About A Great Cloud of Witnesses: An Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days

Above:  All Saints

Image in the Public Domain

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My Ecumenical Calendar of Saints’ Days and Holy Days is nearly as old as this weblog; both date to late July 2009.  The Ecumenical Calendar‘s design is such that the project can continue as long as I am willing and able to work on it.

I have changed some of the rules of my Ecumenical Calendar since July 2009:

1. I have decided that, with few exceptions, in the case of a feast of a Biblical person or event, that feast will be the only one for that day.
2. I have decided to increase the maximum number of posts per day (except for reserved days) by one with each twelve-month pass by one, starting with December, for Advent, the beginning of the Western Christian year, falls no earlier that November 27 and no later than December 3 each year.  During my most recent pass through the December section of my Ecumenical Calendar, I increased the maximum number of posts per day from four to five.  I have resolved to add the fifth layer to January-November then to increase the maximum number to six, then seven, et cetera.
3. I have become more likely to combine observances on the basis of influences and/or relationships.  Transferring feasts for this reason has become more frequent.
4. I have begun to include people I think should be on ecclesiastical calendars yet are not.
5. I have decided to consider all the changes I make to my Ecumenical Calendar within a calendar year one version (in the case of 2019, Version Nu) of that calendar.  (I will work on Version Xi in 2020.  Yes, I like the Greek alphabet.)

Some policies have remained constant, though.  For example:

1. I define a saint exclusively as a Christian, except in Old Testament and Gospel times.
2. Formal veneration, beatification, or canonization is not mandatory.
3. Even some canonized people creep me out, for lack of a better expression.
4. I follow documentation, as a good historian does.
5. I have no interest in writing blurbs and calling them blog posts.
6. I keep moving through the church year because of caps on the number of feasts per day.
7. I maintain twelve monthly lists of possible additions to my Ecumenical Calendar.
8. When I ponder whom to add to my Ecumenical Calendar, I focus on one proverbial tree at at time, not on the equally proverbial forest.  If, for example, I have one vacancy for a given day, I focus on that day.  The day establishes the list of candidates for inclusion.
9. Given that my Ecumenical Calendar is almost always a work in progress, I do not keep track of demographic data of the overall project —X% male, Y% female, Z% Caucasians, et cetera.  Any data I would collect would become obsolete in little time.
10. I add saints to my Ecumenical Calendar without regard to gender, race, ethnicity, and socio-economic status.
11. I welcome the inclusion of saints from the margins of societies.  (The last will be first, after all.)

I spent late November 2016-early July 2019, off and on, renovating my Ecumenical Calendar.  That process has greatly improved the product you, O reader, can read at this weblog.  I have changed the dates of many posts, deleted more posts, replaced many posts, edited other posts, et cetera.

May this hobby benefit you spiritually, O reader.

Pax vobiscum!

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 6, 2019 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN WYCLIFFE AND JAN HUS, REFORMERS OF THE CHURCH

THE FEAST OF GEORGE DUFFIELD, JR.; AND HIS SON, SAMUEL DUFFIELD, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTERS AND HYMN WRITERS

THE FEAST OF HENRY THOMAS SMART, ENGLISH ORGANIST

THE FEAST OF OLUF HANSON SMEBY, LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

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