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30 October 2014

When All Souls Day Falls on Sunday


There has been some confusion in the Catholic corner of the Internet with regards to Mass this Sunday.  The Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite now allows All Souls Day to be celebrated on Sunday.  (The pre-Vatican II calendar would have (and still does) moved it from the Sunday, so as to allow Sunday to retain its primacy.)  Normally, there is no Gloria and Creed said on All Souls Day.  The confusion seems to originate from the Canadian Bishops, who seem to have required it in their local Liturgical Ordo.

To help clear up some confusion, I have scanned the relevant pages from the 2013-2014 Ordo Missae Celebrandae et Divini Officii Persolvendi published by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana:


Here is the English translation of the same from the edition published by Centro Liturgico Vincenziano:



Normally, when the Gloria and Creed are to be said, they are mentioned in the notes for the day, as is done above for the Solemnity of All Saints.  There is no such notation for All Souls Day.

The question is whether the GIRM permits or otherwise requires the Gloria or Creed.  Paragraph 53 of the GIRM reads, in part: "[The Gloria] is sung or said on Sundays outside the Seasons of Advent and Lent, on solemnities and feasts, and at special celebrations of a more solemn character."  There is a similar instruction with regards the Creed, from GIRM no. 68:  "The Creed is to be sung or said by the priest together with the people on Sundays and Solemnities. It may be said also at particular celebrations of a more solemn character."

There is perhaps an argument to be made that, at least at a solemnly celebrated Mass of All Souls, it would be appropriate to sing the Gloria and Creed, its absence in the universal Ordo notwithstanding.