Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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OPTIONAL MEMORIAL

A feast day in the revised liturgy; it may be observed at the option of the priest in offering Mass or of those reciting the Liturgy of the Hours. The new Roman calendar has ninety-five optional memorials. They are all feast days of saints whose memory the Church encourages the faithful to celebrate, without strictly requiring their observance.