dispensation for missing Mass

[fin]

Does one have to talk to a priest in order to request dispensation if one would miss Mass because of travel?

 

[drafdog]

No. This is a matter of private conscience.

Matthew

 

[Joan_M]

Does one have to talk to a priest in order to request dispensation if one would miss Mass because of travel?

Yes you do need to talk to a priest. It is simple and he will give you a verbal dispensation. Matthew is incorrect.

 

[YADA]

First, just because you are trveling does not mean that you cannot find a Mass to attend. Yes, I would talk with your priest.

Once when I was traveling to Guatemala on a medical mission team [the only catholic] and not in control of any in country travel … I was worried about missing mass and we were going to be traveling ‘in country’ on two Sunday’s…

My priest told me to make every effort to attend mass. If I was unable to attend mass, he told me to spend an hour in prayer withthe scriptures for that day [he even told me to borrow a missal from the parish for the trip - which I did not do as I had purchased a spanish missal for the trip - hoping I would be able to attend]. He said this was a method of being “in COmmunion” with my parish and the wider church community.

As it turned out I was able to attend Mass both weekends. It was not easy and my other team mates thought me very wierd and I missed breakfast completely ont he first Sunday … It is doable.

To just say it is inconvenient to seek out a mass would not be a good thing, IMHO. When we travel in the states, we try to find the locations of churches nad mass times before departure or immediately upon arrival. If we are at a new location we usually try to locate the parish ahead of time so we are not “lookingfor the Church” instead of preparing our hearts for Masd …

HAve fun on your trip and try to attend ***…being a member of the “Universal” Church is a wonderful thing … attending Massin different locations and from various cultural perspectives is fun and may inspire your spirituality…

 

[Joannm]

Part of the fun of traveling with our family is finding a Catholic church where ever we went. The only time we found that to be a difficulty was when we went to Greece and could only find Orthodox churches, but we had two priests with us so going to mass was not a problem…we had mass where ever we were every day.

 

[CarrieH]

You do have to ask your priest, but it’s very simple: “Father, I’m going to be traveling next weekend to [wherever] and I might not be able to make it to Mass. May I please have a dispensation?” Personally, I enjoy visiting the local churches when I’m traveling. I look up where I’m going on www.masstimes.org and find a church and what time they have Mass, and if at all possible, I attend. If you are someplace where you absolutely cannot get to Mass, you are automatically dispensed, but I like to request a dispensation from my priest as a “backup” just in case, because in today’s world, those remote locations are few and far between.

 

[Tim_c]

It is my understanding that the dispensation must be from your pastor. Somebody please correct me if I am wrong.

I once asked my pastor for a dispensation because I was leaving for a camping trip on Sunday morning and I worked Saturday night. He said no and told me to wake up for the earlier Mass. I was annoyed because I wanted to get all the sleep I could get but I’m glad he did that:thumbsup:

 

[fin]

Thanks for the info.

The problem is, I don’t have a pastor. But I go to Mass every Sunday, and even weekdays whenever I can.

Another problem is the place I might be going to is China. I’m not sure if I can find churches there in communion with Rome.

 

[Sir_Knight]

Thanks for the info.

The problem is, I don’t have a pastor. But I go to Mass every Sunday, and even weekdays whenever I can.

Another problem is the place I might be going to is China. I’m not sure if I can find churches there in communion with Rome.

A Pastor can delegate this authority to another priest serving under him. If you have no pastor but you do have a priest saying mass, one would assume that he has the authority to grant that dispensation and if he doesn’t, he should be able to advise you further when you make the request of him.

Last summer I was helping move my sister-in-law across country and the area that we were going to be near had a church with only one mass available to us. The problem was that we had pets to deal with and we could leave them alone in a hot truck – one of us had to miss mass.

I explained the situation and asked for a dispensation. The priest told me to try my best to attend and if I could make it, then to send some time that day reading scripture and then attend a mass during the week to make up the missed mass.

 

[CarrieH]

If you have no pastor but you do have a priest saying mass, one would assume that he has the authority to grant that dispensation and if he doesn’t, he should be able to advise you further when you make the request of him.

When I was traveling last fall, we had a retired priest filling in to hear confessions. I asked him for my dispensation, and he gave it to me even though he isn’t our pastor, no problem. I did tell him when I asked that I was going to try to make it to Mass, but just in case I couldn’t, I asked for the dispensation. Even though he didn’t know me, maybe he figured that if I was the type to go to confession on a weekday, I would be the type to make a sincere effort to attend Mass out of town.