Christmas Mass

  • Thread starter Thread starter Stonez
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Stonez

Guest
I was just wondering since Christmas falls on a Monday this year, am I required to go to Mass on Monday even though I will go on Sunday to fulfill that obligation? Or does the Sunday(24th) Mass serve as the Christmas Vigil?
 
For three Holy Days of Obligation (Mary, Mother of God on 1 Jan, Assumption, and All Saints), the obligation is abrogated if the feast falls on Saturday or Monday. However, this is not the case for Immaculate Conception or Christmas (or Ascension, where it’s not transferred to Sunday anyway).

So, this year, Christmas will be a separate HDO, but 1 Jan does not carry the obligation, since both fall on Monday.

ewtn.com/expert/answers/holy_days_of_obligation.htm

(This is true for U.S. only, other rules may exist for other countries.)
 
Stonez said:
I was just wondering since Christmas falls on a Monday this year, am I required to go to Mass on Monday even though I will go on Sunday to fulfill that obligation? Or does the Sunday(24th) Mass serve as the Christmas Vigil?
Click to expand...
YES, Christmas is always a Holy Day no matter what day it falls on.
 
But it’s my understanding that if a parish holds a separate evening vigil mass for the HDO that will work. For instance, go to mass Sunday morning for Sunday, then Sun eve for the vigil to Mon. Some parishes won’t do this, so you’ll have to check scheduling at your parish.
 
Stonez said:
I was just wondering since Christmas falls on a Monday this year, am I required to go to Mass on Monday even though I will go on Sunday to fulfill that obligation? Or does the Sunday(24th) Mass serve as the Christmas Vigil?
Click to expand...
Sunday obligation and Christmas obligation are two separate obligations both of which must be fulfilled.

For Sunday, you can go to church on Saturday evening or Sunday.

You can fulfill your Christmas obligation by going to Mass on Sunday evening or Monday. However, you can go on Sunday evening only if your church is holding a Christmas vigil Mass with the proper readings for Christmas vigil (as opposed to a regular Sunday evening Mass).

So, it is best to check with your parish and find out which masses on Sunday are for Sunday obligation and which ones, if any, will be for the Christmas obligation.
 
Mass Sunday evening December 24 MUST BE for Christmas.

It’s not permitted to celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent on the EVENING/NIGHT of December 24.

The liturgy for anything on that night must be Christmas.

This isn’t up to individual parishes; it’s just liturgical law for the Roman Rite, both old and new.
 
Yes, that’s true, there can’t be any Sunday evening masses for Advent 4 this year because of the Christmas vigil.

Our parish is so huge, we usually have vigils at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and midnight! So our priests will go right from 3 morning masses into that madness. We should say a prayer for their stamina!
 
2 pm isn’t acceptable for a Vigil Mass. After all, in the Divine Office None comes at 3 pm, and the new liturgical day doesn’t start until First Vespers.

4 pm is fine…especially in winter…but 2 pm just isn’t late enough to qualify as a Vigil.
 
I may be mistaken about the 2pm, but I’m pretty sure we’ve done that before. I agree it isn’t technically proper, but I’m not going to shout about it, because we couldn’t accomodate the crowds otherwise.
 
Of course you could. You could offer extra Masses on Christmas Day itself.

2 pm Dec. 24 isn’t Christmas yet…not by any stretch of the imagination.
 
Wait, before you conceed… at least tell us what the schedule for Christmas Day is.
 
What difference does it make? It’s not going to make anyone quit whining about the 2 pm Vigil.
 
Teakafrog said:
But it’s my understanding that if a parish holds a separate evening vigil mass for the HDO that will work. For instance, go to mass Sunday morning for Sunday, then Sun eve for the vigil to Mon. Some parishes won’t do this, so you’ll have to check scheduling at your parish.
Click to expand...
That is possible. The Sunday Mass would use the Sunday readings and the Christmas Vigil would use the proper readings for the Christmas Vigil. Remember that there are four separate and distinct sets of readings for Christmas. Vigil, Midnight, Morning and Christmas day. (?)
 
franksta said:
Yes, that’s true, there can’t be any Sunday evening masses for Advent 4 this year because of the Christmas vigil.

Our parish is so huge, we usually have vigils at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and midnight! So our priests will go right from 3 morning masses into that madness. We should say a prayer for their stamina!
Click to expand...
A Holy day Vigil Mass cannot take place before 4PM in the US and a Mass at Midnight cannot be a Vigil Mass, it is Midnight Mass. Midnight Mass cannot take place before Midnight either.

I just have to smile when I’m told by someone we are having our “Midnight Mass” at 10 PM! OK.
 
AlexV said:
Mass Sunday evening December 24 MUST BE for Christmas.

It’s not permitted to celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent on the EVENING/NIGHT of December 24.

The liturgy for anything on that night must be Christmas.

This isn’t up to individual parishes; it’s just liturgical law for the Roman Rite, both old and new.
Click to expand...
No, it is up to the USCCB, given this authority by Rome, and individual bishops are allowed to embellish from there.
http://www.nccbuscc.org/liturgy/current/2006cal.pdf
I direct your attention to page 4 of the .pdf. The First Sunday of Advent is December 3rd for the Church in the United States, on the C cycle of readings. Page 5 shows the Liturgy of the Hours to Volume I. It then lists those dioceses where Holy Days are limited to 2 or 3 days per year. The Hours as currently recited do not include None. If one is using the old-form breviary for personal devotion or at a Latin-use parish, other parishes are not so obligated.
 
Wrong.

None remains in the Liturgy of the Hours. It has not been changed.

As for Mass on Sunday night, December 24, the USCCB has NOTHING to do with it.

It’s a universal solemnity of CHRISTMAS. Period. End of discussion. All Masses on that night are for Christmas. No exceptions. Anywhere in the Roman Rite.
 
1ke said:
You can fulfill your Christmas obligation by going to Mass on Sunday evening or Monday. However, you can go on Sunday evening only if your church is holding a Christmas vigil Mass with the proper readings for Christmas vigil (as opposed to a regular Sunday evening Mass).
Click to expand...
That’s a common opinion but it’s not supported by the canons. The obligation to attend Mass for a Sunday or feast is fulfilled by attending Mass in any Catholic rite on the preceding evening or any time the day of the feast. No mention is made in the canons of a need to have the proper readings, and you can almost guarantee that attending a non-Western rite will give you different readings.
 
Andreas_Hofer said:
That’s a common opinion but it’s not supported by the canons. The obligation to attend Mass for a Sunday or feast is fulfilled by attending Mass in any Catholic rite on the preceding evening or any time the day of the feast. No mention is made in the canons of a need to have the proper readings, and you can almost guarantee that attending a non-Western rite will give you different readings.
Click to expand...
That is correct attending any Mass before Midnight on Sunday the 24th fulfills the Sunday or Christmas obligation. However “two for the price of one” does not apply. If you attend one Mass on the evening of the 24th for your Sunday obligation you must return for another Mass either later on the 24th or on Christmas day for the Christmas obligation.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top