February, 2012

At the end of the month, we will add an additional day to our year.  February 29th, Leap Day, which comes around once every four years, to make sure the earth is in "sync" with the sun.  It is all about time and how well we are able to calculate it.  But, did you know this whole idea of leap year and leap day are thanks to a pontifical act?

It relates to the authority of the papacy.  Back in the 16th century, when the Julian calendar, which had been created by Julius Cesar, the emperor of Rome, could no longer keep up with the movement of the earth around the sun, a new calendar was needed.  But there was not any central authority on the face of the earth to make such a decision.  It was left to the pope to make a new calendar, with the help of science (so you can see that the Church has always cooperated and supported science).  So, Pope Gregory VIII, in 1582 devised a new calendar, which would "catch us up" with the earth's journey.  The old calendar had caused a 11 day "slip" of time.  The calendar did not equate with how long it was taking the earth for its annual journey around the sun.

So, the Holy Father issued a new calendar for the world.  However, the Protestant Reformation had occurred and many of the newly reformed countries were reluctant to accept his authority.  The Catholic world quickly complied.  But places like England, Germany, and much of Europe was reluctant to accept the new calendar.  It took Great Britain until 1751 to make the change.  When they did, they simply wiped away the 11days.  People went to sleep one night and woke up 12 days later.  On September 2nd, 1752, the citizens of the Empire of England went to sleep and awoke on Thursday, the 14th.  Such was the way the Gregorian calendar was intoduced throughout the land and the colonies of the British Empire.

It took France a few more years, until after their Revolution, to accept the changes and at first, they wanted to make their own reforms, by having 12 months, with 30 days, but that never cought on.

So, when we celebrate this extra day this year, let us thank the Church and the authority of the papacy.  It is the Church who continues to lead and to guide, in many ways.  It is the Holy Father, who stands alone as the Vicar of Christ, and will never leave us alone.  In matters great and small, holy and secualr, we have a beacon of hope to always guide us.

Very Rev. Father M. Price Oswalt, K.C.H.S.

Shrine Rector