Vatican City, May 30, 2008 / 08:34 am
The Year of St. Paul is fast approaching and in preparation for the celebrations of the Apostle to the Gentiles, permission has been given for a Mass for the Feast of St. Paul’s conversion to be celebrated on a Sunday.
Normally, feasts that occur on Sundays are moved to a week day since Sundays are reserved for the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. However, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has issued a decree today authorizing the celebration of a Mass on January 25, 2009, for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.
The decree is signed by Cardinal Francis Arinze and Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith, respectively prefect and secretary of the congregation. In the decree they explain that the authorization has been given because of the Pauline Year, due to be inaugurated by the Holy Father on June 28, 2008 to commemorate the 2000th anniversary of the birth of St. Paul.