One of the frequent questions I am asked is how I keep track of the upcoming feast days, and whether or not I have a favorite planner.
Just the other day Annie left the following comment on my Keeping Track and Making Progress {Daily Checklists and Planners for the School Year} post from last year:
This post was very helpful to me! I switched to the checklists midyear, and it was so much easier. Thank you! I'm looking for a new calendar to keep track of feast day celebrations. Do you have a preference between the Tan one and The Catholic Daily Planner now that you've used both?
Since I actually just ordered a couple new planners for the next school year, I thought this would be a great time to revisit the topic and try to answer Annie's question.
When I recommend a Catholic Planner I always suggest either the Saints Calendar & 16-Month Planner published by TAN (I've been using this calendar for many years) or the Catholic Daily Planner by Michele Quigley (I just purchased my 3rd annual planner).
[UPDATE: You can visit TAN Books / Neumann Press via my new Affiliate link here! Thank you!]
Last year I was also given a review copy of the Holy Simplicity Planner (I blogged about it here.) but after discovering that the publisher practices *Sedevacantism and the planner follows the General Roman Calendar of 1954 (which is currently used by the Sedevantists and is not the current calendar used by Traditional Catholics in good standing with the Holy See) I removed the links from my blog and can no longer recommend the Holy Simplicity planner in good conscious.
*Sedevacantism (derived from the Latin words sedes or "seat", and vacans or "vacant") is the position, held by a minority of Traditionalist Catholics, that the present occupant of the papal see is not truly Pope and that, for lack of a valid Pope, the see has been vacant since the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958. A tiny number of these claim the vacancy actually goes back to the death of Pope Pius X in 1914. Sedevacantists believe that Paul VI (1963–1978), John Paul I (1978), John Paul II (1978–2005), Benedict XVI (2005–2013), and Francis (2013–present) have been neither true Catholics nor true Popes, by virtue of allegedly having espoused the heresy of Modernism, or of having otherwise denied or contradicted solemnly defined Catholic dogmas. Some of them classify John XXIII (1958–1963) also as a Modernist antipope. Source: Wikipedia
My family is Catholic. While I agree that there are problems to resolve within the Church, Vatican I reminds us that we won't be left without successors to the throne of Peter. As much as I wish we had more frequent access to Traditional Latin Masses (approved by the Holy Father), I am very thankful that we still have all the sacraments, and trust that the Pope, Bishops, Priests, and Masses we have are valid. When choosing a Calendar to help my family follow and celebrate the liturgical year at home it is important for me to know that the one I am using does indeed follow the currently approved Church Calendar, whether it is the New (Novus Ordo) General Roman Calendar or the (Traditional/Extraordinary) General Calendar of 1962 (used, with permission, by the FSSP and other Traditionalists in good standing with the Holy See).
Now that I've become aware of some of the issues with other "Catholic" planners I very much appreciate that both the Tan Saints Calendar and Michele Quigley's Catholic Daily Planner both very cleary state the current Church Calendars on which their planners are based, and do so throughout the planners.
Saints Calendar: This Saints Calendar and Daily Planner - 2013 includes both the New or Novus Ordo Sundays and feast days, and the Traditional Sundays and feast days (as of 1962). These latter are observed when the Traditional Latin Mass is offered. The Novus Ordo Sundays and feast days, which date from 1970 or later whenever they differ from the Traditional ones, are designated: (New). The Traditional Sundays and feast days, most of which go back centuries, are designated: (Trad.). Also included here are any feast days which no longer appear on either the New or the Traditional calendar (as of 1962) - such as the feasts of St. Philomena, St. Dismas (the Good Thief), St. Tarcisius, St. Gemma Galgani and St. Dominic Savio; these Historical feasts are designated: (Hist.). It should be noted that there was some moving around of feast days even before the New Calendar was introduced in 1970. For example, St. Catherine of Sweden is shown in March 22 in a 1931 edition of Butler's Lives of the Saints but on March 24 in a 1956 edition of the same work. In this calendar, the date in parentheses after the name of a Saint is the year of the Saint's death.
Catholic Daily Planner: It is built on the standard guidelines of both the Roman Missal promulgated by Paul VI in 1970 used in the Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite and the Roman Missal promulgated by St. Pius V and reissued by Bl. John XXIII in 1962 used in the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite, as well as the particular calendar for the United States of America. It does not represent all possible variants.
Anyways, back to Annie's question... Do I have a preference between the Tan and the Catholic Daily Planner now that I've used both?
This is really a tough question for me to answer since I do (and plan to continue) use both planners each year! My husband's mother always gives us each a copy of the Saints Calendar for Christmas, and I use it for the Calendar Year (Jan-Dec). I also purchase a copy of The Catholic Daily Planner to go along with our school year (July-August) though I do believe Michele also sells a Calendar Year version as well.
Since I've been using the Saints Calendar from Tan for so long, it is still my preference for planning our Saint Day Celebrations. I love that it includes the New, Traditional, and Historical Feast Days for every day of the year. I love that it highlights a saint each week. It also includes lists of all the Saints' Days & Non Moveable Feasts, Patron Saints, and so much more. This planner sits on my desk year round and is the calendar I reference when I am working on organizing the archives at Catholic Cuisine, writing my submissions for the Quiet Moments & Celebrate section at Catholic Digest, or planning our own family feast day celebrations. (You can see some sample photos in this post. The Saints Calendar is currently sold out for 2013.)
There are also some things that I really love about the Catholic Daily Planner! There are pages to include Personal Information, Friends & Contacts, and even a Web Log to easily remember all your favorite websites and blogs (like Shower of Roses, right? lol)! Since it does not include a featured saint for each week, there is more room for recording our daily plans and activities. There is a 5 page section with Daily Prayers and inspiring quotes included throughout the planner. I also love that it includes the Papal Prayer Intentions for each month!
You can also customize the Catholic Daily Planner with your choice from a number of lovely cover options. You can also choose between a Full-Size or Half-Size Planner, and you can add optional Lesson and/or Menu Planners to the back! In the past I have always chosen the cover option 3LI (Bouguereau's L'Innocence), which is definitely my favorite, but this year I went with 5AG for a change. They are all beautiful! I also prefer the Half-Sized Planner, which can easily fit inside my purse, since I do use it to keep track of all our appointments and extra-curricular activities. And even though I have added the Menu-Planner in the past, I think the new separate Full-Size Menu Planner will be perfect for me.
In summary, here is what works for me:
- Saints Calendar & 16-Month Planner (for all Feast Day Celebrations and Plans)
- Half-Sized Catholic Daily Planner (for all Appointments, School Plans, etc)
- Full-Sized Menu Planning Booklet (Menu Planning)
- Color-Coded Check Lists (Lesson Plans & Goals - Mom)
- Weekly Check Lists (Lesson Plans - Children - We've tried other lessons planners in the past, but always come back to our own modifiable weekly check lists.)
- Magnetic Saints Calendar (Feast Day Calendar Magnets for the children, based on the 1962 calendar)
I really don't think you can go wrong with either the Saints Calendar or the Catholic Daily Planner. They are both excellent planners which I highly recommend! Hopefully the above descriptions will help you decide which is the best fit for you and your family.
