Memorial (liturgy)

In the Roman Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, a memorial is a lower-ranked feast day in honour of a saint, the dedication of a church, or a mystery of religion.

Celebrations of feast days are distinguished according to their importance and named either as "solemnities", or "feasts", or "memorials".

Memorials are never celebrated if they occur on a solemnity, a feast, a Sunday, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, or the Octave of Easter.

Celebrations of solemnities and feasts are distinguished from those of memorials by, for instance, inclusion of the Gloria in excelsis in the Mass and the Te Deum in the Liturgy of the Hours.

The observance of memorials is integrated into the celebration of the occurring weekday (the "feria") in accord with the norms set forth in the General Instructions of the Roman Missal and the Liturgy of the Hours.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal lays down that, for memorials of saints, "unless proper readings are given, the readings assigned for the weekday are normally used. In certain cases, particularised readings are provided, that is to say, readings which highlight some particular aspect of the spiritual life or activity of the Saint. The use of such readings is not to be insisted upon, unless a pastoral reason truly suggests it." The Collect proper to the memorial is used or, if this is lacking, one from an appropriate Common. As to the Prayer over the Offerings and the Prayer after Communion, unless these are proper, they may be taken either from the Common or from the weekday of the current time of the year.

Celebrations of memorials occurring between 17 December and 24 December and during Lent, which are then never obligatory, consist of replacing the collect of the day with that of the saint.

The General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours gives the following indications on celebration of memorials occurring on ordinary days: In the Office of Readings and at Lauds and Vespers:

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