"Octave" has two senses inChristian liturgical usage. In the first sense, it is the eighth day after a feast,counted inclusively, and so always falls on the same day of the week as the feast itself. The word is derived fromLatinoctava (eighth), with“dies” (day) implied and understood. In the second sense, the term is applied to the whole eight-day period, during which certain major feasts came to be observed.[1]
Octaves, not being successive, are quite distinct fromeight-day weeks and simply refer to the return of the same day of aseven-day week in theinclusive counting system used in Latin (just as the ninth day was a return to the same day of anundinal cycle, the eight-day week of the pre-ChristianRoman calendar).
The "eighth day" oroctava dies was associated with the weekly Christian celebration of the resurrection of Christ every "eighth day", which became a name forSunday.[2][3]
Ascircumcision is performed inJudaism on the “eighth day” after birth, the number8 became associated inChristianity withBaptism,[4] andbaptismal fonts have from an early date often beenoctagonal.[5][6][7]
The practice of octaves was first introduced underConstantine I, when the dedication festivities of the basilicas atJerusalem andTyre, Lebanon were observed for eight days. After these one-off occasions, annual liturgical feasts began to be dignified with an octave. The first such feasts accorded such wereEaster,Pentecost, and in theEast,Epiphany.[1] This occurred in the 4th century and served as a time for the newly converted to take a joyful retreat.[8]
The development of octaves occurred slowly. From the 4th century to the 7th century, Christians observed octaves with a celebration on the eighth day, with little development of the liturgies within the intervening days.Christmas was the next feast to receive an octave, and by the 8th century, Rome had developed liturgical octaves not only for Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas, but also for theEpiphany as in the East, and the feast of thededication of a church.[8]
From the 7th century, saints’ feasts also began to have octaves (as an eighth-day feast, not eight days of feasting), among the oldest being those ofSaints Peter and Paul,Saint Lawrence andSaint Agnes. From the 12th century, the custom arose of liturgical observance of the days between the first and the eighth day, as well as the eighth day.[1] During theMiddle Ages, octaves for various other feasts and saints were celebrated, depending upon thediocese orreligious order.[8]
WhilePope Pius V reduced the amount of octaves in 1568,[1] these were still numerous. Not only on the eighth day from the feast but, with the exception of the octaves of Easter, Pentecost, and, to a lesser extent, Christmas, on all the intervening days theliturgy was the same as on the feast day itself, with the exact same prayers andScripture readings.
Octaves were classified into several types. Easter and Pentecost had “specially privileged” octaves, during which no other feast whatsoever could be celebrated. Christmas, Epiphany, andCorpus Christi had “privileged” octaves, during which certain highly ranked feasts might be celebrated. The octaves of other feasts allowed even more feasts to be celebrated therein.[8]
To reduce the repetition of the same liturgy for several days,Pope Leo XIII andPope Pius X made further distinctions, classifying octaves into three primary types: privileged, common, and simple. Privileged octaves were further arranged in a hierarchy of first, second, and third orders. For the first half of the 20th century, octaves were ranked in the following manner, which affected holding other celebrations within them:
In addition to these, thepatron saint of a particular nation, diocese, or church was celebrated therein with an octave, on each day of which the Mass andOffice of the feast was repeated, unless impeded by a higher-ranked celebration.
Although the feasts of St. Lawrence and theNativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary officially still had simple octaves, by the 20th century they had all but vanished as higher-ranking feasts were added to the calendar. The octave day alone of St. Lawrence was still commemorated during the Mass ofSt. Hyacinth. The entire octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was impeded, butThe Most Holy Name of Mary was celebrated during the octave, andThe Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated on the former octave day.
Pope Pius XII further simplified the Calendar with a decree dated 23 March 1955: only the octaves of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost were kept, as these did not repeat the same liturgy daily. All other octaves in theRoman Rite were suppressed, including those of local calendars (seeGeneral Roman Calendar of Pope Pius XII#Octaves). In 1969, the Church further revised the Calendar by deleting the Octave of Pentecost.[9]
The first eight days of the Easter Season were made the Octave of Easter and celebrated as Solemnities of the Lord, with proper readings and prayers.[10] TheSecond Sunday of Easter, which ends the Easter Octave, has also been called “White Sunday”(Dominica in albis), among other traditional names.
The Christmas Octave is presently arranged as follows:
Theliturgical calendar of theLutheran Churches may have octaves for the following feasts: "The Nativity of Our Lord, The Epiphany of Our Lord, The Resurrection of Our Lord, All Saints, Ascension Day, Pentecost andTrinity Sunday."[12]
Churches within theAnglican Communion traditionally observed octaves associated with the feasts ofChristmas,Corpus Christi,Epiphany,Michaelmas,Easter, andAll Saints' Day.[13] Many provinces have followed the Catholic Church and altered the practice of observing octaves. In theChurch of England, the only octave that remains in some form is that of Easter: no other feasts may be celebrated in the six days following Easter Sunday, and only a Dedication Festival or Patronal Festival may be celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter.[14]
Among the Eastern Orthodox andByzantine RiteEastern Catholic Churches, what in the West would be called an Octave is referred to as anAfterfeast. The celebration of theGreat Feasts of thechurch year are extended for a number days, depending upon the particular Feast. Each day of an Afterfeast will have particular hymns assigned to it, continuing the theme of the Feast being celebrated.
Most of these Great Feasts (except Feasts within the moveable Paschal Cycle) also have a day or more of preparation called aForefeast. Forefeasts and Afterfeasts will affect the structure of the services during theCanonical Hours.
The last day of an Afterfeast is called theApodosis (lit. "giving-back") of the Feast. On theApodosis, most of the hymns that were chanted on the first day of the Feast are repeated. On the Apodoses of Feasts of theTheotokos, the Epistle and Gospel of the Feast are repeated again at theDivine Liturgy.
The term "octave" is applied to some church observances that are not strictly liturgical. For example, many churches observe an annual "Octave of Prayer forChristian Unity", which runs from 18 January to 25 January. The octave was established in 1895 byPope Leo XIII for the period betweenAscension andPentecost. In 1909,Pope Pius X approved the transfer of this octave to the period between the former feast of theChair of St. Peter (then on January 18) and the feast of theConversion of St. Paul (January 25).[15]
In 1968, theWorld Council of Churches and theVatican'sPontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity agreed to jointly publish prayer materials for the occasion under the title "Week of Prayer for Christian Unity", but it is still often referred to as an octave, especially within theRoman Catholic,Lutheran andAnglo-Catholic traditions.[16] The Week of Prayer is observed at various times around the world, especially in theSouthern Hemisphere where it is commonly observed from Ascension to Pentecost.
Each year,Luxembourg celebrates theOktav in honour ofOur Lady of Luxembourg, patroness of the city. Despite its name, the occasion is held from the 3rd to the 5th Sunday afterEaster, making it 15 instead of 8 days.