When the General Roman Calendar was promulgated after Vatican II, the Holy See received several petitions to restore feasts that disappeared.
The feast that got the largest number of petitions supporting it was the Feast of the Precious Blood (July 1). Despite this, it was not restored.
Some other feasts were - in due course - restored to the calendar during the papacy of St. John Paul II, such as those of the Holy Name of Jesus and the Holy Name of Mary.
If you could choose one feast (or other aspect) of the older calendar to be inserted into the General Roman Calendar, what would it be?
For me, it would be restoring the season of Septuagesima (pre-Lent). (Runner up: instead of Sundays in Ordinary Time, counting Sundays in relation to Epiphany and Pentecost.)
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How is this feast different from the feast of Corpus Christi? Genuinely asking.
Also, is the General Roman Calendar different from the Liturgical Calendar? I do like that under the new Lectionary we hear more of Sacred Scripture proclaimed now (932 verses of the Old Testament and 40.8% of the New Testament on Sundays & Major Feast Days every three years) compared to Vatican I (255 verses of the Old Testament and only 16.5% of the New Testament on Sundays & Major Feast Days). And now if you go to Daily Mass, you will hear roughly 3,378 verses of the Old Testament and nearly 71.5% of the New Testament. So, I see this as an improvement under Vatican II.
But, don’t get me wrong, there are lots of unintended consequences that happened under Vatican II that I Pray would be changed back to how things were done pre-Vatican II, relating to the Sacred Liturgy specificly.
My answer will be complicated because I also will also make mention of Holy Thursday.
Corpus Christi was celebrated on a Thursday two months after Holy Thursday. It is specifically a feast in honour of the Eucharist. It differs from the Mass of the Lord’s Supper both in timing (there is a touch of sorrow as we look forward to the death of Christ, which we need not have at Corpus Christi) as well as in focus (the Mass of the Lord’s Supper commemorates not only the institution of the Eucharist, but also because it commemorates the giving of the new commandment of love and the institution of the ordained priesthood).
The Feast of the Precious Blood in July was not just about the Precious Blood considered under the aspect of the Eucharist. The Gospel for the Mass was that of Jesus’ heart being pierced on the cross.
When the Feast of the Precious Blood was removed from July 1, the idea guiding the change was that Corpus Christi was the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (its current name in the calendar).
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The General Roman Calendar is the universal liturgical calendar. Of course, there are local variations. For example, there are feasts (and even penitential days) that are observed in some countries, but not others. Also, different countries move different feasts of obligation to Sundays.
Thank you for clarifying. I think this is a very important feast and that it should be added back on. Do you have a direct line to Pope Leo to suggest this? : )