General Roman Calendar of 1960

This article lists the feast days of the General Roman Calendar as approved on 25 July 1960 by Pope John XXIII's "motu proprio" "Rubricarum instructum" and promulgated by the Sacred Congregation of Rites the following day, 26 July 1960, by the decree "Novum rubricarum". This 1960 calendar was incorporated into the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal, continued use of which Pope Benedict XVI authorized in the circumstances indicated in his 7 July 2007 motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum" for use as an Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.
"Novum rubricarum" replaced the former classifications of Doubles, Semidoubles, and Simples with I, II, and III class feasts and commemorations. It removed a few feasts, in particular duplications such as the Feast of the Cross (3 May and 14 September), the Chair of Peter (18 January and 22 February), Saint Peter (1 August and 29 June), Saint John the Evangelist (6 May and 27 December), Saint Michael (8 May and 29 September), and Saint Stephen (3 August and 26 December).
This calendar is distinct from the General Roman Calendar of 1954 in that it also incorporates the changes made by Pope Pius XII in 1955, which included the reduction of octaves to three only, those of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. See General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII.
Changes to the Calendar.
New ranking system.
"Novum rubricarum" abolished the traditional ranking of Sundays, ferias, and feast days as doubles (of varying degrees) and simples—the rank of semidouble having already been suppressed by Pius XII in 1955—and introduced a new system of ranking the various liturgical days of the Roman rite. Feasts previously ranked as doubles of the I class were reclassified as "feasts of the I class." Feasts previously ranked as doubles of the II class were reclassified as "feasts of the II class." Feasts ranked in 1954 as greater doubles, doubles, and semidoubles were reclassified as "feasts of the III class." Feasts that had formerly been ranked as simples and had been reduced to commemorations in Pius XII's 1955 revision of the calendar remained "commemorations."
The Sundays of Advent, Lent, and Passiontide, and Low Sunday were classified as "Sundays of the I class." All other Sundays of the year—excluding those perpetually impeded by feasts of the I class—became "Sundays of the II class."
Ash Wednesday, the ferias of Holy Week, the Paschal Triduum, and the days within the octaves of Easter and Pentecost (including the Ember Days of Pentecost) were classified as "ferias of the I class." The ferias of Advent from 17 to 23 December inclusive, the days within the octave of Christmas not impeded by the feasts of saints (29–31 December inclusive), as well as the Ember Days of Advent, Lent, and September were ranked as "ferias of the II class." The ferias of Advent, excluding 17–23 December, were ranked as "ferias of the III class," as were the ferias of Lent and Passiontide. In addition, the ferias of Lent and Passiontide were given precedence over all feasts of the III class, with III-class feasts reduced to commemorations in years in which they fell during Lent or Passiontide. The remaining ferias of the year were classified "ferias of the IV class."
The following feasts were reduced to commemorations:
The following days of the II class became liturgical days of the I class:
The following greater doubles became liturgical days of the II class:
Deletions and additions to the calendar.
The following feasts were deleted from the calendar:
The commemoration of St. Vitalis Martyr (28 April) was likewise deleted, due to doubts about the historicity of his martyrdom.
The following feasts were inscribed in the calendar:
Other changes.
The following feasts were transferred:
The commemoration of Ss. Sergius, Bacchus, Marcellus, and Apuleius Martyrs was transferred from 7 to 8 October, due to rubrical changes that restricted the number of commemorations allowed on a II-class feast (in this case, the 7 October feast of the Rosary) to only one.
The following titles were changed:
The new rubrics also restricted the transferral of impeded feast days that occur in a given year on the same day as a liturgical day of higher rank solely to feasts of the I class (formerly doubles of the I class). Under the older rubrics, both doubles of the I class and doubles of the II class (feasts of the II class under the 1960 rubrics) were transferred when impeded.
Post-1960 developments.
On 25 March 2020, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made public the decree "Cum sanctissima", dated 22 February 2020, which introduced a number of options for use in contemporary celebration of the Office and Mass according to the 1961 Breviary and 1962 Missal. With regard to the liturgical calendar, the decree grants permission for the celebration of feasts of saints canonized after 26 July 1960, using the dates set forth by the Holy See for the liturgical observance of these saints for the universal Church. The decree also allows the option for the celebration of certain III-class feasts during Lent and Passiontide, which heretofore had been forbidden by the 1960 Code of Rubrics.
January.
Sunday between the octave of the Nativity of the Lord and the Epiphany, or, with this lacking, 2 January: The most holy Name of Jesus, II class.&lt;br&gt;
I Sunday after Epiphany: The most holy Family of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, II class.
February.
In leap year the month of February is of 29 days, and the feast of St. Matthias is celebrated on the 25th day and the feast of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows on the 28th day of February, and twice is said Sexto Kalendas, that is on the 24th and 25th; and the dominical letter, which was taken up in the month of January, is changed to the preceding; that, if in January, the dominical letter was A, it is changed to the preceding, which is g, etc.; and the letter f is kept twice, on the 24th and 25th.
March.
Friday after the I Sunday in Passiontide: Commemoration of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Comm.
October.
Last Sunday in October: Our Lord Jesus Christ the King, I class.
December.
The source for the dates above is the Jan. 1960 edition of "Acta Apostolicae Sedis".
Masses for Certain Places "(pro Aliquibus Locis)".
The 1962 typical edition of the Roman Missal—the edition incorporating the changes made for the 1960 General Calendar—collected many (though not all) Mass propers for feasts approved for celebration in certain places in a supplement placed at the end of the Missal; this supplement also incorporated changes mandated by Pope John XXIII regarding the suppression of some local feasts in his 14 February 1961 instruction "De calendariis particularibus". Masses listed in this supplement may nowadays be said anywhere on days of the IV class. Some saints listed below are also in the General Calendar above; these saints have proper Masses in the "pro Aliquibus Locis" supplement that may be said "ad libitum" in place of the Masses listed in the main body of the Missal.
Suppressed Masses.
In accordance with "De calendariis particularibus" (par. 32 &amp; 33), the following local feasts "introduced since the Middle Ages by private devotion in the public worship of the Church" were suppressed, unless "truly special reasons" required their continued observance:
In addition, the feast of Saint Philomena (11 August) was removed from all local calendars (save for those of churches named for her and select locations where her "cultus" was permitted either by indult or tacit approval by the diocesan bishop) due to doubt regarding the historicity of her existence and martyrdom.
National Calendars.
The following are the proper calendars for certain countries to be used in the celebration of the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite. National feasts and their ranks have been gathered from liturgical ordos published by various sources, including the FSSP, the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales, and Romanitas Press. This list details only those feasts celebrated in all dioceses and archdioceses of the following countries and does not include feasts proper to specific dioceses and archdioceses.
Calendars of traditionalist institutes.
The following are the proper adaptions currently in use for all members of traditionalist institutes who make exclusive use of the 1961 Breviary and 1962 Missal.
Local Calendars.
To fully comply with the calendar requirements outlined in the 1960 Code of Rubrics that governs the 1962 Missal and the 1961 Breviary, a number of local feasts must be inscribed in the calendars of particular churches where the extraordinary form is offered (and of religious orders and societies dedicated to the use of the sacraments in their 1962 forms) in addition to those listed in the General Calendar and in the national calendars section above. These local feasts include, but are not limited to: