Title & dedication · 4(b) / 4(c)

A church’s dedication anniversary and approved title are solemnities in that building. A parish name or devotional patron does not establish a second titular celebration.

St. Joseph · 3 already applies

March 19 is already a General Calendar solemnity [3]. A church titled St. Joseph retains that higher rank; it does not add another solemnity under 4(c). If impeded, use the calendar’s transferred observance once. An ordinary Lenten Sunday [2] takes precedence: the solemnity moves to Monday under Norm 5. Holy Week and Palm Sunday follow the special transfer provisions (official example, p. 4). The May 1 celebration of St. Joseph the Worker is a different title and date.

Principal patron · Which community?

4(a) · Place, city or state

Proper solemnity for the community whose principal patron is lawfully established.

8(a) · Diocese

Proper feast throughout that diocese, unless an approved higher rank applies.

8(c) · Region / province / country

Proper feast for that wider territory. An ecclesiastical province is a grouping of dioceses. “State” and “province” here are the table’s categories, not a rule that a modern civil boundary automatically gives a higher rank. Use the patron’s approved calendar and scope.

11(a) · Secondary patron

Proper obligatory memorial where applicable. A personal or occupational patron does not acquire a territorial calendar rank merely from that devotion.

Sunday Mass · 4(b), 4(c) & 6

4(b) / 4(c) · Own church

For pastoral benefit, celebrate its Mass with the people on a nearby Ordinary Time Sunday it outranks.

Who decides?

Pastor. Universal Norms 58 requires no additional bishop approval; follow diocesan norms. Proper date and Sunday Office stay unchanged.

Limits

No Advent, Lent or Easter Sunday; no higher-ranking celebration. A diocesan patronal feast [8(a)] alone does not qualify. Other weekday solemnities and Feasts of the Lord may qualify if they outrank that Sunday.

Transfers · 2, 3 & 4

Displaced solemnity

Follow the calendar’s transfer rules. Feasts and memorials are normally omitted that year. Universal Norms 60

Bishop / approved calendar

The bishop may decree special celebrations for individual occasions. Permanent calendar changes need the proper approval. Holy-day Sunday transfers: bishops’ conference with Rome’s approval. Universal Norms 49, 55; canons 1244, 1246 §2

Other Masses

Votive: devotion. Various Needs: a particular need.
Mass choices, not additional calendar ranks.

Ritual Masses GIRM 372

For a sacrament or sacramental. Not on ranks 1–4; follow the ritual book. Permission for the rite does not automatically permit its Ritual Mass.

Funeral Masses GIRM 380

Not on: solemnities of obligation, Holy Thursday, Paschal Triduum, Advent/Lent/Easter Sundays. Ordinary Time Sundays: allowed, subject to funeral law.

Other Masses for the Dead GIRM 381

News of death / final burial / first anniversary: also allowed on obligatory memorials, Christmas Octave weekdays and Lenten weekdays except Ash Wednesday or Holy Week.“Daily” Requiem: Ordinary Time weekdays without a feast, solemnity or obligatory memorial; must be applied for the dead.

Intention ≠ formulary. A Mass for someone deceased does not require a Requiem Mass.