Feast Days of Saints
A martyr's death day kept as a birthday — born, the church says, into heaven
Feast days are the annual liturgical commemorations of saints and martyrs, usually kept on the date of their death, understood as their "heavenly birthday." The practice appears early, as in the Martyrdom of Polycarp and fourth-century martyr calendars. The traditions differ in emphasis: Catholic, Orthodox, and Oriental calendars are densely filled with such feasts, Anglican and Lutheran calendars keep fewer, and most Reformed and Free churches reject them.
How it traveled
- The Church History of EusebiusCaesarea · 339explains
- The LettersCaesarea (Cappadocia) · 379applies
Key passages(20)
The Letters · Basil of Caesarea
The Church History of Eusebius · Eusebius of Caesarea
The Church History of Eusebius · Eusebius of Caesarea
The Epistles of Cyprian. · Cyprian
The Confessions · Augustine of Hippo
The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the Great · Pope Gregory the Great
The Canons of the Councils of Ancyra, Gangra, Neocæsarea, Antioch and Laodicea, which Canons were Accepted and Received by the Ecumenical Synods · The Ecumenical Councils
The Letters · Basil of Caesarea
Homilies on Second Corinthians · John Chrysostom
On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus · Ambrose of Milan
The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the Great · Pope Gregory the Great
The Canons of the Councils of Ancyra, Gangra, Neocæsarea, Antioch and Laodicea, which Canons were Accepted and Received by the Ecumenical Synods · The Ecumenical Councils
The Canons of the Synods of Sardica, Carthage, Constantinople, and Carthage Under St. Cyprian, Which Canons Were Received by the Council in Trullo and Ratified by II. Nice · The Ecumenical Councils
The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret · Theodoret of Cyrus
The Letters of St. Jerome · Jerome
Letters of St. Augustin · Augustine of Hippo
The Letters · Basil of Caesarea
The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret · Theodoret of Cyrus
The Canons of the Synods of Sardica, Carthage, Constantinople, and Carthage Under St. Cyprian, Which Canons Were Received by the Council in Trullo and Ratified by II. Nice · The Ecumenical Councils
The Canons of the Synods of Sardica, Carthage, Constantinople, and Carthage Under St. Cyprian, Which Canons Were Received by the Council in Trullo and Ratified by II. Nice · The Ecumenical Councils