Q: I was surprised to see Easter Weekdays listed so low in the Table of Liturgical Days, especially since the days between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost get a special mention above, at #2. Our Baccalaureate Mass is set to be celebrated in that window, and the readings do not lend themselves to the occasion. What are the rules for celebrating either a votive Mass, or a Mass for Various Needs and Occasions, with alternative readings? Do we need the ordinary’s permission?
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A: The Octave of Easter is the week following Easter Sunday, not the days between Ascension and Pentecost. Those are Easter weekdays, and they rank at #13 in the Table of Liturgical Days. GIRM 376 permits the rector of the church or the presider of the Mass to use a Mass for Various Needs and Occasions or a Votive Mass for “some real necessity or pastoral advantage.”
I’ve covered this in my book Sacred Times, which has a useful table in the back.
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