The Octave of Pentecost vs. The Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

It is Monday, May 24th...what color vestments did you see this morning at Mass? If you went to Mass in the Ordinary Form, chances are you saw green, whereas if you attended Mass in the Extraordinary Form you saw red. Though there are many discrepancies between the two calendars, there is hardly one as lamentable as the suppression of the Octave of Pentecost in the modern calendar. For 40 days the Church gave us the opportunity to reflect upon the glorious resurrection of our Lord; her days were laden with glorias and alleluias, and her color consistently white. At the conclusion of these 40 days (or thereabouts, but that is another story...) we celebrated the great ascension of our Lord into heaven, continuing our Easter elation but with an anticipatory element as we waited anxiously for the coming of the Advocate. And then yesterday, 50 days after we commemorated our Lord's triumph over death, we celebrated the magnificent feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles in tongues of fire. Prior to the modern reform of the liturgical calendar, the Church extended our paschal joy for eight more days, giving us the opportunity to reflect back upon the events of the Paschal Mystery with the light of the Holy Spirit. So, what happened? Why was the Octave of Pentecost suppressed? Why did the Church decide to essentially limit our Pentecostal joy to a single day? Here's a little bit of history:

Prior to the reforms of the Council of Trent, there were many octaves floating around. Many different religious orders and dioceses observed octaves for many of their own patronal saints. With the reforms to the Mass and the Breviary, Pope St. Pius V found it necessary to regulate the octaves. His regulations brought about a distinction between different kinds of octaves:

1.) Privileged Octaves (pertaining to our Lord)
- According to the First Order (Easter and Pentecost)
- According to the Second Order (Epiphany and Corpus Christi)
- According to the Third Order (Christmas, Ascension and Sacred Heart)
2.) Common Octaves
- Of the Immaculate Conception
- Of St. Joseph
- Of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist
- Of Saints Peter and Paul
- Of All Saints
- Of the Assumption
3.) Simple Octaves
- Of St. Stephen
- Of St. John the Apostle
- Of the Holy Innocents

Octaves in the Roman Rite were observed according to this Pian system until March 23, 1955 when another Pius (the 12th) issued the Apostolic Constitution Cum hac nostra aetate whereby he, among other things, abolished all octaves except Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. Fourteen years later in 1969, the Church's calendar saw another revision, which finally nixed the Octave of Pentecost. From that moment on the Holy Spirit lost His eight-day commemoration as priests around the world were forced to don green vestments on Monday morning as the Church was thrust into the ever-long, 23+ more weeks of Ordinary Time.

But why? The eight-day long observance of important solemnities is very ancient...why do away with all but two? The short answer: it's simpler. Remember, an octave extends a particular feast day, in all of its glory, for eight straight days...but what happens if one octave overlaps another? Consider Christmastide...the Christmas octave begins and is followed on December 26th by the feast of St. Stephen (who had his own octave), December 27th by the feast of St. John the Evangelist (also with an octave), and December 28th by the feast of the Holy Innocents (again, also with an octave.) Thus by the time you reach December 29th you are celebrating four octaves simultaneously - how, at this point, can each octave really be observed as an octave ought? With this is mind it becomes increasingly clearer why Pope Pius XII suppressed all octaves excepting Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, but why did Pope Paul VI continue on to suppress the feast of Pentecost? My guess is to show that Pentecost, while it can be logically distinguished, ought not be to so actually distinguished from Easter. This is seen more clearly in another, but more subtle rubrical practice. Prior to the New Order of the Mass, the Paschal candle was promptly existinguished immediately following the Gospel on Ascension Thursday, but after the reforms the rubrics instruct that the candle should remain lit until after Pentecost. This move is quite important: it seems to suggest that feasts which occur within Paschaltide (as Pentecost always had) are better seen as Paschal feasts. Thus the feast of Pentecost, as glorious as it may be, really is not that distinct from the Easter mystery and thus should not be so liturgically distinct from it so as to have its own octave. But this is just my guess...

Nonetheless, though the Octave of Pentecost remains suppressed in the new calendar it is alive and well in the old calendar. Those who frequent the Extraordinary Form will celebrate this glorious feast for days to come, however are those who are unable to attend the usus antiquior without any choice but to lament such a suppression? I was speaking with my pastor the other day about this very issue. He is a very competent, holy priest who, though he does not yet celebrate the Extraordinary Form, is very much traditionally leaning. He spoke to me about the manner in which he has dealt with the abolition of the octave. During what was formerly known as the Octave of Pentecost we usually find a succession of ferial days. In the new calendar the ferial days within Ordinary Time are very underprivileged - a priest is completely free to celebrate the ferial day or any of the many votive masses. Thus my pastor's solution is this: when possible celebrate votive masses of the Holy Spirit during the week of Pentecost. This is one of the benefits (albeit somewhat dangerous) of the New Order of Mass - there is a lot of wiggle room. Though the days themselves are not an extension of the great feast, as they are in the old calendar, the spirit of the octave can certainly be maintained.

St. John Vianney, pray for us.
St. Pius X, pray for us.