Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.
The Octave Day Of Saint Laurence.
17 August.
Double.
Red Vestments.
Mass: Probásti.
Creed. Is said.
Saint Laurence before Emperor Valerianus.
Date: Circa 1447.
Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.
Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The following Text is taken from Wikipedia.
"Octave" has two senses in
Christian Liturgical usage.
In the first sense, it is the eighth day after a Feast, reckoning inclusively, and so always falls on the same day of the week as the Feast, itself. The word is derived from
Latin octava (eighth), with dies (day) understood.
In the second sense, the term is applied to the whole period of these eight days, during which certain major Feasts came to be observed.
Octaves, not being successive, are quite distinct from
eight-day weeks and simply refer to the return of the same day of a
seven-day week in the
inclusive counting system used in Latin (just as the ninth day was a return to the same day of a
nundinal cycle, the eight-day week of the pre-Christian Roman calendar).
The “eighth day”, or “Octava Dies”, was associated with the weekly Christian Celebration of The Resurrection of Christ every “eighth day”, which became a name for
Sunday.
As Circumcision was performed on the "eighth day" after birth, the number eight became associated also with Baptism, and
Baptismal Fonts have, from an early date, often been octagonal.
The practice of Octaves was first introduced under Emperor
Constantine I, when the Dedication Festivities of the Basilicas at
Jerusalem and
Tyre, Lebanon, were observed for eight days. After these one-off occasions, annual Liturgical Feasts began to be dignified with an Octave.
The first such Feasts were
Easter,
Pentecost, and, in The East,
Epiphany. This occurred in the 4th-Century A.D. and served as a period of time for the newly-
Baptised to take a joyful Retreat.
The development of Octaves occurred slowly. From the 4th-Century A.D. to the 7th-Century A.D., Christians observed Octaves with a Celebration on the eighth day, with little development of the Liturgies of the intervening days.
Christmas was the next Feast to receive an Octave. By the 8th-Century A.D., Rome had developed Liturgical Octaves, not only for Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas, but also for The
Epiphany and The Feast of The
Dedication of a Church.
From the 7th-Century A.D., Saints' Feasts also began to have Octaves (an eighth-day Feast, not eight days of Feasts), among the oldest being the Feasts of
Saints Peter and Paul,
Saint Lawrence and
Saint Agnes. From the 12th-Century, the custom developed of Liturgical observance of the days between the first and the eighth day, as well as the eighth day. During The
Middle Ages, Octaves for various other Feasts and Saints were Celebrated depending upon the
Diocese or
Religious Order.
Modern History.
From Pope Saint Pius V to Pope Pius XII.
After 1568, when
Pope Pius V reduced the number of Octaves, they were still numerous. Not only on the eighth day from the Feast, but on all the intervening days, The
Liturgy was the same as on the Feast, itself, with exactly the same Prayers and
Scripture Readings.
Octaves were classified into several types:
Easter and Pentecost had “
Specially Privileged” Octaves, during which no other Feast whatsoever could be Celebrated;
Christmas, Epiphany, and
Corpus Christi had “
Privileged” Octaves, during which certain highly-ranked Feasts might be Celebrated. The Octaves of other Feasts allowed even more Feasts to be Celebrated.
To reduce the repetition of the same Liturgy for several days,
Pope Leo XIII and
Pope Saint Pius X made further distinctions, classifying Octaves into three primary types:
Privileged Octaves;
Common Octaves;
Simple Octaves.
Privileged Octaves were further arranged in a hierarchy of
First, Second, and Third Orders.
For the first half of the 20th-Century, Octaves were ranked in the following manner, which affected holding other Celebrations within their time-frames:
Privileged Octaves:
Privileged Octaves of The First Order:
Octave of Easter
Octave of
Pentecost
Privileged Octaves of The Second Order:
Octave of
Epiphany
Octave of
Corpus Christi
Privileged Octaves of The Third Order:
Octave of
Christmas
Octave of The
Ascension
Octave of The
Sacred Heart
Common Octaves:
Octave of
The Immaculate Conception BVM
Octave of
The Solemnity of Saint Joseph
Octave of The
Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
Octave of
Saint Peter and Saint Paul
Octave of The
Assumption BVM
Octave of
All Saints
Simple Octaves:
Octave of
Saint Stephen
Octave of
Saint John the Apostle
Octave of The
Holy Innocents
Octave of
Saint Laurence
Octave of The
Nativity BVM
In addition to these, The
Patron Saint of a particular Nation, Diocese, or Church, was Celebrated with an Octave, on each day of which The Mass and
Office of The Feast was repeated, unless impeded by another Celebration.
Although The Feasts of Saint Laurence and
The Nativity of The Blessed Virgin Mary officially still had Simple Octaves, by the 20th-Century they had all but vanished as higher-ranking Feasts were added to The Calendar. The Octave Day, alone, of Saint Laurence was still Commemorated during The Mass of
Saint Hyacinth. The entire Octave of The Nativity of The Blessed Virgin Mary was impeded, but
The Most Holy Name of Mary was Celebrated during The Octave and
The Seven Sorrows of The Blessed Virgin Mary was Celebrated on the former Octave Day.
Reduction by Pius XII and Paul VI.
Pope Pius XII simplified The Calendar with a Decree, dated 23 March 1955: Only The Octaves of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost were kept; these Octaves differed from the others in not repeating the same Liturgy daily. All other Octaves in
The Roman Rite were suppressed, including those in Local Calendars. (See
General Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII#Octaves.) In 1969, The Roman Catholic Church further revised The Roman Calendar by removing The Octave of Pentecost.
The first eight days of The Easter Season make up The Octave of Easter and are Celebrated as Solemnities of The Lord, with Proper Readings and Prayers. Since 30 April 2000, The "
Second Sunday of Easter", which concludes The Easter Octave, has also been called
Divine Mercy Sunday.
The Christmas Octave is arranged as follows:
Sunday within The Octave: Feast of
The Holy Family; Celebrated on Friday, 30 December, when Christmas is a Sunday;
26 December: Feast of
Saint Stephen;
27 December: Feast of
John the Apostle;
28 December: Feast of
The Holy Innocents;
29 - 31 December: Days within The Octave, with assigned Readings and Prayers, on which the Celebration of Optional Memorials is permitted according to special rubrics (but, as noted above, when Christmas is a Sunday, The Feast of The Holy Family is Celebrated on 30 December);
1 January: Octave Day of The Nativity;
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
Eastern Christian usage:
Afterfeast.
Among The Eastern Orthodox and
Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Churches, what in The West would be called an Octave is referred to as an Afterfeast. The Celebration of The
Great Feasts of The
Church Year are extended for a number days, depending upon the particular Feast. Each day of an Afterfeast will have particular Hymns assigned to it, continuing the theme of The Feast being Celebrated.
Most of these Great Feasts also have a day or more of preparation called a Forefeast (those Feasts that are on the moveable Paschal Cycle do not have Forefeasts). Forefeasts and Afterfeasts will affect the structure of the Services during The
Canonical Hours.
The last day of an Afterfeast is called the Apodosis (literally "giving-back") of The Feast. On the Apodosis, most of the Hymns that were Chanted on the first day of The Feast are repeated. On the Apodosis of Feasts of The
Theotokos, the Epistle and Gospel of The Feast are repeated again at
The Divine Liturgy.
Non-Liturgical usage.
The term "Octave" is applied to some Church Observances that are not strictly Liturgical. For example, many Churches observe an annual "Octave of Prayer for
Christian Unity", which runs from 18 January to 25 January.
This Octave was established in 1895 by
Pope Leo XIII for the period between
Ascension and
Pentecost. In 1909,
Pope Saint Pius X approved the Transfer of this Octave to the period between the former Feast of The
Chair of Saint Peter and The Feast of The
Conversion of Saint Paul.
In 1968, The
World Council of Churches and The
Vatican's
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity agreed to jointly publish Prayer materials for the occasion under the title "
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity", but it is still often referred to as an Octave, especially within The
Roman Catholic and
Anglo-Catholic Traditions. The Week of Prayer is observed at various times around the World, especially in The Southern Hemisphere, where it is commonly observed from Ascension to Pentecost.
Each year,
Luxembourg holds what is called
The Octave Celebration from The Third Sunday after Easter to The Fifth Sunday after
Easter, fifteen days, instead of eight days, in honour of
Our Lady of Luxembourg, Patroness of the City.
