View source for Feria

{{Short description|Day other than the sabbath day}}
{{Other uses}}
In the [[liturgy]] of the [[Catholic Church]], a '''feria''' is a day of the week other than [[Sunday]].<ref>"The term 'feria' means the different days of the week apart from Sunday" ([http://maternalheart.org/library/1962rubrics.pdf English translation] of the [[Code of Rubrics]], 21); ''Nomine feriae intelleguntur singuli dies hebdomadis, praeter dominicam'' ([http://missaleromanum.it/Summorum/Summorum05.pdf original text] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809042126/http://www.missaleromanum.it/Summorum/Summorum05.pdf |date=2017-08-09 }}).</ref>
In more recent official liturgical texts in English, the term ''weekday'' is used instead of ''feria''.<ref>An example is the English translation of the [[Roman Missal]].</ref>
If the [[Calendar of saints|feast day]] of a saint falls on such a day, the liturgy celebrated may be that of the saint, not that of the ''feria'' (the weekday liturgy). Accordingly, in actual liturgical practice a feria or ferial day is "a weekday on which no special ecclesiastical feast is to be celebrated".<ref>[http://therealpresence.org/cgi-bin/getdefinition.pl John A. Hardon, ''Modern Catholic Dictionary'']</ref><ref name=Harvard>[https://books.google.com/books?id=TMdf1SioFk4C&q=Harvard-feria%3D&pg=PA310 Will apiel ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'' (Harvard University Press 1969), p. 310]</ref>
== Etymology ==
The ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'' explains the etymology ''feria'' as "the reverse of the original meaning of [[Latin|L.]] ''feria'', i.e., festival day. The reversal came about by extending the use of the word from Sunday to the other days, [[Sunday]] being named ''feria prima'', [[Monday]] ''feria secunda'', [[Tuesday]] ''feria tertia'', etc."<ref name=Harvard/>
Since in [[ecclesiastical Latin]] the names of Sunday and Saturday do not contain the word ''feria'' and are called respectively ''dominica'' and ''sabbatum'', some use the term ''feria'' "to denote the days of the week with the exception of Sunday and [[Saturday]]",<ref>Francis Mershman did so in his article "[http://newadvent.org/cathen/06043a.htm Feria]" in the 1909 ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'', in which he also interpreted the Gospel phrases ''una sabbati'' and ''prima sabbati'' (in Greek μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων and πρώτῃ σαββάτου – Mark 16:2, 9) as meaning "the first day from the Sabbath", instead of the usual interpretation as "the first day of the week", with σάββατον meaning "week", as indicated in [http://biblehub.com/greek/4521.htm ''Strong's Concordance''].</ref> in spite of the official definition given above and the actual usage in official liturgical books.
The [[ Galician language|Galician]] and [[Portuguese language]]s uses the same terminology as ecclesiastical Latin for the days of the week, calling the days from Monday to Friday ''segunda-feira'', ''terça-feira'' (literally, "second weekday", "third weekday"), etc., but calling Saturday ''sábado'' and Sunday ''domingo'' (see [[Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week|Numbered days of the week]]).
== Classification ==
The [[Roman Rite]] no longer distinguishes different classes of ferias (weekdays) as in the 1960 [[Code of Rubrics]] of [[Pope John XXIII]], but it attributes different positions to them in [[ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite|ranking liturgical days]]. In the ''Table of Liturgical Days according to their order of precedence'', attached to the ''Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar'',<ref>This can be consulted, for instance, in the Roman Missal, where it is printed immediately after the [[General Instruction of the Roman Missal]].</ref> [[Ash Wednesday]] and weekdays of [[Holy Week]] from Monday up to and including Thursday are outranked only by the [[Paschal Triduum]], the four [[solemnity|solemnities]] of Christmas, [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]], [[Feast of the Ascension|Ascension]] and [[Pentecost]], and the Sundays of Advent, Lent, and Easter. Weekdays of Advent from 17 December up to and including 24 December and weekdays of Lent rank above [[memorial (liturgy)|memorials]]. Other liturgical weekdays (ferias) come last in the ranking.
The Code of Rubrics of 1960 introduced a newly invented division of ferias into four classes:
* First-class ferias, outranking all feasts: Ash Wednesday and all the weekdays of Holy Week;
* Second-class ferias, outranking local second-class feasts and, if impeded, requiring to be [[Commemoration (liturgy)|commemorated]]: ferias of Advent from 17 December to 23 December, and [[Ember Days]] of Advent, Lent and September;
* Third-class ferias: ferias in Lent from Thursday after Ash Wednesday to Saturday before the Second Sunday of the Passion (Palm Sunday) except Ember Days (these outranked third-class feasts), and ferias in Advent up to 16 December except Ember Days (these were outranked by third-class feasts);
* Fourth-class ferias: all other ferias (weekday liturgies).
Before 1960, the Roman Rite knew a simpler distinction between major and minor ferias. The major ferias were those of Advent and Lent, the Ember days, and the Monday of [[Rogation days|Rogation week]]. These had to be [[Commemoration (liturgy)|commemorated]] even on the highest feasts. All the others were minor ferias (liturgical weekdays). In addition, the major ferias of Ash Wednesday and Holy Week were privileged: these liturgies were to be celebrated no matter what feast happened to occur on those days.<ref>[http://newadvent.org/cathen/06043a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia (1909): Feria]</ref>
== See also ==
*[[Ranking of liturgical days in the Roman Rite]]
*[[Solemnity]]
*[[Memorial (liturgy)|Memorial]]
*[[Ember Days]]
*[[Octave (liturgical)|Octave]]
*[[General Roman Calendar]]
*[[Liturgical year]]
*[[Calendar of saints]]
*[[Commemoration in the Catholic liturgy]]
*[[Ordinary Time]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Catholic liturgy]]
[[Category:History of the Catholic Church]]
[[Category:Days of the week]]