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.”
On August 5, 2021, Archbishop Leonard Blair, chair of the BCDW, distributed the liturgical texts to the Bishops of the United States. These contain a Collect and citations from the Lectionary’s Common of Pastors.
- First Reading — Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13 (Lectionary no. 722.8)
- Responsorial Psalm — Psalm 110:1, 2, 3, 4 (Lectionary no. 721.7)
- Gospel Acclamation — Luke 4:18 (Lectionary no. 723.4)
- Gospel — Matthew 5:1-12a (Lectionary no. 724.1 in the Common of Holy Men and Women)
The Knights also plan to distribute the texts to their chaplains. Again, the permission of the Local Ordinary is required. [See also GIRM, Chapter VIII, Part I, especially nos. 375 and 376.]