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6.2.2
Common Days of Observance and Their Rules |
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Essentially two kinds of rules are observed in the Western calendar and distinguished in the ecclesiastical calendar as immovable and movable feasts. |
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The immovable feast uses the rule called "fixed date" to distinguish the fact that the day is observed on the same month and same day of the year. All other days of observance use some other rule, which results in the day falling on different days of the year. |
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The fixed-date rule is the simplest of all calendar rules for days of observance. This rule simply returns a fixed, or constant, month and day for any given year. |
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An example function demonstrates the implementation of this rule for New Year's Day: |
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#include "scdtl_1.h"
struct DATE_INFO new_year (int year)
{
struct DATE_INFO date;
date.year = year;
date.month = 1;
date.day = 1;
return (date);
} |
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Alternatively, the code may be shortened by making use of the make_date () function: |
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#include "scdtl_2.h"
struct DATE_INFO new_year (int year)
{
struct DATE_INFO date;
date = make_date (year, 1, 1);
return (date);
} |
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Either of the above functions may be used as a template for any fixed date observance, with the function name, month, and day values being changed appropriately. |
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6.2.2.1.1
Ecclesiastical Dates Immovable Feasts |
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In this section, I will consider several immovable feasts some are chosen for their historical interest and some are chosen because they are important in the ecclesiastical calendar. |
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Most of the dates in the ecclesiastical calendar follow the fixed-date rule. Within the Church tradition, the date of death or martyrdom was the most common criterion for the choice of date. The date of translation of relics was also commonly used. The date of birth was only rarely used for these purposes. |
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