LITURGICAL DAYS

The Church attempts to live out the mystery of Christ and salvation history
within the year. As such it designates specific days of the year to celebrate the
chief events of this mystery. Additionally the Church commemorates the lives of
great saints by designating certain days of the year to remember them. These days
are both an act of remembrance, as well as a way to instruct the faithful by making
the calendar reflect the life of Christ.

These days of commemoration and instruction have been classified according to

their importance. They are called, in order of precedence: solemnities, feasts, and
memorials.

SOLEMNITIES: Solemnities are the great events of the Church, but they must
not be confused with holy days of obligation. For example the solemnities of St.
Joseph the Husband of Mary, and Saints Peter and Paul are indeed solemnities but
not holy days. The general calendar is the calendar used for the majority of the
Roman Rite.

There are 24 solemnities in the general calendar. Certain religious orders, such as
Dominicans and Carmelites have a slightly different list of solemnities.
Solemnities begin with evening prayer (Vespers) the night before, unlike other
liturgical days, which begin at midnight. For that reason the evening prayer before
a solemnity is called evening prayer I, while that celebrated on the solemnity itself
is called evening prayer II. Some solemnities have their own vigil masses, which
are celebrated after evening prayer I. Every day in the Octave of Easter is a
solemnity. Some solemnities have a fixed date on which they are celebrated, such
as Christmas, which is always the 25th of December. Other solemnities are
moveable, such as Easter, which is based on the Vernal Equinox. Solemnities
usually take precedence over weekdays in the liturgy and in most cases over
Sunday. If a solemnity takes precedence over the day it lands on, the readings and
prayers are for the solemnity and not for that day. For instance, this year the
solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary falls on the Wednesday
after the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Therefore, on that day the readings and
prayers will be for the Assumption rather than for the Wednesday after the 19th
Sunday in Ordinary Time in the liturgical calendar.

FEASTS: Down one step from solemnities are feasts. Feasts are celebrated within
the normal liturgical day of midnight to midnight. There are 25 feasts listed in the
general calendar. All feasts, except Holy Family, are fixed in date. Like
solemnities, feasts sometimes take precedence over the liturgy for the day they fall
on. Not all feasts are of equal stature. The "feasts of the Lord" take precedence
over Sundays of Christmas and Ordinary Time, but the feasts of the Blessed Virgin
Mary do not. All feasts take precedence over all weekdays except Ash Wednesday;
Weekdays of Holy Week (including the Triduum) and days within the octave of
Easter.

MEMORIALS: Lower in importance than solemnities and feasts are memorials.

There are 159 memorials listed in the general calendar, and six more that are
celebrated only in the dioceses of the United States. Many of the days dedicated in
memory of a saint are memorials. All memorials are fixed in date. Memorials can
be either obligatory or optional. Of the 165 memorials celebrated in the US, 71 are
listed as obligatory and 94 are listed as optional. As the name implies, the celebrant
may choose to use the prayers for an optional memorial or not.

Many of the memorials, both optional and obligatory, have specific written prayers
for each individual saint or other occasion for use at Mass. These prayers are
known as the "proper" for the occasion. Some saints do not have specific prayers.
There are generic prayers written for each category of saint being honored in a
memorial. These generic prayers are known as the "common" for the occasion.
Those such honored will usually fall into the category of: Saint, pope, bishop,
priest, religious, virgin, or martyr. For instance St. Blase, which is an optional
memorial, is both a bishop and a martyr. Therefore the readings can be either from
the common for bishops or the common for martyrs.

The liturgical celebrations of solemnities, feasts, and memorials enhance the

richness of the Church's calendar. These enhancements turn the calendar into a
living history lesson of the life of Christ and his Church.

OPTIONAL
DATE SOLEMNITIES FEASTS MEMORIALS
MEMORIALS
Mary Mother of
January 1 God (1) Holy Day
of Obligation
SS. Basil the Great
and Gregory
January 2
Nazianzen, bishops
and doctors
St. Elizabeth Ann
January 4
Seton*
January 5 St. John Neumann
 bishop*
January 6 Bl Andre Bessette
Movable.
Epiphany of the
Closest Sunday
Lord† (2)
to January 6
St. Raymond of
January 7
Penyafort, priest
Jesus Nazareno –
Black Nazarene
January 9
(Quiapo, in the
Philippines)
Movable.
Baptism of the
Sunday after Jan
Lord
6
St. Hilary, bishop
January 13
and doctor
January 17 St. Anthony, abbot
St. Fabian, pope and
January 20 martyr; Sebastian,
martyr
St. Agnes, virgin,
January 21
martyr
Movable date. Sto. Nino (in the
3rd Sunday Philippines)
St. Vincent, deacon
January 22
and martyr
St. Francis de Sales,
January 24
bishop and doctor
The Conversion
January 25
of St. Paul
SS. Timothy and
January 26
Titus, bishops,
Angela Merici,
January 27
virgin
St. Thomas
January 28 Aquinas, priest and
doctor
St. John Bosco,
January 31
priest,
Presentation of
February 2
the Lord
 St. Blase, bishop and
February 3 martyr; Ansgar,
bishop
St. Agatha, virgin
February 5
and martyr
St. Paul Miki and
February 6 companions,
martyrs
February 8 St. Jerome Emiliani
St. Scholastica,
February 10
virgin
February 11 Our Lady of Lourdes
SS. Cyril, monk and
February 14
Methodius, bishop
Seven Founders of
February 17 the Orders of
Servites
St. Peter Damian,
February 21
bishop and doctor
The Chair of St.
February 22
Peter apostle
St. Polycarp, bishop
February 23
and martyr
March 4 St. Casimir
SS. Perpetua and
March 7
Felicity, martyrs
St. John of God,
March 8
religious
St. Frances of Rome,
March 9
religious
March 17 St. Patrick, bishop
St. Cyril of
March 18 Jerusalem, bishop
and doctor
St. Joseph husband
March 19
of Mary (3)
St. Turibius de
March 23
Mongrovejo, bishop
The Annunciation
March 25
(4)
Movable. First
Sunday after the
first full moon Easter Sunday (5)
after the vernal
equinox.
Movable. Easter
Sunday to 2nd
Octave of Easter (6)
Sunday of
Easter inclusive
St. Francis of Paola,
April 2
hermit
St. Isadore, bishop
April 4
and doctor
St. Vincent Ferrer,
April 5
priest
St.John Baptist de la
April 7
Salle, priest
St. Stanislaus,
April 11
bishop and martyr
St. Martin I, pope
April 13
and martyr
St. Anselm, bishop
April 21
and doctor
Divine Mercy
April 19
(Philippines)
April 23 St. George, martyr
St. Fidelis of
April 24 Sigmaringen, priest
and martyr
St. Mark
April 25
Evangelist
St. Peter Chanel,
April 28
priest and martyr
St. Catherine of
April 29 Siena, virgin and
doctor
April 30 St. Pius V, pope
St. Joseph the
May 1
Worker
St. Athanasius,
May 2
bishop and doctor
 SS. Philip and
May 3 James the
Apostles
SS. Nereus and
May 12 Achilleus, martyrs;
Pancras, martyr
St. Matthias
May 14
Apostle
May 15 St. Isidore*
St. John I, pope and
May 18
martyr
St. Bernadine of
May 20
Siena, priest
Venerable Bede,
priest and doctor;
St. Gregory VII,
May 25
pope:
Mary Magdalene de
Pazzi, virgin
St. Philip Neri,
May 26
priest
St. Augustine of
May 27
Canterbury, bishop
The Visitation of
May 31
the BVM
Ascension of the
Movable. Forty
Lord† (7) Holy Day
days after Easter
of Obligation
Movable. Nine
days after Pentecost (8)
Ascension.
Movable. First
Sunday after The Holy Trinity (9)
Pentecost.
Movable.
Thursday after Corpus Christi† (10)
Holy Trinity.
Movable. Friday
following Sacred Heart of
second Sunday Jesus (11)
after Pentecost.
Movable. Immaculate Heart of
Saturday
following
Mary
second Sunday
after Pentecost.
June 1 St. Justin, martyr
SS. Marcellinus and
June 2
Peter, martyrs
St. Charles Lwanga
June 3 and companions,
martyrs
St. Boniface, bishop
June 5
and martyr
June 6 St. Norbert, bishop
St. Ephrem, deacon
June 9
and doctor
St. Barnabas,
June 11
apostle
Immaculate Heart
June 12
of the BVM
St. Anthony of
June 13 Padua, priest and
doctor
June 19 St. Romuald, abbot
St. Aloysius
June 21
Gonzaga, religious
St. Paulinus of Nola,
bishop; St. John
June 22 Fisher, bishop and
martyr; St. Thomas
More, martyr
Birth of John the
June 24
Baptist (12)
St. Cyril of
June 27 Alexandria, bishop
and doctor
St. Irenaeus, bishop
June 28
and martyr
SS. Peter and Paul,
June 29
apostles (13)
First Martyrs of the
June 30
Church of Rome
 St. Thomas,
July 3
Apostle
St. Elizabeth of
July 4
Portugal
St. Anthony
July 5
Zaccaria, priest
St. Maria Goretti,
July 6
virgin and martyr
July 11 St. Benedict, abbot
July 13 St. Henry
Blessed Katyeri
July 14
Takakwitha, virgin*
St. Bonaventure,
July 15
bishop and doctor
Our Lady of Mount
July 16
Carmel
St. Camillus de
July 18
Lellis, priest††
St. Lawrence of
July 21 Brindisi, priest and
doctor
July 22 St. Mary Magdalene
July 23 St. Bridget, religious
St. James the
July 25
Apostle
SS. Joachim and
July 26 Anne, parents of
Mary
July 29 St. Martha
St. Peter
July 30 Chrysologus, bishop
and doctor
St. Ignatius of
July 31
Loyola, priest
St. Alphonsis
August 1 Liguori, bishop and
doctor
St. Eusebius of
August 2
Vercelli, bishop
August 4 St. John Mary
 Vianney, priest
Dedication of Saint
August 5
Mary Major
The
August 6
Transfiguration
St. Sixtus II, pope
and martyr and
August 7 companions,
martyrs; St. Cajetan,
priest
August 8 St. Dominic, priest
St. Lawrence,
August 10 deacon and
martyr
August 11 St. Clare, virgin
SS. Pontian, pope
and martyr, and
August 13
Hippolytus, priest
and martyr
St. Maximilian
August 14 Kolbe, priest,
martyr
The Assumption of
August 15 the BVM (14) Holy
Day of Obligation
St. Stephen of
August 16
Hungary
St. John Eudes,
August 19
priest
St. Bernard, abbot
August 20
and doctor
August 21 St. Pius X, pope
Queenship of the
August 22
BVM
St. Rose of Lima,
August 23
virgin
St. Bartholomew,
August 24
apostle
St. Louis; St. Joseph
August 25
Calasanz, priest
August 27 St. Monica
 St. Augustine,
August 28
bishop and doctor
Martyrdom of St.
August 29
John the Baptist
St. Gregory the
September 3 Great, pope and
doctor
The Birth of the
September 8
BVM
St. Peter Claver,
September 9
priest*
St. John
September 13 Chrysostom, bishop
and doctor
Triumph of the
September 14
Holy Cross
Our Lady of
September 15
Sorrows
SS. Cornelius, pope
and martyr, and
September 16
Cyprian, bishop and
martyr
St. Robert
September 17 Bellarmine, bishop
and doctor
St. Januarius, bishop
September 19
and martyr
St. Andrew Kim
Taegon, St. Paul
September 20
Chong Hasang and
companions
St. Matthew,
September 21 apostle and
evangelist
SS. Cosmas and
September 26
Damian, martyrs
St. Vincent de Paul,
September 27
priest
St. Wenceslaus,
martyr ,
September 28
St. Lorenzo Ruiz
(Philippines)
 SS. Michael,
Gabriel, and
September 29
Raphael,
archangels
St. Jerome, priest
September 30
and doctor
St. Theresa of the
October 1 Child Jesus, virgin,
doctor
The Guardian
October 2
Angels
October 4 St. Francis of Assisi
October 6 St. Bruno, priest
Our Lady of the
October 7
Rosary
St. Denis, bishop and
martyr, and
companions,
October 9
martyrs;
St. John Leonardi,
priest
St. Callistus I, pope
October 14
and martyr
St. Teresa of Jesus
October 15 (Avila), virgin and
doctor
St. Hedwig,
religious;
October 16
St. Margaret Mary
Alacoque, virgin
St. Ignatius of
October 17 Antioch, bishop and
martyr
St. Luke
October 18
Evangelist
SS. Isaac Jogues
and John de
Brebeuf, priests and St. Paul of the Cross,
Oct 19
martyrs and their priest
companions,
martyrs*
October 23 St. John of
 Capistrano, priest
St. Anthony Claret,
October 24
bishop
SS. Simon and
October 28
Jude, apostles
All Saints (15) Holy
November 1
Day of Obligation
November 2 All Souls**(16)
St. Martin de Porres,
November 3
religious
St. Charles
November 4
Borromeo, bishop
The Dedication
November 9 of the Lateran
Basilica in Rome
St. Leo the Great,
November 10
pope and doctor
St. Martin of Tours,
November 11
bishop
St. Josaphat, bishop
November 12
and martyr
St. Frances Xavier
November 13
Cabrini, virgin*
St. Albert the Great,
November 15
bishop and doctor
St.Margaret of
November 16 Scotland; St
Gertrude, virgin
St. Elizabeth of
November 17
Hungary, religious
Dedication of the
churches of SS.
November 18
Peter and Paul,
apostles
The Presentation of
November 21
the BVM
St. Cecilia, virgin
November 22
and martyr
St. Clement I, pope
November 23 and martyr; St
Columban, abbot
 St. Andrew Dung-
Lac, priest and
November 24 martyr and his
companions,
martyrs
Movable. Last
Sunday in Christ the King (17)
Ordinary Time.
St. Andrew the
November 30
Apostle
St. Francis Xavier,
December 3
priest
St. John Damascene,
December 4
priest and doctor
December 6 St. Nicholas, bishop
St. Ambrose, bishop
December 7
and doctor
The Immaculate
Conception of the
December 8
BVM (18) Holy Day
of Obligation
December 11 St. Damascus I, pope
Our Lady of St. Jane Frances de
December 12
Guadalupe* Chantel, religious
St. Lucy, virgin and
December 13
martyr
St. John of the
December 14 Cross, priest and
doctor
St. Peter Canisius,
December 21
priest and doctor
St. John of Kanty,
December 23
priest
Nativity of the Lord
(Christmas) (19)
December 25
Holy Day of
Obligation
St. Stephen, first
December 26
martyr
St. John Apostle
December 27
and Evangelist
 Holy Innocents
December 28
martyrs
St. Thomas Becket,
December 29
bishop and martyr
Movable.
Sunday within
the Octave of
Christmas or if
Holy Family
there is no
Sunday within
the Octave,
December 30th.
December 31 St. Sylvester I, pope

†Celebrated on the closest Sunday.

*Proper to Dioceses of the United States of America
††Celebrated on July 14 in the Universal Calendar
**All Souls day has the precedence of a solemnity but is not categorized as are other Liturgical
Days

Published by The Minnesota St. Thomas More Chapter of Catholics United for the Faith, August 2001.

POPULAR FILIPINO LITURGICAL ACTIVITIES

ADVENT

- Advent Wreath (4 Sunday Masses)

- Immaculate Conception

- Christmas Decors (Lantern, Christmas Tree, Belen)

- Christmas Carols/Party

- Simbang Gabi (Misa de Gallo)

- Panunuluyan

CHRISTMAS
 - Christmas Mass

- Nuche Buena

- Christmas Party

- Gift Giving

- New Year Mass (Mary Mother of God)

- Epiphany Sunday Mass

ORDINARY I

- Sunday Masses

- Black Nazarene

- Sto. Nino

LENT

- Ash Wednesday Mass

- Sunday Masses

- Prayer, Fasting, Abstinence, Almsgiving

- Palm Sunday Mass

- Pabasa/Pasyon

TRIDUUM

- Kumpisalang Bayan

- Bisita Iglesia

- Station of the Cross

- 7 Last Words

- Easter Vigil Mass

- Easter Sunday Mass

 - Salubong

EASTER

- Octave of Easter

- Sunday Masses

- Flores de Mayo

- Sta. Cruzan

ORDINARY II

- Sunday Masses

- Rosary Month

- All Saints Day (Undas)

- Christ the King