put in a little coffin and buried, to be resurrected again only on Easter Sunday. Throughout Septuagesima, violet vestments are worn, except on feasts observed during weekday.
Septuagesima and the following days are observed in Anglicanism and in some Lutheran groups. The Eastern Catholics and Orthodox of course observe pre-Lent.
(Hence my comment above about ecumenism. If the Anglicans could keep it…wouldn’t it have been ecumenical of us to give it a chance to live as well?)
The point being…Lent calls for preparation. And while it’s all well and good to look at the calendar, wonder, “Hey, when is Ash Wednesday this year?” And then say, “Yikes…that’s soon! Okay. Start thinking. What am I going to give up?” …well, what these traditional preparation-for-the-preparatory seasons do is to set the fact of that realization and need to prepare into a deep context that is wise, rooted in the richness of tradition , and helpful.
So, from a 7th grade religion textbook published in 1947, part of the The Christ Life Series in Religion:
(Click on the images to get readable version)
What I particularly like is the long paragraph on p. 146. I’ll type some of it out here:
Thousands and thousands of people upon the stage of life are adjusting themselves to their roles in this drama — this drama which is real life. Old men are there and old women, youths and maidens, and even little children. From all parts of the world they come and from all walks of life — kings and queens, merchants and laborers, teachers and students, bankers and beggars, religious of all orders, cardinals, bishops and parish priests, and leading them all the Vicar of Christ on earth. All are quietly taking their laces, for all re actors in the sublime mystery drama of our redemption.
We, too, have our own parts to play in this living drama. And there is no rehearsal. We begin now, on Septuagesima, following as faithfully as we can the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which comes to us particularly in the Mass and the sacraments.
It would be very clear, wouldn’t it, to the twelve-year old reading this, that he or she is not waiting to be a real, active Christian – the time is now, and the Spirit is active in the lives of all the baptized. Rather stirring, isn’t it? You’re young, yes, but you’re not an extra in this – you are all in.
So…..what happened?
As usual, it was determined that all this was too hard for us.
A good summary is offered by Dr. Lauren Pristas in an academic paper – no longer freely available on the web. There’s an abstract here, but what might be helpful is simply the title: “Parachuted into Lent: The Suppression of Septuagesima.”
In short, the committees appointed to reform everything about the liturgical life of the Church after the Council decided to ditch it. I’ll quote a bit here, but do check out the rest – it’s not long, although her specifics regarding the Collect prayers (her specialization) may not be of as much interest to you. The options developed by the committee were:
- Either the names of the Sundays or the prayers are preserved, but the penetential aspect abolished
- Or the season itself is abolished, but the prayers used at another place in the Church year
- Or the season is abolished and the prayers used in the last three Sundays before Lent.
As Pristas points out, the two options that are not there are either making no change at all or abolishing everything, names, prayers, season – which is, of course, what happened.
Van Doren’s answer to the question about Septuagesima appears first. He added a solution, (d), according to which Septuagesima would be retained as a period of austerity. He called Septuagesima ‘the doorway of Lent’ and voted that nothing be changed. In the event his solution (d) would not prevail, Van Doren preferred solution (c): that the name and penitential elements be removed but the formularies retained. None of the other members voted for Van Doren’s solution (d).
Martimort called for the suppression of Septuagesima. He did not comment on the formularies except to say that these were the responsibility of other coetus.(committee) Jounel also voted for suppression of the season, but wanted its formularies used at another time. Amore voted for suppression but divided the question of the formularies. He proposed that the breviary lessons be moved to Advent, and the Mass lessons be retained in place. Schmidt preferred that everything but the penitential elements remain the same, but wanted the formularies retained even if the season were suppressed.
Dirks voted that the season with its penitential elements be suppressed but the formularies retained. Nocent said that Septuagesima should be abolished for pastoral reasons: so that the faithful may see the progress of the liturgical year clearly and not be confused by diverse ‘anticipations’. He does not mention the formularies, but summarises: ‘The names and penitential character ought to be abolished: the Gloria and Alleluia said, the color green used, etc.’
The Birth of the Liturgy Committee, right there. Crazy.
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The records of Coetus 1 tell us that Septuagesima was suppressed for the sake of the faithful: ‘the penitential character of the time of Septuagesima or pre-Lent is difficult for the faithful to understand without many explanations’. Further, Adrian Nocent said suppression of Septuagesima was necessary if the faithful were to see the progress of the liturgical year clearly and not be confused by diverse ‘anticipations’. But Callewaert’s historical study shows us that the period of pre-Lenten penitence arose in the first place as an expression of the devotion of the faithful.
This is key. Lent is a time of obligatory fasting and penance. Septuagesima, on the other hand, is a short season through which the devotion of the faithful impels them to prepare mentally, physically and spiritually for Lent. The Church has, since the sixth century, encouraged and assisted the faithful in this preparation by appointing special Masses and Offices for this season and using numeric nomenclature that marks off the time remaining until both Lent (in Latin, Quadragesima or forty) and the Pasch.
Look. Church Things come about for all kinds of reasons and out of all kinds of circumstances: good intentions, misguided intentions, evil, persecution and even accidents. The mystery of this dynamic intersection of divine and human ways is one of my abiding interests. In addition, liturgy develops, and while “organic development” is practically impossible to define, it’s also obvious that a handful of scholars from a particular place and time sorting through options for transforming a thousand year-old set of traditions in a way that will profoundly impact hundreds of millions of Catholics, present and future…ain’t it.
And perhaps… this example might also remind us – in case we’d forgotten – that there’s no need to view decision-making within Church institutions with piously folded hands that move only to place a finger to the lips while whispering Hush! Holy Spirit at work! All is well!
