November 1, 2007 - August 31, 2008 The following reminders will assist you in planning your 2007-2008 liturgical calendar for your parish or institution.

HOLY DAYS Thursday November 1, 2007 All Saints Holy Day of Obligation Saturday December 8, 2007 Immaculate Conception Holy Day of Obligation Tuesday December 25, 2007 The Nativity of the Lord Holy Day of Obligation Tuesday January 1, 2008 Mary, Mother of God Holy Day of Obligation Thursday May 1, 2008 Ascension of the Lord Holy Day of Obligation Friday August 15, 2008 Assumption of the BVM Holy Day of Obligation No Funeral Masses or ritual Masses may be celebrated on any Holy Days of obligation. FUNERAL MASS & HOLY DAYS Funeral Masses are NOT permitted on Holy Days of obligation, on Holy Thursday, and during the days of the Easter Triduum. On these days the body of the deceased may be brought to the church and the Funeral Liturgy Outside of Mass (OCF, 77) may be celebrated. ADVENT COMMUNAL PENANCE SERVICES Every effort should be made to schedule communal celebrations of the sacrament of Penance during the season of Advent. No parish may schedule "general absolution." A sample communal penance service is available on the website www.rcan.org/worship of the Office of Divine Worship. CHRISTMAS In scheduling Masses care must be taken not to multiply Masses on Christmas Eve to the detriment of Christmas itself. Anticipated Masses of Sundays and holy days (Christmas included) are to take place in the evening. (see  Canon 1248 §1) The policy of the Archdiocese is that that no Christmas Eve Masses are to be scheduled before 4 pm. Note: The scheduling of "Christmas pageants" for adults or children within Mass is not permitted. "The Mass is not an historical reenactment of the events of salvation history and care should be taken not to give the impression that the liturgy of the word is a play. This is not to say that dramatic elements may not be used, e.g. readings may at times be divided into parts among the children (see Directory for Masses with Children, 47), however, the use of costumes, etc. is more appropriate in the context of other celebrations or services. Care should be taken especially at Christmas...not to stage the various liturgies as plays. The Christmas Mass should not be presented as a birthday party for Jesus, nor should secular notions of Santa Claus be introduced into the Christmas liturgy." (Lectionary for Masses with Children, 52) THE FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY The Feast of the Holy Family falls on Sunday, December 30, 2007. A blessing for families can be found in the Book of Blessings, 40. THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord falls on Sunday, January 13, 2008. It would be appropriate to use the sprinkling rite found in the Sacramentary in place of the Act of Penitence this day. Ordinary Time begins the following day, Monday, January 14, 2008. JANUARY 22 "In all the dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life. The Mass "For Peace and Justice" (no. 21 of the "Masses for Various Needs") should be celebrated with violet vestments as an appropriate liturgical observance for this day." (General Instruction of the Roman Missal 2002, 373) LENTEN COMMUNAL PENANCE SERVICES Every effort should be made to schedule communal celebrations of the sacrament of Penance during the season of Lent. No parish may schedule "general absolution." Although individual confessions may be scheduled in the parishes according to pastoral need, Lenten Communal Penance Services should not be scheduled during the days of the Triduum, nor on the Monday of Holy Week, March 17, 2008, to allow priests and people to attend the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral Basilica. A sample communal penance service is available on the Office of Divine Worship website. THE TRIDUUM In planning and scheduling services "care should be taken especially during...Holy Week and the Easter Triduum not to stage the various liturgies as plays." (Lectionary for Masses with Children, 52) FUNERALS DURING THE TRIDUUM Funeral Masses are NOT permitted on Holy Thursday morning or during the days of the Easter Triduum. On these days the body of the deceased should be brought to the church and the Funeral Liturgy Outside of Mass should be celebrated. (Order of Christian Funerals, 77) HOLY THURSDAY According to the Church's ancient tradition, all Masses without a congregation are prohibited on this day. The Mass of the Lord's Supper is celebrated in the evening. Only with the permission of the local Ordinary may another Mass be celebrated in the evening where pastoral considerations require it; and, in the case of true necessity, even in the morning, but only for those faithful who cannot otherwise participate in the evening Mass. Care should be taken to ensure that celebrations of this kind do not take place for the benefit of private persons or of small groups, and that they are not to the detriment of the main Mass. (see, Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and  Celebration of the Paschal Feasts, 47 and Missale Romanum, "Rubrics for the Evening Mass" (EM, 3) Bishops Committee on the Liturgy Newsletter, March/April 2003) Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion should not be installed on Holy Thursday. GOOD FRIDAY "The celebration of the Lord's Passion is to take place in the afternoon, at about three o'clock. For pastoral reasons, an appropriate time will be chosen in order to allow the people to assemble more easily, for example, shortly after midday or in the late evening, however, not later than nine o'clock." (Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Paschal Feasts, 63) Although Stations of the Cross are permitted, they are never to replace nor be given greater prominence than the Celebration of the Lord's Passion. EASTER VIGIL The Easter Vigil is not an anticipated Mass, but a true vigil and, therefore, it may not begin until nightfall. This means that the Easter Vigil should be scheduled 45 to 60 minutes after sunset to assure darkness. "The entire celebration of the Easter Vigil takes place at night. It should not begin before nightfall...This rule is to be taken according to its strictest sense." (Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Paschal Feasts, 78) This same instruction is repeated in the new edition of the Missale Romanum. Sunset will take place at 7:09 pm on Saturday, March 22, 2008. This means that the Easter Vigil is not to begin before 8:00 pm at the earliest. No other Mass may be celebrated on Holy Saturday before the Easter Vigil is completed. "...it is never permitted to celebrate the entire Easter Vigil more than once in a given church or to anticipate the Mass of Easter before the vigil..."(Sacramentary, Easter Vigil, 3) "The celebration of the Easter Vigil for special groups is not to be encouraged, since above all in this vigil the faithful should come together as one and should experience a sense of ecclesial community." (Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Paschal Feasts, 94) "The rubrics of the new Missale Romanum remind us that this 'mother of all vigils' is the 'greatest and most noble of all solemnities and it is to be unique in every single Church.' (Missale Romanum, "Rubrics for the Easter Vigil [EV], 2)....Therefore, the Easter Vigil does not correspond to the usual Saturday evening Mass and its character is unique in the cycle of the liturgical year." (Bishops Committee on the Liturgy Newsletter, January 2003) It should be noted that the new edition of the Missale Romanum now requires that at least three Old Testament readings, always including Exodus 14, must be read at the Easter Vigil. Previously, in extreme necessity two Old  Testament readings might be used. Of course, all nine readings "must be read whenever it can be done, so that the character of a Vigil which takes place over some duration of time can be observed" (EV, 20, Bishops Committee on the Liturgy Newsletter, January 2003) FIRST COMMUNION "It is also appropriate that children receive their First Communion on one or other of the Sundays of Easter." (Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Paschal Feasts, 103) "Apart from exceptional  cases, it is not particularly appropriate for First Communion to be administered on Holy Thursday of the Lord's Supper. Another day should be chosen instead, such as a Sunday between the Second and Sixth Sunday of Easter, or the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, or the Sundays of Ordinary Time, since Sunday is rightly regarded as the day of the Eucharist." (Redemptionis Sacramentum, 87) CONFIRMATION On days when ritual Masses are permitted, the ritual Mass for confirmation (RM, Ritual Masses, I. Christian Initiation, 4. Confirmation), with its proper readings, may be celebrated. If the ritual Mass is not celebrated, one of the readings may be taken from those provided in the Lectionary for Mass for the ritual Mass for confirmation. When confirmation is celebrated on any of the days listed below, the Mass of the Day with its readings is celebrated. Mass vestments are the color of the day. 1. Easter Triduum of the Lord's passion and resurrection 2. Christmas, Epiphany, Ascension, and Pentecost. Sundays of Advent, Lent, and the Easter season. Ash Wednesday Weekdays of Holy Week from Monday to Thursday inclusive Days within the octave of Easter (This includes Saturday, March 29, 2008.) 3. Solemnities of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and saints listed in the General Calendar. All Souls. 4. Proper solemnities, namely: a. solemnity of the principal patron of the place, that is, the city or state; b. solemnity of the dedication of a particular church and the anniversary; c. solemnity of the title of a particular church; d. solemnity of the title or of the founder or of the principal patron of a religious order or congregation. The final blessing proper to the ritual Mass may always be used. WEDDINGS On days when ritual Masses are permitted one of the wedding Masses (RM, Ritual Masses, IV. Wedding Mass, 1. For the Celebration of Marriage) with its proper readings may be celebrated. When the ritual Mass is not celebrated, one of the readings may be chosen from those provided in the Lectionary for Mass for the ritual Mass for weddings. On the days listed above (cf. listing under confirmation) the Mass of the day with its readings is celebrated, with the nuptial blessing included and, as circumstances suggest, the proper solemn blessing. Mass vestments are the color of the day. It should be noted that if the Mass in which the sacrament of marriage is celebrated is a regular parish Mass, the Mass of the day is celebrated, even on the Sundays of the Christmas season and of Ordinary Time. The ritual Mass for Marriage is not permitted on Holy Days on which the precept to attend Mass is abrogated, since these days still rank as solemnities. With the exception of the Easter Triduum, the Rite of Marriage Outside of Mass is always permitted, regardless of the feast or solemnity. SOLEMN ANNUAL EXPOSITION Parishes should make every effort to choose an appropriate date for the observance of a day of Solemn Annual Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament begins at the concluding rite of the last Mass and continues through the day with appropriate prayer services. Exposition concludes most often with a service of Evening Prayer during which benediction occurs. (see Order for the Solemn Exposition of the Holy Eucharist) RCIA REMINDERS RITE OF ACCEPTANCE The ritual says that the Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens should be celebrated several times a year. The liturgies of Advent are focused on expectancy and watchful prayer. Advent is such a short season that we should not lessen its impact with other elements. Consequently, the rites of acceptance into the order of catechumens or of welcoming candidates for the sacraments of confirmation and Eucharist are not appropriate on the Sundays of Advent. The rites of acceptance and welcoming are better celebrated on Sundays in Ordinary Time, where they can become the community's focus. CALL TO CONTINUING CONVERSION AND THE RITE OF ELECTION The Call to Continuing Conversion will take place at the Cathedral Basilica on Saturday, February 9, 2008; Bergen & Hudson Counties at 11 am, and Essex & Union Counties at 1:30 pm. The Rite of Election will take place at the Cathedral Basilica on Sunday, February 10, 2008; Bergen & Hudson Counties at 2:30 pm, and Essex & Union Counties at 4:30 pm. The Rite of Election is required for all catechumens being initiated at the Easter Vigil. SCRUTINIES The scrutinies are required for all catechumens to be baptized at the Easter Vigil. The scrutinies complete the conversion of the elect and deepen their resolve to hold fast to Christ and to carry out their decision to love God above all. The ritual Masses for the celebration of the scrutinies are to be used (see Sacramentary, Ritual Masses Christian Initiation. 2. The Scrutinies. page 826). The scrutinies are celebrated on the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent; the readings with their chants are taken from Cycle A of the Lectionary for Mass for Masses at which the scrutinies take place. Note: The Cyle A readings may be used at any Mass on the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent. EASTER VIGIL The elect (unbaptized) receive the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Eucharist at the Easter Vigil. Delegation will not be given to confirm adult baptized Catholics at the Easter Vigil. SUNDAYS OF EASTER The Regional Bishop or Vicar will give delegation to pastors to confirm adult baptized Catholics in the parish on one of the Sundays of Easter or on Pentecost Sunday. Delegation will be given upon request for pastors to confirm those who have participated in a process of formation modeled on the catechumenate. Pastors are to request delegation from the Regional Bishop or Vicar. Christians baptized in a non-Catholic church who wish to become members of the Roman Catholic Church are received into the full communion of the Catholic Church ordinarily at a Sunday Mass celebrated during the Easter Season. The priest who receives them into full communion must also confirm them at that Mass.

Dates to Remember