From reader(s)… synthesized…
QUAERUNTUR:
Is it possible to have a Requiem Mass for Francis during the Octave of Easter?
It seems that it is not possible, either in the Novus Ordo or in the Vetus Ordo. The Octave outweighs just about anything except an actually funeral Mass itself. The Vetus Requiem for the day or death or reception of death does not outweigh the Octave. The earliest possible Requiem would be next Monday, after Low Sunday, on 28 April.
When will it possible, because it is now the Octave, to have Votive Masses for the Election of a Pope?
The next opportunity for a Vetus Votive Mass for the Election of a Pope would be (1st) Saturday 3 May and then Tuesday 6 May and Thursday 8 May.
I think you should be able add orations before that.
NOTA BENE:
It has been pointed out that we are 9 days out – a Novena – to the Feast of St. Catherine of Siena on Wednesday 30 April. St. Catherine was one of the Holy Spirit’s mighty instruments in the restoration of the Papacy to Rome.
The Papacy returned to Rome from Avignon on 17 January 1377, when Pope Gregory XI, influenced (nagged?) by St. Catherine of Siena, moved the Papal court back to Rome, ending the Avignon Papacy (since 1309). She was the second woman to be declared a Doctor of the Church, on 4 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI, days after Teresa of Ávila. In 1999 Pope John Paul II proclaimed her a Patron Saint of Europe.
In this time of hopeful uncertainty for the Roman Church, she would be a good saint to beg to intercede for the best possible outcome of the upcoming conclave.
Remember: As Joseph Ratzinger explained, it is not the role of the Holy Spirit to pick a pope. The Holy Spirit prevents the fallible and sinful Cardinals from choosing a man who would be total disaster. That doesn’t mean that a pope can’t be a disaster. History teaches us about that. We will not have total disaster, no matter what.
Let us pray for much better.
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I was Baptised 20 years ago under the Ponticate of John Paul II, then Confirmed at Pentecost under the Pontificate of Benedict XVI.
I do seem to remember that the Rituals and Masses for the Pope did need to be delayed for such reasons.
Ironically, in the new calendar, April 30th is the feast of the great St. Pius V.
Let’s also pray a novena to St. Pius V for a return to liturgical sanity with our new Pope, whoever he may be.
Pius XIII?
Actually, You can offer one Requiem mass for him during the office octave both and the old and the new rites “on the receiving of news of the death”. It’s one of the three occasions listed above the main Requiem Mass in the old Missale.
[First, I’m not sure what an “office octave” is unless, as I suspect this is a typo or oddo left after editing. I think you meant “Easter octave”. I respond: Nope. In the Vetus Ordo, the Octave of Easter is a 1st Class Octave. As such all other things must be translated until after the Octave. Similarly, all the days of Holy Week are 1st. Last year we had the situation wherein the Feast of the Annunciation had to be postponed until the Monday after Low Sunday. Similarly, any Votive Masses. The only Mass for the Dead that can be celebrated during the Octave is the actual funeral Mass itself with the body. All other Requiem Masses are translated to the next opportune day. About the Novus Ordo: Nope. GIRM 381 says that they can be said during the Christmas Octave, which is a lower class of Octave than Easter. The days of the Christmas Octave are not solemnities, which is why we CAN eat meat on Easter Friday, but cannot on Friday in the Octave of Christmas. If you believe you have some evidence to the contrary, please by all means share it here. However, you should give citations so we can have a look.]
Thank you for your wise guidance on this, Father.
St. Catherine of Siena is my Confirmation saint, and I know her story. I do not think it is a coincidence that she is remembered at this crucial time.
Like our good St. Catherine (and St. John Paul, whose feast day is approaching, and our late Pope Benedict, whose birthday we recently remembered), I plan to pray for *all* the hierarchy, from the College of Cardinals down to our selfless, hardworking parish priests. And our seminarians. The future of our Church depends on them, and they depend on us for spiritual and practical support.
May Pope Francis rest in the merciful arms of Jesus.
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I don’t know whether there is a standard novena to St. Catherine of Siena, but a prayer I like lately is the Litany of the Infant Jesus. It has some lovely expressions, “Renewer of the heavens,” “Root of the Patriarchs,” “Speech of the Prophets,” for example.
Isn’t it also the case that the Conclave itself must await the conclusion of the Easter Celebrations before even starting on its own work ?
I have been forwarded two messages.
From the nearest chapel of the SSPX:
Dear faithful, a solemn requiem high mass will be celebrated on Thursday 24th April at 7pm for the soul of Pope Francis. RIP.
And:
Thursday, 24 April 2025
Requiem Mass at 6:00 pm in Cathedral of _____
(Because the Chapel and the Cathedral are in different time zones, the two Masses will start at exactly the same time.)
I’m intrigued that both our bishop and the SSPX priest are waiting until sunset on Easter Thursday to offer the Requiem Mass. Is there something in both VO and NO rubrics which allows a Requiem Mass at this point during the Octave, but no earlier?
I don’t know if this is the same:
The priest at our TLM this AM said he wasn’t a liturgist so wasn’t certain if permitted, but he added the commemoration prayers “for a deceased pope” after the Collect, Secret, and Post Communion, while the Monday after Easter Mass was offered for my mom, who died one year ago today.
Copied from a London parish here in the UK:
‘Tonight – Monday 21st April 2025 – at 6:30pm there will be a Requiem Missa Cantata according to the Missal of 1962 at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, Maiden Lane.
The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster has granted an indult, permitting a Requiem Mass during this Easter Octave for the repose of the soul of His Holiness, Pope Francis, who died this morning, and there will be prayers offered at the end of the Mass for his eternal happiness.’
Thanks for making me do my homework on this. I was writing originally after an email was sent out to priests of my diocese from the liturgy office saying that you could in fact do one of these Masses today in The Novus Ordo. I’ll return to that.
Regarding the traditional Mass, you are correct, as O’Connell on page 91 of his “The Celebration of the Mass” lists the Mass on the Announcement as second class.
The Novus Ordo is more ambiguous. The wording of GIRM 381 gives inclusive language on days that you can celebrate the Mass on the Announcement, But does not give exclusive language for any days with the exception of Ash Wednesday and Holy Week. Shocker.
Going back to that email from the liturgy office of the diocese, because the general instruction does not provide such a clarification, he turned to the ordo of the diocese which apparently lists it as a Mass that can be celebrated any day during the Octave of Easter. Then, later I saw a dissenting opinion from another liturgist.
Given the old joke about negotiating with a liturgist versus a terrorist, I think I’ll just go ahead and celebrate the Mass of the octave with the intention “for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis” and leave Requiem Masses for after the octave
Grant M :
I’m intrigued that both our bishop and the SSPX priest are waiting until sunset on Easter Thursday to offer the Requiem Mass. Is there something in both VO and NO rubrics which allows a Requiem Mass at this point during the Octave, but no earlier?
Well in liturgical time, those Masses could be considered as taking place on the Friday by anticipation rather than the Thursday.
Traditionally each new day begins at sunset, which is conventionally defined in modern times and the modern clock as 6 PM.
But you’d have to check the exact details provided for these celebrations to see if these will be Thursday or Friday Masses, as both are possible at that hour.
Far more likely, the hour has been chosen for the simpler reason that it is a civil working day so that the Faithful who wish may attend Mass after work.