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.
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, the Chair of Peter, Saint Peter, Saint John the Evangelist, Saint Michael, and Saint Stephen.
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 and simples—the rank of semidouble having already been suppressed by Pope 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 were classified as ferias of the I class. The ferias of Advent from 17–23 December inclusive, the days within the octave of Christmas not impeded by the feasts of saints, 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:
The following feasts were deleted from the calendar:
The commemoration of St. Vitalis Martyr was likewise deleted, due to doubts about the historicity of his martyrdom.
The following feasts were inscribed in the calendar:
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 to only one.
The following titles were changed:
The new rubrics also restricted the transferal 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. Under the older rubrics, both doubles of the I class and doubles of the II class 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, provided the feasts are inscribed on the General Roman Calendar governing the Mass of Paul VI. 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.
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.

April

Last Sunday in October: Our Lord Jesus Christ the King, I class.

November

The 1962 typical edition of the Roman Missal—the edition incorporating the changes made for the 1960 General Calendar—collected many 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.
In accordance with De calendariis particularibus, 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 was removed from all local calendars 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.

Australia and New Zealand

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.

Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP)

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 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: