Do Venerables and Blesseds Have Liturgical Feast Days in the Catholic Church?

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Do Venerables and Blesseds Have Liturgical Feast Days in the Catholic Church?

Venerables do not have any liturgical Feast day within the Catholic Church. It is strictly forbidden to accord them such honours, as they have not been declared as being in heaven. Once the person's Heroic Virtues have been recognized by a pope, they may be called Venerable. The faithful are required not to address Venerables as Blessed or Saints. This can actually impede the process of beatification and canonization. Only the pope can accord someone the privilege of a cult.

Blesseds have a liturgical feast day, but their liturgical celebrations are limited to the local level of a diocese or Religious Order.

On a private level, one may celebrate their feast day, if one has a particular devotion to a particular blessed. Such private celebrations, must not have any public devotions.

With the beatification rite, conducted on the authority of the Supreme Pontiff, the Venerable Servant of God is declared Blessed, e.g. Blessed John Paul II.

Blesseds may receive public veneration at the local or regional level, usually restricted to those dioceses or religious institutes closely associated with the person's life. "Public veneration" in this use of the term doesn't mean that it is done in public; rather,that it is an act done by the clergy, or delegated laity, in the name of the Church (Mass, Divine Office, images in churches etc.), even if done in private. On the other hand, "private veneration" means veneration by individuals or groups acting in their own name, even if done "in public." While the Church restricts the public venration of Blesseds, Catholics are free to privately venerate them.

The reason for this distinction and its disciplinary norm is that beatification is not considered an infallible papal act, and so it is not yet appropriate that the entire Church give liturgical veneration to the Blessed. Perhaps to reinforce this distinction, Pope Benedict XVI has restored the practice, in use prior to Pope Paul VI, of having the Prefect of the Congregation conduct the beatification, rather than the Pope doing it himself. He has made exceptions, one of which is his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

In the case of Blessed John Paul II, the Holy See in a Decree Concerning the Liturgical Cult of Blessed John Paul II has determined that public veneration is lawful in the Diocese of Rome and the nation of Poland. Other nations, dioceses and institutes may petition the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments for the Indult to render cultus (veneration) to the Blessed. Without an Indult, however, public veneration is illicit, and even harms the possiblility for Canonization of the Blessed. - The Process of Beatification and Canonization

It is interesting to note that Pauline Jaricot’s beatification was presided over by Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle who was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. This Roman Congregation was in essence founded by Blessed Pauline Jaricot!

It would be of interest to see if the decree of beatification of Pauline Jaricot allows for her cult to extend of missionary land or simply the Archdiocese of Lyons, France?

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Blesseds can be said to have a feast day, but because they are not canonized, their cult is restricted to areas related to their life so only those can observe the feast day ordinarily. For example, most blessed Popes have feast days within Rome but not elsewhere and a blessed of a religious order would be observed within that order but not generally.

Venerables do not have a feast day because they are not yet declared to be in heaven so it's not approved to give liturgical devotion in their honor.

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