Marian Liturgical Calendar

A complete guide to the celebrations of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Liturgical Year of the Catholic Church, according to the General Roman Calendar and the Proper Calendar of Spain.

1. What is the Liturgical Calendar?

The Liturgical Calendar is the order by which the Church distributes throughout the year the celebration of the paschal mystery of Christ, together with the memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of the Apostles, the Martyrs and the other Saints. It is governed by the Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar (promulgated by Saint Paul VI in 1969 and in force with the reform of the Roman Missal, third typical edition).

The structure of the liturgical year is organized around the Paschal Triduum —the summit of the whole year— and the great seasons: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Ordinary Time. Onto that temporal framework is inscribed the sanctoral, in which Mary holds a most singular place for being the Mother of the Redeemer.

Ranks of the celebrations

The celebrations of the sanctoral —and therefore the Marian ones— are ordered in four hierarchical ranks, from greatest to least solemnity:

Solemnity. It is the highest rank. It begins with First Vespers the previous evening and has the Gloria, the Creed and, in some, an octave. Marian examples: the Mother of God (1 January), the Annunciation (25 March), the Assumption (15 August) and the Immaculate Conception (8 December).
Feast. It is celebrated within the limits of the natural day; it has the Gloria but not the Creed (except those of the Lord). Marian examples: the Presentation of the Lord (2 February, a feast of the Lord with a strong Marian component), the Visitation (31 May) and the Nativity of the Virgin (8 September).
Obligatory memorial. It is to be celebrated whenever the calendar permits. Examples: Mary, Mother of the Church (the Monday after Pentecost), the Immaculate Heart of Mary (the Saturday after the Sacred Heart), the Queenship of Mary (22 August), Our Lady of Sorrows (15 September), Our Lady of the Rosary (7 October) and the Presentation of Mary (21 November).
Optional memorial. Its celebration is left to the discretion of the priest or of the community. Examples: Lourdes (11 February), Fatima (13 May), Carmel (16 July), Pilar (12 October) or Loreto (10 December).

Table of precedence

When two celebrations coincide, the Table of liturgical days is applied (Universal Norms, n. 59). In summary: the Paschal Triduum prevails over all; the solemnities of the Lord, the Sundays of Advent, Lent and Easter, Ash Wednesday and Holy Week precede any Marian feast. A Marian solemnity that falls on a Sunday of Ordinary Time displaces it; if it falls in Lent or privileged Advent, it is transferred to the following Monday (a typical case: the Annunciation if it collides with Holy Week).

2. Marian Feasts month by month

January

1 January — Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. Octave of Christmas. The most ancient Marian feast of Rome (6th c.). The title Theotókos proclaimed at Ephesus (431) against Nestorius. Saint Paul VI fixed it in 1969 as a solemnity. World Day of Peace.

February

2 February — Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (Candlemas). Forty days after Christmas. Formerly the “Purification of Mary”. A feast of the Lord with the blessing of candles. World Day of Consecrated Life (John Paul II, 1997).
11 February — Optional memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes. Apparitions to Saint Bernadette (1858). Inscribed by Saint Pius X in 1907. World Day of the Sick (John Paul II, 1992).

March

25 March — Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. Nine months before Christmas. Constantinople 6th c., Rome 7th c. If it coincides with Holy Week, it is transferred to the Monday after the Second Sunday of Easter. Day for Life.

May

13 May — Optional memorial of Our Lady of Fatima. First apparition to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta (1917). Inscribed by Saint John Paul II in 2000, after the assassination attempt of 13 May 1981.
24 May — Optional memorial of Mary, Help of Christians. Instituted by Pius VII in 1815. Favorite title of Saint John Bosco.
31 May — Feast of the Visitation. The Magnificat. Introduced by the Franciscans (1263), made universal by Urban VI (1389), transferred to the 31st by Saint Paul VI (1969).
Monday after Pentecost — Obligatory memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church. Instituted by Francis on 11 February 2018 (decree Ecclesia Mater). It takes up the title proclaimed by Saint Paul VI at the close of the Third Session of Vatican II (21 Nov 1964).
Saturday after the Sacred Heart — Obligatory memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Pius XII (1944). Saint John Paul II raised it to obligatory in 2000.

July

16 July — Optional memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. Tradition of the Order of Carmel and the scapular given to Saint Simon Stock (1251). Made universal by Benedict XIII (1726). Patroness of sailors and of the Spanish Navy.

August

5 August — Optional memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. 5th c., Sixtus III after Ephesus. Popularly “Our Lady of the Snows”.
15 August — Solemnity of the Assumption. The East 5th c. (Dormitio), Rome 7th c. Dogma defined by Pius XII (Munificentissimus Deus, 1950). A holy day of obligation in Spain.
22 August — Obligatory memorial of the Queenship of Mary. Pius XII, Ad caeli Reginam (1954). Transferred to the 22nd by Saint Paul VI as the octave of the Assumption.

September

8 September — Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin. Jerusalem 5th c., Rome 7th c. Nine months after the Immaculate Conception.
12 September — Optional memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary. Innocent XI (1683) after Vienna. Suppressed in 1969, restored by Saint John Paul II in 2002.
15 September — Obligatory memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. Servites 14th c., made universal by Pius VII (1814). The seven sorrows at the foot of the Cross.

October

7 October — Obligatory memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. Instituted by Saint Pius V in 1572 after Lepanto. Leo XIII dedicated twelve encyclicals to the Rosary.
12 October — Obligatory memorial in Spain: Our Lady of the Pillar. A solemnity in Zaragoza. Tradition of the apparition to the apostle Saint James (year 40). Patroness of the Hispanic world and of the Guardia Civil.

November

21 November — Obligatory memorial of the Presentation of the Virgin. It takes up the tradition of the Protoevangelium of James. Jerusalem 6th c., Constantinople 8th c., Rome 1372 (Gregory XI).

December

8 December — Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Principal patroness of Spain (Clement XIII, 1760). Dogma defined by Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus (1854). Four years later the Virgin would identify herself to Bernadette at Lourdes: «I am the Immaculate Conception». A holy day of obligation.
10 December — Optional memorial of the Virgin Mary of Loreto. The Holy House of Loreto. Inscribed by Francis on 7 October 2019. Patroness of aviators.
12 December — Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Apparitions to Saint Juan Diego (1531). Patroness of the Americas (John Paul II, 1999). A feast in the Spanish-American countries; an optional memorial elsewhere.

3. Proper celebrations of Spain (CEE Calendar)

12 October — Pilar: an obligatory memorial throughout Spain; a solemnity in Zaragoza.
8 September — Covadonga: a proper feast of Asturias.
8 December — the Immaculate: Principal patroness of Spain.

Diocesan titles (local solemnities)

Almudena (Madrid, 9 November) · Makarena, Esperanza de Triana and Our Lady of the Kings (Seville) · Bol (Granada) · Rosa (Almonte, Pentecost) · Glava (Andújar, last Sunday of April) · Begoña (Bilbao) · Montserrat (Catalonia, 27 April) · Guadalupe of Extremadura (Cáceres, 6 September) · Beskućnici (Valencia, second Sunday of May) · Put (León) · Fuencisla (Segovia).

4. Marian Saturdays

A tradition since Alcuin of York (8th c.) and consolidated by Saint Pius V in the Missal of 1568. Theological foundation: Holy Saturday, the day of the silence of the tomb in which only the faith of Mary sustained the nascent Church. The Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1986) offers 46 formularies.

5. Marian months

May, the month of flowers and of Mary

Originating in 18th-century Italy, the Jesuits of the Roman College and Saint Philip Neri. Pius VII granted indulgences in 1815. Spread in Spain in the 19th century through the «Exercises of the month of Mary» and the «Flowers for Mary».

October, the month of the Rosary

Leo XIII, encyclical Supremi apostolatus officio (1 September 1883). Eleven more encyclicals on the Rosary followed. Saint John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae (2002): the Luminous Mysteries + the Year of the Rosary.

6. Why so many Marian feasts?

Lumen Gentium 67: the cult of Mary, «although altogether singular, differs essentially from the worship of adoration paid to the incarnate Word, as well as to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters it».

Marialis Cultus 8: the Marian celebrations «commemorate saving events in which the Blessed Virgin was intimately united with her Son».

Each Marian feast is, in reality, a feast of Christ: the Mother of God proclaims the divinity of the Son; the Annunciation sings of the Incarnation; the Visitation announces the Savior to John; the Assumption is the firstfruits of the resurrection of the just; the Immaculate is the masterpiece of preventive redemption. All Mariology is Christology.

To honor Mary, in short, is to let oneself be led by her to the Son. Whoever prays the Rosary, celebrates her feasts and invokes her by her thousand titles, does not stray from Christ: he learns to go to him by the shortest, cleanest and most human way: that of his Mother.

Izvori

Roman Missal, third typical edition in Spanish (CEE, 2016) — General Roman Calendar and Proper Calendar of Spain.
Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar (Paul VI, Mysterii Paschalis, 1969).
Decree Ecclesia Mater (CDWDS, 3 March 2018) — Mary, Mother of the Church.
Decree on Loreto (CDWDS, 7 October 2019).
Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium chap. VIII.
Saint Paul VI, Marialis Cultus (1974).
Saint John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater (1987), Rosarium Virginis Mariae (2002).
Leo XIII, Supremi apostolatus officio (1883).
Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus (1854).
Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus (1950), Ad caeli Reginam (1954).
Spanish Episcopal Conference — conferenciaepiscopal.es
The Holy See — vatican.va

🌹 Prayers to the Virgin Mary · The Angelus, prayer for the hours of the day

The Marian Liturgical Calendar