Solemnities and the many other liturgical feasts that fill our calendar are meant to be true celebrations. \u00a0Our current Missal translation even uses the word \u201cfestival\u201d in some of the prayers.<\/p>\n
However, sometimes the added liturgical elements can provide a challenge to celebration.\u00a0 I remember as a seminarian, that when a solemnity added a third Scripture reading, a Gloria and a Creed to the Eucharist, meant that the little time that we had in the mornings between chapel and departure for class all but disappeared. Unfortunately, the most memorable element of many solemnities was that we would not have time for breakfast and that there would only be two or three minutes between the end of the Eucharist and our having to be in the van to go to class.<\/p>\n
When you have time to spare, then the solemnity can be celebrated beautifully. Some institutions are fortunate enough to be able to modify their schedules and cancel class or work to allow for the fulness of worship options on these day. But when you do not control the rest of your schedule it can be a challenge. It would be hard to tell parishioners that the 7 AM Mass will be at 6:30 or 6:45 AM tomorrow because we are observing a particular solemnity.<\/p>\n
I remembered these experiences from my seminary training last Saturday.\u00a0 We celebrated the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.\u00a0 This is truly a beautiful liturgical feast.\u00a0 But I had a group on campus for weekend classes. The Eucharist is usually offered for them 45 minutes before class begins.\u00a0 Some students do come, but it is a challenge to make it to the campus that early. They were not late for class, but there was a certain tension between the competing liturgical and time concerns.<\/p>\n
This leads to some reflections. Ought we schedule the liturgy earlier when we have solemnity? I am not a morning person, and while I do value the additional elements in the liturgical celebration, I also find it hard to equate getting up earlier, even by 15 minutes, with celebration. Do we skip parts of the Eucharistic liturgy? This is against liturgical norms and rubrics, but I suspect that often the celebrant \u201cforgets\u201d the Gloria and especially the Creed.\u00a0 Or do we fast track the Mass, so that the Gloria and Creed are quickly recited in a scrupulous way, so that each and every word that is prescribed in the Missal is prayed albeit at breakneck speed?<\/p>\n