ASK FATHER: Why are Sunday “of Lent” in the Novus Ordo and “in Lent” in the TLM?

From a priest reader

QUAERITUR:

I noticed that in the Traditional Latin Mass calendar we have Sundays IN Lent and in the Novus Ordo we have Sundays OF Lent.  What’s going on?

In the 1962 Missale Romanum today is called Dominica I in Quadragesima, the 1st Sunday in Lent.

In the post-Conciliar Missal today is called Dominica I Quadragesimae, the 1st Sunday of Lent.

The distinction rests on a small grammatical shift. The older title uses the preposition in with the ablative, expressing location within a span of time. The Sunday falls “in Lent,” that is, within the sacred forty days. The newer title employs the genitive, “of Lent,” which conveys belonging or constitutive identity. The Sunday is not thought of as being within the season. Rather, the Sunday belongs to Lent as an integral part.

The earlier Roman usage reflects the classical style of the liturgical calendar. Other seasons were described similarly: Sundays in Adventu or in Septuagesima (that is, within the 7th decade or 10-day period – before Easter … i.e., the 61st to 70th days). The formulation emphasizes temporal placement. This accords with the traditional discipline in which every Sunday, even during Lent, retained a certain distinct character as a “mini Easter”. For example, it was not a fasting day. The phrase “in Lent” subtly preserves that Sunday stands within the penitential season without being entirely absorbed into its ascetical rigor in the same way as the Lenten weekdays.

I believe the post-Conciliar reform sees the liturgical year as having strong structural cohesion. The seasons are conceived as unified theological arcs, each with an internal progression.  Yes, surely the pre-Conciliar vision did too, but perhaps more and more once the Liturgical Movement got under way.  The genitive construction, “of Lent,” underscores that the Sundays themselves articulate and advance the season’s spiritual trajectory.

This brings in another issue: the number of days of Lent.

We sing “Forty days and forty nights”, right?    This is a more theological and typological way than a mathematical of describing the length of Lent because of the biblical associations of the number “40” (years in the wilderness, days of Moses on Mt. Sinai, Elijah’s days of journey to Mt. Horeb, Christ’s fasting).

Lent starts in Ash Wednesday.  If you count the days to the Easter Vigil inclusively you get 46.  Romans count inclusively, which is why dates calculated before the Kalends of a month need an extra day to make sense.    This is why in Latin nudius tertius or “three days ago” actually means “the day before yesterday”, which to us in English seems like only two days ago.   We count exclusively.  Not the Roman way.

So, 46 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Vigil.  Now subtract the 6 for the six Sundays: 40.  In the traditional Roman discipline of Lent, Sunday was not a fast day.  Hence there were 40 days to the Lenten fast.

In the post-Conciliar, Novus Ordo calendar Lent ends before the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, when the Paschal Triduum begins (three day period… Thursday, Friday, Saturday… um… Sunday, that’s four…. but be inclusive).  That’s 44 days.  If we take out the Sundays it get us to 38 Lenten fast days, since Good Friday and Holy Saturday are within the Triduum (not part of Lent).