MERGED: Solemnities and Feast days/Memorials

[BenedictMary1]

I’m BEYOND confused.

So there is a Solemnity, Feast Day, and Memorials.

When does a priest HAVE TO celebrate a feast day or memorial. What is an octave? What are the solemnities? Can someone explain when a feast or solemnity is moved? Can someone minimize the church calendar and year? I’m reading my missal and ITS SO CONFUSING.

 

[CruceSignati]

I’d like to know about this as well.

 

[YoungTradCath]

I’m BEYOND confused.

So there is a Solemnity, Feast Day, and Memorials.

When does a priest HAVE TO celebrate a feast day or memorial. What is an octave? What are the solemnities? Can someone explain when a feast or solemnity is moved? Can someone minimize the church calendar and year? I’m reading my missal and ITS SO CONFUSING.

Oooooohkay.

There are different “ranks” for the liturgical celebrations that occur variously throughout the year. This is an old practice in the Church, and it is to give a “texture” to the year, where some days are more solemn than others, more richly celebrated than others. Or probably, more likely, this practice was developed as a way of recognizing and enshrining in liturgical law something that had developed organically.

In the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite the ranks for days are:

Solemnity (with or without an Octave, which I will explain below): the highest-ranked days, which have Glorias and Credos, this really includes all Sundays, but Lenten and Advent Sundays do not have Glorias of course
Feast: have Glorias, but usually not Credos
Memorial: usually have neither
Optional Memorial
Feria: regular weekday with no particular celebration

An Octave is an eight-day period connected to Solemnities of particular importance, currently in the Ordinary Form only Easter and Christmas. It is a way to sort of meditate upon the profundity of certain very deep celebrations for which one day simply doesn’t seem enough.

A feast day or Solemnity being moved is something that is irregular, meaning there is no predictable quality there.

Minimize? What do you mean?

 

[CatholicZ09]

Here is a good article on the difference between a solemnity, feast, and memorial:

ewtn.com/library/liturgy/zlitur240.htm

 

[aemcpa]

osb.org/liturgy/precede.html

 

[Bergon]

I’m BEYOND confused.

It’s not that difficult.

So there is a Solemnity, Feast Day, and Memorials.

Yes, and in the same order of seniority as you list them. To add to your list: memorials can be obligatory or optional. They’re as straightforward as they sound. Obligatory memorials must be celebrated. Optional memorials can be observed or not.

When does a priest HAVE TO celebrate a feast day or memorial.

On solemnities, feast and obligatory memorials the priest has to celebrate Mass and recite the Office of the holy day. On optional memorials he has three choices: (1) celebrate the holy day; (2) celebrate Mass and Office of the weekday but commemorate the memorial (no need to get tied up with the technicalities of this - unless you want to know); (3) say the Mass and Office of the weekday.

What is an octave?

There are two only now: (1) Easter and (2) Lord’s Nativity. They extend the celebration of that event for eight days. (1) Easter Octave runs from Easter Sunday until (and including) the following Sunday. (2) Nativity runs, inclusively, from 25th December to 1st January.

What are the solemnities?

They’re the highest rank of holy day. Like Sundays they have a First Evening Prayer on the eve of the previous day. They also normally have propers for that holy day (as opposed to taking things from the Common).

Can someone explain when a feast or solemnity is moved?

Only solemnities can be moved or, to use the proper term, transferred. Take the Immaculate Conception (8th December) as an example. If 8th December falls on a Sunday it’ll clash with an Advent Sunday. Advent Sundays out rank solemnities so the holy day is transferred to the first available day in the following week, usually the Monday. If feasts or memorials clash with a higher ranking day they not observed in that year.

Can someone minimize the church calendar and year?

I’m not sure what you’re asking here.

 

[Bergon]

Depending on your depth of interest you might like to read this Vatican document about the liturgical year and calendar. It explains the different holy days. You can find a copy here.

 

[BenedictMary1]

So a priest HAS to celebrate mass for a solemnity and a feast day? Can a feast day be optional? What are the obligatory memorials? I did not know that a priest has to say the liturgy of the hours.

 

[YoungTradCath]

So a priest HAS to celebrate mass for a solemnity and a feast day? Can a feast day be optional? What are the obligatory memorials? I did not know that a priest has to say the liturgy of the hours.

Yes. No. Obligatory Memorials (called just “Memorials” with a capital M, if I recall correctly, in the calendar) are obligatory, ie, must be celebrated.

There are some extraordinary circumstances in which these rules are altered for one reason or another, but 99.9% of the time these general rules hold.

 

[aemcpa]

So a priest HAS to celebrate mass for a solemnity and a feast day? Can a feast day be optional? What are the obligatory memorials? I did not know that a priest has to say the liturgy of the hours.

A priest is actually never obligated to say Mass. “Obligatory” refers to the fact that when a Mass is offered on that day, it must be for that feast.

 

[OraLabora]

Just for fun I’ll throw in the Liturgy of the Hours spin:

Solemnities:

1. Have 1st Vespers
2. Ranking is same as for Mass; can displace Sunday mass texts and chants with some exceptions (nothing, for instance, can take the place of the Easter Triduum).
3. Festival psalter is used for Lauds and Vespers with proper antiphons or as directed antiphons
4. Complementary psalter (ps. 119-127) used at minor hours, with proper antiphons and readings; collect from the solemnity
5. At Office of Readings, psalms from the proper of the solemnity if given, if not from commons; Te Deum is said or sung; optionally, Vigil canticles and gospel reading can be added if said as a Vigil the previous evening, during the night or early AM.
6. Invitatory is proper, with Ps. 94.
7. Hymns are proper if given, or from the commons.

Feasts:

1. Do not have 1st Vespers unless a feast of the Lord falling on a Sunday;
2. Cannot displace Sunday Mass texts and chants unless it’s a Feast of the Lord (e.g. Christ the King); cannot displace moveable solemnities that happen to fall on same day
3. Festival psalter used at Lauds and Vespers with proper antiphons if given or antiphons from the commons (at some minor feasts… yes feasts have degrees too when celebrated in a monastery but that doesn’t apply to most of us)
4. Regular psalmody used at minor hours (mid-day prayer), sometimes proper antiphons sometimes antiphons of the hour as directed; proper readings; collect of the feast.
5. At the OOR, as for solemnities
6. Invitatory as for solemnity with either proper antiphon if there is one or antiphon from commons
7. Hymns are proper if given, or from the commons.

Memorials:

1. Do not have 1st Vespers ever
2. Cannot ever displace Sunday texts and chants, or moveable feasts or solemnities falling on the same day
3. Regular daily psalter used for Lauds and Vespers, with daily antiphons unless, for some memorials, proper antiphons are given in which case the festival psalter will be used; collect of the saint; invitatory, hymn, gospel canticle antiphon, intercessions are optionally of the commons, or of the day, unless proper hymns or proper gospel canticle antiphons are given.
4. At minor hours, everything is of the day
5. At OOR, everything is of the day except the second reading and collect are of the saint instead of the day; there is no Te Deum or optional Vigil canticles
6. Hymns can be proper or from commons; if the latter the daily ferial hymn may be used.

Optional memorials:

1. as regular memorials except that, well, they’re optional
2. one may choose to ignore it completely, or celebrate it partially, e.g. at one Office only (I sometimes like to use the Office of Readings, using the reading and collect of the saint, but other hours as on a regular feria). Another arrangement, is what’s done at the abbey I’m associated with: they use the Benedictus canticle of the saint or the commons, and Mass is of the saint, but everything else is of the feria.

Yes, priests and religious are obligated to the Liturgy of the Hours; permanent deacons, to a part of it (usually Lauds and Vespers) depending on diocesan rules, and laity are obligated to none of it; some laity like myself (Benedictine oblate) or Third Orders, make a promise to pray at least a part of the LOTH daily (I do the whole thing). However when a layperson prays it according to the rubrics, it is liturgical prayer, that is, the public prayer of the Church (even when said in private).

All from the top of my head. If I’ve missed something, Porthos11 will fill in the blanks

 

[Bergon]

So a priest HAS to celebrate mass for a solemnity and a feast day?

No, he does not have to celebrate Mass. If he does the following rule applies: he must follow his own proper calendar. If he’s a diocesan priest he must follow his diocese’s calendar. If he’s a regular priest he follows the calendar of his order/congregation or, if it has it’s own calendar, the calendar of his province, region, etc. We could get into more details, e.g. if a regular priest is appointed as the parish priest (pastor in North America) of a parish in a diocese he must celebrate public Masses according to the diocesan calendar.

If a priest celebrated Mass in my diocese yesterday he would have had to celebrate the Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption. He couldn’t have opted for another Mass.

Can a feast day be optional?

Technical issue: if it’s a holy day with the rank of feast - no the feast must be observed. If you mean feast day in a generic sense meaning “holy day” it depends - only optional memorials are optional.

What are the obligatory memorials?

They are holy days with the rank of memorial. Of the three ranks of holy day this is the most junior in rank. Obligatory memorials have to be observed. They don’t normally have their own propers instead commons are used.

The “rules” above are generalised. Exceptions can be made for the likes of Ritual Masses (baptism, confimation, weddings, ordinations, etc.), Masses for Various Needs and Occasions, Votive Masses and Requiem Masses - but that’s getting more complicated than I suspect you want.

I did not know that a priest has to say the liturgy of the hours.

Yes, they do on a minimum of five occasions -

Lauds: in the morning
Terce, Sext or None: one of these in the middle of the morning, midday or mid-afternoon, respectively
Vespers: in the evening
Compline: before going to bed:
Office of Readings: at any time

 

[BenedictMary1]

How many feast days are there in the liturgical calendar? What are and what consists of obligated memorials? There are so many saints why are some saints celebrated more?

I’m learning about the liturgical calendar. I know that a priest has to celebrate the mass of a solemnity, holy day of obligation, feast day, and obligatory memorials.

What is usually celebrated as a feast day? What are different types of feast days? Why are some memorials obligatory?

 

[CruceSignati]

It’s not that difficult.

Yes, and in the same order of seniority as you list them. To add to your list: memorials can be obligatory or optional. They’re as straightforward as they sound. Obligatory memorials must be celebrated. Optional memorials can be observed or not.

On solemnities, feast and obligatory memorials the priest has to celebrate Mass and recite the Office of the holy day. On optional memorials he has three choices: (1) celebrate the holy day; (2) celebrate Mass and Office of the weekday but commemorate the memorial (no need to get tied up with the technicalities of this - unless you want to know); (3) say the Mass and Office of the weekday.

There are two only now: (1) Easter and (2) Lord’s Nativity. They extend the celebration of that event for eight days. (1) Easter Octave runs from Easter Sunday until (and including) the following Sunday. (2) Nativity runs, inclusively, from 25th December to 1st January.

They’re the highest rank of holy day. Like Sundays they have a First Evening Prayer on the eve of the previous day. They also normally have propers for that holy day (as opposed to taking things from the Common).

Only solemnities can be moved or, to use the proper term, transferred. Take the Immaculate Conception (8th December) as an example. If 8th December falls on a Sunday it’ll clash with an Advent Sunday. Advent Sundays out rank solemnities so the holy day is transferred to the first available day in the following week, usually the Monday. If feasts or memorials clash with a higher ranking day they not observed in that year.

I’m not sure what you’re asking here.

I’m not the OP, but to me, your explanation makes perfect sense.

 

[HumbledSinner]

I did not know that a priest has to say the liturgy of the hours.

not quite sure what the context of your question here is (since the previous question was along the lines of celebrating mass…)

but an answer that was not presented yet - is yes a priest can ‘say’ the LOTH almost in the context of saying Mass.

LOTH can be prayed in private recitation (like some diocesan priest will do) or public (like in a religious community). A priest can preside a group that will recite it. Theres even ‘roles’ like the Hebdom (precider), acolyte, reader, etc. somewhat similar to a regular Mass. The rubrics changes a bit from private recitation to a public one.

Us laity are also encouraged to participate in the LOTH whether in private recitation or joining a group public recitation.

 

[Glacies]

There is a Wikipedia article on this subject: Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite.

Each day in the Catholic liturgical calendar has a rank. The five basic ranks are as follows:

Solemnity—the highest ranking feast day. It commemorates an event in the life of Jesus or Mary or celebrates a saint important for the Church as a whole or for the local community. The Mass of a solemnity has proper readings, and the Gloria and Creed are recited. Outside of Advent, Lent and Eastertide, if a solemnity falls on a Sunday, it is celebrated in place of the Sunday.

Feast—the rank of secondary liturgical days including lesser events in the life of Jesus, Mary or an Apostle (theologically speaking) or for major saints.

Memorial—the commemoration of a saint of lesser importance. Many memorials are optional or only observed in specific dioceses, regions or nations.

Seasonal Weekday—a weekday in a "strong" liturgical season (Advent, Christmas Season, Lent, Easter Season) on which no solemnity, feast, or memorial is observed.

Feria or Ferial Weekday—a weekday in ordinary time on which no solemnity, feast or memorial is observed.

 

[Bergon]

There is a Wikipedia article on this subject: Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite.

I wonder why they’ve not mentioned Sundays, our weekly mini-Easter, the Lord’s Day.

 

[Bergon]

How many feast days are there in the liturgical calendar?

If you look at the calendar you will be able to seem how many feasts there are. Of course, the number will differ from calendar to calendar.

What are and what consists of obligated memorials?

The Vatican document General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar will answer this question.

There are so many saints why are some saints celebrated more?

If the Holy See thinks a saint is of universal significance they include the saint in the General Roman Calendar. Where saints don’t have universal devotion they are included in the particular calendars of places where there may be a strong devotion to the saint. This could be a national or diocesan calendar; the calendar of a religious order or a province of the same.

What is usually celebrated as a feast day?

Do you mean how does a particular holy day get the rank of feast? To answer that see General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar. Do you mean how is its Mass celebrated - Gloria, one reading before the Gospel, no Credo and usually choose an appropriate Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer.

What are different types of feast days?

That has been comprehensively answered by quite a number of members on your other thread on this topic.

Why are some memorials obligatory?

See General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar.

 

[BenedictMary1]

Do all countries have the same liturgical calendar? I mean other than the date of Solemnities were they can be transferred by Diocese.

Do you know were I can find a liturgical calendar online for the Vatican City?

 

[YoungTradCath]

Do all countries have the same liturgical calendar? I mean other than the date of Solemnities were they can be transferred by Diocese.

Do you know were I can find a liturgical calendar online for the Vatican City?

The calendar for the Vatican is the General Roman Calendar, I believe.