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Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Solemnity of the Assumption, celebrated on August 15, falls on a Saturday this year, and so is NOT a . Ritual Masses (such as the celebration of Matrimony) may not be celebrated; Matrimony may be celebrated without (outside of) . When the obligation is lifted, Funerals Masses may be celebrated. (Of course, the obligation is lifted regardless because of the pandemic.)

After much initial discussion, the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship addressed the question [of consecutive feasts] in 1974 and issued guidelines in a Note, “On the Mass of a or holyday anticipated on the preceding evening” (Notitiæ 10 [1974], 222-223). The Note emphasizes the importance of the rankings in the Table of Liturgical Days in the Universal Norms on the and the Calendar in choosing the proper celebration: In the case of a Sunday following a holyday or vice versa, the best way to achieve completeness in the observance of the entire liturgical day is to apply to the celebration of an evening Mass what is laid down in the case of Evening Prayer, namely: “Should… Vespers (Evening Prayer) of the current day’s Office and First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of the following day be assigned for celebration on the same day, then Vespers (Evening Prayer) of the celebration with the higher rank in the Table of Liturgical Days takes precedence; in cases of equal rank, Vespers (Evening Prayer) of the current day takes precedence.” (no. 2; found in DOL 448, pg. 1177).

This document is well known, since an English translation is readily available. As a result, many people understandably question why liturgical calendars and published ordos do not always strictly adhere to this system of priority based on rank of the coinciding feasts in the Table of Liturgical Days.

In fact, ten years after the original Note, the Congregation departed from its 1974 solution and issued revised criteria based instead on the principle whereby precedence is given to the “feast of precept” (usually translated as holy day of obligation), that is, favoring the celebration of the day carrying an obligation for the faithful to attend Mass. This rationale, no doubt, was to serve the pastoral needs of the faithful, some of whom attend Saturday evening Masses expecting to experience the Sunday liturgy and thus fulfill their obligation. The newer guidelines (“De Calendario Liturgico Exarando pro Anno 1984- 1985,” Notitiæ 20 [1984], 603-605) are only available in Latin, and so its provisions are less known to those without access to the Congregation’s journal or a vernacular translation.

Although it was addressing specific issues in the 1985 liturgical calendar, the 1984 guidelines nonetheless established principles of priority that are applicable today. These guidelines may be summarized as follows: 1. In the celebration of Mass, precedence is always to be given (“præcedentia semper danda est”) to the feast of precept, regardless of the ranks of the two consecutive feasts; and 2. At celebrations of Evening Prayer on a holy day of obligation in which the people participate, the older guidelines would still apply, except that the texts of Evening Prayer I of the following day may be replaced by Evening Prayer II of the current day.

The UNLYC states: 60. If several celebrations fall on the same day, the one that holds the highest rank according to the Table of Liturgical Days is observed. However, a Solemnity impeded by a liturgical day that takes precedence over it should be transferred to the closest day not listed under nos. 1-8 in the Table of Precedence, provided that what is laid down in no. 5 is observed. As to the Solemnity of the of the Lord, whenever it falls on any day of , it shall always be transferred to the Monday after the Second Sunday of . Other celebrations are omitted in that year. 61. Should on the other hand, Vespers (Evening Prayer) of the current day’s Office and First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of the following day be assigned for celebration on the same day, then Vespers (Evening Prayer) of the celebration with the higher rank in the Table of Liturgical Days takes precedence; in cases of equal rank, Vespers (Evening Prayer) of the current day takes precedence.

Putting all that together this year: 1. On Saturday, the Evening Mass would be for Sunday (the day that would have the obligation) 2. Evening Prayer that night would go to the day that ranks higher, which would be the Assumption (EP II for that day; rather than EP I for Sunday).

So, the weekend liturgies are as follows: Morning Prayer Mass Mass Evening Prayer before 4pm after 4pm Friday, St. Maximillian St. Maximillian Kolbe for the EP I for the Assumption Aug 14 Kolbe Assumption Saturday, Assumption of the Assumption of the 20th Sunday in EP II for the Aug 15 BVM BVM (Day) Assumption Sunday, 20th Sunday in 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time EP II of the 20th Sunday Aug 16 Ordinary Time in Ordinary Time