high Strength
In the current liturgical order of the Catholic Church, a solemn festival (lat. Sollemnitas ) is a festival day of the church year with the highest liturgical rank before festivals , mandatory memorial days and non-mandatory memorial days . The celebration of the solemn festivals therefore begins with the first Vespers on the previous day.
The solemn festivals focus on important beliefs or particularly important saints . Likewise, every day of the Easter octave ( Easter Sunday to White Sunday ) is celebrated as a solemn festival. If a solemn festival and a celebration of lower rank fall on the same day, the solemn festival has priority. During the time of the year, solemn feasts have a higher liturgical rank than Sundays , which otherwise take precedence over all other feasts and days of remembrance . In the liturgical times ( Lent , Easter , Advent , Christmas ), however, their Sundays have priority over solemn feasts. Solemn festivals that coincide with a Sunday during this time are celebrated on the next possible day. Solemn festivals that fall during Holy Week or the Easter octave are celebrated on the Monday after White Sunday. If both possible solemn feasts (St. Joseph's Day on March 19 and the Lord's Annunciation on March 25) fall within this period, St. Joseph's Day is brought forward to the Saturday before Palm Sunday and the solemnity of the Lord's Annunciation is celebrated on the Monday after White Sunday.
The classification in the liturgical festival calendar was in the context of the liturgical reform with the reorganization of the church year and the Roman general calendar after the Second Vatican Council on February 14, 1969 by the Motu proprio Mysterii paschalis of Pope Paul VI. approved and entered into force on January 1, 1970. It replaced a differentiated hierarchy of liturgical celebrations that had been in effect since the 16th century .
List of high festivals
Feast of the Lord
- Birth of the Lord ( Christmas ) ( December 25th )
- Appearance of the Lord ( January 6 )
- Annunciation of the Lord ( March 25 )
- Easter ( moveable fixed date )
- Ascension Day (40th day after Easter)
- Pentecost (50th day after Easter)
- Holy Trinity (Sunday after Pentecost)
- Corpus Christi (Thursday of the 2nd week after Pentecost)
- Sacred Heart Festival (Friday of the third week after Pentecost)
- Christ the King Feast (last Sunday of the year)
According to the liturgical order of precedence , the following are not displaced by any other festival :
- the Sundays of Advent , Lent and Easter
- the days of Holy Week from Monday to Maundy Thursday
- the days of the octave of Easter
Solemnity of the Blessed Mother
- Solemnity of the Virgin and Mother of God conceived without original sin ( December 8th )
- Solemnity of the Blessed Mother Mary ( January 1st )
- Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary ( August 15 )
Solemnity of the Saints
- Solemnity of St. Joseph ( March 19 )
- Birth of St. John the Baptist ( June 24th )
- Solemnity of hll. Apostles Peter and Paul ( June 29 )
- All Saints' Day ( November 1st )
- All Souls' Day ( November 2nd ) has a special position: Although it is not shown as a solemn festival in the calendar, it is listed in the liturgical hierarchy in category I.3 with the solemn feasts of the Lord, the Virgin Mary and those saints listed in the general calendar are put on one level.
Own high strength
There are also liturgical feasts or days of remembrance that are only celebrated as solemn feasts in certain places, regions or communities, so-called own solemn feasts ( e.g. the consecration day of a church, the feast of a church, local or diocesan patron, in orders and cooperatives e.g. . the celebrations of the founders or the patronage ).