Question about weekday mass

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As you know there are Ordinary Times where it happens to be a feast of certain saints. My question is, is it up to the church whether she wants to celebrate the mass based on the feast or just continue to celebrate the mass according to Ordinary Time?
 
It depends on whether the liturgical event is mandatory or optional for the day. Many saints’ days are optional memorials and the priest can choose, but some are not optional. Some are optional in some countries but not in others.
 
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Rutherford2 said:
is it up to the church whether she wants to celebrate the mass based on the feast or just continue to celebrate the mass according to Ordinary Time?
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To my knowledge, in the Ordinary Form it is possible to celebrate the feria instead of the saint’s day if
  1. The saint’s day in question is an Optional Memorial, and
  2. the day in question is not Sunday, and
  3. the liturgical season is Ordinary Time.
I am deliberately avoiding use of the word “feast” because there is a liturgical event known as a Feast that is obligatory (in other words, a priest cannot elect to celebrate a Mass for the feria on a Feast day) unless it’s Sunday—and sometimes even if it is Sunday, depending upon the Feast and the episcopal conference in question. What you are really asking about are Memoria, which can either be optional or obligatory. An obligatory Memorial cannot be replaced by a ferial Mass.

I’m glossing over a lot of nuances here, but in general this is how it goes (in my experience).
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
It depends on whether the liturgical event is mandatory or optional for the day. Many saints’ days are optional memorials and the priest can choose, but some are not optional. Some are optional in some countries but not in others.
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This, plus the fact that there can seem to be some “mix and match” between the prayers for some saints’ days and readings of the ordinary time Mass. Not only can this vary by country, but even by diocese or parish. We have two in the neighborhood staffed by religious orders; they’ll have solemnities that are obligations for their order and thus override the typical calendar, while the other parishes around are not celebrating that day in the same way, if at all.
 
Strange, I was going t ask this question.

The church I grew up in had lot of ferias whereas my current church likes to have more Saints which I like.
 
The easiest way to understand what is possible on a given day is to look at the Ordo.

The Ordo is a calendar for a specific place or group:
  • Your diocese follows an Ordo of the Bishop’s Region in which the diocese is located geographically.
  • Religious Orders follow an Ordo specific to the saints important to their Order, for example a Benedictine Ordo will have more Benedictine saints on it than other Ordos.
In the Ordo, special days are addressed that are not relevant in other Ordos, for example the feast day of the patron of the diocese.

If you want a copy of the Ordo, you can find the one used in your diocese at Catholic book stores, they are small and inexpensive.
 
Often, yes. Certain feasts mean more to some orders than they do to others. Ex. Feast of St. Francis to the Franciscans, etc.
 
There is a hierarchy of celebration of saints.

Solemnities are the highest, they are not optional, and they displace the normal Sunday liturgy in Ordinary Time, but not in privileged times (e.g. Sundays of Advent or Lent).

Feasts come next. Feasts are mandatory. Feasts of saints do not displace the Sunday liturgy in Ordinary Time so they are not celebrated on days when they fall on a Sunday regardless of the season, but Feasts of our Lord (e.g. Transfiguration, Holy Cross) do displace the Sunday liturgy.

Next are memorials. These are mandatory but are not celebrated in the years where they fall on a Sunday; moreover in privileged times (all of Lent, and the last week of Advent), they become optional that year.

The lowest are optional memorials. These may be omitted at the celebrant’s discretion. When I pray the LOTH, I generally omit them unless they are specifically of interest to oblates or Benedictines.

Lastly, any saint mentioned in the Roman Martyrology may be celebrated as a memorial on his or her day, or even at a higher level if the patron of a parish or diocese.

The General Instructions of the LOTH give specific instructions on how to celebrate the Hours according to each type of celebration. The General Instructions of the Roman Missal do so for the Mass.

For the Mass, for memorials, in general unless otherwise noted the readings are of the weekday. There is no Gloria nor Creed. Antiphons will be according to the celebration (in Gregorian chant, from the Roman Gradual from either the Propers or Common of the saint).

For Feasts, the Gloria is said/sung.

For Solemnities, the. Gloria and Creed are both said or sung, even in Lent or Advent.
 
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