Q: I note that St. Charles de Foucauld is now commemorated on December 1, but I have been unable to find any mention of it on the USCCB website. Is the commemoration now or will it be on the universal calendar?== A: Charles was canonized a few years back, but I don’t think he was added to the general Roman calendar or the particular US calendar. As he is a saint in the martyrology, a priest could offer a Mass honoring him on December 1 using the commons.

Q: I’m delighted to see that iBreviary is now including the new ICEL translations of the hymns of Liber Hymnarius, and I’m enjoying singing them. Is the entire collection now available for purchase?== A: Yes, the entire collection can now be purchased here: https://giamusic.com/store/the-divine-office-hymnal . There’s even an accompaniment book. I do some work for ICEL, so I’m biased, but I think it’s a great accomplishment.

Q: Our Parish hosts a lovely annual Mass of Remembrance on the evening of All Souls, but we have a dilemma in scheduling next year, as All Souls falls on a Saturday. The Ordo provides for All Souls Evening Prayer to be celebrated after All Saints Evening Prayer on Nov 1 for Pastoral reasons… does that mean we could celebrate Mass with the All Souls readings on the evening of Nov 1? We’re trying to avoid a daytime Mass in order to best serve our parishioners.  Thanks in advance for any insight.== A: The USCCB’s BCDW published a clarification on …

Q: One of my parishes has our first infant baptism in many years scheduled for the First Sunday of Advent. There is only one Sunday Mass in this parish, so I have to bless the wreath at the same Mass as the baptism. Would I bless and light the first candle on the Advent Wreath after the celebration of baptism, per  Order of Baptism of Children paragraph 328?== A: There’s no clear answer for this because in the Book of Blessings 1517-1520, the wreath blessing concludes the prayer of the faithful, and at a baptism during Mass, the conclusion to the prayer of the faithful …

Q: I have a liturgy of the word convalidation  on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and wondered if I can use marriage readings or should I use the readings for the Solemnity? == A: You may use readings appropriate for the marriage. Restrictions on readings pertain to weddings with Mass.

Q: Our conference of bishops is reviewing the Order of Celebrating Matrimony, and we’d like to include the third chapter of the typical edition, which you Americans do not have. It’s the celebration of marriage in the presence of an assisting layperson instead of an ordained priest or deacon. I have noted that this particular ‘order’ carried no form of ‘opening prayer’ / ‘gathering prayer’ (by any other name). I find this peculiar. I went to your wonderful and very helpful book, “Inseparable Love…” to seek an explanation, but you never touched into the matter, even in passing.  Is there a reason …

Q: I read in our diocesan paper that technology in liturgy was being discussed at the Bishops’ November meeting. It says that there was a “previous determination that copyright permission would not be granted to project readings and liturgical texts onto screens.’” Can you tell us a little more about this? What are the implications for parishes who use screens? Thank you! == A: Here’s the link on the USCCB web site: https://www.usccb.org/committees/divine-worship/policies/copyright-permissions-requirements .  There are parts of the world where nearly every parish church has a screen, but it is not so widespread in the US. The bishops see problems with …

Q: Thank you for your Liturgical expertise and for the great work you do. We are so very grateful for you! We will light the Advent wreath this coming Saturday night, during Mass, using the formula in the Book of Blessings. It’s my understanding that subsequent lightings should occur without any special “ceremony.”  Last year, we had parishioners light the wreath before each Mass. It was simple and reverent. On the first SUNDAY Mass of Advent, should we repeat the blessing  at the morning Mass? Is there value in repeating it for the gathered assembly on Sunday?   Am I …

Q: As always, thank you for your blog.  I cannot find any mention in any liturgical book (or on your blog), positively or negatively, as to whether a concelebrating priest can give ciboria to Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, whether a deacon is present or not, and whether or not the Eucharist is to be distributed under both species (to anyone other than the deacon). Going by https://paulturner.org/communion-vessels-3/ , it would seem that the general principle that concelebrants fulfill the deacon’s role in his absence would implicitly allow concelebrants to help in this way, at least in the United States under whatever …

Q: I have a question.  I have never dealt with this issue before but I am seeing a trend with some folks in my Parish when they make a request for a mass intention. I noticed one man made a request and requested the words Mass Intention for the ” Most Forgotten Souls in Purgatory.” Do you have any kind of guidelines or put parameters on how the request for mass intentions work?  I don’t want bad theology to creep in.  I could see agendas or bad theology creep in. == A: Here’s a previous post on my blog: https://paulturner.org/guidelines-for-mass-intentions/ I’ve …