Using the Scandinavian Feast Day Calendar

A previous post, “Unlocking the Mystery of the Feast Day Calendar,” told the story of the feast day calendar, how it’s made up, and what to look for in church records. This post will take you through the process of using the feast day calendar. The church book samples are from Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish records.

Danish Christening Record

Let’s start with a christening record from Alsønderup parish in Fredriksborg, Denmark.¹

Every entrance on these pages from 1738 and 1739 refers to a feast day. Starting on the left page, we have Dom 20 p. Tr.; Dom 23 p Trinit; Dom 1 advent; Dom 2 advent; and Dom p Nativ Cti. On the right page, we have Dom 2 p Epiphan; Dom Sexagesima; Dom Invoc; Dom Lætare; Dom Qvasimodagen; and Dom Misericord.

Using the feast day calendar, we will turn some of these feast days into recognizable dates. On the left side of the full document, we see the year 1739 two-thirds way down on the page. The following enlargement is from the top right page and pertains to the 1739 feast days and includes Dom 2p Epiphan, Dom Sexagesima, and Dom Invoc.

Go to the Movable Feast Days calendar for Denmark at FamilySearch.org and click on 1739.²

The following calendar will appear.

Dom refers to Dominica, meaning Sunday. Dom 2p Epiphan refers to the second Sunday post (past) Epiphania (Holy Three Kings Day). In 1739, Dom 2p Epiphan fell on 18 January.

In the “Unlocking the Mystery of the Feast Day Calendar” post, we mentioned that many feast days revolved around Jesus’ birth (Christmas), resurrection (Easter), and Pentecost. In 1739, the Lutheran church finished celebrating Jesus’ birth on 18 January and started counting down for Easter. Dom Sexagesima is the 8^th Sunday before Easter. That year, Sexagesima fell on 1 February.

You might wonder why 3-6 p Epiphany are blank. Easter is a moveable feast day that occurs sometime between the end of March and the second half of April. (The calculation of Easter is based on moon phases and is a bit complicated, so we won’t bother you with that here.) The calendar shows Easter was late in 1737, with Easter Sunday falling on 21 April. In 1739, however, it was early, with Easter Sunday falling on 29 March. As the countdown to Easter starts on the 9^th Sunday before Easter, regardless of when Easter is, a late Easter will require more Sundays post-Epiphany to fill the calendar.

The last underlined date in the enlarged church record is Dom Invoc. Dom Invoc is short for Dominica Invocavit, the 6^th Sunday before Easter. In 1739, Invocavit Sunday fell on 15 February.

Norwegian Marriage Record

Norway was a province under Denmark from 1536 to 1814. This, of course, affected the church, which, in the beginning, often had Danish priests also in Norway. The feast days were mostly the same in Norway and Denmark. However, it is still recommended to use the Norwegian Feast Day Calendar at FamilySearch for those few occasions when Norway or Denmark had days only celebrated in their individual countries.

Norway has a separate online calendar that some might find easier to use. This calendar is located at Trinitatis.no and will be used for the next example from a Norwegian marriage record.³ (Note that this site’s online address is https://trinitatis.no. www.trinitatis.no will take you to a Norwegian site regarding diabetes.)

Most of the older Norwegian records were not sectioned in birth/christening, marriage, and death/burial. Instead, anything happening on a specific date was listed together. Partway down the page, the trolovelse (betrothal) for Jacob Arentsen and Ribor Augustinidatter is listed. A betrothal was binding, and the priest occasionally omitted the actual marriage date. Jacob and Ribor were betrothed on Kristi Himmelfarts dag 1744. So, let’s find the actual date using the Trinitatis website.

Once on Trinitatis.no, enter the year in question in the blue box, and a table of all the feast days for that year will appear below.

Kristi Himmelfartsdag, known in English as Ascension Day, occurred on 7 May in 1744. (In this case, the priest did note Jacob and Ribor’s marriage on 28 July 1744.)

Swedish death record

Finland was under Swedish reign until 1809 when Russia took over. During this period, most records were written in Swedish, and the church followed the Swedish church calendar. This mostly continued under the Russian reign, which lasted until 1917, except in a few areas close to the Russian border. Therefore, we can generally use the Swedish feast day calendar for most places and time periods in Finland.

This death record is from the Swedish parish of Kågeröd.⁴

On the first Sunday of the new year in 1726, Oluf Nilsson buried his little child. Which date was the first Sunday of 1726? Again, we turn to the FamilySearch Research Wiki to find the Swedish Feast Day Calendar for 1726.⁵

The first Sunday in 1726 was 2 January.

Many are hesitant to researching in Scandinavian records. The Latin feast days used, particularly in church records, can be a stumbling block. The feast day calendars in the FamilySearch wiki and Trinitatis.no are great tools to overcoming these obstacles and adding identified dates in your ancestors’ lives.

1. Den Danske folkekirken, Alsønderup parish (Fredriksborg count), “Enesteministerialbok, 1709-1814,” page 25; digital images, Rigsarkivet (sa.dk : accessed 2 April 2024).
2. “Denmark Feast Day Calendars;” online Wikipedia, FamilySearch (FamilySearch.org/en/wiki : accessed 2 April 2024).
3. Den norske Kirke, Trondenes parish, ”Ministerialbok 1744-1777,” page 5, engagement of Jacob Arentsen Tendvigen and Ribor Augustinidatter, 7 May 1744; digital image, Arkivverket (digitalarkivet.no : accessed 2 April 2024); citing Statsarkivet (State Archive) in Tromsø.
4. Svenska kyrkan, Kågeröd parish, ”Död- och begravningsbok 1726-1772 (Death- and burial book 1726-1772),” page 1, burial of Oluf Nilson’s child, 2 January 1726; digital image, ArkivDigital (app.arkivdigital.se : accessed 2 April 2024).
5. “Sweden Feast Day Calendars;” online wikidepedia, FamilySearch (FamilySearch.org/en/wiki : accessed 2 April 2024).