The
"Alleluia" of Easter Sunday is not confined to one day - but, because
our cries of jubilation continue, they are extended through 8 days - the
Easter Octave. What is this about? Eight days of Sundays? Where did
and "octave" come from. These are the questions I've tried to answer
for you this week.
Origin of the "Octave"
The
number 7 played a very important role in Jewish life. Every seventh
day is a sabbath; the seventh month is sacred; the seventh year is a
sabbatical year. The jubilee year was brought about by the number seven
multiplied by seven; many Jewish feasts lasted seven days, the feast of
Pentecost was seven times seven days after the Passover; the feast of
the Tabernacles lasted seven days, the days of convocation numbered
seven (Willis, "Worship of the Old Covenant", 190-1; "Dict. of the
Bible", s.v. Feast and Fasts, I, 859).
However, the octave day,
without having the symbolic importance of the seventh day, also had its
role. The eighth day was the day of circumcision (Genesis 21:4;
Leviticus 12:3; Luke 1:59; Acts 7:8 etc.). The feast of Tabernacles,
which lasted seven days, was followed on the eighth by a solemnity which
may be considered as an octave (Leviticus 23:36, 39; Numbers 29:35;
Nehemiah 8:18); the eighth day was the day of certain sacrifices
(Leviticus 14:10, 23; 15:14, 29; Numbers 6:10). It was on the eighth
day, too, that the feast of the dedication of the Temple under Solomon,
and of its purifications under Ezechias concluded (2 Chronicles 7:9;
29:17). Many speculate that the custom of celebrating the octave of
feasts dates back to the days of the Apostles themselves, although there
is no solid evidence to support this speculation. At first the
Christian feasts had no octaves. Sunday, which may in a sense be
considered the first Christian feast, falls on the seventh day; the
feasts of Easter and Pentecost, which are, with Sunday the most ancient,
form as it were only a single feast of fifty days. The feast of
Christmas, which too is very old, originally had no octave attached to
it. However in the fourth century, when the idea of the fifty days'
feast of the paschal time began to grow dim, Easter and Pentecost were
given octaves. Possibly at first this was only a baptismal custom, the
neophytes (those newly baptized at the Easter Vigil) remaining in a kind
of joyful retreat from Easter or Pentecost till the following Sunday
(and thus the origin of "White Sunday" which we will celebrate next
weekend during the 10:45am Mass when the neophytes leave their albs at
the altar at the conclusion of the Mass). The octave seems then to
have developed of its own accord.
The
first octave mentioned in liturgical history is that of the the
dedication of the Churches of Tyre and Jerusalem, under the Emperor
Constantine (the Roman emperor whose conversion to the Catholic faith
made Christianity legal in the Empire - after years of persecution) in
the 300's, and these solemnities, in imitation of the dedication of the
Jewish Temple, lasted eight days (Eusebius, "De vita Constant"., III,
xxx sq.; Sozomen, Church History). This feast may possibly
have influenced the adoption of the octave by the Christians. From the
fourth century onwards the celebration of octaves is mentioned in
liturgical history much more frequently. II.26
Celebration of octaves in ancient and modern times
The
liturgy of the octave assumed its present form slowly. In the first
period, that is from the fourth to the sixth and even seventh century,
little thought seems to have been given to varying the liturgical
formulæ during the eight days. Early liturgical books simply mention
that on the octave day the prayers of the feast is repeated. The dies octava is indeed made more prominent by the liturgy. The Sunday following Easter (i.e. Sunday in albis)
and the octave day of Christmas (now the feast of Mary, Mother of God
on January 1) are treated very early as feast days by the liturgy.
Certain octaves were considered as privileged days, on which work was
forbidden - even the civil courts and theaters were closed on these
days. After Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas had received their
octaves, the tendency was to have an octave for all the solemn feasts of
the Church year.
The
Greeks (or Eastern Churches) also admitted the celebration of octaves
into their liturgy. Although having the same origin as the Latin
octave, their octave celebration differs in it occurs sometimes on the
eighth, and sometimes on the fifth, the fourth, or the ninth day.
The Easter Octave in Particular
The
Octave of Easter is really 8-days of Sundays. Every day we have a
different account of the resurrection from each of the Gospel writers.
These various readings encourage us to constantly reflect on, as we've
been asking, what Christ has done for us. We also see how different
people responded to the Lord's resurrection, and the different places
and people to whom He appeared. Each day we sing the Gloria, the
Sequence before the Gospel, speaking of "this Easter day" in the preface
of the Mass and beginning and ending Mass with an Easter Song. Also
this week we begin praying (and I hope soon, singing) the Regina Caeli
(the "Queen of Heaven") rather than the Angelus prayer just prior to
Mass.
This weekend, as I mentioned, is what was formerly called "white Sunday"
- now, following it's institution by Blessed John Paul II, Divine Mercy
Sunday.
HAPPY EASTER!!!
