No, this doesn’t have anything to do with Black Liberation Theology.
Some people do not realize that many figures of the Old Testament are considered saints by the Catholic Church. They are not celebrated on our main liturgical calendar but they are in the Roman Martyrology, which is one of our official liturgical books.
Today is not only the feast of St. Joseph the worker, but also the feast of the prophet Jeremiah.
Here is the text of the 2005 MartRom, which I will leave to you readers to work through animi caussa (for fun)!
Commemoratio sancti Ieremiae, prophetae, qui, tempore Ioachim et Sedeciae, regum Iudae, Civitatis Sanctae eversionem populique deportationem monens, multas persecutiones passus est, quam ob rem Ecclesia eum habuit ut Christi patientis figuram. Novum aeternumque insuper Testamentum in ipso Christo Iesu consummandum praenuntiavit, quo Pater omnipotens legem suam in imo filiorum Israel corde scriberet, ut esset ipse iis in Deum et essent illi ei in populum.
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Out of curisity, why does the Church not celebrate the OT saints on the main liturgical calender? For that matter, why arnt church’s name after them?
Jackie
I believe that the Carmelite order does celebrate some of the feasts for the OT saints, and that there are some churches named after them, though I couldn’t give a direct citation of the fact. The Eastern Churches quite commonly do both as well.
In Illinois, there are at least two churches deidcated to St. Daniel the Prophet. One is in the Archdiocese of Chicago, the other, IIRC, is downstate. I’ve always wondered when these parishes celebrated their patronal feast, and what propers are used on that day.
Commemoratio sancti Ieremiae, prophetae, qui, tempore Ioachim et Sedeciae, regum Iudae, Civitatis Sanctae eversionem populique deportationem monens, multas persecutiones passus est, quam ob rem Ecclesia eum habuit ut Christi patientis figuram. Novum aeternumque insuper Testamentum in ipso Christo Iesu consummandum praenuntiavit, quo Pater omnipotens legem suam in imo filiorum Israel corde scriberet, ut esset ipse iis in Deum et essent illi ei in populum.
Commemoration of Saint Jeremiah, Prophet, who, in the time of Joachim and Zedekiah, kings of Judah, warning of the overthrow of the Holy City and the deportation of the people, suffered many persecutions, on account of which the Church has regarded him as a figure of the suffering Christ. Moreover he announced that the new and eternal Covenant would be consummated in the same Christ Jesus, by whom the almighty Father wrote his law on the inmost heart of the sons of Israel, that he might be their God and they might be his people.
Oh Father,
if you have the 2005 Roman Martyrology, I would be incredibly indebted if you could tell me when St. Peregrine, the cancer saint, is listed.
I wanted to do something special for a family member who has cancer, but I could not tell when his feast was. I have found many sources listing him as on May 1st, and many others as on May 4th. The old Martyrology listed him on May 1st. The Servite Calendar apparently lists him on May 4th. I can’t find anything about his status in the current Martyrology.
Peace and God bless
I too also wondered why we do not actively celebrate the OT figures as saints. We celebrate a feast day for St. Raffael, but until today I had not heard of a feast for St. Jeremiah. Did the early Church just want to distance itself from their competators the Jews? Also if the Church considers some of the Old Testament figures as saints then why are their books called St. Daniel or St. Issiah?
just curious…
… ut esset ipse iis in Deum et essent illi ei in populum.
Why the in + accusative here? I would have expected either “ut esset ipse iis Deus et essent illi ei populus”, or even better, “ut fieret ipse iis Deus et fierent illi ei populus”.
The Orthodox as well recognize Old Testament saints, e.g., the Midwest OCA arch-Bishop is Arch-Bishop Job.
Lawrence King asked, “Why the in + accusative here”?
In + accusative can mean, idiomatically, “as”. “Ut esset ipse iis in Deum” means, “that he might belong to them as God”. “Et essent illi ei in populum” means, “And they might belong to him as a people”.
This idiom occurs in Jr 11,4, but it also occurs elsewhere in the Bible. “In signum”, “as a sign”, in Lc 2,34. “In civitatem munitam”, “like a fortified city”, in Jr 1, 18. Etc.