On the Solemnity of St. Joseph we woke up as usual to pray together in our little chapel. But, it was no ordinary day. It was a solemnity. There were proper prayers already given to us by the Church, special hymn, antiphons, intercessions, and final prayer. The Psalms were taken from Sunday week 1, even though it was Saturday. We went to Mass, we prayed the Gloria, listened to two readings, and prayed the Apostles Creed - just like at Sunday Mass. The priest wore white, even though it's the middle of lent.
Solemnities are the highest feasts in the Church, days set aside for the particularly great mysteries of our Faith. Christmas and Easter are celebrated in an octave and by seasons of preparations. The others include the Annunciation, the Immaculate Conception, Pentecost, Sts. Peter and Paul, the birth of John the Baptist and, of course, Mary the Mother of God and Joseph the husband of Mary. Some solemnities are Holy Days of Obligation (clearly Easter and Christmas, and others depending on your location).
On other days, we celebrate Feasts. These are of less solemn celebrations of mysteries or titles of Our Lord, (the Presentation), Our Lady (the Visitation), and the saints of particular significance (the Evangelists and Apostles). Feasts are celebrated at Mass with the Gloria and two readings, and some proper prayers in the Divine Office. (examples in parenthesis)
Finally, we have memorials, with which we are accustomed. Some of these are obligatory, that is, when the Mass is celebrated it must be celebrated in honor of the said saint . Many are optional. Liturgically, they are celebrated in the "ordinary" daily Mass and from the usual four week cycle of the Divine Office, though often they will have prayers proper to them (such as a closing prayer specifically invoking the saint).
You might find this link interesting, as it gives you the details of the Liturgical Calendar: http://www.churchyear.net/calendar2011.html
What throws most of us off is the fact that "FEAST" is used as a general term to apply to all three: solemnity, feast, and memorial. But, they are NOT all the same. In giving us this gradation of feasts the Church invites us to ponder the greater or lesser significance of events and persons in our salvation. If we really strive to live the spirit of each one, a beautiful awakening to the magnificence of the Liturgical year will occur. Further, our hearts and minds are opened to the message of the Church.
By "live the spirit", I mean approach them with consciousness that one day is not the same day as another. Everything from our prayer to our dinner plate can reflect the "status" of the day. There is no need for extravagance, only deliberation and awareness. In this way we move our bodies to flow to the beautiful rhythm of the Liturgical year, and our temporal calendar bows to calendar of the eternal.
The Annunciation (Solemnity) is coming up... and in between we have four days of lent. How will you live them?
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