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(Latin for "free day").
A day on which the people, especially the slaves, were notobliged to work, and on which there were no court sessions. In ancient Roman times theferiae publicae, legal holidays, were eitherstativae, recurring regularly (e.g. the Saturnalia),conceptivae, i.e. movable, orimperativae, i.e. appointed for special occasions. WhenChristianity spread, theferiae were ordered for religious rest, to celebrate the feasts instituted for worship by theChurch. The faithful wereobliged on those days to attend Mass in theirparish church; such assemblies gradually led to mercantile enterprise, partly from necessity and partly for the sake of convenience. This custom in time introduced those market gatherings which theGermans callMessen, and the English call fairs. They were fixed onsaints' days (e.g. St. Barr's fair,St. Germanus's fair, St. Wenn's fair, etc.)
Today the termferia is used to denote the days of the week with the exception of Sunday and Saturday. Various reasons are given for this terminology. TheRoman Breviary, in the sixth lesson for 31 Dec., says that Pope St. Silvester ordered the continuance of the already existing custom "that theclergy, daily abstaining from earthly cares, would befree to serveGod alone". Others believe that theChurch simplyChristianized a Jewish practice. TheJews frequently counted the days from theirSabbath, and so we find in the Gospels such expressions asuna Sabbati andprima Sabbati, the first from theSabbath. The earlyChristians reckoned the days afterEaster in this fashion, but, since all the days ofEaster week were holy days, they calledEaster Monday, not the first day afterEaster, but the second feria orfeast day; and since everySunday is thedies Dominica, a lesserEaster day, the custom prevailed to call each Monday aferia secunda, and so on for the rest of the week.
Theecclesiastical style of naming the week days was adopted by no nation except thePortuguese who alone use the termsSegunda Feria etc. The old use of the wordferia, forfeast day, is lost, except in the derivativeferiatio, which is equivalent to ourof obligation. Today those days are calledferial upon which no feast is celebrated. Feriae are eithermajor orminor. The major, which must have at least a commemoration, even on the highest feasts, are the feriae ofAdvent andLent, the Ember days, and the Monday of Rogation week; the others are called minor. Of the major feriaeAsh Wednesday and the days ofHoly Week are privileged so that their office must be taken, no matter what feast may occur.
APA citation.Mershman, F.(1909).Feria. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06043a.htm
MLA citation.Mershman, Francis."Feria."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 6.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1909.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06043a.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph P. Thomas.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor.Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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