From the ninth century it becomes more frequent, The capitularies of Charlemagne speak of the octaves of Christmas, the Epiphany, and Easter. The practice of having octaves for the feasts of the saints does not seem to be older than the eighth century, and even then it was peculiar to the Latins. Theodemar, a contemporary of Charlemagne, speaks only of the octaves of Christmas and the Epiphany, but it must not be concluded that he was ignorant of those of Easter and Pentecost, which were more celebrated. Etheria speaks of the feast of the Dedication (cf. After Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas had received octaves, the tendency was to have an octave for all the solemn feasts. The courts and theatres were closed (“Cod. Certain octaves were considered as privileged days, on which work was forbidden. Sunday in albis) and the octave day of Christmas (now the Circumcision) are treated very early as feast days by the liturgy. The dies octava is indeed made more prominent by the liturgy. Gregory make no mention of the intervening days on the octave day the office of the feast is repeated. In the first period, that is from the fourth to the sixth and even seventh century, little thought seems to have been given to varying the liturgical formulae during the eight days. CELEBRATION OF OCTAVES IN Ancient AND MODERN TIMES.-The liturgy of the octave assumed its present form slowly. Cabrol, “Etude sur La Peregrinatio”, Paris, 1895, pp.116-7 “Concil. Apost.”, VIII, xx) iii V, xx Augustine, “De div. It occurs in the Apostolic Constitutions, the sermons of the Fathers, the Councils (“Const. From the fourth century onwards the celebration of octaves is mentioned more frequently. This feast may possibly have influenced the adoption of the octave by the Christians. However, it must be said that the first Christian octave known to history is the dedication of the Churches of Tyre and Jerusalem, under Constantine, and that these solemnities, in imitation of the dedication of the Jewish Temple, lasted eight days (Eusebius, “De vita Constant”., III, xxx sq. If this be so, we may say, contrary to the common opinion that Christians borrowed the idea of the octave from the Jews, this custom grew spontaneously on Christian soil. The octave, therefore, would have in a certain sense developed of its own accord. Moreover, the Sunday which, after the feasts of Easter and Pentecost, fell on the eighth day, came as a natural conclusion of the seven feast days after these two festivals.

Possibly at first this was only a baptismal custom, the neophytes remaining in a kind of joyful retreat from Easter or Pentecost till the following Sunday. In the fourth century, when the primitive idea of the fifty days’ feast of the paschal time began to grow dim, Easter and Pentecost were given octaves.

$octave meaning$

The feast of Christmas, which too is very old, had originally no octave. Sunday, which may in a sense be considered the first Christian feast, falls on the seventh day the feasts of Easter and Pentecost, which are, with Sunday, the most ancient, form as it were only a single feast of fifty days. At first the Christian feasts have no octaves. Gavanti’s opinion that the custom of celebrating the octave of feasts dates back to the days of the Apostles is devoid of proof (Thesaurus sacr. The ogdoad of the Egyptians and similar’, numerical phantasies among other peoples had no influence on Christian liturgy. It was on the eighth day, too, that the feast of the dedication of the Temple under Solomon, and of its purifications under Ezechias concluded (II Par., vii, 9 xxix, 17).

viii, 18) the eighth day was the day of certain sacrifices (Lev., xiv, 10, 23 xv, 14, 29 Num., vi, 10). The feast of the Tabernacles, which as we have said lasted seven days, was followed on the eighth by a solemnity which may be considered as an octave (Lev., xxiii, 36, 39 Num., xxix, 35 II Esd. The eighth day was the day of circumcision (Gen., xxi, 4 Lev., xii, 3 Luke, i, 59 Acts, vii, 8 etc.). However, the octave day, without having the symbolic importance of the seventh day, had also its role. The jubilee year was brought about by the number seven multiplied by seven the feast of the Azymes lasted seven days, like the paschal feast the feast of Pentecost was seven times seven days after the Pasch the feast of the Tabernacles lasted seven days, the days of convocation numbered seven (Willis, “Worship of the Old Covenant”, 190-1 “Dict. Every seventh day is a sabbath the seventh month is sacred the seventh year is a sabbatical year. ORIGIN.-It is the number seven, not eight, that plays the principal role in Jewish heortology, and dominates the cycle of the year.

Octave meaning