A Marian Feast on a Sunday
Date: September 1, 2024
Author: Fr. Edward McNamara, LC
Quesion: It is liturgically correct to celebrate the Nativity of Our Lady in ordinary time on a Sunday? – A.P., Patna Archdiocese, Bihar, India
Answer: This question involves the possibility of transference of feast days to Sundays and the order of precedence of feasts.
In the General Roman Calendar, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 8, nine months after the Immaculate Conception, is classed as a “feast.” As such, it is distinguished from other celebrations by having its own proper readings and texts and the addition of the Gloria.
It does not, however, have precedence over celebrations with a higher level of precedence, and hence is omitted if it coincides with a Sunday.
That said, however, in any place where the celebration has a higher ranking the situation may be different.
For example, in any parish dedicated to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary the celebration will be classed as a solemnity in the parish church and would take precedence over the Sunday.
For pastoral reasons, the general law regarding patron saints also allows the parish priest to transfer the celebration of the patron falling on a weekday to the nearest Sunday in Ordinary Time so that it can be celebrated worthily with the participation of as many of the parish faithful as possible.
This faculty of transfer does not exist when the solemnity of the parish patron falls within one of the major seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter as these Sundays have precedence over most solemnities.
There can also be other local and regional customs and traditions which give greater weight to the feast of Mary’s Nativity than the General Calendar.
For example, this feast is very important and celebrated with special festivities in Malta, the Philippines and some parts of France where it is associated with Our Lady of the Grape Harvest.
In India, among the Latin-rite Catholics there are special celebrations in Goa, Mangaluru (Mangalore) and Mumbai.
These traditional celebrations do not always mean a change in the liturgical calendar. For example, this year of 2024 in which September 8 falls on a Sunday, the official liturgical calendars of India, France and the Philippines omit the feast as foreseen in the general rules of precedence.
In Malta, on the other hand, it is classed as a solemnity and is thus celebrated, omitting the corresponding Sunday of Ordinary Time.
I have been unable to verify local diocesan or regional variations which are always possible, and which would allow for the celebration in those places.
The feast of Mary’s Nativity is also held in high regard among some Eastern Churches such as in Ethiopia and in India, with Syro-Malabar Catholics preparing for the feast with an eight-day fast.
In conclusion, therefore, under normal circumstances, and exempting local liturgical law, special privileges and immemorial customs, it is not possible to transfer the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 8 to a Sunday or to celebrate it if it falls on a Sunday.
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