1326 Martyr Saints Versiglia and Caravario - when?
austraLasia 1326

Martyr Saints Versiglia and Caravario - when?

ROME: 12th November 2005 --  A reader queries: "If I got it right, from next year (2006), the feast of the saints Versiglia and Caravario will be on Februray 25th, anniversary of their martyrdom. However, in order not to have a year 2005 without the feast, this year is still on November 13th (day of the official declaration on the martyrdom by Paul VI in 1976)".
    Mainly right.  One small modification.  Tomorrow, 13th November, happens to be Sunday, so no feastday celebration....2005 will, then, be without the Feast.  The information on this is actually provided in the latest AGC N. 391, but to make it easier for readers, the basic information (plus a little extra) is repeated here.
    The first information is that the Congregation for Divine Worship has raised the celebration of the two martyr Saints in question from a Memorial to a Feast.  In earlier days before their canonisation, we did, as Salesians, remember the two on 25th February, but it usually fell within Lent.  Since, at the time of their canonisation in 2000 the celebration was declared to be a memorial, it could not be celebrated during Lent.  Now that the Vatican has accepted the petition that it be raised to the liturgical level of Feast, this difficulty no longer exists.  So along with that, the Feast has been transferred to the date of martyrdom as recorded in the Roman Martyrology - 25th February.
    The practical difficulty for those responsible for calendars - including the Congregation's small 'Ad usum SDB' for 2006, is that this information came too late.  2006 calendars are now at the printers or already in the mail.
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