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In the liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite, a solemnity is a feast day of the highest rank celebrating a mystery of faith such as the Trinity, an event in the life of Jesus, his mother Mary, his legal father Joseph, or another important saint. The observance begins with the vigil on the evening before the actual date of the feast. Unlike feast days of the rank of feast (other than feasts of the Lord) or those of the rank of memorial, solemnities replace the celebration of Sundays outside Advent, Lent, and Easter (those in Ordinary Time).

The word comes from postclassical Latin , meaning a solemnity, festival, celebration of a day.

Ranking

The solemnities of Nativity of the Lord, the Epiphany, the Ascension, and Pentecost are outranked only by the Paschal Triduum.

Other solemnities inscribed in the General Roman Calendar give way also to the following celebrations:

:* The Paschal Triduum

:* Sundays of Advent, Lent, and Easter

:* Ash Wednesday

:* Weekdays of Holy Week up to and including Thursday

:* Days within the Octave of Easter

Solemnities inscribed in particular calendars yield not only to these, but also to the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed.

Among solemnities inscribed in the General Roman Calendar, those of the Lord have precedence over those of the Blessed Virgin and these latter over solemnities of other saints. Thus if, for instance, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus coincides with that of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist or that of Saints Peter and Paul, it is these that are transferred to the next free day.

Among solemnities inscribed in particular calendars (proper solemnities) the order of precedence is:

  1. The solemnity of the principal patron of the place, city or state
  2. The solemnity of the dedication or anniversary of the dedication of one's own church
  3. The solemnity of the title of one's own church (the mystery or saint to which it is dedicated)
  4. The solemnity of either the title or the founder of a religious institute

List and dates

The solemnities inscribed in the General Roman Calendar and which are therefore observed throughout the Latin Church are indicated in the following list.

{| class="wikitable"

|- valign=top

! Date

! Solemnity

! Notes about date

|-

|1 January

|The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Mother of God

|Octave of Christmas, Circumcision of the Lord, New Year's Day

|-

|6 January

|Epiphany of the Lord

|Where not a holy day of obligation, transferred to the Sunday between 2 and 8 January, inclusive

|-

|19 March

|Saint Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

|If the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, where observed as a holy day of obligation, coincides with Palm Sunday, it is, by exception to the general rule, anticipated to Saturday, 18 March; where not observed as a holy day of obligation, the episcopal conference may transfer it to a date outside Lent.

|-

|25 March

|Annunciation of the Lord

|If the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord falls on any day of Holy Week, it is always transferred to the Monday after the Second Sunday of Easter (30 March to 9 April), All holy days of obligation have the rank of solemnity at least at local level, though not necessarily holding that rank in the General Roman Calendar. With the exception of the solemnities of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Annunciation of the Lord and the Birth of John the Baptist, all the solemnities inscribed in the General Roman Calendar are mentioned as holy days of obligation in canon 1246 of the Code of Canon Law, but are not necessarily all observed in a particular country.

When a solemnity falls on a Friday, the obligation to abstain from meat or some other food as determined by the episcopal conference does not apply.

See also

  • Afterfeast
  • Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church
  • Liturgical year
  • Holy day of obligation
  • Octave (liturgical)
  • Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite
  • Synaxis

References

  • Universalis Liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite with the texts of the Liturgy of the Hours and of the readings at Mass.
  • "Solemnity" article from The Catholic Encyclopedia (1912)