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APOSTOLIC LETTER
MOTU PROPRIO
APPROVAL OF THE GENERAL NORMS FOR THE LITURGICAL YEAR
AND THE NEW GENERAL ROMAN CALENDAR
POPE PAUL VI
I
With the passage of centuries, it must be admitted, the faithful have become
accustomed to so many special religious devotions that the principal mysteries of
the redemption have lost their proper place in their minds. This was due partly to
the increased number of vigils, feast days, and their octaves, partly to the gradual
overlapping of various seasons in the liturgical year.
But it is also clear to everyone that our predecessors Saint Pius X and John
XXIII, of blessed memory, laid down several rules aimed at restoring Sunday to
its original rank and its place of esteem in the mind of all as the “first feast day of
all.”2 They also restored the liturgical celebration of the season of Lent to its right-
ful place. It is true as well that our predecessor Pius XII decreed3 for the Western
Church restoration of the Easter Vigil at night, as the occasion for the people of God
to reaffirm their spiritual covenant with Christ the risen Lord during the celebration
of the sacraments of Christian initiation.
Faithful to the teaching of the Fathers and of the constant tradition of the
Catholic Church, it is clear that these popes rightly perceived the true nature of the
liturgical yearʼs cycle. It is not simply the commemoration of the historical events
by which Christ Jesus won our salvation through his death and a calling to mind of
the past that instructs and nurtures the faithful, even the simplest, who meditate on
it. They taught also that the celebration of the liturgical year “possesses a distinct
sacramental power and efficacy to strengthen Christian life.”4 This is also our own
mind and teaching.
1
See Vatican Council II, Constitution on the Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 4 December 1963 (hereafter,
SC), art. 102-111.
2
SC, art. 106.
3
See Congregation of Rites, Decree Dominicæ Resurrectionis, 9 February 1951: Acta Apostolicæ Sedis,
Commentarium officiale (Vatican City; hereafter, AAS) 43 (1951), pp. 128-129.
General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar © 1982, ICEL. All rights reserved.
APOSTOLIC LETTER 1
Thus as we celebrate the “sacrament of the birth of Christ”5 and his appearance
in the world, it is right and proper for us to pray that “he, whose outward form is like
our own, may reshape us inwardly by his grace.”6 And that while we are celebrating
his passage from death to life, we ask God that those who are reborn with Christ may
“express in their lives the richness of the sacrament they have received in faith.”7 In
the words of the Second Vatican Council, “recalling thus the mysteries of redemp-
tion, the Church opens to the faithful the riches of the Lordʼs powers and merits, so
that these are in some way made present in every age in order that the faithful may
lay hold on them and be filled with saving grace.”8
The purpose of the reordering of the liturgical year and of the norms accom-
plishing its reform, therefore, is nothing other than this, that through faith, hope,
and charity the faithful may share more deeply in “the whole mystery of Christ” as
it unfolds throughout the year.9
II
We do not see as a conflict with this theme emphasising also the splendour of
feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary, “who is joined by an inseparable bond to the sav-
ing work of her Son,”10 and of memorials of the saints, which are rightly considered
as the birthdays of “the martyrs and victors who lead us.”11 Indeed “the feasts of the
saints proclaim the wonderful works of Christ in his servants and display to the faith-
ful fitting examples for their imitation.”12 Further, the Catholic Church has always
firmly and securely held that the feasts of the saints proclaim and renew Christʼs
paschal mystery.13
Undeniably, however, over the course of the centuries more feasts of the saints
were introduced than was necessary; therefore the Council properly pointed out:
“Lest the feasts of the saints take precedence over the feasts commemorating the very
mysteries of salvation, many of them should be left to be celebrated by a particular
Church or nation or religious family; those only should be extended to the universal
Church that commemorate saints of truly universal significance.”14
4
Congregation of Rites, General Decree Maxima redemptionis nostræ mysteria, 16 November 1955: AAS
47 (1955), pp. 839.
5
Leo the Great, Sermo XXVII in Nativitate Domini 7, 1: Patrologiæ cursus completus: Series latina, J.P.
Migne, editor, Paris, 1844-1855 (hereafter, PL) 54, 216.
6
See the Baptism of the Lord, opening prayer; see also Missale Romanum, editio typica, 1962, Epiphany,
collect.
7
See Monday of the octave of Easter, opening prayer; see also Missale Romanum, editio typica, 1962, Tuesday
of Easter Week, collect.
8
SC, art. 102.
9
See SC, art. 102.
10
SC, art. 103.
11
See Syriac Breviary (5th Century), B. Mariani, editor (Rome, 1956), p. 27.
12
SC, art. 111.
13
See SC, art. 104.
14
SC, art. 111.
APOSTOLIC LETTER 3
4 THE LITURGICAL YEAR
GENERAL NORMS
FOR THE LITURGICAL YEAR
AND THE CALENDAR
CHAPTER ONE
THE LITURGICAL YEAR
SUNDAY
4 The Church celebrates the paschal mystery on the first day of each week,
known as the Lordʼs Day or Sunday. This follows a tradition handed down from the
apostles and having its origin from the day of Christʼs resurrection. Thus Sunday
must be ranked as the first feast day of all.3
1
See Vatican Council II, Constitution on the Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 4 December 1963 (hereafter,
SC), art. 102-105.
2
See SC, art. 3.
3
See SC, art. 106.
WEEKDAYS
16 The days following Sunday are called weekdays. They are celebrated in dif-
ferent ways according to the importance each one has.
1. Ash Wednesday and the days of Holy Week, from Monday to Thursday
inclusive, have precedence over all other celebrations.
2. The weekdays of Advent from 17 December to 24 December inclusive
and all the weekdays of Lent have precedence over obligatory memorials.
3. Other weekdays give way to all solemnities and feasts and are combined
with memorials.
6
See SC, art. 102.
7
See SC, art. 5.
8
See SC, art. 106.
9
See Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution Pænitemini, on Christian penance, 17 February 1966 (hereafter,
Pænitemini), II§3: Acta Apostolicæ Sedis, Commentarium officiale (Vatican City; hereafter, AAS) 58 (1966),
p. 184.
10
See SC, art. 110.
11
Augustine, Sermo 219: Patrologiæ cursus completus: Series latina, J.P. Migne, editor, Paris, 1844-1855
(hereafter, PL) 38, 1088.
12
Athanasius, Epis. fest. 1: Patrologiæ cursus completus: Series græca, J.P. Migne, editor, (Paris, 1857-1866)
26, 1366.
13
See SC, art. 109.
ORDINARY TIME
43 Apart from those seasons having their own distinctive character, thirty-three
or thirty-four weeks remain in the yearly cycle that do not celebrate a specific aspect
of the mystery of Christ. Rather, especially on the Sundays, they are devoted to the
mystery of Christ in its fullness. This period is known as Ordinary Time.
44 Ordinary Time begins on Monday after the Sunday following 6 January and
continues until Tuesday before Ash Wednesday inclusive. It begins again on Monday
after Pentecost and ends before Evening Prayer I of the First Sunday of Advent.
This is also the reason for the series of liturgical formularies found in both
the Missal and The Liturgy of the Hours (Vol. III-IV), for Sundays and weekdays
in this season.
15
In places where the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord is transferred to Sunday and it falls on the
7th or 8th of January (coinciding with the normal day for celebrating the Baptism of the Lord), in those years,
the feast of the Baptism of the Lord is observed on the following Monday (Congregation for the Sacraments
and Divine Worship, Decree Celebratio Baptismatis Domini, on the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord, 7
October 1977).
16
See Congregation for Divine Worship, Instruction Calendaria particularia, on the revision of particular
calendars and of the propers for offices and Masses, 24 June 1970: AAS 62 (1970), pp. 651-663.
I
1. Easter triduum of the Lordʼs passion and resurrection.
2. Christmas, the Epiphany of the Lord, the Ascension of the Lord, and Pen-
tecost.
Sundays of the seasons of Advent, Lent, and Easter.
Ash Wednesday.
Weekdays of Holy Week from Monday to Thursday inclusive.
Days within the octave of Easter.
3. Solemnities of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and saints listed in the General
Calendar.
Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls).
4. Proper solemnities, namely:
1. Solemnity of the principal patron of the place, that is, the city or state.
2. Solemnity of the dedication of a particular church and the anniversary.
3. Solemnity of the title of a particular church.
4. Solemnity of the title, or of the founder, or of the principal patron of a
religious order or congregation.
II
5. Feasts of the Lord listed in the General Calendar.
6. Sundays of the season of Christmas and Sundays in Ordinary Time.
7. Feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the saints in the General Calen-
dar.
8. Proper feasts, namely:
1. Feast of the principal patron of the diocese.
2. Feast of the anniversary of the dedication of the cathedral.
3. Feast of the principal patron of a region or province, or a country, or of a
wider territory.
4. Feast of the title, founder, or principal patron of an order or congregation
and of a religious province, without prejudice to the directives in no. 4.
5. Other feasts proper to an individual church.
6. Other feasts listed in the calendar of a diocese or of an order or congre-
gation.
9. Weekdays of Advent from 17 December to 24 December inclusive.
Days within the octave of Christmas.
Weekdays of Lent.