Regarding Cecil’s column on Christian’s celebrating the Sabbath on Sunday, I note that a letter of St. Augustine survives which touches on the question of which is the “right” day for fasting/celebration. He takes it to St. Ambrose, and his answeris the germ of a common English expression:
[QUOTE=Augustine]
I, as being only a catechumen, felt no concern about these questions; but it was to her a question causing anxiety, whether she ought, after the custom of our own town, to fast on the Saturday, or, after the custom of the Church of Milan, not to fast. To deliver her from perplexity, I put the question to the man of God whom I have just named. He answered, “What else can I recommend to others than what I do myself?” When I thought that by this he intended simply to prescribe to us that we should take food on Saturdays—for I knew this to be his own practice—he, following me, added these words: “When I am here I do not fast on Saturday; but when I am at Rome I do: whatever church you may come to, conform to its custom, if you would avoid either receiving or giving offence.” (XXXVI.32)
[/quote]
Just a point I was wondering about in Cecil’s reply (and also something that was mentioned in the original question): I know that Sunday is supposed to be the first day of the week, so how come it has migrated to being the last of the week? The 2nd day of the week-end? Maybe this shows I was brought up in a secular environment, but I always associated Sunday being the 7th day of the 7 days of creation, the one where God rests (and I assumed, we had to rest as well). Am I wrong in this?
You’re right. Sunday has been tugged to fall after Saturday simply because it puts the two week-end days together. (For what it’s worth, it’s been normal in Europe for quite some time, but I also encountered it in the USA as far back as the mid-1950s.)
Sunday is the last day of the week? When did that happen?
I see that Microsoft Outlook has it that way, but most normal calendars – like my wonderful Demotivators calendar still shows Sunday as the first day of the week.
If you asked a hundred people to name the first day of the week, I’m betting you’d get a hundred people saying, “Sunday.”
Well, you’d probably get a hundred people asking, “What kind of dumb question is that?,” but if you explained they would probably answer.
It depends on the country, RR. Most people in the U.S. count Sunday first, as can be seen by a simple perusal of calendars available for purchase. Most European countries go Monday-first, which makes more sense in the context of a “weekend” but has not yet been widely adopted in the U.S.
Powers &8^]
