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r/divineoffice•
OctaShot

How to do commemorations correctly?

I have a number of questions regarding commemorations. First let me quote the relevant paragraphs from the General Instructions:

  1. On Sundays, solemnities, and feasts, on Ash Wednesday, during Holy Week, and during the octave of Easter, memorials that happen to fall on these days are disregarded.
  1. On the weekdays from 17 to 24 December, during the octave of Christmas, and on the weekdays of Lent, no obligatory memorials are celebrated, even in particular calendars. When any happen to fall during Lent in a given year, they are treated as optional memorials.
  1. During privileged seasons, if it is desired to celebrate the office of a saint on a day assigned to his or her memorial:

a. in the office of readings, after the patristic reading (with its responsory) from the Proper of Seasons, a proper reading about the saint (with its responsory) may follow, with the concluding prayer of the saint;

b. at morning prayer and evening prayer, the ending of the concluding prayer may be omitted and the saint’s antiphon (from the proper or common) and prayer may be added.

  1. Can commemorations be done on a Sunday? I'm assuming they can't but I'm not 100% sure.

  2. When doing a commemoration in the Office of Readings, is the Te Deum said if it is appropriate? If the answer to question 1 is no, then I can't imagine a situation where it would be said anyways.

  3. When commemorating during Morning/Evening prayer, is the antiphon used the gospel canticle antiphon?

  4. When commemorating during Morning/Evening prayer, do you say "let us pray" after the antiphon or do you simply say the prayer immediately after [psalter prayer minus last line - antiphon - saint prayer]?

  5. It is unclear what the last line to omit is at times. It's simple enough when the prayer ends with "We ask this through our Lord..." but not all prayers end that way. Today's evening prayer (Friday, Week I) reads "God our Father, help us to follow the example of your Son's patience in suffering. By sharing the burden he carries, may we come to share his glory in the kingdom where he lives with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever." It would be hard to imagine that they want you to omit the entire last sentence.

Posted Aug 3, 2019, 2:43 AM UTC

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Elvis_von_Fonz4-vol LOTH (USA)•

Since commemorations are during Lent, I usually don't do them, so I'm working off old knowledge that I learned when I first started praying the LOTH (but haven't done commemorations in years and years).

A commemoration is basically a memorial or optional memorial done within Lent.

It can't replace a Sunday. There is no Te Deum (as it is Lent, and we don't pray the Te Deum for memorials).

Not sure about no 3. I think you are supposed to use the antiphon for the day, but not for the commemoration.

At MP/EP, we never say "let us pray" after the Our Father and before the Concluding Prayer. After you've repeated the antiphon at the end, you go straight into the Concluding Prayer. The idea is that you've already asked everyone to pray at the beginning of the Our Father, and you don't need to do it again.

I can't recall what to do with no 5.

Again, I'm working off old memory here, but I think I have the basic principles correct. Any correction is welcomed and encouraged.

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