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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COMMEMORATION
In general, any act or practice that recalls the memory of some personage or event. In particular the liturgical memorial of a mystery of Christ or of some saint or sacred event, which the Church wants to be kept alive among the faithful. The whole Christian calendar is built around such commemorations, some pertaining to the universal Church and others to be observed according to national or local custom, as directed by the hierarchy under the authority of the Holy See. (Etym. Latin commemorare, to call to mind.)
