What to do when Holy Week, holiday conflict?

March 10, 2008 at 1:20a.m.

A calculation established centuries ago determines the date of Easter.

YOUNGSTOWN — Not all Irish eyes will be smiling this St. Patrick’s Day.

The traditional Irish holiday falls on Monday of Holy Week, the most solemn period on the Christian calendar, and some Catholic dioceses are trying to discourage traditional partying on that day.

The conflict between St. Pat’s Day and Holy Week is caused by the movable nature of Easter, the highest holy day in Christianity.

For astronomy buffs, Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. For the rest of us, that means Easter can fall anytime between March 22 and April 25. For history buffs, the calculation was established in 325 at the Council of Nicaea.

It’s not often that St. Paddy’s Day falls during Holy Week. The last time was in 1940. The next time won’t be until 2160, leaving plenty of years of revelry and green beer between now and then.

According to the Diocese of Youngstown, most American dioceses will not mark St. Patrick’s Feast Day with Masses because it falls during Holy Week.

Churches where St. Patrick is the patron will mark the feast on another date.

“Holy Week takes precedence over feast days,” said the Rev. Edward Noga, pastor of St. Patrick Church, 1420 Oak Hill Ave. “The Feast Day of St. Patrick – March 17 – will be celebrated March 14 and the Feast Day of St. Joseph on March 19 will be celebrated March 15,” he said.

Father Noga said there will be a Mass at 10:30 a.m. March 17. “Afterward, we’ll have some Irish stew and homemade bread.”

The church will have its feast day celebration of its patron saint from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. March 15. Father Noga said about 250 people are expected at the event, which features Irish food and music.

“People just have to act accordingly because it’s Holy Week,” he said.

That’s what pupils at St. Patrick School in Hubbard are doing. Rita Gontaruk, principal of the kindergarten-through-eighth-grade schools, said the pupils will attend 8:30 a.m. Mass on March 17.

The Rev. Timothy O’Neal, pastor of St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church, 357 N. Main St., Hubbard, said he planned to wear his green vestments for the Mass and the sermon will be about St. Patrick. “But the main focus will be the Monday Mass of Holy Week,” Father O’Neal said.

Gonturak said the school presents a spring show, usually around St. Patrick’s Day, that features songs related to the saint of the Emerald Isle.

“Because of how St. Patrick’s Day falls, we moved the show to April. We’ll still include some St. Patrick’s Day songs then,” she said. She also noted that the observance of Holy Week takes precedence over a celebration of St. Patrick.

Father O’Neal said he usually visits the school on St. Patrick’s Day and he will remain true to that tradition. “I usually stop at the school and give the kids little badges of St. Patrick or a green cross,” he said.

Looking ahead, St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the next few years won’t infringe on Holy Week. In 2009, Easter is April 12; 2010, April 4; and 2011, April 24.

The St. Patrick’s Day parade in Youngstown, a celebration of the Irish, will go on at 1 p.m. March 16. Rob Kale, a member of the Mahoning Valley St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee, said committee members decided to go ahead with the parade on the Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day as it traditionally has been scheduled. Members discussed it and also consulted with Catholic clergy.

“We decided to go ahead because Palm Sunday is not part of Holy Week. And most services would be held in the morning,” Kale said.

Kale also pointed out the parade is a community-oriented event. Though some religious-based organizations may participate, the parade is a secular, community activity. There will be St. Paddy’s events complete with green beer at various Valley establishments.