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Question Title Posted By Question Date
When the Office of the Dead can be said... Lee Friday, October 29, 2004

Question:

The Office of the Dead is a Votive Office. According to the 1985 rubrics, it can be offered "in whole or in part" on any day except Solemnities, the Sundays of Advent, Lent, and Easter, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week entire, the Octave of Easter entire, and November 2, either for some public cause or "for the sake of devotion". This is pretty wide latitude, but it allows for a very free use of it depending on personal needs (e.g., the anniversary date of a parent or spouse).

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM+

Dear Lee:

Thanks for the reference. You quoted no. 245 of the General Instructions. That was the paragraph I was looking for an missed. Thus I was using the rules for Masses of the Dead, which appear to be different than that for the Divine Office.

245. For a public cause or out of devotion, except on solemnities, the Sundays of the seasons of Advent, Lent, and Easter, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, the octave of Easter, and 2 November, a votive office may be celebrated, in whole or in part: for example, on the occasion of a pilgrimage, a local feast, or the external solemnity of a saint.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary