Feast Day
The 1960 General Roman Calendar in the Roman Breviary
| |
| Broad meaning | Any appointed liturgical celebration or a saint's calendar day |
|---|---|
| Roman rank | Feast, below Solemnity and above Memorial |
| Calendar layers | General, national, diocesan, local, and religious proper calendars |
| Not synonymous with | Holy day of obligation |
Feast Day is a day appointed for the Church's liturgical celebration of a mystery of Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, an angel, or a saint; in the Roman Rite the generic expression must be distinguished from the precise rank Feast.[1][2]
Broad and technical meanings
In ordinary Catholic speech, Feast Day can mean the date on which the Church commemorates a mystery or honors a saint. Used this way, the phrase includes celebrations whose formal Roman rank is Solemnity, Feast, Memorial, or Optional Memorial. It can also identify a local observance found only in a Proper Calendar. The broad usage is legitimate when context is clear, but a calendar or encyclopedia should still display the exact rank.[1]
In the current general Roman Rite, Feast is a defined rank below Solemnity and above Memorial. It is not an honorific applied informally to any beloved saint. Rank determines the relation of the Mass and Liturgy of the Hours to the weekday, the use of the Gloria, the readings, and precedence. Historical rites and earlier editions use other classifications, whose ranks belong to their own systems rather than the current Roman terminology.[1]
What the Church celebrates
The liturgical year first unfolds the whole mystery of Christ. Within that cycle the Church honors the Blessed Virgin Mary and commemorates the saints, who live with Christ in heaven, praise God, intercede for the faithful, and manifest the power of the Paschal Mystery in their lives. Their liturgical celebration directs worship to God and proclaims the grace by which they were made holy; it does not place the saint alongside God as another object of adoration.[1][2]
A saint's day is often assigned near the dies natalis, the anniversary of death and birth into heaven, but another date may be chosen because of precedence, historical uncertainty, a translation of relics, a dedication, or an established local tradition. Saints commemorated together should remain together where the calendar appoints a joint celebration. Inclusion in the Roman Martyrology is broader than inscription in the General Roman Calendar.[1]
Rank, obligation, and precedence
A formal Feast in the Roman Rite ordinarily has proper Mass and Office features, but it does not possess First Vespers unless special provision is made. Solemnities have the highest ordinary rank and begin on the preceding evening; memorials are observed more simply. Sundays and privileged days of Advent, Lent, Holy Week, and the Easter Octave occupy distinct places in the Table of Liturgical Days. Occurrence can cause a lower celebration to be omitted, commemorated, or moved only where the norms provide.[1]
A Feast is not necessarily a Holy Day of Obligation. Obligation is a canonical duty established for Sundays and designated days; rank is a liturgical classification. Many formal Feasts carry no Mass precept, and a Solemnity can be celebrated without an additional obligation. Conversely, the Code's chapter titled Feast Days uses dies festi in a broader juridical sense. Rank and obligation are therefore recorded separately.[1][3]
General and proper calendars
The General Roman Calendar contains celebrations intended for the Roman Rite throughout the world. National, diocesan, parish, church-specific, and religious calendars add celebrations with a proper relationship to a community. The same saint may be an Optional Memorial generally, an obligatory Memorial nationally, a Feast in a diocese, and a Solemnity in a church dedicated under that title.[1]
Such variation is not disagreement about sanctity. It expresses the closeness of a patron, founder, title, or local witness while keeping the universal cycle intact. Beatification permits public cult only within defined limits and does not create a universal feast day. Canonization extends the Church's definitive recognition of sanctity but likewise does not by itself insert a celebration into every calendar at a particular rank.[1][2]
Documentation and terminology
A complete liturgical identification includes the exact date, calendar, and rank. Memorial, Optional Memorial, Feast, Local Feast, Commemoration, and Commemorated in the Roman Martyrology are not interchangeable labels. When a higher celebration supersedes a saint, the saint remains associated with the date without becoming the day's principal liturgy.[1][3]
The competent decree, liturgical book, martyrology, or proper calendar establishes the public observance and its jurisdiction. Popular devotional dates and local processions can be important historical evidence but do not establish universal rank. Uncertain historical evidence remains distinct from an observance lawfully established by the Church.[1][4]
References
- Back to citation occurrence 1.00 Back to citation occurrence 1.01 Back to citation occurrence 1.02 Back to citation occurrence 1.03 Back to citation occurrence 1.04 Back to citation occurrence 1.05 Back to citation occurrence 1.06 Back to citation occurrence 1.07 Back to citation occurrence 1.08 Back to citation occurrence 1.09 Back to citation occurrence 1.10 Paul VI, Mysterii Paschalis and Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar — Promulgation and general norms governing the Roman liturgical year, ranks, precedence, calendars, and celebrations of saints.
- Back to citation occurrence 2.0 Back to citation occurrence 2.1 Back to citation occurrence 2.2 Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14, 26–30, 48, 102–111 — Conciliar teaching on liturgical participation, Sunday, the liturgical year, sacred seasons, and the sanctoral cycle.
- Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 Code of Canon Law, canons 1244–1253 — Current universal Latin law on sacred times, feast days, the Mass obligation, sacred rest, and days of penance.
- Back to citation Congregation for the Eastern Churches, Instruction for Applying the Liturgical Prescriptions of the CCEO, 36–40 — Authoritative instruction on Eastern Sundays, feast days, days of penance, Pascha, and preservation of each Church's patrimony.