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Views from the Choir Loft

Is It An Obligation?

Fr. David Friel · December 8, 2013

HE DATE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION this year is thoroughly confusing, even to Mass-going cradle Catholics. The transfer or omission of holydays that fall on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday is a mystery to most, and I am afraid I won’t be able to shed much explanatory light.

What I would like to do, however, is give an encouragement.

This year (in the Ordinary Form), the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is superceded by the Solemnity of the Second Sunday of Advent. As such, the holy day will be observed on Monday, December 9th. (In the Extraordinary Form, the Immaculate Conception remains a first class feast and is not supplanted by the Mass of Sunday; the orations for the Sunday, however, are commemorated.)

While Monday therefore will not be a holy day of obligation, it will still be a holyday. So my encouragement is this: although attendance at Mass is not obligatory, let’s make sure to celebrate Monday as the holyday that it is.

Tomorrow, if you are able to go to Mass, go. It doesn’t matter that it’s not required. If you are able to avoid work, do so. If you have an opportunity to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, take it. If you want to mark the day with your family, pray the rosary together or sing a hymn to the Blessed Mother after dinner.

These suggestions hold true also for holydays that are, in fact, holy days of obligation. It is quite possible to go to Mass on those days, but not really observe the “spirit” of the holyday.

On the patronal feast of our country, let’s not miss the opportunity to honor the Blessed Lady and renew our devotion to her. O Mary, conceived without sin: pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Working on a Holy Day of Obligation Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Worse, composers are now setting the introits of the missal [instead of the Graduale] to music, even to chant, though these texts were explicitly for spoken recitation only.”

— ‘Dr. William Mahrt (Fall, 2015)’

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