Should the Feast of the Birth of Mary be upgraded to a Solemnity?

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DeaconsSon87

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As we all know, tomorrow the Holy Father calls for a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria…a very appropriate day he chose, because as he says, it is the vigil of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother, Queen of Peace.

Unfortunately, this year September 8 falls on a Sunday, so that means it’s not gonna be observed this year…which got me thinking why is it only a feast? I think it’s deserving of solemnity status (that way it would bump the Sunday)

So I made this poll; do you think that feast should be upgraded to a solemnity or stay a feast? Feel free to discuss your reason below.
 
Yes, but don’t take my answer as a call for Solemnity-creeping.
 
The Nativity of the Mother of God is celebrated even on Sunday in the Byzantine Rite Churches. Perhaps there is a Byzantine Rite Catholic Church you could attend? 🙂
 
DeaconsSon87 said:
As we all know, tomorrow the Holy Father calls for a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria…a very appropriate day he chose, because as he says, it is the vigil of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother, Queen of Peace.

Unfortunately, this year September 8 falls on a Sunday, so that means it’s not gonna be observed this year…which got me thinking why is it only a feast? I think it’s deserving of solemnity status (that way it would bump the Sunday)

So I made this poll; do you think that feast should be upgraded to a solemnity or stay a feast? Feel free to discuss your reason below.
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I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. The only liturgical difference is additional reading, and elements of the Mass being specific to the celebration. If its that important to me I will attend Mass on the weekday the feast is celebrated, read selected topical readings on my own, and meditate and pray on the subject of the feast day celebration.
 
No. Sunday is The Lords day. Anyone else is below Him, this includes the Blessed Mother.
 
While I agree that Sunday is the Lord’s Day, celebrating the birth of Mary doesn’t take away from that. Authentic prayer to Mary always leads us to her son Jesus. The other point to be considered is that when the Nativity of John the Baptist occurs on a Sunday, that Is celebrated because it is a Solemnity. So perhaps the Feast of the Birth of Mary should be raised to a Solemnity as John the Baptist the great forerunner of Christ is a solemnity.
 
kam6609de said:
While I agree that Sunday is the Lord’s Day, celebrating the birth of Mary doesn’t take away from that. Authentic prayer to Mary always leads us to her son Jesus. The other point to be considered is that when the Nativity of John the Baptist occurs on a Sunday, that Is celebrated because it is a Solemnity. So perhaps the Feast of the Birth of Mary should be raised to a Solemnity as John the Baptist the great forerunner of Christ is a solemnity.
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I knew when I posted that someone would know a Solemnity that replaces The Lord’s Day !
Does not change my belief that it should not be so.
 
kam6609de said:
While I agree that Sunday is the Lord’s Day, celebrating the birth of Mary doesn’t take away from that. Authentic prayer to Mary always leads us to her son Jesus. The other point to be considered is that when the Nativity of John the Baptist occurs on a Sunday, that Is celebrated because it is a Solemnity. So perhaps the Feast of the Birth of Mary should be raised to a Solemnity as John the Baptist the great forerunner of Christ is a solemnity.
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Just to clarify… In the Byzantine Rite, Sunday hymns are primary and the feast hymns are secondary. Even when “minor” saints have a feast on Sunday, we still have a hymn for at least one of them.
 
I’d say no because Mary is quite well represented during the Liturgical year already. We have:

Mary, Mother of God (January 1st), celebrating her as the Theotokos, and by extension as the mother of us all.

The Annunciation (March 25th), celebrating her fiat and the meaning of that yes for our salvation.

Assumption (August 25th), celebrating her being assumed into Heaven, the 1st person body and soul in Heaven.

Immaculate Conception (December 8th), celebrating her being conceived without sin as the future God-bearer, as a grace freely given to Mary by God.
 
It is somewhat irrelevant for any of us to answer the poll question. It’s not our decision.

Chill out and let the Church do what it does best: manage the Church’s affairs.
 
dshix said:
It is somewhat irrelevant for any of us to answer the poll question. It’s not our decision.

Chill out and let the Church do what it does best: manage the Church’s affairs.
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Ok that’s a wrap…shutdown the forum.

🙂
 
DeaconsSon87 said:
As we all know, tomorrow the Holy Father calls for a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria…a very appropriate day he chose, because as he says, it is the vigil of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother, Queen of Peace.

Unfortunately, this year September 8 falls on a Sunday, so that means it’s not gonna be observed this year…which got me thinking why is it only a feast? I think it’s deserving of solemnity status (that way it would bump the Sunday)

So I made this poll; do you think that feast should be upgraded to a solemnity or stay a feast? Feel free to discuss your reason below.
Click to expand...
Why do you think a day honoring the BVM should “bump” the Sunday, the day honoring the Lord? I don’t think anything should replace the solemnity of Sunday, and even though Mary leads us to Christ, and does not detract from Him in any way, I seriously doubt she would want a feast day for her to take the place of the day the Church has always reserved for the King of Kings and her own Creator.

Some things just take Marian veneration a bit too far.
 
DeaconsSon87 said:
As we all know, tomorrow the Holy Father calls for a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria…a very appropriate day he chose, because as he says, it is the vigil of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother, Queen of Peace.

Unfortunately, this year September 8 falls on a Sunday, so that means it’s not gonna be observed this year…which got me thinking why is it only a feast? I think it’s deserving of solemnity status (that way it would bump the Sunday)

So I made this poll; do you think that feast should be upgraded to a solemnity or stay a feast? Feel free to discuss your reason below.
Click to expand...
For some reason" bumping " the Sunday just rubs me the wrong way.

I vote no.
 
Zekariya said:
Just to clarify… In the Byzantine Rite, Sunday hymns are primary and the feast hymns are secondary. Even when “minor” saints have a feast on Sunday, we still have a hymn for at least one of them.
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A great way of doing it ! Praise The Lord.
 
In the EF Mass today, the Nativity of the BVM is commemorated by adding the collect after the collect for the current sunday is said. [edited]
 
KrazyKat said:
No. Sunday is The Lords day. Anyone else is below Him, this includes the Blessed Mother.
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Not quite. According to the universal norms of the Roman Calendar, any solemnity that falls on a Sunday is not suppressed if it is during Ordinary Time. This includes All Saints, the Assumption, Sts. Peter & Paul, the Birth of St. John the Baptist, and St. Joseph Husband of the Virgin.

So it would be in no way unprecedented if the Birth of Mary be turned into a solemnity and celebrated on Sunday.
KrazyKat said:
I knew when I posted that someone would know a Solemnity that replaces The Lord’s Day !
Does not change my belief that it should not be so.
Click to expand...
Interestingly, the notion that general Sundays “outrank” any high-class feasts that might fall on a Sunday is a notion that came about in the 20th century, when Pope St. Pius X reformed the Breviary. And that was for purely practical reasons, since the saints’ commons in the Breviary were considered too repetitive, and disrupted the traditional Benedictine notion of praying the whole Psalter in one week. So Pius X fiddled with the rubrics so that Sundays would usually be celebrated with the ferial Psalms.

For the majority of the history of the Church, this was not the case. There is really nothing wrong with celebrating a saint’s feast day on Sunday; it is not as if the other six days of the week didn’t already belong to Our Lord.
curlycool89 said:
I’d say no because Mary is quite well represented during the Liturgical year already. We have:

Mary, Mother of God (January 1st), celebrating her as the Theotokos, and by extension as the mother of us all.

The Annunciation (March 25th), celebrating her fiat and the meaning of that yes for our salvation.

Assumption (August 25th), celebrating her being assumed into Heaven, the 1st person body and soul in Heaven.

Immaculate Conception (December 8th), celebrating her being conceived without sin as the future God-bearer, as a grace freely given to Mary by God.
Click to expand...
The Annunciation has traditionally been considered a feast of Our Lord, with the Virgin and the Archangel Gabriel being participants.

Considering the role that the Blessed Virgin played, and still plays, in our salvation, I see no good reason why the Nativity of the Virgin and the Crowning in Heaven of the Virgin cannot also be solemnities.
 
EphelDuath said:
Not quite. According to the universal norms of the Roman Calendar, any solemnity that falls on a Sunday is not suppressed if it is during Ordinary Time. This includes All Saints, the Assumption, Sts. Peter & Paul, the Birth of St. John the Baptist, and St. Joseph Husband of the Virgin.

So it would be in no way unprecedented if the Birth of Mary be turned into a solemnity and celebrated on Sunday.

Interestingly, the notion that general Sundays “outrank” any high-class feasts that might fall on a Sunday is a notion that came about in the 20th century, when Pope St. Pius X reformed the Breviary. And that was for purely practical reasons, since the saints’ commons in the Breviary were considered too repetitive, and disrupted the traditional Benedictine notion of praying the whole Psalter in one week. So Pius X fiddled with the rubrics so that Sundays would usually be celebrated with the ferial Psalms.

For the majority of the history of the Church, this was not the case. There is really nothing wrong with celebrating a saint’s feast day on Sunday; it is not as if the other six days of the week didn’t already belong to Our Lord.

The Annunciation has traditionally been considered a feast of Our Lord, with the Virgin and the Archangel Gabriel being participants.

Considering the role that the Blessed Virgin played, and still plays, in our salvation, I see no good reason why the Nativity of the Virgin and the Crowning in Heaven of the Virgin cannot also be solemnities.
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I plan on looking more into Pope St. Pius the X. Have heard him mentioned on other threads, also. Very interesting.

Sunday is The Lord’s Day, the only day named holy by God.

(I know the seventh day was Saturday, but the Apostles celebrated Sundays, as do I.)
 
Yes, Sunday is the day we are especially to commemorate the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. But there’s absolutely no reason why commemoration of saints cannot also happen on the same day. The Church has implicitly ruled this, based on the fact that solemnities aren’t suppressed if they happen to fall on a Sunday (in Ordinary Time); but also because devotions to the saints, like the Rosary, are not banned on Sundays either in favor of more Christocentric devotions.

After all, what’s really changed if there’s a solemnity on Sunday? It just means the Mass propers will mention whatever the commemoration of the day is; and maybe the readings will be different. It’s not really that big a deal when you consider that the Eucharistic Prayer will be completely unaltered.
 
I don’t think a solemnity that is not dealing with the Lord, does not get celebrated on a Sunday. So even if this were elevated, it may be moved to another day rather than discarded if it fell on a Sunday, but I don’t think it would be celebrated when Sept 8 is a Sunday.
 
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