Enterprising traditionalists from Down Under have proposed that May 1 through May 8 be observed by proponents of the usus antiquior as the “Octave of Liturgical Restoration.” This week is certainly one of the weeks that sustained the most damage under Pius XII and John XXIII.
The longstanding connection of May 1 with “Pip n’ Jim” was lost, to be replaced by a “workerist” feast intended to vie with the Communist’s International Workers’ Day, but never successful in doing so. The ancient feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross on May 3 was abolished, as was an equally ancient feast of St John at the Latin Gate, commemorating the attempted martyrdom of the Beloved Disciple. The octave culminates in the Apparition of St Michael on May 8, also removed from the general calendar — all this, even prior to the global devastation visited on the calendar by a “trio of maniacs” (in Louis Bouyer’s words) whose revisions were approved by Paul VI. (The other four feasts — St. Athanasius, St. Monica, St. Pius V, and St Stanislaus — remain on their traditional dates in the 1962 Missale Romanum.)
The octave would be observed in two ways: first, by celebrating the older feasts on these dates, as far as possible; second, by praying privately a Collect that was lost in the ill-considered reform of Holy Week under Pius XII (the text of the Collect will be found on the image that accompanies this post). In this way, the octave could become a time of special annual prayer for the restoration of the fullness of the Roman Rite.
The laity may easily follow along with the ever-popular reprint of the 1948 St. Andrew Daily Missal.
The longstanding connection of May 1 with “Pip n’ Jim” was lost, to be replaced by a “workerist” feast intended to vie with the Communist’s International Workers’ Day, but never successful in doing so. The ancient feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross on May 3 was abolished, as was an equally ancient feast of St John at the Latin Gate, commemorating the attempted martyrdom of the Beloved Disciple. The octave culminates in the Apparition of St Michael on May 8, also removed from the general calendar — all this, even prior to the global devastation visited on the calendar by a “trio of maniacs” (in Louis Bouyer’s words) whose revisions were approved by Paul VI. (The other four feasts — St. Athanasius, St. Monica, St. Pius V, and St Stanislaus — remain on their traditional dates in the 1962 Missale Romanum.)
The octave would be observed in two ways: first, by celebrating the older feasts on these dates, as far as possible; second, by praying privately a Collect that was lost in the ill-considered reform of Holy Week under Pius XII (the text of the Collect will be found on the image that accompanies this post). In this way, the octave could become a time of special annual prayer for the restoration of the fullness of the Roman Rite.
The laity may easily follow along with the ever-popular reprint of the 1948 St. Andrew Daily Missal.
