Is it allowed to celebrate a Saint not on the calendar at mass?

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Thomasbradley312

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My priest said he is celebrating Saint Teresa of Calcutta on Thursday which is her feast day, September 5th. She hasn’t been added to the universal calendar as of now, this is okay for priests to do? I like it, I think she should be on the calendar, just didn’t know Saints not on the calendar could be celebrated at Mass.
 
She is not mentioned as an alternative in Ordo for Sept 5th where I live. There are no special readings for her day so the ordinary readings would be heard. She would be celebrated in India as she is was living and dying there. All dioceses/national bishop conferences decide who to celebrate apart from the most known which are for the whole church. If the priest is from India he would likely choose to celebrate her. There are also different saints celebrated in the 24 Churches that are united under the pope of Rome.

In Martyrologium Romanum (Latin church) all blessed and saints are mentioned so about 10-20/day. Saint Teresa of Culcutta was beatified in 2003 and canonised in 2005.
 
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The Catholic News Agency liturgical calendar, as well as Catholic Culture website liturgical calendar (generally US) and ICN liturgical calendar (generally UK), lists her feast as an “Optional Memorial” for Sept. 5.

It is generally okay for priests to celebrate an optional memorial. It is optional, which means they can choose to not celebrate it also.
 
Yes, it’s fine to do.

Deacon Christopher

P.S. Always give the benefit of the doubt to the priest on these kinds of issues. He won’t lead you astray.
 
Also there is common masses readings could be taken from
 
Tis_Bearself said:
The Catholic News Agency liturgical calendar, as well as Catholic Culture website liturgical calendar (generally US) and ICN liturgical calendar (generally UK), lists her feast as an “Optional Memorial” for Sept. 5.
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That’s interesting is this new? Like the calendar given out or sold at parishes or on websites usually has both optional memorial saints and obligatory saints memorials and as of this years calendar she isn’t on it.
 
I’m not sure what her status is regarding the General Roman Calendar. I know several countries have to petition to get a saint on there, but she is already on several different countries’ national calendars for Sept 5 for a few years now, and also in Missionaries of Charity communities her feast is a solemnity since she is the major saint of the order. So I can’t imagine that she wouldn’t be added to the General Roman calendar given that she is a high-profile saint with ties to several countries worldwide (I believe she was made an honorary citizen of the US at some point in addition to coming from Albania and working in India).

There are liturgical texts for a Mass in honor of her, but it’s my understanding that for optional memorials one can also use the readings of the regular day. Votive Masses in honor of her are also allowed on certain days permitted by liturgical norms (don’t have to be on Sept 5).

I would just trust the priest on this one to be honest. It’s not like St. Teresa of Calcutta is obscure.
 
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The General Calendar may not have her listed, but national bishops conferences and even individual dioceses can have particular calendars (as can religious orders) that add to the General or elevate certain celebrations. Any Saint approved by competent authority* may be celebrated anywhere that authority is granted.

Such is the case in Indiana where I’m from - St. (Mother) Theodora Guerin is celebrated by each diocese on October 3, but it’s not on the General Calendar; each diocese petitioned for that addition locally because she’s our state’s first (and currently only) Saint. There are actually specified readings and a collect designated/approved/published for her Obligatory Memorial (Optional Memorial on the General Calendar if she was on it), but they aren’t widely available.
 
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I agree.
I’m actually surprised she hasn’t been added to the general Roman calendar, at least as an optional memorial, because of her universal recognition in the Church.
 
I recall reading there was some talk of whether she’d be added as a Memorial or Optional Memorial and there was also a process to go through for adding new saints to the calendar, that takes some time.
 
Well I would think but Pope Saint John Paul ll and Pope Saint John XXlll literally got added the year after they were canonized.
 
Yah. I know some people who weren’t very fond of that.
I remember reading something that questioned the motives of that, seeing as of popes from the past 500 years right, three of them are Vatican 2 Popes, besides that just Pius V and Pius X. I mean it is kind of weird Pius lX still isn’t. I guess I’ll only consider those theories if John Paul l is made the next Pope Saint.
 
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With that said I’m mixed on the calendar I mean i don’t want it to get to cluttered again. I suppose i wouldn’t mind seeing Saint Teresa of Calcutta, Saint Oscar Romero, and soon to be Saint John Henry Newman added to the calendar at least as optional memorials eventually though. But yah they should be conservative with it. I mean when you look at the EF calendar it doesn’t take much to realize why many saints were removed. It was basically filled with saints, probably all but 20 days of the year if I had to guess without looking.But then again back then there were no weekday mass readings so having a lot of saints on the calendar made more sense because it meant you wouldn’t be reading just the previous Sundays readings, though you always could celebrate votive masses as well.
 
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Thomasbradley312 said:
I remember reading something that questioned the motives of that, seeing as of popes from the past 500 years right, three of them are Vatican 2 Popes, besides that just Pius V and Pius X. I mean it is kind of weird Pius lX still isn’t. I guess I’ll only consider those theories if John Paul l is made the next Pope Saint.
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Saints are canonised for our sake not theirs so what truly matters (besides sanctity of course) is popular devotion. To put it another way, there’s no point in canonising someone if no one’s ever going to pray to them! There’s unquestionably a wide devotion to John XXIII and JPII - not so sure about Pio Nono and Pius X’s devotion unfortunately happens to be in all he wrong places!
 
That’s fine.
I thought the whole reason Paul Vl changed the calendar was to declutter it though. Hence why in the OF we have no Saint Valentine on Valentines Day.
 
You are correct. I planned to write that the book was the 2005 edition but didn’t delete properly.
 
Thomasbradley312 said:
just didn’t know Saints not on the calendar could be celebrated at Mass.
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On weekdays in Ordinary Time on which there is no solemnity, feast or obligatory memorial a priest can offer the Mass of any saint listed in the Martyrology on that day and celebrate the saint as if it were an optional memorial. St Teresa is listed in the Martyrology on 5th September.
 
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