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Divine Worship & Sacraments

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Tues, Feb 3, 10:45a-Noon & Weds, Feb 4, 1:30p-2:45p, Online

As the Church receives a new translation of the ritual book for pastoral care of the sick and their anointing (optional use beginning Feb 11, required by Easter Sunday), join this online gathering of priests, deacons, and lay ministers engaged in pastoral care of the sick to consider not only the new ritual book, but the broader pastoral care that the Church offers to the sick and dying.  

Fr. Michael Lewis, Director of the Office of Divine Worship for the Diocese of El Paso and a veteran pastor and teacher, will lead us in exploring the pastoral, historical, theological, liturgical, and practical dimensions of this important sacrament and ministry.

(The same content is offered each time; choose which works best for you.)

Cost: FREE!

Questions: Contact the ODWS

Fr. Michael L. Lewis, S.T.L. is a priest of the Diocese of El Paso and the pastor of Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church & School in El Paso, Texas. He also serves as the director of the diocese’s Office of Divine Worship, the diocesan master of liturgical celebrations, and as a chaplain to three hospitals. Prior to his ordination as a priest, he worked as a writer and editor at Scripps-Howard newspapers in Texas and Florida, and as a civilian journalist for the U.S. Army. He serves as the Region 10 representative on the board of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions, and as the vice-president of the Southwest Liturgical Conference board of directors.

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In a decree dated October 18, 2025 (Prot. n. 58/24), the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has confirmed the English translation of the Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition for liturgical use in the United States. The final text was received by the USCCB in late November. The Holy See’s confirmation now begins the publication and implementation stage of this long-awaited revision of the Divine Office.

After consulting with the Committee on Divine Worship, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, USCCB President, signed a decree of promulgation on November 10, 2025, establishing the first-use date of the new breviary as Ash Wednesday, February 10, 2027, and the mandatory-use date as the First Sunday of Advent, December 3, 2028. All four volumes are expected to be published before the end of 2027, but a longer vacatio legis was established to allow for the publication of extracted editions—especially the one-volume edition that includes Lauds and Vespers—for the benefit of permanent deacons and the lay faithful.

The first volume to be released for sale will be Volume II (Lent and Easter Time) in January 2027, in time for the first-use date, with subsequent volumes following over the course of 2027. The one-volume edition will not be published earlier than 2028. It is possible, however, that some minor extracts of the Divine Office (such as the General Instruction, Daytime Hours, or Compline) could be released in late 2027 or early 2028.

Purchasing Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition

The USCCB Committee on Divine Worship selected Ascension Press and Word on Fire Publishing to be the exclusive publishers of the Liturgy of the Hours, Second Edition in the United States. They will be responsible only for producing the four-volume editions of the breviary, while the publication of other extracted editions, both major and minor, will be entrusted to other publishers. 

Editions of the four-volume set will be available for sale beginning in January 2027, with each volume being released throughout the year. Both publishers also announced the versions to be produced, though pricing, page counts per volume, and starting date for preorders will be announced in the future. 

Ascension Press

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Word on Fire Publishing

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The Rite of Election of Catechumens (and the Calling of Candidates to Continuing Conversion) will be celebrated as usual on the First Sunday of Lent, February 22, 2026.

This important Lenten ritual is for catechumens preparing for full initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and First Communion) at the Easter Vigil 2026. Also invited are those baptized Christians who are seeking to be received into the full communion of the Catholic Church this Easter and have been preparing alongside the catechumens. (Please remember that non-Catholic Christians may be received into full communion any time during the year.)

Each Family of Parishes may choose from any of the liturgies for their group to attend, based on geography, timing, or language; there will be no deanery-specific assignments.

Cincinnati: Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter-in-Chains: 2pm (English)

Dayton: Church of the Immaculate Conception: 2pm (English) 

All: St. Maximilian Kolbe Church: 7pm (Spanish)

Registration will take place January 12-31.  

General Info 2026

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In decrees dated November 30, 2024 (Prot. n. 334/23 and Prot. n. 342/23), the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has confirmed the English translation of the Order of the Anointing of the Sick and of their Pastoral Care and the Spanish translation of the Ritual de la Unción de los enfermos y de su atención pastoral for liturgical use in the United States. The decrees and confirmed texts were received by the USCCB in December.

Following a customary editorial review period by the Secretariat of Divine Worship, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, USCCB President, issued decrees of promulgation on January 23, 2025 establishing the implementation timeline. The new Anointing rites may be used from February 11, 2026 (the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes and annual World Day of the Sick), and must be used as of Easter Sunday, April 5, 2026.

The International Commission on English in the Liturgy translated the Order of the Anointing of the Sick, while the Spanish translation approved for Mexico was used as the base text of the Ritual de la Unción de los enfermos. Both texts will replace the current Anointing rituals in use since the early 1980s, Pastoral Care of the Sick: Rites of Anointing and Viaticum (PCS) and its Spanish counterpart, Cuidado pastoral de los enfermos: Ritos de la Unción y del Viático.

Compared with the Latin typical edition, Pastoral Care of the Sick was rearranged in a manner suitable for both clergy and lay ministers, and included a multitude of options for prayers and readings. The Order of the Anointing of the Sick restores the typical edition’s arrangement and includes options that are fewer in number. By reorienting the use of this ritual book to only priests and deacons, the new translation will be much easier for clergy to use in pastoral settings. As implementation approaches, however, the USCCB will ensure that lay ministers continue to have access to those texts which they use in ministry to the sick and homebound.

Along with the English and Spanish translations, the Holy See also confirmed several ritual and textual adaptations for this country. First, the new edition retains several adaptations present in the current text concerning the qualifications for the reception of the sacrament (for example, PCS no. 53), though simplified and incorporated into no. 8 of the introduction. Additionally, although the typical edition does not include a “short form” of Anointing for use in hospitals and institutions, the USCCB added a rubric at the beginning of the Anointing of the Sick chapter allowing priests to omit some elements from the ordinary rite of Anointing when visiting multiple patients in a hospital or institution. Also, some material not present in the typical edition but included in Pastoral Care of the Sick has been retained in the new Anointing rites. Model rites for visiting a sick adult and a sick child, Christian Initiation in danger of death (cf. Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, nos. 370-399), prayers after death (cf. Order of Christian Funerals, nos. 101-108), and the emergency rite of Penance, Anointing, and Viaticum will appear as Appendices I-IV in the Order of the Anointing of the Sick, respectively.

The ODWS Online Shop has discounted ritual editions in both English and Spanish.

Pre-order yours now!

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Liturgy Preparation Aid  (Lent/Triduum/Eastertide) from the FDLC

  • A full presider text for a celebration of the Rite of Reconciliation of Several Penitents with Individual Confession and Absolution, Readings, Sample Penances, Music Suggestions, Frequently-asked questions about Lent and the Triduum, a Liturgical Planning Calendar, Lectionary Citations, and more!

English

Coming soon!

Spanish

Coming soon!

Ash Wednesday Liturgy of the Word

Because Ash Weds is NOT a day of obligation to attend Mass, it may be pastorally useful to include not only Eucharistic liturgies but also Liturgies of the Word outside of Mass with the distribution of ashes in the schedule for Ash Weds in a Family of Parishes.  This can be led by a deacon or qualified lay minister.

Ash Weds Liturgy of the Word – Presiders Text

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More Resources

Checklists for preparing Holy Week liturgies, liturgical texts, ideas for celebrating the Triduum in a pastoral region, and more!

Triduum Resources

Triduum in a Family of Parishes

Guidance for celebrating the Triduum as a Family of Parishes.

Triduum in a Family of Parishes

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Pastoral Note on the Passion Narratives

The Chairmen of the Committees on Divine Worship and Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs issued a memo to the publishers of worship aids, hymnals, and missals on February 1, 2023. The memo requires the following statement to be printed before the text of the Passion narrative on Good Friday in all future publications beginning in 2024. 

In the 1990s and again in the 2000s the Committees provided guidance on the preparation of homilies and created a similar statement to be included in worship aids alongside the proclamation of the passion during Holy Week to help ensure that the proclamation of the Lord’s Passion is not misused to promote anti-Jewish sentiment. The statement is available in English and Spanish:

The passion narratives are proclaimed in full so that all see vividly the love of Christ for each person. In light of this, the crimes during the Passion of Christ cannot be attributed, in either preaching or catechesis, indiscriminately to all Jews of that time, nor to Jews today. The Jewish people should not be referred to as though rejected or cursed, as if this view followed from Scripture. The Church ever keeps in mind that Jesus, his mother Mary, and the apostles all were Jewish. As the Church has always held, Christ freely suffered his passion and death because of the sins of all, that all might be saved.

Las narraciones de la pasión se proclaman en su totalidad para que todos vean vívidamente el amor de Cristo por cada persona. A la luz de esto, los crímenes durante la Pasión de Cristo no pueden atribuirse, ni en la predicación ni en la catequesis, indiscriminadamente a todos los judíos de ese tiempo, ni a los judíos de hoy. El pueblo judío no debe ser referido como si fuera reprobado de Dios o maldito, como si este punto de vista se dedujera de las Sagradas Escrituras. La Iglesia siempre tiene en mente que Jesús, su madre María y los apóstoles eran todos judíos. Como la Iglesia siempre ha sostenido, Cristo sufrió libremente su pasión y muerte a causa de los pecados de todos, para que todos pudieran ser salvados.

Encouraging the Sacrament of Penance during Lent

Resources for parish leaders to encourage the faithful to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance, especially during Lent

Penance Resources

Preparing the Exsultet

Ministry Monday, NPM’s weekly podcast, is featuring a series of episodes focused on the Exsultet. These episodes are perfect for a priest, deacon, or layperson proclaiming the Exsultet at the Easter Vigil, or for any pastoral musician who would like to learn more about the depth and breadth of this sacred chant.

Listen yourself or share them with someone you know who will chant this sacred text during the coming Triduum!

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Effective Apr 24, 2022 (the Octave Day of Easter), distribution of the Precious Blood may again take place generally at the discretion of the pastor.

The Church teaches that “by reason of sign value, sharing in both Eucharistic species reflects more fully the sacred realities that the Liturgy signifies.” (Norms for the Distribution and Reception of Holy Communion under Both Kinds)

Thus “Holy Communion has a fuller form as a sign when it takes place under both kinds.” (General Instruction of the Roman Missal)

In This Holy and Living Sacrifice, the 2016 archdiocesan policy and formation document on the ministry of Holy Communion, Archbishop Schnurr states: 

“To the best of their ability, each parish should offer both species at all Sunday celebrations of the Eucharist, and if possible, at other celebrations of the Eucharist when it can be done with reverence and dignity.”

With questions or concerns, please contact the Office for Divine Worship and Sacraments