Double Commemorations in Ordinary Form

[twf]

I realize that there are no double commemorations in the Ordinary Form…but I’ve noticed that priests and the faithful find a way around this while still observing the rubrics. I’ll give two examples.

Last year, today’s feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary fell on a Sunday and was, thus, sadly suppressed by the Sunday. Yet when I went to Mass, Father made a point of talking about Our Lady’s nativity, and we sang Marian hymns…even while using the texts and propers of the Sunday.

Then this past August, when the Assumption fell on a Saturday, I attended a later Saturday evening Mass. The texts and propers were for the Sunday, but we sang Marian hymns…making it “feel” like a double commemoration of the Sunday and the Assumption.

It seems to me that while double commemorations were eliminated for the OF, the “spirit” of observing two feasts on the same day is still alive and well.

This is just an observation, not a discussion per se .

 

[phil19034]

I realize that there are no double commemorations in the Ordinary Form…but I’ve noticed that priests and the faithful find a way around this while still observing the rubrics. I’ll give two examples.

Last year, today’s feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary fell on a Sunday and was, thus, sadly suppressed by the Sunday. Yet when I went to Mass, Father made a point of talking about Our Lady’s nativity, and we sang Marian hymns…even while using the texts and propers of the Sunday.

Then this past August, when the Assumption fell on a Saturday, I attended a later Saturday evening Mass. The texts and propers were for the Sunday, but we sang Marian hymns…making it “feel” like a double commemoration of the Sunday and the Assumption.

It seems to me that while double commemorations were eliminated for the OF, the “spirit” of observing two feasts on the same day is still alive and well.

This is just an observation, not a discussion per se .

Same thing happens in the Extraordinary Form. Sundays typically outrank many feasts. When this happens, it’s not uncommon for the priest to mention the Saint in his sermon & to sing processional hymn associated with the Saint (if he/she is an important Saint - esp the Blessed Mother)

 

[twf]

But unlike the OF, the EF has actual double commemorations, where you can “stack” two or even three propers one after the other to celebrate more than one feast, no?

 

[Fauken]

But unlike the OF, the EF has actual double commemorations, where you can “stack” two or even three propers one after the other to celebrate more than one feast, no?

Yes, but there are rules that regulate what you can commemorate (as it’s called). The Birthday of Our Lady is a second class feast, just like Sunday. Sunday outranks it, but since they’re of the same class, Mass would be celebrated for that Sunday with a commemoration of Our Lady’s birthday. If, however, it was a third class, it would not be commemorated at all.

 

[twf]

Ah ok… so there’s where the OF would differ from the EF. Last year, when Our Lady’s nativity fell on a Sunday, it wasn’t commemorated at all… but as per my OP, we still sang Marian hymns and Father still mentioned the nativity in his sermon.

 

[Fauken]

Yup. In the OF, Sundays outrank all other feasts. In the EF, Sundays are second class feasts and are outranked by first class feasts and second class feasts of Our Lord.

 

[AlbertDerGrosse]

Yes, but there are rules that regulate what you can commemorate (as it’s called). The Birthday of Our Lady is a second class feast, just like Sunday. Sunday outranks it, but since they’re of the same class, Mass would be celebrated for that Sunday with a commemoration of Our Lady’s birthday. If, however, it was a third class, it would not be commemorated at all.

The EF rules (per the 1960 ordo) are a little trickier than this. When considering whether a commemoration is allowed you must consider both the feast being celebrated (i.e. that which outranks the other) and the commemorated propers (i.e. that which is outranked by the other). You can find these rules articulated in paragraphs 106-114 in the Rubrics of the Roman Breviary and Missal (1960). Here’s a quick summation:

• Commemorations themselves are either Privileged or Ordinary.
• Privileged commemorations occur at Lauds and Vespers in the Office while Ordinary commemorations occur only at Lauds.
• Privileged commemorations occur at all Masses while Ordinary ones occur only at Low Mass and conventual Masses.
• The following are the Privileged commemorations. Anything not listed is Ordinary:
  1. All Sundays
  2. All 1st Class Feasts
  3. All days within octaves (of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost)
  4. The Ember Days
  5. Ferias of Advent, Lent, & Passiontide
  6. The Greater Litanies (at Mass)
• On 1st Class days or sung Masses of any class (unless conventual) only a single Privileged commemoration is allowed.
• On 2nd Class Sundays only a single commemoration is allowed of another 2nd Class Feast (Privileged commemorations taking precedence over Ordinary ones).
• On 2nd Class Feasts and Ferias that are not Sundays only a single commemoration is allowed, but it can be of any class and an Ordinary one can be chosen over a Privileged one.
• On 3rd and 4th Class days two commemorations may be made of any class and Ordinary ones can be chosen over Privileged ones.
• You do not commemorate celebrations of the same Divine Person, the same Beatus/Saint, or of the same season (this is why Christ the King never permits a commemoration of the “Such-and-suchth Sunday After Pentecost” because all Sundays, being the Lord’s Day, are celebrations of Christ).
• All Feasts of St. Peter or St. Paul include a commemoration of the opposite person.

 

[Diaconia]

It is common at my Ukrainian parish to commemorate two feasts at the same Divine Liturgy.

If an important feast is near the Sunday, we will honor both feasts by chanting the corresponding Gospels from each of them (typically one in Ukrainian and one in English).

Since so few people attend Divine Liturgy during the week; and the priest has three temples in two states that requires seven hours of driving time between all of them, that’s how we handle things.

Fr. Deacon Christopher

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

Just changing the theme of the hymns really doesn’t do anything to the OF Mass rubrics. The hymns aren’t really that specifically regulated for the OF; it just makes sense to keep them on the theme of that Mass, so what you describe is perfectly legitimate and not any kind of liturgical acrobatics. Likewise with the homily.

 

[AlbertDerGrosse]

A silver lining to the COVID-19 restrictions is that, while we’re assisting at more Low Masses now on Sundays, we’re commemorating more and more of Our Lord’s Beati, thanks to the rubricae.