A Week of Solemnities

Most Holy Body and Blood, John the Baptist, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Saints Peter and Paul. What do they have in common?

In all of the above, the Church celebrates solemnity. A solemnity is, in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite, a feast day of the highest rank celebrating a mystery of faith such as the Trinity, an event in the life of Jesus, his mother Mary, or another important saint. The observance begins with the vigil on the evening before the actual date of the feast.

Our celebration of any solemnity should not make us content of finishing it within the confines of the church premises and during the liturgical celebrations. We need to make the streets our locus of mastering what we celebrate by the way we treat the needy and the ordinary citizen. Today, the streets include the social media, the malls and other venues where people gather whether virtually or in reality. Our solemn celebrations must have a bearing in our daily undertaking.