What is the difference between solemnity and feast

That is, only the opening prayer of the saint is used and all the rest comes from the day. It is also important to note that the same celebration may have a different classification in various geographical areas, as some celebrations and saints are venerated more in one place than in another.

For example, St. Benedict, an obligatory memorial in the universal calendar, is a feast in Europe since he is one of its patrons. But he rates a solemnity in the diocese and abbey of Montecassino where he is buried.

Finally, the decision on whether a solemnity such as the Body and Blood of the Lord is a holy day of obligation falls primarily upon the bishops' conference, which decides based on the pastoral reality of each country. Some have maintained the traditional Thursday celebration and kept it as a holy day; others might have maintained the day but without the obligation.

Many have preferred to transfer the celebration to the following Sunday so as to ensure its celebration with the greatest number of faithful. The Vatican, for example, continues the traditional Thursday celebration and thus the Holy Father's procession with the Blessed Sacrament is held on that day. The Diocese of Rome, however, along with the rest of Italy, celebrates it on the following Sunday. Our Oct. He asked: "[Jan. I should like to have offered that Mass, but have no approved texts for it.

Is there some source where I could have found such a text e. There are similar celebrations throughout the year, some of them even mandatory memorials for which no texts are readily available. The difficulty of some new celebrations with no corresponding proper texts is a temporary one that should be resolved within a few years.

The cause of this difficulty is that Pope John Paul II, on the occasion of the publication of the new Latin missal, took the initiative to add some new celebrations or restore some older ones that had been dropped from the old calendar.

Among these restored celebrations were the Holy Name of Jesus and St. Other examples of solemnities include the Solemnity of St.

Peter and St. Paul June Feasts are of second importance in our liturgical calendar and are celebrated on a particular day. These feasts do not have a first vespers or Vigil Mass the prior evening. An exception would be the feasts of the Lord which occur on Sundays in Ordinary Time and Sundays in the Christmas season. For example, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord February 2 has its own first vespers. Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation are always considered solemnities.

Feasts are of secondary importance in our liturgical calendar and are celebrated on a particular day. These feasts do not have a special evening prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours nor do they have their own special Vigil Mass the prior evening: an exception would be the feasts of the Lord which occur on Sundays in Ordinary Time and Sundays in the Christmas season.

For example, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord February 2 has its own first vespers. On these days, the Gloria is recited but not the Creed.

Even though you did not ask, there is also another celebration called a memorial , which is either obligatory or optional. Memorials commemorate a saint or saints.

Obligatory memorials must be observed whereas optional memorials do not have to be observed. They consist of the celebration of certain saints like the feast of the Archangels or most of the Apostles. The Gloria is required on these days, but not the Creed. Vincent Serpa O. Download Share.