Understanding the Romanist Calendar

The Romanist calendar is based on the Julian calendar created by Divus Julius Caesar in the 1st Century BC. This calendar was modified in the late 1500s to fix a flaw that caused the dates to shift slowly over the centuries. This updated calendar, called the Gregorian calendar, is what we now use around the world.

The Romanist calendar matches the dates and months of our modern calendar, but we read it with a particular religious significance. Throughout the month, there are three primary holy days called the Calends, Nones, and Ides. These ancient Roman Holy Days have been a part of the Western calendar for 1000s of years and are still tracked in official Roman Catholic Calendars. See below; notice the date marks on the left for Calends, Nones, and Ides:

You may be wondering what the Roman numerals on the left-hand side of the calendar mean. These numerals show how we count the days of the month. Rather than simply counting up from 1, we count down to the next Holy Day of the month. You will notice this in all Romanist months, and it helps us stay conscious of the next Holy Day. Our daily prayers also match these numbers, as a particular daily prayer is associated with each Roman numeral on the calendar.

Calends

The Calends is sacred to the Queen of Heaven, Juno. On Calends, we fast for the day in Honor of the Goddess and as a part of our spiritual ascesis. Juno is often maligned by the poets who depict her in a spiteful and jealous way. Juno, in reality, is the Goddess who drives us toward greatness and pushes the will of Jove into the world. She is the movement and energy that brings God’s will to fruition. We don’t always enjoy the call of destiny. It can be painful, forcing us to change and grow, but Juno’s hand in this is always for the better, even when she has to play the “bad guy,” so to speak. On Calends we honor her divine role in ensuring the providence of God is always made manifest and ask her to gently guide us in following the Gods in all things.

Nones

Nones is traditionally not tied to any particular God, but as followers of the Orphic tradition, we take this day to honor Dionysus, the liberator of our immortal souls. He is the God often associated with revelry, ecstasy, and wine. Spiritually, he is the free one, the divine roarer who calls us to liberate ourselves from earthly bounds. As we practice our daily spiritual ascesis and seek liberation as the ultimate goal of earthly life, we honor Dionysus as our guide and heavenly protector. He is at one with his Father, Jove, and through our communion with him, we also commune with Father Jove.

Ides

On the Ides, we honor the Father of Gods and men, the Supreme God, King Jove. He is our heavenly Father and creator. We honor him with hymns and penance. The Ides is a time to reflect on our actions and review where we may not be living in accordance with God’s laws. We may seek forgiveness and repent of our sins before the Father. Jove, as king, is the supreme lawgiver and sustainer of the cosmos. We live within is divine body, and a spark of his supreme intellect dwells in us. On the Ides, we honor his divine creation outside of us and the divine spark within us.

Fasting

As mentioned, we fast on these Holy Days and on days preceding major feast days. Traditionally, the fast begins on the evening before the holy day; for example, at sundown on Calends Eve, we begin the Calends fast—the fast ends at sundown on the following day.

Fasting has always had some flexibility, given the various dietary needs of practitioners. If the full fast is not possible, we should refrain from eating from the evening before to the afternoon the following day. If that is not possible, we should still seek to reduce our food as much as possible. The goal of fasting is not to cause suffering but to encourage temperance and self-control. It is an opportunity for us to bring our desires under our control for a brief time.

These opportunities allow us to take control of things that often control us. We can frequently feel forced by our bodily needs to seek food, sex, satisfy addictions, or act in other compulsive ways. By halting our food intake, we give ourselves a brief respite from the constant needs of the body and a chance to let reason set itself as our guide.

Other Holidays

Other holidays are observed throughout the year, and special observances for each will be mentioned in our daily posts. For our full calendar, please see the below post.