Prior to the revision of the Breviary instituted by Pope Pius XII, the Octave of Our Holy Father St. Dominic would be celebrated from August 5 till August 11. This is one of the many octaves of the Dominican saints that were casualties of the liturgical revisions of the mid-20th centuries. Not all of the Dominican saints had "solemn" octaves after their feast day, but the major ones like St. Dominic, St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Peter Martyr did.
Once again, I will restate my bewilderment at the Order giving up some of these wonderful feast days on their calendar, when the calendar was updated in 1961. Even if they wanted to reduce the sanctorale a bit, to make room for new saints and the ferial office, they could still mark the octave of our Holy Father's feast day with a commemoration at Lauds and Vespers.
On August 5, at Pretiosa, we read in the Martyrology for August 6 the commemoration of his death on the actual day that he passed to his eternal reward:
At Bologna, the birthday of St. Dominic, confessor and founder of the Order of Friars Preachers. He was a man of great renown for holiness and learning. Until death he preserved without stain his virginity, and by the singular grace of his merits raised three dead men to life. By his preaching he curbed heresies, and established many persons in a religious and godly manner of life. He died on this day, but his festival, by an ordinance of Pope Paul IV, is celebrated on August 4.
At the very least, the extension of Our Holy Father's solemn feast day is a wonderful way in which to deepen our devotion to him. Every day during the octave, a commemoration was made at Lauds and Vespers using the proper versicle/responsory, Benedictus/Magnificat antiphons from the Dominican Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the collect from the feast.
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