Q: What sacrament celebrations can / cannot / should not take place during Advent and Lent. Couldn’t find the exact information…
Is the following accurate?
SEASONAL LIMITATIONS:
Advent: no Gloria, keep Alleluia; no Confirmations; Discourage baptisms, marriages and First Communions
Lent: No Gloria, no Alleluia (substitute choice from # 223 in the Lectionary); discourage baptisms, marriages; no Confirmations, no First Communions
Can you help us?
A: The rule for the Gloria is in GIRM 53 – said on Sundays outside of Advent and Lent.
The rule for no Alleluia during Lent is in GIRM 62b.
Baptisms and confirmations may not be celebrated during the weekdays of Holy Week. That’s in the 1988 Circular Letter Concerning the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts from the Congregation for Divine Worship.
The Missal says that sacraments may not be celebrated on Good Friday or Holy Saturday, except for penance and anointing of the sick. So that would include marriage.
I know of no restrictions on first communion.
Some parishes discourage sacraments at the times of year you mention, but they are acting on their own There is no universal prohibition.