Scheduling Reminders
For First Sunday of Advent November 30, 2007
through Feast of Christ the King November 23, 2008

The following reminders will assist you in planning your 
2007-2008 liturgical calendar for your parish or institution  

HOLY DAYS
Following the 1991 decision of the USCCB and with the 1992 confirmation of the Congregation for Bishops, when the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, or the Solemnity of the Assumption, or the Solemnity of All Saints falls on a Saturday or a Monday, the precept to attend Mass is abrogated.

 According to this decision:

CHANGES TO LITURGICAL CALENDAR 2008
The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has established that in the year 2008:

FUNERAL MASS AND HOLY DAYS
Funeral Masses are NOT PERMITTED on Solemnities, which are the Holy Days of Obligation, on Holy Thursday morning and during the days of the Easter Triduum.  On these days the body of the deceased may be brought to the church and the Funeral Liturgy Outside of Mass may be celebrated.  

Funeral Masses are permitted on Holy Days only when the precept to attend Mass is abrogated.  

ADVENT COMMUNAL PENANCE SERVICES
Every effort should be made to schedule communal celebrations of the sacrament of Penance during the season of Advent.  No parish may schedule “general absolution”.

CHRISTMAS
In scheduling Masses, care must be taken not to multiply Masses on Christmas Eve to the detriment of Christmas itself.  Anticipated Masses of Sundays and holy days (Christmas included) are to take place in the evening (see Canon 1248 § 1)  The policy of the Diocese is that no Christmas Eve Masses are to be scheduled before 4 pm

Note:  The scheduling of “Christmas pageants” for adults or children within Mass is to be avoided.  “The Mass is not an historical reenactment of the events of salvation history and care should be taken not to give the impression that the liturgy of the word is a play.  This is not to say that dramatic elements may not be used.

Care should be taken, especially at Christmas, not to stage the various liturgies as plays.  The Christmas Mass should not be presented as a birthday party of Jesus, nor should secular notions of Santa Claus be introduced into the Christmas liturgy.” (Lectionary for Masses with Children #52)

THE FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY
The Feast of the Holy Family falls on Sunday, December 30, 2007.

JANUARY 22
“In all the dioceses of the United States of America , January 22, 2008 shall be observed as a particular day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life.  The Mass ‘For Peace and Justice’ (no. 21 of the ‘Masses for Various Needs’) should be celebrated with violet vestments as an appropriate liturgical observance for this day.”  (General Instruction of the Roman Missal 2002, #373)

LENTEN COMMUNAL PENANCE SERVICES 
Every effort should be made to schedule communal celebrations of the sacrament of Penance during the season of Lent.  No parish may schedule “general absolution”.  Although individual confessions may be scheduled in the parishes according to pastoral need, Lenten Communal Penance Services should not be scheduled during the days of the Triduum, nor the Tuesday, of Holy Week, March 18, 2008, to allow priests and people to attend the Chrism Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral.

THE TRIDUUM
In planning and scheduling services “care should be taken especially during Holy Week and the Easter Triduum not to stage the various liturgies as plays” (Lectionary for Masses with Children #52)

This same point is emphasized in the new Missale Romanum, when it states that such additional Masses on Holy Thursday are to be permitted by the Ordinary only for those in no way able to participate in the evening Mass and not for the advantage of individuals or special small group. (Missale Romanum, “Rubrics for the Evening Mass” (EM, #3) Bishop’s Committee on the Liturgy Newsletter, March/April 2003)

Sunset will take place at about 7:23 pm on Saturday, March 23, 2008.  This means that the Easter Vigil is not to begin before 8:00 pm.

“. . . it is never permitted to celebrate the entire Easter Vigil more than once in a given church or to anticipate the Mass of Easter before the vigil . . .” (Sacramentary, Easter Vigil #3)  “The celebration of the Easter Vigil for special groups is not to be encouraged, since above all in this vigil the faithful should come together as one and should experience a sense of ecclesial community.”  Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of Paschal Feasts #94)

 “The rubrics of the new Missale Romanum remind us that this ‘mother of all vigils’ is the ‘greatest and most noble of all solemnities’ and it is to be unique in every single Church.  (Missalae Romanum, “Rubrics for the Easter Vigil” [EV], #2)  . . . Therefore, the Easter Vigil does not correspond to the usual Saturday evening Mass and its character is unique in the cycle of the liturgical year.”  (Bishops Committee on the Liturgy Newsletter, January 2003)

 It should be noted that the new edition of the Missale Romanum now requires that at least three Old Testament readings, always including Exodus 14, must be read at the Easter Vigil.  Previously, in extreme necessity two Old Testament readings might be used.  Of course, all nine readings “must be read whenever it can be done, so that the character of a Vigil which takes place over some duration of time can be observed”. (EV, #20, Bishops Committee on the Liturgy Newsletter, January 2003)

FIRST COMMUNION
“It is also appropriate that children receive their First Communion on one or other of the Sundays of Easter.” (Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Paschal Feasts #103)  “Apart from exceptional cases, it is not particularly appropriate for First Communion to be administered on Holy Thursday of the Lord’s Supper.  Another day should be chosen instead, such as a Sunday between the Second and Sixth Sunday of Easter, or the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, or the Sundays of Ordinary Time, since Sunday is rightly regarded as the day of the Eucharist.”  (Redemptionis Sacramentum #87)

CONFIRMATION
The ritual Mass for Confirmation may not be used on holy days of obligation, the Sundays of Advent, Lent and the Easter Season, on days in the Octave of Easter, on all solemnities, on All Soul’s Day, on Ash Wednesday and during Holy Week.  If confirmation is to be celebrated on one of the above-mentioned days, the Mass of the day is to be used. (General Instruction of the Roman Missal 2002, #372)

 When the ritual Mass is not celebrated, one of the readings may be chosen from those provided in the Lectionary for the ritual Mass for Confirmation.  However, on all holy days of obligation, Easter Sunday, Christmas, Epiphany, Pentecost and Corpus Christi only the readings of the day are permitted.  The final blessing proper to the ritual Mass may always be used.

WEDDINGS
Note: The ritual Mass for Marriage is not permitted on Holy Days on which the precept to attend Mass is abrogated, since these days still rank as solemnities.

 Note:  On days when the ritual Mass for Marriage is prohibited, the Rite of Marriage Outside of Mass is permitted.

SOLEMN EXPOSITION
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament usually begins at the concluding rite of the last Mass and continues through the day with appropriate prayer services.  Exposition concludes most often with a service of Evening Prayer during which benediction occurs.  Please note that the 1992 ritual entitled, Order for Exposition of the Holy Eucharist should be used.

 RCIA

return to Worship main page