January 2, 2009

Liturgical Birthday

A couple got married here on the Friday after Thanksgiving. A nice day to get married, and convenient for family and friends, but I saw the problem right away. The poor kids will end up with both a notional and a chronological anniversary. The actual date of their marriage and the day after Thanksgiving won't coincide again for another six years. So which will they think of as their anniversary? Perhaps they will remember the date, but everyone will remember their wedding as the day after Thanksgiving.

All of this gave rise to a thought: If you were born on a movable liturgical day, then you have a natal anniversary in both solar and liturgical time. On the other hand, if you were born on a fixed liturgical day, like Christmas or a dominical or sanctoral feast, the two coincide.

I was born on the second Sunday of Lent. The Gospel would have been the Transfiguration.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I was married on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. Two years after our marriage, it was supressed in our Archdiocese, which now celebrates the Ascension on that Sunday.

To complicate matters, last February, I discovered a serious defect in my protestant baptism (no water). As part of the sacramental remedy, we needed to have our marriage convalidated, and the new annaversary is February 29. I really have no idea what and when we will celebrate. I guess we will figure that out when it gets closer.