Ordinary?

As of today, the Easter Season has ended and we’re back in Ordinary Time. Which of course, is not so ordinary at all.

Unless of course, you’re celebrating the Octave of Pentecost. Which I am. Because, why wouldn’t you?

Full disclosure: the Octave is celebrated in my Monastic Diurnal. In my parish, which celebrates the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, while we may or may not have a couple of votive Masses for the Holy Spirit, the Octave technically isn’t celebrated.

I admit I’m confused by the abolition of this particular Octave. Pentecost, along with Easter and Christmas, is one of the three great solemnities of the Church. I mean, the Vigil can be celebrated with four Old Testament readings and accompanying psalms, and on the day itself we sing the glorious sequence. These combine to make it one of the grandest days of the liturgical calendar.

And yet, unlike either Easter or Christmas, there is no longer an Octave. Harrumph.

Now, the liturgical life of the Church does evolve over time. The liturgy had a radical pruning in 1970, and in the process much was lost. However, pruning normally leads to a reflowering, and I have no doubt whatsoever that within the next fifty years this Octave will be restored. But for now, unless you follow the calendar of the Extraordinary Form or one of the religious Orders that still celebrate this Octave, we are well and truly into Ordinary Time.