Memorials and Commemorations

The calendar in the BAS provides a rich diet by which parishes can celebrate God’s ceaseless call to holiness and the victory of Christ in the lives of men, women, and children through the ages. Some parishes have a liturgical life which can incorporate the full calendar easily; others cannot or may choose not to do so. The BAS distinction between memorial and commemoration is an attempt to help parishes make these choices by giving some indication of the significance of a person to the life of the church as a whole. While some of the designations may seem arbitrary, they are in no way binding on which persons parishes choose to observe or how. Some parishes, which have a regular group of people who pray together throughout the week, choose to interrupt the weekday lectionary only rarely. Other parishes, where there are few weekday celebrations of the eucharist or where the communities at each are quite distinct, find the lectio continua of the weekday lectionary makes little sense when its continuity is lost. These latter parishes have found the regular commemoration of persons in the calendar, with the appropriate prayers and readings, beneficial to their spiritual life. All these are viable possibilities and need to be considered by those who plan worship for the local community. Which order to follow, however, is the choice of the local community. An implicit recommendation is made in this ordo as to which option may be more appropriate to observe on any given day by the order in which the options are listed. The first option suggested is the recommended one. 

Memorials

When a day is observed as a memorial, the full propers (both prayers and readings) are used at the Eucharist and the collect of the memorial used as the collect of the day at the offices. As the BAS designates memorials as optional observances, a ferial option is also provided for the eucharist, and in the daily office entries the collect of the day is provided before the memorial collect (found in parentheses). If it is desired to commemorate (a simple act of remembering — not to be confused with the rank of ‘Commemoration’) the memorial using the ferial option, one may do so by using the collect of the memorial as a second collect and mention the memorial in the prayers of the people. During Advent, Lent, and Easter, it is appropriate that the colour of the season be retained. Following the Baptism of the Lord until Lent and during the season after Pentecost, the colour of the memorial may be used at the eucharist. Propers for memorials may be found in For All the Saints, or in the BAS, Common Propers for Saints’ Days, pages 432–447. Memorials not observed on their day during the liturgical year may be kept on a ferial day for which no other provisions have been provided. If a day is observed in this way, it is preferable that it be done so as soon as feasible after the original date. A list of these memorials, with their propers, may be found in this ordo. For those who wish to use biographical material for the memorial these may be found in FAS or in the Church of England’s Saints on Earth: A Biographical companion to Common Worship, which contains most of the memorials kept in the Canadian church.  

Commemorations

When a day is observed as a commemoration, only the prayers from the propers should be used at the Eucharist and the collect of the commemoration used as the collect of the day at the offices. The readings may come from the weekday lectionary or those of the preceding Sunday. Full propers are provided in FAS if there is a pastoral reason to keep them. As the BAS designates commemorations as optional observances, a ferial option is also provided for the eucharist, and in the daily office entries the collect of the day is provided before the commemoration collect (found in parentheses). If it is desired to commemorate the commemoration using the ferial option, one may do so by using the collect of the commemoration as a second collect and mention the commemoration in the prayers of the people. The liturgical colour of a commemoration is that of the season. Propers for commemorations may be found in For All the Saints, or in the BAS, Common Propers for Saints’ Days, pages 432–447. Commemorations not observed on their day during the liturgical year may be kept on a ferial day for which no other provisions have been provided. If a day is observed in this way, it is preferable that it be so as soon as feasible after the original date. A list of these commemorations, with their propers, may be found in this ordo. For those who wish to use biographical material for the commemoration these may be found in FAS or in the Church of England’s Saints on Earth: A Biographical companion to Common Worship, which contains most of the commemorations kept in the Canadian church.