(Cough). This is a topic that the USCCB staff has often fumbled in the past, unevenly, so it's not surprising it's not addressed in the Ordo. (Cough). Normally, a late afternoon Mass would follow the same rules as vespers - so, this ideally would be the propers of the Assumption which has second vespers that would take precedence over the first vespers of 20OT. (I am willing to concede that, if the Saturday evening Mass were more obviously after the normal time for vespers - say, a 9 or 10PM Mass - then it's less clear that it would be resolved this way).

That said, in practice this will be determined by the celebrant-homilist. If he's preaching on the propers of 20OT, then the readers and musicians should be prepared accordingly and not feel guilty - it's certainly an area where practice has largely gone on autopilot.

Finally, the determination of propers has nothing to do with the fulfillment of the preceptual obligation: one can fulfill one's preceptual obligation for 20OT while assisting at a Mass that has other propers (be it the Assumption or a ritual Mass).

My Dutch ordo says:
- anticipated Mass on Saturday evening: 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time
- vespers: second vespers of Assumption

(In the Netherlands, Assumption is an obligatory Solemnity)

Well last year the consensus on All Saints Day (a Saturday) was that the Saturday evening Mass should be for All Saints, the Sunday for All Souls. So it is probably the same situation.

Except a letter came from my Diocesan Office of Worship which mandated the Mass of All Souls to be said on Saturday Evening (4:00 pm, et seq.). Ask the Diocese. But don't be surprised if they give you one answer and then, in the week before, send out a circular letter saying the opposite -- after the choir/cantors have rehearsed, of-course!

In the OF, can a requiem be said on Sunday?

Sunday for All Souls? Really?

While a Mass of Christian Burial can be celebrated on Sundays other than solemnities outside of Advent/Lent/Eastertide, it's very unusual in practice because of restrictions on bination/trination but in cases of grave need could probably be justified.

Chris, yes, All Souls is obligatory on Sundays. Its religious and cultural value would be lost if transferred. Most people can show up for the Mass for the dead on 2 November, whenever that is, but try explaining that it was moved.

The Canadian Ordo included a Gloria this past year. Of course someone would...

I know they were, but I think the Credo should have been nixed too. That is where the confusion overruled the otherwise obvious, i.e. Mass for the dead= no Gloria.

St Joseph and Annunciation are moved in the OF because Sundays of Lent and Easter have higher precedence. If they fell in Ordinary Time, they'd be celebrated on Sundays.

Same here.

Matthew,

The rules no longer forbid black on Sundays in part because one doesn't exclude what is never considered in the first place: when was the last time you attended an OF Mass at which black vestments were used?

Whether they are used or not (in the US), they are given as options in the Missal. Since black vestments are considered by the Missal for Masses of the Dead, there is the possibility that that colour might be forbidden by law when the All Souls' falls on a Sunday, which seems to have been the case. The rules now no longer forbid the use of black on Sundays, allowing the full option of colours lawfully permitted for Requiem Mass.

Finally, someone gets it right.

It depends on the ruling of your particular diocese.

As far as I am aware, most parishes will maintain the regular vigil mass of the Sunday in the evening, but you may want to contact your diocesan office of worship for confirmation as to what will happen.

The reason they are permitting funerals on Assumption Day is that it's not a day of precept this year in the USA. But that doesn't reduce its precedence (rank 3 in the table of precedence) over a Sunday in Ordinary Time (rank 6 in the table of precedence) in the liturgical calendar.

Aug 14 evening: Vigil of Assumption

Does the Assumption have a vigil Mass?
O do you mean an anticipated Mass?

For anyone in the diocese of Cleveland - I have learned that the Bishop believes Assumption should be celebrated on Sat. evening the 15th, and is doing so at the Cathedral, although this info was not publicized in the diocesan memo.

Sigh. Chonak [Jul 21] is correct, other rabbit trails notwithstanding.

With all due respect to local, parish, diocesan, and episcopal conference customs and decrees, the universal law of the Roman Rite takes precedence over all others. This seems not to be an item taught in seminaries these days, nor for the past fifty years.

In the Ordinary Form, a Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Class I, Rank 3) always takes precedence over a Sunday in Ordinary Time (Class II, Rank 6). Chonak gave a link to the pertinent text, but not the citation. The law comes from General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar (1969) by the Congregation for Divine Worship.

What is pertinent here is the question: "what happens on the evening of the solemnity itself (e.g., Assumption of BVM), when that solemnity falls on a Saturday?" The answer can be found in paragraph 61 of the General Norms:

61. If the same day were to call for celebration of evening prayer of that day’s office and evening prayer I of the following day, evening prayer of the day with the higher rank in the Table of Liturgical Days takes precedence; in cases of equal rank, evening prayer of the actual day takes precedence.

This year (2015), Saturday, August 15, and Sunday, August 16, are not of equal rank: the liturgical feast of the Assumption ranks higher than the Sunday in Ordinary Time. Therefore: Vespers or Evening Prayer on Saturday evening, August 15, must be of the Assumption, not of the Sunday. Similarly, any evening Mass (regardless of at what time it begins) must be of the Assumption. Since the "day" of the Assumption does not conclude until midnight (Cf. Can. 202 §1), no anticipated observance of the Sunday is made whatsoever this year.

Ergo, parish and diocesan liturgical offices that instruct instead that Mass on Saturday evening, August 15, 2015, is to be of the Sunday in Ordinary Time, are quite simply wrong.

That said, both Liam and JonLaird are correct: even if one participates in Holy Mass on the Saturday evening, one nonethelessfulfills one's "Sunday obligation" - even if the Mass isn't of the Sunday. That's the way the law reads.

It seems to me that it goes back to "Keep holy the Sabbath Day", with the Sabbath starting at sunset.

No, that says that participation on the previous evening satisfies the precept. I wasn't talking about that, but about which Mass is celebrated. By "anticipated Mass" (not really a thing canonically) I meant the practice of saying the Mass of the following day before midnight when the following day actually starts. By "Mass of the day" I mean the proper texts, readings, and rubrical provisions that are governed by what day it is.

I am sure that you are right, that the canon you quote indeed exists so that anyone impeded from assisting at Mass on the day can still satisfy the obligation.

Ah, I apologize for the misunderstanding. Sunday and holy days are an exception to the midnight-to-midnight rule, according to the Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar:

3. Each and every day is sanctified by the liturgical celebrations of the People of God, especially by the Eucharistic Sacrifice and the Divine Office.
The liturgical day runs from midnight to midnight. However, the celebration of Sunday and of Solemnities begins already on the evening of the previous day.

So, it seems that a Mass on Saturday evening occurs when the higher-ranking Sunday feast has already begun liturgically -- except, of course, when the Sunday is not in fact higher-ranking.

60. If several celebrations fall on the same day [I assume this means calendar day], the one that holds the highest rank according to the Table of Liturgical Days is observed.

Fr. Krisman: thus one can have the anniversary of the dedication of a cathedral, parish titular feast, local solemnities, etc. take the place of the Sunday Mass...

The ordo of the local Benedictine abbey states that on Saturday the 14th, 2nd Vespers of the Assumption will be celebrated, and not 1st Vespers of the Sunday. The Abbey is of the Solesmes Congregation and thus very careful when it comes to liturgy, so I don't even bother checking up on the precedence rules, I trust the monks to make the right decisions :-)

Yes, sorry my mistake.

The evening prayer requirement makes sense given that evening prayer II of the Assumption and evening prayer I of the Sunday are indeed conflicting events and so the laws of precedence need to be called into action. But technically isn't the anticipated mass of Sunday a Sunday event that happens to occur on a Saturday? Thus it technically isn't a conflict at all liturgically speaking and so the anticipated mass would be just that: an anticipated mass of the Sunday that is unaffected by whatever else falls on Saturday (solemnity or otherwise). Just curious......

Understood and agreed. But (hypothetically speaking) if Evening Prayer II for the Assumption were celebrated at 3:30 pm then that day would be over, liturgically speaking, and so a Mass held at 4:00 pm would be freed from attachment to that day. Correct?