Origin and History of the Solemnity of Christ the King

Tomorrow (11/23), the Roman Catholic Church will celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King.

Here is some background information on this feast day:

On December 11, 1925, towards the end of that Holy Year, Pope Pius XI instituted this liturgical celebration as a feast ranked as a Double of the First Class with his encyclical Quas Primas.

The title of the feast was "D. N. Jesu Christi Regis" (Our Lord Jesus Christ the King), and the date was "the last Sunday of the month of October - the Sunday, that is, which immediately precedes the Feast of All Saints".

In Pope John XXIII's 1960 revision of the Calendar, the date and title remained the same and, in the new simpler ranking of feasts, it was classified as a feast of the first class.

In 1969, Pope Paul VI gave the celebration a new title: "D. N. Iesu Christi universorum Regis" (Our Lord Jesus Christ King of All). He also gave it a new date: the last Sunday in the liturgical year, before a new year begins with the First Sunday in Advent, the earliest date for which is November 27. Through this choice of date "the eschatological importance of this Sunday is made clearer". He assigned to it the highest rank, that of "Solemnity".

As happens with all Sundays whose liturgies are replaced by those of important feasts, the prayers of the Sunday on which the celebration of Christ the King falls are used on the ferias (weekdays) of the following week. The Sunday liturgy is thus not totally omitted.

It is also celebrated by the Legionaries of Christ order of priests and its associated international lay ecclesial movement, Regnum Christi, as "Regnum Christi Day". Its members are invited to spiritually renew their decision to give their lives to Christ out of love, and to do everything they can to make the Kingdom of Christ a strong and growing reality in society.

Buckeyes Rout Michigan, 42-7

My beloved Ohio State Buckeyes defeated a scrappy, yet completely overmanned Michigan Wolverines team 42-7 this afternoon before a sold out crowd at The 'Shoe in Columbus. It was the 105th meeting of what is known throughout the sports world as "The Rivalry".

OSU coach Jim Tressel continues to immortalize his place in Ohio State history having now gone 7-1 against their arch rival from Ann Arbor.

With Penn State cruising against Michigan State in the battle for the "Land Grant Trophy" (whatever that is...), it looks like the Bucks will finish the season tied with PSU for the Big Ten title, but they lose the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Buckeyes will be headed most likely to Orlando to play in the Capital One Bowl against an SEC team on 1/1/09. It would be nice to end the misery against the SEC finally....

By the way, I told everyone all week (work, vanpool, friends, etc.) that the betting line of Ohio State -20.5 was the "lock of the week" and I predicted a final score of 42-7.