Does anyone know which Holy Days of Obligation the Canadian Deanery will have during the liturgical year?
Canada’s which are Christmas and Jan. 1 or the United States’ which are August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary;
November 1, the solemnity of All Saints; and December 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Or will be have our own Holy Days of Obligation, such as Ascension, on the Thursday, which was such a day for us before we came into the Catholic Church.
Anyone out there know? A Catholic friend just asked me via Facebook and I don’t know the answer.
That’s a good question that should be addressed to the Dean, Father Kenyon, I think.
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Deborah,
You asked: Does anyone know which Holy Days of Obligation the Canadian Deanery will have during the liturgical year?
Liturgical laws are normally tied to place. Thus, the Deanery of St. John the Baptist should observe the holy days of obligation prescribed by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. Indeed, the impact of differences in ecclesial law between Canada and the United States undoubtedly is one of the most compelling reasons for creating a separate administrative unit in Canada.
That said, there may be a period of transition during which there will be some confusion. This is especially true of the solemnities of the Lord that transfer to Sundays where they are not celebrated as holy days of obligation, including Epiphany, Ascension, and Corpus Christi.
Norm.
Of course the Ordinary is free to ask the Vatican for an indult to specify the holy days of obligation in the Ordinariate and/or Deanery. As an example, the Diocese of Honolulu has only two holy days of obligation: Immaculate Conception and Christmas and doesn’t have the other days . That said, anyone can go to Mass whenever they wish. Interestingly, although Ash Wednesday isn’t a holy day, Mass that day is well-attended.
Norm,
you set the ordinariate equal to a lay community, which it is not. It should rather be compared with a religious order, since it has it’s own calendar of saints. It stands to reason that, if the Ordinariate celebrates other feasts than the diocese it finds itself in, it can have it’s own Holy Days of Obligation.
But in the end, these questions are not decided by me or you, but by the proper instances. Therefore we should all refrain from stating opinions like they are facts.
Victor,
You wrote: you set the ordinariate equal to a lay community, which it is not. It should rather be compared with a religious order, since it has it’s own calendar of saints.
No. Rather, I set the ordinariate equal to a diocese, which it canonically is. The holy days of obligation, as enacted by the respective episocopal conferences, apply to all dioceses therein.
Perhaps you do not realize that each diocese also has a proper calendar. The proper calendar of a diocese typically contains (1) the feast(s) of its patrons, often with a higher degree of solemnity than in the general or national/regional calendar, (2) the titular feast of its cathedral church, and (3) the anniversaries of the dedications of its cathedral church and any other dedicated churches therein. Nonetheless, a diocesan calendar also may add or elevate the solemnity of festivals of saints that are of particular importance to that diocese. As published, the proper calendars for the ordinariates stand out from most diocesan calendars only in the relatively large number of saints so added or elevated.
You wrote: But in the end, these questions are not decided by me or you, but by the proper instances. Therefore we should all refrain from stating opinions like they are facts.
I agree completely — which is why I stated the norm of law rather than opinion. Of course, there is always some possibility that particular law will deviate from the general norm.
Norm.
I’m confused…..Just list the Holy days od obligation in Canada as asked,,,,,,enough rhetoric.
I agree with Madeline Stewart. I’d just like a list–straight forward answer. Thanks
idarlene,
You said: I agree with Madeline Stewart. I’d just like a list–straight forward answer. Thanks
The answer may be more complex than you anticipated, but here goes.
>> In Canada, there are only two holy days of obligation: Christmas (25 December) and the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (01 January). The Solemnity of the Epiphany is transferred to the first Sunday after 01 January (with the consequence that the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord transfers to the following day when the Solemnity of the Epiphany transfers later than 06 January). The Solemnity of the Ascension and the Solemnity of Corpus Christi transfer to the following Sunday.
>> In the dioceses of the United States except the Diocese of Honolulu (which encompasses the state of Hawai’i), there are five holy days of obligation: the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (08 December), Christmas (25 December), the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (01 January), the Solemnity of the Assumption (15 August), and the Solemnity of All Saints (01 November), with the caveat that obligation does NOT apply whenever the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the Solemnity of the Assumption, and the Solemnity of All Saints fall on Saturday or Monday. Additionally, the Solemnity of the Ascension (Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter) is a holy day of obligation in the ecclesiastical provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, and Omaha (which encompass the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Nebraska), and transferred to the following Sunday everywhere else. The solemnity of the Epiphany transfers to the first Sunday after 01 January (again, with the consequence that the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord transfers to the following day whenever the solemnity of Epiphany transfers later than 06 January). The Solemnity of Corpus Christi transfers to the following Sunday. Also, when 08 December falls on a Sunday (as in the current year), the Second Sunday of Advent takes precedence over the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception so the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception transfers to 09 December but the obligation does not transfer with it. By particular law, the Diocese of Honolulu observes the holy days of obligation prescribed by the episcopal conference of Oceania (the nations of the Pacific islands) — that is, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (08 December) and Christmas (25 December) — with the Solemnity of Epiphany, the Solemnity of the Assumption, and the Solemnity of Corpus Christi being transferred as above.
Norm.
idarlene,
You wrote: I agree with Madeline Stewart. I’d just like a list–straight forward answer. Thanks
In this context, I also should mention the provisions of Canon 13 of the Codex Juris Canonici (Code of Canon Law).
Canonically, “travelers” are persons who have docile, or at least quasi-domicile, elsewhere whereas “transients” are persons who do not. Also, the term “particular laws” encompasses universal laws that are not in force in a particular place. Thus, “travelers” bear no obligation if a celebration is not a holy day of obligation in either the place of their domicile or the place where they are present while ‘transients” are bound to the holy days of obligation of the place where they happen to be on each day of the year.
Norm.