Let me just get this sorted out right now, a year in advance. Next year, St Andrew’s Day will be on Monday 1 December 2008. Yes, not Sunday 30 November. It can’t ever be on a Sunday.
Advent 1 always beats St Andrew, even in Scotland in the Scottish Episcopal Church. Christ the King always beats Andrew, even in Scotland too. Therefore, St Andrew can never be celebrated on a Sunday.
Got that? We love him dearly. We enjoy being under his patronage. And we don’t keep his feast on a Sunday. OK?
Never on a Sunday.
End of story.
(I might give an exemption to the congregation of St Andrews, St Andrews, but only because I trust them to have the good taste not to apply it).
But I know that!!
Why????
Because Advent 1 always beats St Andrew, even in Scotland in the Scottish Episcopal Church. Christ the King always beats Andrew, even in Scotland too. Therefore, St Andrew can never be celebrated on a Sunday.
What’s not to understand?
One will have to put in a request for a special dispensation then. That’s all!
That one’s own first Christian name is the same as the patron saint of Scots AND that one was born a mere four days to the good Saint’s own feast day are two of the reasons now put forward for the request…
“Taste?”
🙂
I second this request, my weight on this matter is that my middle name is Andrew, it would have been my Christian name I believe if I had been born 4 days earlier than I was.
This sounds like an eccelestical version of Top Trumps. In the days that the Sunday preceeding Advent was merely called “Sunday Next Before” – otherwise known as “Stir Up Sunday”, could St Andrew be celebrated on that Sunday albeit it would have been the 23rd November.
There is a litugical exposition required here that described not only what can be transfered, but why the church made this decision.
I am sure in the past, there were occaisions when the Collect for the Saint’s day could be used in addition to the Sunday collect when it was transfered.
It might also be thought that considering a lot of parishes do not have any services apart from on Sundays (and Christmas/Easter) they consider midweek festivals on the nearest Sunday.
No further exemptions. You are going to get a St Andrews Day, you are not losing out. If it were kept on the Sunday, you would miss out having Advent Sunday and then either Christmas or the Second Coming might be delayed, and that would never do.
There is a bit of history about Christ the King (its a political feast, of course) on wikipedia here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_Christ_the_King
When the Scottish Government declares St Andrew’s Day as a public holiday it will have to be on a weekday, so then never on a Saturday or Sunday.
Apart from that Kelvin description and the Wikipedia article shows that in the Top Trumps face-off, St Andrew will alway lose out to a Sunday.
(Now – with tongue very firmly in cheek – what about the return of “Stir Up Sunday” instead of “Christ the King”)
…and wikipedia has a article on Stir Up Sunday as well.