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Razanir
Guest
Do you do anything special if the saint of the day is the patron of your parish? I ask because it’s the memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas on Tuesday, and I, well, go to a church named after him.
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Such days are observed as Solemnities on the Calendar, so you would take everything from the Common of Pastors or Doctors, and you say Evening Prayer I.
V
Vico
Guest
F
FrDavid96
Guest
Well, sort of…
He wasn’t a pastor, so only the Common of Doctors would apply.
Also, the prayers and the canticle antiphons are proper to St. Thomas.
Yes, I stand corrected, of Doctors only.
C
Caladrius
Guest
If the commemorated saint is your own personal patron saint, can you celebrate the LOTH offices as something more than just a Memorial?
For example, my baptismal name is Thomas, after Aquinas. Would I be able to “elevate” the celebration in my own personal prayer? If I did so, would I still be praying the official Liturgy of the Hours of the Church?
If it’s possible to elevate a memorial for these personal reasons, would I celebrate it as a Feast or a Solemnity? I’d assume just a Feast, because it would be very presumptuous to turn our personal name-days into Solemnities.
For example, my baptismal name is Thomas, after Aquinas. Would I be able to “elevate” the celebration in my own personal prayer? If I did so, would I still be praying the official Liturgy of the Hours of the Church?
If it’s possible to elevate a memorial for these personal reasons, would I celebrate it as a Feast or a Solemnity? I’d assume just a Feast, because it would be very presumptuous to turn our personal name-days into Solemnities.
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FrDavid96
Guest
In private prayer, one has a lot of latitude as far as the calendar for the LOTH is concerned. Certainly, we cannot take that to an extreme (no, you cannot do “Ash Wednesday” on December 25).If the commemorated saint is your own personal patron saint, can you celebrate the LOTH offices as something more than just a Memorial?
For example, my baptismal name is Thomas, after Aquinas. Would I be able to “elevate” the celebration in my own personal prayer? If I did so, would I still be praying the official Liturgy of the Hours of the Church?
If it’s possible to elevate a memorial for these personal reasons, would I celebrate it as a Feast or a Solemnity? I’d assume just a Feast, because it would be very presumptuous to turn our personal name-days into Solemnities.
There is certainly a value (a great one) in not just praying the LOTH of the Church, but praying with the Church, even in private.
In general, if you want to observe a certain saint on his day, even if that day is not in the official calendar, you can; however keep in mind the value of praying with the Church.
I’m not going to get into all the details of how the calendar works and what is the hierarchy of days, but one of the questions you should ask yourself is this “which is the greater value, observing this saint, or being united with the rest of the Church as far as the choice of text is concerned?” On a weekday in Ordinary Time, this is a non-issue, but if it’s an important day (like a Sunday of Lent or a major solemnity), it’s perhaps better to be in harmony with the rest of the Church.
I don’t think it “presumptuous” to turn your personal name-day into a personal solemnity. In fact, I think it’s a good thing (again, we’re talking about private prayer, not a parish liturgical schedule).
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