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To: Priests and deacons
From: Father Gerardo Ceballos Gonzalez, Director, Office of Divine Worship
Father Michael McGivney, a priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford and the founder of the Knights of Columbus, was beatified on October 31, 2020. His feast day was assigned to August 13.
According to law and the custom of the church, a blessed may be venerated publicly and celebrated liturgically only where permitted by law. While in the past some blesseds have been inscribed on our national calendar, in more recent years the Holy See has indicated that they should only be inscribed in local diocesan calendars.
However, in a letter dated September 25, 2020, to the Supreme Knight of the K of C, the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments wrote: “it will be possible for gatherings of the Knights to celebrate a votive Mass in honor of Father McGivney with the permission of the local ordinary and respecting the rules of precedence laid out in the Table of Liturgical Days.”
Attached is the schema and liturgical text for Blessed Michael McGivney.