the dangers which threatened Christianity from this practice, which had begun to gain ground (see Chrj-- sostom, Ilom. 1, G, 52, and elsewhere ; Cone. Laod. c. 29, 37, 89 ; Cone. Illiber. c. 49, 50). This perverse at- tachment to forms and ceremonies altogether foreign to the Christian religion appears to have been a lead- ing cause of the multiplication of festivals w ithin the Church. The original simplicity of Christian wfTship had become unsatisfactory to the nniltitude, and it was deemed necessary to give splendor and external at- traction to the religion of the Gospel by the establish- ment of new festivals, or by converting Jewish and heathen ceremonies into Christian solemnities. It was thought that this might be done with safety, inasmuch as there was no longer occasion to fear that the people would return to Judaism or heathenism. And accord- ingly, in the time of Gregory the Great, many observ- ances were adopted into the course of Christian wor- ship from the Jewish and heathen ritual, without fear of those evil consequences which were formerly appre- hended from such a combination. See Gregor. M. Rr.ff. ix, Ep. 71 ; Theodoret, De Mart, i, viii" (Riddle, Chris- tian Antiquities, p. G48). (3.) Those who vindicate the observance of festivals in the Church maintain that " this sanctification or setting apart of festival days is a token of that thankfulness, and a part of that public honor which wc owe to God for his admirable benefits ; and these da3's or feasts set apart are of excellent use, being, as Hooker observes, the, 1. Splendor and out- ward dignity of onr religion ; 2. Forcilile witnesses of ancient truth ; 3. Provocations to the exercise of all piet}' ; 4. Shadows of our endless felicity in heaven ; 5. Records teaching the facts of Christianity in the most obvious way. The Church begins her ecclesi- astical 3'ear with the Sundays in Advent, to remind us of the coming of Christ in the flesh. After these, we are brought to contemplate the mystery of the incar- nation ; and so, step l)y step, we follow the Church through all the events of our Saviour's pilgrimatre to his ascension into heaven. In all this the grand ob- ject is to keep Christ perpetuallj' before us, to make him and his doctrine the chief object in all our varied services. Every Sunday has its peculiar character, and has reference to some act or scene in the life of our Lord, or the redemption achieved by him, or the mj'fter}' of mercy carried on by the blessed Trinity*. Thus every year brings the whole Gospel history to view ; and it will be found, as a general rule, that the appointed portions of Scripture in each day's service are mutually illustrative ; the' New Testament casting light on the Old, prophecy being admirably brought in contact with its accomplishment, so that no plan could lie devised for a more profitable course of Scrip- ture reading than that presented by the Churcli on her holy days" (Sparrow, Rationnle oj the Comm< n Prayer').
II. Nnmler and Classes rf Feasts. — (1.) Besides the daj'S observed by the whole Church as memorials of the acts of Christ's life and death, other festivals were also introduced commemorative of the apostles and martyrs. Bingham states that these may be traced up to the 2d ccnturj' {Oriff. Eccl. xx, 7), and IMosheim agrees with him (cent, i, pt. ii, chap, iv, § 4). It is to be observed that while Christmas is celebrated as the birthday of Christ, the martvrs' festivals were held on the days of their deaths — still, however, called birth- days {nat(des), as on these days they were transferred to endless life. On the number of these festivals in the early Church, and the modes in which thej' were observed, see Bingham (/. c. ; Neandcr, Ch. Hist, i, SCO sq.).
(2.) The Soman Catholic Church has retained all the carh' festivals, with the later ones of the apostles and martyrs, and has added largely to the number. She retains the right to enact festal days, and to fix the mode of their observance. The following list embraces the feasts of the American calendar :
Movable Feasts and Holydays. — Feast of the Holy
FEASTS
513
FEASTS
Name of Jesus; Septuagesima Sundaj- ; Ash Wednes- day ; Office of the Passion of our Lord ; Office of the Most Sacred Crown ; Office of the Spear and Nails; Of- fice of the Five Wounds ; Office of the Most Precious Blood ; Sorrows of the B. V. Mary ; Easter Day ; Pat- ronao-e of St. Joseph ; Ascension of our Lord ; AVhit Sunday; Trinitj' Sunday; Corpus Christi ; Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ; Feast of the Most Precious Blood of our Lord ; Feast of the Holy Name of Mary ; Feast of the Seven Dolors of B. V. M. ; Feast of the Holy Eosary ; Feast of the Maternity of B. V. M. ; Feast of the Patronage of B. V. M. ; Sundays after Pentecost ; First Sunday of Advent.
Immovable Feasts and Saints' Days. — Abdon and Sennen, MM., July 30 ; /Egidius, Ab., Sept. 1 ; Aga- tha, V. M., Feb. 5; Agnes, V. M., Jan. 21; Alexius, C, July 17 ; All Saints, Nov. 1 ; All Saints, Octave of, Nov. 8 ; All Souls, Nov. 2; Aloj'sius Gonzaga, C, June 21 ; Alphonsus Liguori, B. C, Aug. 2 ; Ambrose,