Can a lone priest celebrate Mass?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael1801
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Michael1801

Guest
Can a priest celebrate the Mass if there are no other communicants?

Say he was alone, on a desert island, and had everything else he needed, but there wasn’t anyone else on the island.

Could he celebrate Mass?
 
Absolutely! It’s called a Mass sine populo. It’s not the ideal, but there is no doctrinal reason a priest cannot celebrate Mass by himself.

I have wondered, though, if any of the personal pronouns change, or if the rubrics provide for that. Occasionally I recite a Missa sicca as a private devotion — a “dry Mass” where a layman says the Mass prayers (though not, of course, the consecration) to himself — and I change the pronouns to be proper to myself (e.g., Misereátur mei omnípotens Deus, et dimíssis peccátis meis, perdúcat me ad vitam ætérnam). In that it is a private devotion, I am entirely within my rights to do this.

40.png
Missa Sicca - Dry Mass Rubrics Traditional Catholicism
Dear Forum, Does anyone know where to find the rubrics for a traditional missa sicca - a dry mass? Does anyone have the titles of some old rubrical book, etc…? Jordanqwef
Click to expand...
 
Michael1801 said:
Can a priest celebrate the Mass if there are no other communicants?

Say he was alone, on a desert island, and had everything else he needed, but there wasn’t anyone else on the island.

Could he celebrate Mass?
Click to expand...
Yes. However, he cannot (if I’m not mistaken) cannot pray the Holy Triduum without a congregation. On Holy Thursday, Good Friday & Holy Saturday, a priest “on a desert island” would only pray the Divine Office.

God bless
 
Last edited:
Actually yes it can and has happened.
Here is but 1 example of this:
Archbishop Thuan, manifesting innovative fidelity, also used his scanty means to celebrate Mass in prison. He knew that celebrating Mass was his most important duty, but he had no church, no altar, and no tabernacle. How, then, could he fulfill his duty as bishop? He turned the concentration camp into a cathedral and the palm of his hand into an altar. He turned his shirt pocket into a tabernacle and turned the darkness of the sleeping quarters into a dwelling place for Light Himself. Because of his ingenuity, many prisoners regained the fervor of their faith. The prisoners were reminded to embrace suffering and to use their current circumstances to grow in faith. His example not only embodies the proactive faith of past and present Vietnamese Catholics but also teaches all Christians that faith entails an active surrender to the Lord. It means seeking the best way to proclaim Christ’s love in every moment, every circumstance, and every action.
Named Venerable already, Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan.
Peace!
 
I celebrate Mass on my own with some regularity. Before the pandemic I would celebrate a private Mass about once a week. On vacation I might do so for several days in a row.

-Fr ACEGC
 
Perhaps you can enlighten me then, Father. I know my last parish priest would be celebrating Mass every day, but he kept Mondays closed to the public. It was his “day off”. Even so I don’t understand why a priest wouldn’t just say “only Mass today, it’s my day off” rather than celebrating sine populo…
 
I’m not sure what you’re asking. If I celebrate Mass on my day off without the participation of the faithful, this is a Mass sine populo, which literally means “without people.”
 
Father, I think @TheMortenBay was wondering some why priests choose to say a private Mass rather than a public one on their day off. I can imagine though that it would be hard to set limits if there are interactions with parishioners. Sometimes just going to the supermarket on my day off can be risky !
 
TheMortenBay said:
Perhaps you can enlighten me then, Father. I know my last parish priest would be celebrating Mass every day, but he kept Mondays closed to the public. It was his “day off”. Even so I don’t understand why a priest wouldn’t just say “only Mass today, it’s my day off” rather than celebrating sine populo…
Click to expand...
I’m not a priest, but my guess is this:

Many priests live far from their families. For the ones who have a “day off” on Monday and don’t celebrate a public mass on Mondays, my guess is this allows them the flexibility to travel after Mass on Sunday, spend the night, and comeback before Mass on Tuesday.

For example: Father lives 2+ hours from his parents and often travels to his parents on Sunday after Mass. Spends the night, and drives back the parish some time on Monday evening or Tuesday morning before the Tuesday Mass.
 
This question must surely have arisen due to the popular misconception that a Mass’s validity depends upon the attendance of the faithful.

The Masses said behind locked doors during Coronavirus are just as valid as those said with massive congregations.
 
Can. 906 Except for a just and reasonable cause, a priest is not to celebrate the eucharistic sacrifice without the participation of at least some member of the faithful.
Click to expand...
So it’s certainly possible but not something which should be done for the priest’s convenience. So, if a priest doesn’t have a mass scheduled on a particular day he should go somewhere which does and concelebrate with the priest there, the idea being that the Eucharist is an action of the whole Church - priest and people - and not the priest alone. That said, the prohibition is far less strict than it used to be and something like travel would count as a just and reasonable cause (personally, I’d have to travel an hour). Previously at least a server was required except in a limited number of exceptional circumstances including, appropriately enough, in time of pestilence, when a priest would otherwise be obliged to abstain from celebrating for a notable time!
 
From the General Instruction of the Roman Missal:
“254. Mass should not be celebrated without a minister, or at least one of the faithful, except for a just and reasonable cause. In this case, the greetings, the instructions, and the blessing at the end of Mass are omitted.”

[Excerpt from the English translation of the Roman Missal (c) 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.]
 
JohnLilburne said:
except for a just and reasonable cause.
Click to expand...
We’ve been over this several times on this forum. The communion of the priest is a just and reasonable cause. If you can explain to me how me receiving communion on my day off is unjust or unreasonable, I will stop offering private masses.
 
edward_george1 said:
If you can explain to me how me receiving communion on my day off is unjust or unreasonable, I will stop offering private masses.
Click to expand...
I most definitely cannot do this. Indeed, I can do the very opposite. I believe Pope S John Paul II said your reason was a very just and very reasonable cause. Unfortunately, I don’t recall the relevant document. Regarding the 2013 Directory for the Ministry and the Life of Priests, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said: ‘To this end I join the Synod Fathers in recommending “the daily celebration of the Holy Mass, even when the faithful are not present.”’
 
Also St. Maximillian Kolbe and other priests imprisoned in Dachau during WWII. A beautiful thing.
 
Also, let’s say a priest visits family Sunday -Tuesday, it’s entirely possible that a family member or someone else attends his Monday Mass, right? Would that be allowed, say, for the priest’s parents to attend a private Mass that isn’t scheduled for the public?
 
Sure I’ve attended several private Masses. A couple (OF) in Latin even, where I did the readings (epistle and psalm) and responses in Latin.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top