Chrism Mass and Religious

[KnightOfSPUD]

Hi there everyone

Are religious required to concelebrate and/or attend the Chrism Mass?

 

[GoGoDiego]

Religious priests? They may concelebrate the Chrism Mass.

 

[FrDavid96]

Hi there everyone

Are religious required to concelebrate and/or attend the Chrism Mass?

That’s a matter of particular law for the diocese or (more likely) according to the statutes and discipline of the religious order.

Some religious orders are cloistered (they don’t leave the monastery) and for them, even attending the Chrism Mass at the cathedral might be against their statutes.

Generally speaking, not even diocesan priests are strictly required to attend the Chrism Mass. Some simply cannot attend, for various reasons. There is no law requiring attendance because it would be unenforceable. If a diocese is very large (geographically) it might be too much of a burden for some priests to attend. Also, one never knows. A priest might be ill or simply unable to travel.

A bishop can certainly make the Chrism Mass mandatory for priests (at least those reasonable able), but again that would be a matter of local law, not universal.

 

[Phemie]

Generally speaking, not even diocesan priests are strictly required to attend the Chrism Mass. Some simply cannot attend, for various reasons. There is no law requiring attendance because it would be unenforceable. If a diocese is very large (geographically) it might be too much of a burden for some priests to attend. Also, one never knows. A priest might be ill or simply unable to travel.

A bishop can certainly make the Chrism Mass mandatory for priests (at least those reasonable able), but again that would be a matter of local law, not universal.

Our diocese is huge in area but small in number of Catholics. To drive to the Cathedral from my parish it’s 8 hours over a mainly gravel road to the ferry, 1 3/4 hours on the ferry and then 4 hours to the Cathedral. Add another 7 hours for the next parish over. Needless to say, the priests in our area fly to the Chrism Mass, if they go.

It is usually celebrated a week or more before Easter simply because there is no time for priests to attend and get back to their parishes before the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. A couple of times while I was parish secretary & chair of the liturgy committee I’m the one who got sent to represent the parish and accept the oils. In recent years the Bishop has scheduled meetings around the day of the Chrism Mass so that priests don’t have to spend money to fly there for just one thing, they kill a few birds with one stone that way.