The Sanctoral Cycle
Another essential component of the Liturgical Year is the Sanctoral Cycle, that is, the celebration of various saints of the Church throughout the year.
In celebrating this annual cycle of Christ's mysteries, holy Church honors with especial love the Blessed Mary, Mother of
God, who is joined by an inseparable bond to the saving work of her Son. In her the Church holds up and admires the most
excellent fruit of the redemption, and joyfully contemplates, as in a faultless image, that which she herself desires and
hopes wholly to be.
The Church has also included in the annual cycle days devoted to the memory of the martyrs and the other saints. Raised
up to perfection by the manifold grace of God, and already in possession of eternal salvation, they sing God's perfect praise
in heaven and offer prayers for us. By celebrating the passage of these saints from earth to heaven the Church proclaims
the paschal mystery achieved in the saints who have suffered and been glorified with Christ; she proposes them to the
faithful as examples drawing all to the Father through Christ, and through their merits she pleads for God's favors
(Sacrosanctum concilium, no. 103-104).
According to the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, the Church proposes the saints to us as “examples” and “through their merits she pleads for God’s favor.” In other words, we look to the saints both for their example and for their intercession on our behalf. As the first part of the citation stresses, Blessed Mary has a unique and special place in this cycle, insofar as she is the first and most perfect of the saints, the greatest disciple of Jesus Christ. In celebrating these holy men and women, “the Church proclaims the paschal mystery achieved in the saints who have suffered and been glorified with Christ.” We are able to see, by considering the lives of the saints, the actual effect of Christ’s work of redemption, His power to transform our human nature by participation in His own life. We are encouraged to entrust ourselves to Christ and, through prayer and the sacraments, to follow the example of the saints, that, one day, we may come to share with them the glory of heaven.
There are three rankings for the various holy days honoring the saints (in order of importance and significance for the whole Church): solemnities, feasts, and memorials. (N.B. These rankings would also apply to the days celebrating the mysteries of the life of Christ discussed in the previous lesson on the liturgical year; so, for example, the Ascension is a solemnity, the Transfiguration is a feast, etc.)
Solemnities
This is the highest ranking and is reserved for those saints (or events in the lives of the saints) that are of greatest importance and significance for the whole Church. For example, many of the cycle days honoring Mary are solemnities: the Immaculate Conception (December 8), the Annunciation (March 25), Mary Mother of God (January 1), the Assumption (August 15). Additionally, the cycle day for Saint Joseph (March 19), given his unique role in the history of salvation and his patronage for the universal Church, is also a solemnity, as is the birth of Saint John the Baptist (June 24), the forerunner of the Messiah.
Feasts
Feast days celebrate saints or events of great importance to the Church, but which do not ascend to the significance of those mentioned above. For example, the cycle days for the Apostles and Evangelists (Gospel writers) are all feast days. Additionally, the birthday of Mary (September 8) and the conversion of Saint Paul (January 25) fall into this category.
Sometimes, in common usage, we refer to any celebration of a saint as a “feast day”; for example, we often say “the feast of Saint Patrick” or the “the feast of Saint Francis,” even though both of these cycle days are, technically speaking, memorials.
Memorials
The third ranking is memorials. Often this is divided into two groups: memorials and optional memorials. Memorials are obligatory and must be celebrated in the liturgy of the Church. So, for example, October 4 is the Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi. If you attend a weekday Mass on that day, the priest is required to use the prayers for Saint Francis. This is true of solemnities, feasts and memorials. An optional memorial, on the other hand, is optional. The cycle day for Saint Nicholas (December 6) is an optional memorial, so at Mass the priest can choose to use the prayers for Saint Nicholas, or to use the prayers for that day in Advent.
One final note: there are times when certain cycle days overlap with other days in the liturgical calendar; for example, when the Solemnity of the Annunciation (March 25) falls during Holy Week, or, when the Memorial of Saint Francis (October 4) falls on a Sunday. For just this reason, the Church has a “Table of Liturgical Days” which outlines the “order of precedence” (to take the above example, when October 4 is a Sunday, the prayers and readings for the Sunday liturgy take precedence over the memorial of Saint Francis, and his memorial is not celebrated during that year). The full table can be found in the additional resources.
Another essential component of the Liturgical Year is the Sanctoral Cycle, that is, the celebration of various saints of the Church throughout the year.
In celebrating this annual cycle of Christ's mysteries, holy Church honors with especial love the Blessed Mary, Mother of
God, who is joined by an inseparable bond to the saving work of her Son. In her the Church holds up and admires the most
excellent fruit of the redemption, and joyfully contemplates, as in a faultless image, that which she herself desires and
hopes wholly to be.
The Church has also included in the annual cycle days devoted to the memory of the martyrs and the other saints. Raised
up to perfection by the manifold grace of God, and already in possession of eternal salvation, they sing God's perfect praise
in heaven and offer prayers for us. By celebrating the passage of these saints from earth to heaven the Church proclaims
the paschal mystery achieved in the saints who have suffered and been glorified with Christ; she proposes them to the
faithful as examples drawing all to the Father through Christ, and through their merits she pleads for God's favors
(Sacrosanctum concilium, no. 103-104).
According to the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, the Church proposes the saints to us as “examples” and “through their merits she pleads for God’s favor.” In other words, we look to the saints both for their example and for their intercession on our behalf. As the first part of the citation stresses, Blessed Mary has a unique and special place in this cycle, insofar as she is the first and most perfect of the saints, the greatest disciple of Jesus Christ. In celebrating these holy men and women, “the Church proclaims the paschal mystery achieved in the saints who have suffered and been glorified with Christ.” We are able to see, by considering the lives of the saints, the actual effect of Christ’s work of redemption, His power to transform our human nature by participation in His own life. We are encouraged to entrust ourselves to Christ and, through prayer and the sacraments, to follow the example of the saints, that, one day, we may come to share with them the glory of heaven.
There are three rankings for the various holy days honoring the saints (in order of importance and significance for the whole Church): solemnities, feasts, and memorials. (N.B. These rankings would also apply to the days celebrating the mysteries of the life of Christ discussed in the previous lesson on the liturgical year; so, for example, the Ascension is a solemnity, the Transfiguration is a feast, etc.)
Solemnities
This is the highest ranking and is reserved for those saints (or events in the lives of the saints) that are of greatest importance and significance for the whole Church. For example, many of the cycle days honoring Mary are solemnities: the Immaculate Conception (December 8), the Annunciation (March 25), Mary Mother of God (January 1), the Assumption (August 15). Additionally, the cycle day for Saint Joseph (March 19), given his unique role in the history of salvation and his patronage for the universal Church, is also a solemnity, as is the birth of Saint John the Baptist (June 24), the forerunner of the Messiah.
Feasts
Feast days celebrate saints or events of great importance to the Church, but which do not ascend to the significance of those mentioned above. For example, the cycle days for the Apostles and Evangelists (Gospel writers) are all feast days. Additionally, the birthday of Mary (September 8) and the conversion of Saint Paul (January 25) fall into this category.
Sometimes, in common usage, we refer to any celebration of a saint as a “feast day”; for example, we often say “the feast of Saint Patrick” or the “the feast of Saint Francis,” even though both of these cycle days are, technically speaking, memorials.
Memorials
The third ranking is memorials. Often this is divided into two groups: memorials and optional memorials. Memorials are obligatory and must be celebrated in the liturgy of the Church. So, for example, October 4 is the Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi. If you attend a weekday Mass on that day, the priest is required to use the prayers for Saint Francis. This is true of solemnities, feasts and memorials. An optional memorial, on the other hand, is optional. The cycle day for Saint Nicholas (December 6) is an optional memorial, so at Mass the priest can choose to use the prayers for Saint Nicholas, or to use the prayers for that day in Advent.
One final note: there are times when certain cycle days overlap with other days in the liturgical calendar; for example, when the Solemnity of the Annunciation (March 25) falls during Holy Week, or, when the Memorial of Saint Francis (October 4) falls on a Sunday. For just this reason, the Church has a “Table of Liturgical Days” which outlines the “order of precedence” (to take the above example, when October 4 is a Sunday, the prayers and readings for the Sunday liturgy take precedence over the memorial of Saint Francis, and his memorial is not celebrated during that year). The full table can be found in the additional resources.
Additional Resources
Articles
Table of Liturgical Days: the link opens a document issued by Blessed Pope Paul VI which details the "Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year." The last two pages (13-14) give the table of liturgical days (showing the order of precedence) that was mentioned in the above reading.
Understanding the Church Calendar by Dennis Emmons. The article discusses some of the history of the development of the Church calendar and gives more detail concerning the liturgical celebration of solemnities, feasts, and memorials.
Videos
A short and helpful video on how the Church officially declares someone to be a saint.
Articles
Table of Liturgical Days: the link opens a document issued by Blessed Pope Paul VI which details the "Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year." The last two pages (13-14) give the table of liturgical days (showing the order of precedence) that was mentioned in the above reading.
Understanding the Church Calendar by Dennis Emmons. The article discusses some of the history of the development of the Church calendar and gives more detail concerning the liturgical celebration of solemnities, feasts, and memorials.
Videos
A short and helpful video on how the Church officially declares someone to be a saint.