Information about the text of the Lectionary for use in participation aids etc. has been sent to publishers. if you wish to receive this information please contact the Liturgy Office: liturgy.office @ cbcew.org.uk
Composers
The texts of the Responsorial Psalms for Volume 1 of the Lectionary are now available on application. Volume 1 includes all Sundays, Ash Wednesday, the Paschal Triduum, Solemnities and Feasts of the Lord.
Composers should email the Liturgy Office: liturgy.office @ cbcew.org.uk – They will be sent the texts for Volume 1 and the Lectionary for Mass: A guide for Composers which provides information about the Lectionary and setting the texts. The following information should be provided:
The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has confirmed the approval by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales for the new Lectionary.
The Lectionary, which includes the scripture readings for Mass and the sacraments, will come into use in Catholic parishes in England and Wales from Advent 2024.
Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery, wrote to Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference, confirming the new translation of the Lectionary, which has been done in collaboration with the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.
He said:
“The use of the English Standard Version – Catholic Edition, already in use in India, along with the Abbey Psalms and Canticles will help to ensure that the Word of the Lord reaches God’s holy people without alloy.
“The collaboration of the Episcopal Conference with the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland is another notable feature of this project which highlights the importance of different episcopal conferences within a small geographical area working together for the overall good of the Catholic population in the British Isles.
“What has now been achieved ensures that a stable version of the Lectionary will endure in Great Britain for years to come. Both Conferences are to be commended for this cooperation.”
The Lectionary was revised after the Second Vatican Council. Paragraph 51 of Second Vatican Council document Sacrosanctum Concilium said: “The treasures of the bible are to be opened up more lavishly, so that richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God’s word.”
Archbishop Emeritus George Stack of Cardiff, Chair of the Department for Christian Life and Worship, welcomed the dicastery’s ‘confirmatio’ for the Lectionary:
“As we mark the sixtieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council we can see that the Lectionary is one of the great fruits of the Council. It fulfils the mandate of the Council Fathers to open up the scriptures for the faithful so that Sunday by Sunday Christ himself speaks to us in the word.
“The new Lectionary gives us an opportunity to hear that word with fresh ears as we engage with a text which is intended for public proclamation and reflects up to date biblical scholarship.
“I hope that parishes and other communities will engage in preparation for the Lectionary so that all the faithful will hear the word of God with deepened faith and understanding.”
The Lectionary will be in use from Advent 2024 and will be published by the Catholic Truth Society (CTS).
For those who interested by such things there is the coincidence of a pair of liturgical dates which has not happened since the revision of the Calendar after the Second Vatican Council and was not foreseen in the norms for calendars. In 2022 the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus falls on Friday 24 June which is usually the Solemnity of the Nativity of St John the Baptist. The Congregation for Divine Worship has issued guidance and the Sacred Heart will be celebrated on Friday 24 and the Nativity of St John the Baptist is transferred to Thursday 23 June. Further details can be found in the annual Calendar Notes. There are also details there of what is done in 2022 where a Solemnity is celebrated on a Saturday for Evening Prayer and Mass in the evening.
A developing feature of the website are the Sanctoral pages which provide information about the celebration of the Proper of Saints. Included here are the details, and where available texts, for new celebrations which have been added to the Calendar. A number of celebrations were added recently and links to them are included in the monthly pages. These include:
St Gregory of Narek, Abbot and Doctor of the Church, Optional Memorial, 27 February
St John of Avila, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Optional Memorial, 10 May
St Hildegard of Bingen, Virgin and Doctor of the Church, Optional Memorial, 17 September
The Sanctoral section is work in progress. It will include additional material as it becomes available but the majority of the celebrations will not be considered until after the Lectionary is published.
Pope Francis has decreed, by his own authority, that the optional memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Loreto should be inscribed in the Roman Calendar on 10 December, the day on which the feast falls in Loreto, and celebrated every year.
Details of the liturgical texts and readings can be found on the Liturgy Office website
On the feast of St Jerome Pope Francis issued a ‘Motu Proprio” instituting the Sunday of the Word of God. It will be marked each year on the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time.
The Holy Father had proposed the idea at the conclusion of the Year of Mercy when he wrote: a Sunday given over entirely to the word of God, so as to appreciate the inexhaustible riches contained in that constant dialogue between the Lord and his people.
The document provides a summary of the Church’s teaching on Scripture and the place of Scripture within the Liturgy. It suggests a number of ways that the day might be marked:
in the Eucharistic celebration the sacred text be enthroned, in order to focus the attention of the assembly on the normative value of God’s word.
it would be particularly appropriate to highlight the proclamation of the word of the Lord and to emphasize in the homily the honour that it is due
Bishops could celebrate the Rite of Installation of Lectors or a similar commissioning of readers, in order to bring out the importance of the proclamation of God’s word in the liturgy
renewed efforts should be made to provide members of the faithful with the training needed to be genuine proclaimers of the word.
Pastors can also find ways of giving a Bible, or one of its books, to the entire assembly as a way of showing the importance of learning how to read, appreciate and pray daily with sacred Scripture, especially through the practice of lectio divina.
The timing of the day will mean that it will often coincide with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and is at the same time as commemorations for Holocaust Memorial Day. Pope Francis notes this:
This Sunday of the Word of God will thus be a fitting part of that time of the year when we are encouraged to strengthen our bonds with the Jewish people and to pray for Christian unity. This is more than a temporal coincidence: the celebration of the Sunday of the Word of God has ecumenical value, since the Scriptures point out, for those who listen, the path to authentic and firm unity. [3]
He also addresses the concern that individual days of prayer can seem to highlight something which should be part of the normal life of the Church.
A day devoted to the Bible should not be seen as a yearly event but rather a year-long event, for we urgently need to grow in our knowledge and love of the Scriptures and of the risen Lord, who continues to speak his word and to break bread in the community of believers. [8]
The Pope’s Motu Proprio happily coincides with the Bishops of England and Wales announcing a Year of the Word — The God who Speaks to be celebrated from the First Sunday of Advent 2019.
For Lent this year the Bishops’ Conference is reading the Gospel of Luke. Each day there will be a podcast available to download. Starting on Ash Wednesday with Chapter 1 the series will conclude in Easter week with Chapter 24 and the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. There will be a compilation of the week’s readings available on each Sunday. Along side the audio it will be possible download the text each day with some questions for reflection and a prayer.
The monthly Liturgical Calendar for 2017 has now been published. As with each iteration of the calendar the year has its uncommon features. As the Epiphany of the Lord falls on Sunday 8 January, the Baptism of the Lord is celebrated on Monday 9 January. The current Lectionary does not make clear that when a Feast of the Lord is celebrated on a weekday there is only one reading before the Gospel, in line with other Feasts — either first or second reading may be chosen. Therefore, this year, when the Transfiguration of the Lord does fall on a Sunday it has 2 readings before the Gospel. Two Solemnities are transferred: St Joseph to Monday 20 March, St George to Monday 24 April.
The Congregation for Divine Worship recently published a list of additions to the Lectionary, mainly those Saints which have been added to the Universal Calendar. An English version of the list is available with references to the current Lectionary.
At the plenary meeting of the Bishops’ Conference in November 2015 the following decisions were made relating to the liturgy of the Church:
Revised Grail Psalter
The Bishops’ Conference supports the work of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) in preparing a revision of the Liturgy of the Hours. This will include the use of the Revised Grail Psalter (2010) in future editions of the Liturgy of the Hours in England and Wales.
National Calendar for England: Proper texts for the Divine Office
The Bishops’ Conference asks that further work be done on the Proper Texts in the Liturgy of the Hours for the National Calendar of England.
Lectionary
The Bishops’ Conference agrees to seek the approval of the Holy See for the use of the Revised Standard Version (2nd Catholic edition 2010) and the Revised Grail Psalter (2010) in the preparation of a Lectionary for use in England and Wales.
The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has issued a Homiletic Directory. Archbishop Roche’s introduction can be found on The Bishops’ Conference News site. There is an interview with him on Vatican Radio.
This fulfils a request for such a directory made at the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God in 2008.
The Contents are as follows:
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Introduction
PART ONE: THE HOMILY AND ITS LITURGICAL SETTING
THE HOMILY
INTERPRETING THE WORD OF GOD IN THE LITURGY
III. PREPARATION
PART TWO: ARS PRAEDICANDI
THE PASCHAL TRIDUUM AND THE FIFTY DAYS
The Old Testament Reading on Holy Thursday
The Old Testament Reading on Good Friday
The Old Testament Readings of the Easter Vigil
The Easter Lectionary
THE SUNDAYS OF LENT
The Gospel of the First Sunday of Lent
The Gospel of the Second Sunday of Lent
The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
III. THE SUNDAYS OF ADVENT
The First Sunday of Advent
The Second and Third Sundays of Advent
The Fourth Sunday of Advent
THE CHRISTMAS SEASON
The Liturgies of Christmas
The Feast of the Holy Family
The Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God
The Solemnity of the Epiphany
The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
THE SUNDAYS IN ORDINARY TIME
OTHER OCCASIONS
Weekday Mass
Weddings
Funerals
APPENDIX I: THE HOMILY AND THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Cycle A
Cycle B
Cycle C
Other Holy Days
APPENDIX II: POST-CONCILIAR ECCLESIAL SOURCES RELEVANT TO PREACHING
