12 September 2009

CROUCHMAS

Apologies to the confused. This medieval term for the Festival of the Holy Cross was indeed used for the Feast of its Invention [Finding] in May. Since that Feast is abolished in the NO Calendar, I have tended to keep the word alive by apply it to the surviving Feast of the Cross in September.

The abolition of the Invention was a great shame; not only because it was so popular a feast in the Middle Ages, but because it is good to reflect on the Cross in Eastertide; letting our appropriation of Resurrection illuminate the Passion and remembering that Passion and Resurrection are two sides of one coin. I believe S Margaret Mary believed our Lord wanted a feast of the Saqcred Heart in Easter Week.

4 comments:

John Park said...

It is still very popular in Honduras. People who are born on May 3 are still commonly called "Cruz." The popular tradition in rural villages is to take the altar cross on a hand-carried float in procession to a nearby spring, where it is bathed, perfumed, and decorated. The procession then returns to the church. By tradition this ends the dry season and the rains begin. And personally I have seen it rain more often than not following the procession.

Paul Goings said...

Father,

I have heard the September feast referred to as "Roodmas" from time to time.

johnf said...

With regard to 'abolition of the invention of the cross' and other improvements to the liturgy and the calendar arising from the brave new world post Vatican 2.

Maybe the English language needs a new word to mean trying to fix something that already works and achieving a result infinitely worse

bugninisation

There could be a secondary meaning to describe the actions of the many in discussion, to achieve a suboptimal result, as in

As in:
A camel is a horse, bugninised by a committee.

Rubricarius said...

The intimate link between the Passion and Resurrection is why the special Paschaltide Commemoration of the Cross is sung as a 'suffrage' at Lauds and Vespers.