General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar
issue date: 14
February 1969
Chapter I: The Liturgical Year
1. Christ's saving work is
celebrated in sacred memory by the Church on fixed days throughout the year.
Each week on the day called the Lord's Day the Church commemorates the Lord's
resurrection. Once a year at Easter the Church honors this resurrection and
passion with the utmost solemnity. In fact through the yearly cycle the Church
unfolds the entire mystery of Christ and keeps the anniversaries of the saints.
During the different seasons of
the liturgical year, the Church, in accord with traditional discipline, carries
out the formation of the faithful by means of devotional practices, both
interior and exterior, instruction, and works of penance and mercy. 1
2. The principles given here
may and must be applied to both the Roman Rite and all others; but the
practical rules are to be taken as pertaining solely to the Roman Rite, except
in matters that of their nature also affect the other rites. 2
Part 1: Liturgical Days
I. The Liturgical Day in
General
3. Each day is made holy
through the liturgical celebrations of the people of God, especially through
the eucharistic sacrifice and the divine office. The liturgical day runs from
midnight to midnight, but the observance of Sunday and solemnities begins with
the evening of the preceding day.
II. Sunday
4. The Church celebrates the
paschal mystery on the first day of the week, known as the Lord's Day or
Sunday. This follows a tradition handed down from the apostles and having its
origin from the day of Christ's resurrection. Thus Sunday must be ranked as the
first holyday of all. 3
5. Because of its special
importance, the Sunday celebration gives way only to solemnities or feasts of
the Lord. The Sundays of the seasons of Advent, Lent, and Easter, however, take
precedence over all solemnities and feasts of the Lord. Solemnities occuring on
these Sundays are observed on the Saturdays preceding.
6. By its nature, Sunday
excludes any other celebration's being permanently assigned to that day, with
these exceptions:
a.
Sunday
within the octave of Christmas is the feast of the Holy Family;
b.
Sunday
following 6 January is the feast of the Baptism of the Lord;
c.
Sunday
after Pentecost is the solemnity of the Holy Trinity;
d.
the last
Sunday in Ordinary Time is the solemnity of Christ the King.
7. In those places where the
solemnities of Epiphany, Ascension, and Corpus Christi are not observed as
holydays of obligation, they are assigned to a Sunday, which is then considered
their proper day in calendar. Thus:
a.
Epiphany,
to the Sunday falling between 2 January and 8 January;
b.
Ascension,
to the Seventh Sunday of Easter;
c.
the
solemnity of Corpus Christi, to the Sunday after Trinity Sunday.
III. Solemnities, Feasts, and
Memorials
8. As it celebrates the mystery
of Christ in yearly cycle, the Church also venerates with a particular love
Mary, the Mother of God, and sets before the devotion of the faithful the
memory of the martyrs and other saints. 4
9. The saints of universal
significance have celebrations obligatory throughout the entire Church. Other
saints either are listed in the General Calendar for optional celebration or
are left to the veneration of some particular Church, region, or religious
family. 5
10. According to their
importance, celebrations are distinguished from each other and named as
follows: solemnities, feasts, memorials.
11. Solemnities are counted as
the principal days in the calendar and their observance begins with evening
prayer I of the preceding day. Some also have their own vigil Mass for use when
Mass is celebrated in the evening of the preceding day. The celebration of
Easter and Christmas, the two greatest solemnities, continues for eight days,
with each octave governed by its own rules.
13. Feasts are celebrated
within the limits of the natural day and accordingly do not have evening prayer
I. Exceptions are feasts of the Lord that fall on a Sunday in Ordinary Time and
in the Christmas season and that replace the Sunday office.
14. Memorials are either
obligatory or optional. Their observance is integrated into the celebration of
the occurring weekday in accord with the norms set forth in the General
Instructions of the Roman Missal and the Liturgy of the Hours.
Obligatory memorials occurring
on Lenten weekdays may only be celebrated as optional memorials.
Should more than one optional
memorial fall on the same day, only one may be celebrated; the others are
omitted.
15. On Saturdays in Ordinary
Time when there is no obligatory memorial, an optional memorial of the Blessed
Virgin Mary is allowed.
IV. Weekdays
16. The days following Sundays
are called weekdays. They are celebrated in different ways according to the
importance each one has.
a.
Ash
Wednesday and the days of Holy Week, from Monday to Thursday inclusive, have
precedence over all other celebrations.
b.
The
weekdays of Advent from 17 December to 24 December inclusive and all the
weekdays of Lent have precedence over obligatory memorials.
c.
All other
weekdays give way to solemnities and feasts and are combined with memorials.
Part 2: The Yearly Cycle
17. By means of the yearly
cycle the Church celebrates the whole mystery of Christ, from his incarnation
until the day of Pentecost and the expectation of his coming again. 6
I. Easter Triduum
18. Christ redeemed us all and
gave perfect glory to God principally through his paschal mystery: dying he
destroyed our death and rising he restored our life. Therefore the Easter
triduum of the passion and resurrection of Christ is the culmination of the
entire liturgical year. 7 Thus the solemnity of Easter has
the same kind of preeminence in the liturgical year that Sunday has in the
week. 8
19. The Easter triduum begins
with the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper, reaches its high point in the
Easter Vigil, and closes with evening prayer on Easter Sunday.
20. On Good Friday 9 and,
if possible, also on Holy Saturday until the Easter Vigil, 10 the
Easter fast is observed everywhere.
21. The Easter Vigil, during
the holy night when Christ rose from the dead, ranks as the "the mother of
all vigils." 11 Keeping watch, the Church awaits
Christ's resurrection and celebrates it in the sacraments. Accordingly, the
entire celebration of this vigil should take place at night, that is, should
either begin after nightfall or end before the dawn of Sunday.
II. Easter Season
22. The fifty days from Easter
Sunday to Pentecost are celebrated in joyful exultation as one feast day, or
better as one "great Sunday." 12 These above all
others are the days for the singing of the Alleluia.
23. The Sundays of this season
rank as the paschal Sundays and, after Easter Sunday itself, are called the
Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Sundays of Easter. The period
of fifty sacred days ends on Pentecost Sunday.
24. The first eight days of the
Easter season make up the octave of Easter and are celebrated as solemnities of
the Lord.
25. On the fortieth day after
Easter the Ascension is celebrated, except in places where, not being a holyday
of obligation, it has been transferred to the Seventh Sunday of Easter (see no.
7).
26. The weekdays after the
Ascension until the Saturday before Pentecost inclusive are a preparation for
the coming of the Holy Spirit.
III. Lent
27. Lent is a preparation for
the celebration of Easter. For the Lenten liturgy disposes both catechumens and
the faithful to celebrate the paschal mystery: catechumens, through the several
stages of Christian initiation; the faithful, through reminders of their own
baptism and through penitential practices. 13
28. Lent runs from Ash
Wednesday until the Mass of the Lord's Supper exclusive. The Alleluia is not
used from the beginning of Lent until the Easter Vigil.
29. On Ash Wednesday, a
universal day of fast, 14 ashes are distributed.
30. The Sundays of this season
are called the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent. The
Sixth Sunday, which marks the beginning of Holy Week, is called Passion Sunday
(Palm Sunday).
31. Holy Week has as its
purpose the remembrance of Christ's passion, beginning with his Messianic
entrance into Jerusalem. At the chrism Mass on Holy Thursday morning the
bishop, concelebrating Mass with his body of priests, blesses the oils and
consecrates the chrism.
IV. Christmas Season
32. Next to the yearly
celebration of the paschal mystery, the Church holds most sacred the memorial
of Christ's birth and early manifestations. This is the purpose of the
Christmas season.
33. The Christmas season runs
from evening prayer I of Christmas until the Sunday after Epiphany or after 6
January, inclusive.
34. The Mass of the vigil of
Christmas is used in the evening of 24 December, either before or after evening
prayer I.
On Christmas itself, following
an ancient tradition of Rome, three Masses may be celebrated: namely, the Mass
at Midnight, the Mass at Dawn, and the Mass during the Day.
35. Christmas has its own
octave, arranged as follows:
a.
Sunday
within the octave is the feast of the Holy Family;
b.
26
December is the feast of Saint Stephen, First Martyr;
c.
27
December is the feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist;
d.
28
December is the feast of the Holy Innocents;
e.
29, 30,
and 31 December are days within the octave;
f.
1 January,
the octave day of Christmas, is the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. It also
recalls the conferral of the holy Name of Jesus.
36. The Sunday falling between
2 January and 5 January is the Second Sunday after Christmas.
37. Epiphany is celebrated on 6
January, unless (where it is not observed as a holyday of obligation) it has
been assigned to the Sunday occurring between 2 January and 8 January (see no.
7).
38. The Sunday falling after 6
January is the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
V. Advent
39. Advent has a twofold
character: as a season to prepare for Christmas when Christ's first coming to
us is remembered; as a season when that remembrance directs the mind and heart
to await Christ's Second Coming at the end of time. Advent is thus a period for
devout and joyful expectation.
40. Advent begins with evening
prayer I of the Sunday falling on or closest to 30 November and ends before
evening prayer I of Christmas.
41. The Sundays of this season
are named the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Sundays of Advent.
The weekdays from 17 December
to 24 December inclusive serve to prepare more directly for the Lord's birth.
VI. Ordinary Time
43. Apart from those seasons
having their own distinctive character, thirty-three or thirty-four weeks
remain in the yearly cycle that do not celebrate a specific aspect of the
mystery of Christ. Rather, especially on the Sundays, they are devoted to the mystery
of Christ in all its aspects. This period is known as Ordinary Time.
44. Ordinary Time begins on
Monday after the Sunday following 6 January and continues until Tuesday before
Ash Wednesday inclusive. It begins again on Monday after Pentecost and ends
before evening prayer I of the First Sunday of Advent.
This is also the reason for the
series of liturgical texts found in both the Roman Missal and The Liturgy of
the Hours (Vol. III-IV), for Sundays and weekdays in this season.
VII. Rogation and Ember Days
45. On rogation and ember days
the practice of the Church is to offer prayers to the Lord for the needs of all
people, especially for the productivity of the earth and for human labor, and
to give him public thanks.
46. In order to adapt the
rogation and ember days to various regions and the different needs of the
people, the conferences of bishops should arrange the time and plan for their
celebration.
Consequently, the competent
authority should lay down norms, in view of local conditions, on extending such
celebrations over one or several days and on repeating them during the year.
47. On each day of these
celebrations the Mass should be one of the votive Masses for various needs and
occassions that is best suited for the intentions of the petitioners.
Chapter II, Part 1: Calendar
and Celebrations to be Entered
48. The arrangement for
celebrating the liturgical year is governed by the calendar: the General
Calendar, for use in the entire Roman Rite, or a particular calendar, for use
in a particular Church or in families of religious.
49. In the General Calendar the
entire cycle of celebrations is entered: celebrations of the mystery of
salvation as found in the Proper of the Seasons, of those saints having
universal significance who must therefore be celebrated by everyone or of
saints who show the universality and continuity of holiness within the people
of God.
Particular calendars have more
specialized celebrations, arranged to harmonize with the general cycle. 15 The
individual Churches or families of religious should show a special honor to
those saints who are properly their own.
Particular calendars, drawn up
by the competent authority, must be approved by the Apostolic See.
50. The drawing up of a
particular calendar is to be guided by the following considerations:
a.
The Proper
of Seasons (that is, the cycle of seasons, solemnities, and feasts that unfold
and honor the mystery of redemption during the liturgical year) must be kept
intact and retain its rightful preeminence over particular celebrations.
b.
Particular
celebrations must be coordinated harmoniously with the universal celebrations,
with care for the Liturgical Days. Lest particular calendars be enlarged
disproportionately, individual saints may have only one feast in the liturgical
year. For persuasive pastoral reasons there may be another celebration in the
form of an optional memorial marking the transfer or discovery of the bodies of
patrons or founders of Churches or of families of religious.
c.
Feasts
granted by indult may not duplicate other celebrations already contained in the
cycle of the mystery of salvation, nor may they be multiplied out of
proportion.
51. Although it is reasonable
for each diocese to have its own calendar and propers for the Mass and office,
there is no reason why entire provinces, regions, countries, or even larger
areas may not have common calendars and propers, prepared with the cooperation
of all the parties involved.
This principle may also be
followed in the case of the calendars for several provinces of religious within
the same civil territory.
52. A particular calendar is
prepared by inserting in the General Calendar special solemnities, feasts, and
memorials proper to that calendar:
a.
in a
diocesan calendar, in addition to celebrations of its patrons and the dedication
of the cathedral, the saints and the blessed who bear some special connection
with that diocese, for example, as their birthplace, residence over a long
period, or place of death;
b.
in the
calendar of religious, besides celebrations of their title, founder, or patron,
those saints and blesseds who were members of that religious family or had some
special relationship with it.
c.
in a
calendar for individual churches, celebrations proper to a diocese or religious
community, those celebrations that are proper to that church and are listed in
the Table of Liturgical Days and also the saints who are buried in that church.
Members of religious communities should join with the community of the local
Church in celebrating the anniversary of the dedication of the cathedral and
the principle patrons of the place and of the larger region where they live.
53. When a diocese or religious
family has the distinction of having many saints and blessed, care must be
taken not to overload the calendar of the entire diocese or institute.
Consequently:
a.
The first
measure that can be taken is to have a common feast of all the saints and the
blessed of a given diocese or religious family or of some category.
b.
Only the
saints and blessed of particular significance for an entire diocese or
religious family may be entered in the calendar with an individual celebration.
c.
The other
saints or blessed are to be celebrated only in those places with which they
have closer ties or where their bodies are buried.
54. Proper celebrations should
be entered in the calendar as obligatory or optional memorials, unless other
provisions have been made for them in the Table of Liturgical Days or there are
special historical or pastoral reasons. But there is no reason why some
celebrations may not be observed with greater solemnity in some places than in
the rest of the diocese or religious community.
55. Celebrations entered in a
particular calendar must be observed by all who are bound to follow that
calendar. Only with the approval of the Apostolic See may celebrations be
removed from a calendar or changed in rank.
Part 2: The Proper Date for
Celebrations
56. The Church's practice has
been to celebrate the saints on the date of their death ("birthday"),
a practice it would be well to follow when entering proper celebrations in
particular calendars.
Even though proper celebrations
have special importance for individual local Churches or religious families, it
is of great advantage that there be as much unity as possible in the observance
of solemnities, feasts, and obligatory memorials listed in the General
Calendar.
In entering proper celebrations
in a particular calendar, therefore, the following are to be observed:
a.
Celebrations
listed in the General Calendar are to be entered on the same date in a particular
calendar, with a change in rank of celebration if necessary.
This also applies to diocesan
or religious calendars when celebrations proper to an individual church alone
are added.
b.
Celebrations
for saints not included in the General Calendar should be assigned to the date
of their death. If the date of death is not known, the celebrations should be
assigned to a date associated with the saint on some other grounds, such as the
date of ordination or of the discovery or transfer of the saint's body; otherwise
it is celebrated on a date unimpeded by other celebrations in that particular
calendar.
c.
If the
date of death or other appropriate date is impeded in the General Calendar or
in a particular calendar by another obligatory celebration, even of lower rank,
the celebrations should be assigned to the closest date not so impeded.
d.
If,
however, it is a question of celebrations that cannot be transferred to another
date because of pastoral reasons, the impeding celebration should itself be
transferred.
e.
Other celebrations,
called feasts granted by indult, should be entered on a date more pastorally
appropriate.
f.
The cycle
of the liturgical year should stand out with its full preeminence, but at the
same time the celebration of the saints should not be permanently impeded.
Therefore, dates that most of the time fall during Lent and the octave of
Easter, as well as the weekdays between 17 December and 31 December, should
remain free of any particular celebration, unless it is a question of optional
memorials, feasts found in the Table of Liturgical Days under no. 8 a, b, c, d,
or solemnities that cannot be transferred to another season.
The solemnity of Saint Joseph
(19 March), except where it is observed as a holyday of obligation, may be
transferred by the conferences of bishops to another day outside Lent.
57. If some saints or blessed
are listed in the calendar on the same date, they are always celebrated
together whenever they are of equal rank, even though one or more of them may
be more proper to that calendar. If one or other of these saints or blessed is
to be celebrated with a higher rank, that office alone is observed and the
others are omitted, unless it is appropriate to assign them to another date in
the form of an obligatory memorial.
58. For the pastoral advantage
of the people, it is permissible to observe on the Sundays in Ordinary Time
those celebrations that fall during the week and have special appeal to the
devotion of the faithful, provided the celebrations take precedence over these
Sundays in the Table of Liturgical Days. The Mass for such celebrations may be
used at all the Masses at which a congregation is present.
59. Precedence among liturgical
days relative to the celebration is governed solely by the following table.
Table of Liturgical Days
I
|
1.
|
Easter triduum of the Lord's
passion and resurrection.
|
2.
|
Christmas, Epiphany, Ascension, and
Pentecost.
Sundays of Advent, Lent, and the Easter season. Ash Wednesday. Weekdays of Holy Week from Monday to Thursday inclusive. Days within the octave of Easter. |
|
3.
|
Solemnities of the Lord, the
Blessed Virgin Mary, and saints listed in the General Calendar.
All Souls. |
|
4.
|
Proper Solemnities, namely:
a.
Solemnity
of the principal patron of the place, that is, the city or state.
b.
Solemnity
of the dedication of a particular church and the anniversary.
c.
Solemnity
of the title, or of the founder, or of the principal patron of a religious
order or congregation.
|
|
II
|
5.
|
Feasts of the Lord in the General
Calendar.
|
6.
|
Sundays of the Christmas season and
Sundays in Ordinary Time.
|
|
7.
|
Feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary
and of the saints in the General Calendar.
|
|
8.
|
Proper feasts, namely:
a.
Feast of
the principal patron of the diocese.
b.
Feast of
the anniversary of the dedication of the cathedral.
c.
Feast of
the principal patron of a region or province, or a country, or of a wider
territory.
d.
Feast of
the title, founder, or principle patron of an order or congregation and of a
religious province, without prejudice to the directives in no. 4.
e.
Other
feasts proper to an individual church.
f.
Other
feasts listed in the calendar of a diocese or of a religious order or
congregation.
|
|
9.
|
Weekdays of Advent from 17 December
to 24 December inclusive.
Days within the octave of Christmas. Weekdays of Lent. |
|
III
|
10.
|
Obligatory memorials in the General
Calendar.
|
11.
|
Proper obligatory memorials,
namely:
a.
Memorial
of a secondary patron of the place, diocese, region, or province, country or
wider territory, or of an order or congregation and of a religious province.
b.
Obligatory
memorials listed in the calendar of a diocese, or of an order or
congregation.
|
|
12.
|
Optional memorials; but these may
be celebrated even on the days listed in no. 9, in the special manner
described by the General Instruction of the Roman Missal and of the Liturgy
of the Hours.
In the same manner obligatory
memorials may be celebrated as optional memorials if they happen to fall on
the Lenten weekdays.
|
|
13.
|
Weekdays of Advent up to 16
December inclusive.
Weekdays of the Christmas season from 2 January until the Saturday after Epiphany. Weekdays of the Easter season from Monday after the octave of Easter until the Saturday before Pentecost inclusive. Weekdays in Ordinary Time. |
|
Endnotes
1. Second Vatican
Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium,
art. 102-105.
2. ibid., art. 5.
3. ibid., art. 106.
4. ibid., art. 103-104.
5. ibid., art. 111.
6. Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, art. 102.
7. ibid., art. 5.
8. ibid., art. 106.
9. Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini, Feb. 17, 1966, II,3.
10. Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, art. 110.
11. Augustine, Sermo 219: PL 38, 1088.
12. Athanasius, Epist. fest. 1: PG 26, 1366.
13. Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, art. 109.
14. Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini, II §3.
15. Congregation for Divine Worship, instruction Calendaria particularia, June 24, 1970.
2. ibid., art. 5.
3. ibid., art. 106.
4. ibid., art. 103-104.
5. ibid., art. 111.
6. Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, art. 102.
7. ibid., art. 5.
8. ibid., art. 106.
9. Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini, Feb. 17, 1966, II,3.
10. Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, art. 110.
11. Augustine, Sermo 219: PL 38, 1088.
12. Athanasius, Epist. fest. 1: PG 26, 1366.
13. Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, art. 109.
14. Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini, II §3.
15. Congregation for Divine Worship, instruction Calendaria particularia, June 24, 1970.
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