Can a Mass be celebrated outside of a church building?

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Episcopalian

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I thought Masses are restricted to a church/chapel since it’s sanctified ground, but if not, does the Mass sanctify the room or area that it’s performed?
 
Mass can be held many places where the faithful need to worship God.

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Episcopalian said:
I thought Masses are restricted to a church/chapel since it’s sanctified ground, but if not, does the Mass sanctify the room or area that it’s performed?
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Any place or space that has been liturgically blessed, or where some sacred object such as a church is built or has stood, or a grave, is consecrated ground.
 
Episcopalian said:
I thought Masses are restricted to a church/chapel since it’s sanctified ground, but if not, does the Mass sanctify the room or area that it’s performed?
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Here in Manila there are Sunday Masses in most shopping malls.
 
Vico said:
Any place or space that has been liturgically blessed, or where some sacred object such as a church is built or has stood, or a grave, is consecrated ground.
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I’d imagine most World Youth Day masses are outdoirs due to the numbers. Does the area need to be blessed in advance?
 
Canon law states:
Can. 932 §1. The eucharistic celebration is to be carried out in a sacred place unless in a particular case necessity requires otherwise; in such a case the celebration must be done in a decent place.
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I’ve attended quite a few Masses said outdoors, in school gyms, in hotel rooms, in conference rooms etc.

Mass does not “sanctify” these rooms. When the Mass is over and the accoutrements are put away, the hotel room or conference room can be used for the next guests and for secular purposes; the school gym goes back to being used for gym classes, training workouts, and ball games . If the outdoor area was part of the Church grounds, it’s sanctified all the time anyway; otherwise, if it’s just part of some park or campground, it returns to its secular purpose after Mass.
 
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Elf01 said:
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Vico:
Any place or space that has been liturgically blessed, or where some sacred object such as a church is built or has stood, or a grave, is consecrated ground.
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I’d imagine most World Youth Day masses are outdoirs due to the numbers. Does the area need to be blessed in advance?
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I don’t know.
 
Episcopalian said:
I thought Masses are restricted to a church/chapel since it’s sanctified ground,
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Can. 932 §1. The eucharistic celebration is to be carried out in a sacred place unless in a particular case necessity requires otherwise; in such a case the celebration must be done in a decent place.

§2. The eucharistic sacrifice must be carried out on a dedicated or blessed altar; outside a sacred place a suitable table can be used, always with a cloth and a corporal.

Can. 933 For a just cause and with the express permission of the local ordinary, a priest is permitted to celebrate the Eucharist in the place of worship of some Church or ecclesial community which does not have full communion with the Catholic Church so long as there is no scandal.
Episcopalian said:
but if not, does the Mass sanctify the room or area that it’s performed?
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No, not really.
 
Episcopalian said:
I thought Masses are restricted to a church/chapel since it’s sanctified ground,
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Nope. There have been outside masses for centuries.

Masses can be outside for good reasons:
  • camping trip
  • military battle front
  • too many people for Mass (happens a lot when the Pope travels)
  • Catholic cemetery
  • Church construction
  • Church building is considered unsafe
  • etc
but if not, does the Mass sanctify the room or area that it’s performed?
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I don’t know if there is an official teaching on this, but I would assume the answer is “no.” The land does not automatically become sacred land, the same way a Catholic Church/Chapel/Cemetery is. Yes, the area is Holy during the Mass, and I’m sure the area/land is better off by having the Mass, but I don’t think it automatically becomes sanctified.
 
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Montrose said:
Here in Manila there are Sunday Masses in most shopping malls.
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We have a casino in Laughlin, NV, with three Masses every Sunday.

In a casino showroom. Whereas there are only two at the parish . . .

And they’re rather full; I go when I’m there.

And about 15 years ago, when I was spending the year teaching in a Catholic grade school, I attended a Mass at the annual conference concelebrated by two bishops and a handful of priests in a casino conference center.

Come to think of it, for state KofC meetings, we’re more often in casino meeting facilities, with a Mass in the conference room, although sometimes a parish can host.
 
Yeah…
There’s a function room here in my condominium where there’s Mass every Sunday. Sometimes I go to the Shopping Malls to attend Mass as well.
 
Episcopalian said:
I thought Masses are restricted to a church/chapel since it’s sanctified ground, but if not, does the Mass sanctify the room or area that it’s performed?
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Indoor religious services have been banned in California. We had a lovely outdoor Divine Liturgy this morning, with permission of the Bishop. The Latin bishop has also encouraged parishes to arrange outdoor Masses.
 
Episcopalian said:
I thought Masses are restricted to a church/chapel since it’s sanctified ground, but if not, does the Mass sanctify the room or area that it’s performed?
Click to expand...
Masses have been said all sorts of places, from battlefields to fiootball stadiums to town halls to school gyms to concert arenas to peoples lounge rooms. Usually only in special circumstances such as no other space being large enough for the number of attendees.

If you mean ‘sanctify’ in the sense of no-one being able to use the space for a secular purpose afterwards, then the short answer is no.
 
When we held a family reunion, a priest who was friends with my aunts celebrated Mass for us in the barn where we were gathered. The barn, which had not held an animal in about 4 decades, had been decorated for the occasion and was able to hold all of us on a property that still belonged to the family.
 
Yes. When it has been too hot inside of the church building, Mass was held a few times on the lawn just outside of it. One doesn’t need a building in which to celebrate Mass.
 
Eastern Christians (Orthodox and Catholic) also have no problem celebrating Divine Liturgy outside, but there has to be a good reason (ex. a celebration where the Church can’t hold all the participants).

Also, if the Liturgy isn’t being celebrated on an altar containing the relics of a martyr Saint, then at the very least it must be celebrated on a table with an antimension - a special piece of cloth with the relics of a martyr sewn into it. One can be seen beneath the Bishop’s hand in this picture:

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