Do we have to attend mass Dec. 8?

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Do Catholics have to attend mass tomorrow? There was a note in today’s bulletin that December 8 is a holy day of obligation and Catholics are required to attend mass.

I thought we did not have to attend mass if the holy day fell on a Saturday or Monday. Has this rule been changed? I tried doing a search, and I could not find anything saying that the rule has been changed.:cool:
 
It is a day of obligation tomorrow. The obligation is not dropped for the Immaculate Conception like it is for other holy days when they fall on a Saturday or Monday.
 
Mary2014 said:
Do Catholics have to attend mass tomorrow? There was a note in today’s bulletin that December 8 is a holy day of obligation and Catholics are required to attend mass.

I thought we did not have to attend mass if the holy day fell on a Saturday or Monday. Has this rule been changed? I tried doing a search, and I could not find anything saying that the rule has been changed.:cool:
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If you are in the US, then yes, you need to attend Mass. If you are in another country then you need to follow the applicable rules for that country.

Most holy days in the US are abrogated if they fall on a Saturday or Monday. The exceptions are the two December days, Immaculate Conception and Christmas. The Immaculate Conception is the patronal feast for the US so we observe it every year.

The other holy days are covered by this norm:

Whenever January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, or August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption, or November 1, the solemnity of All Saints, falls on a Saturday or on a Monday, the precept to attend Mass is abrogated.

As you can see, December 8 and December 25 are not on that list.
 
Mary2014 said:
Do Catholics have to attend mass tomorrow? There was a note in today’s bulletin that December 8 is a holy day of obligation and Catholics are required to attend mass.

I thought we did not have to attend mass if the holy day fell on a Saturday or Monday. Has this rule been changed? I tried doing a search, and I could not find anything saying that the rule has been changed.:cool:
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Yes tomorrow is a holy day of obligation. According from USCCB there are only 3 Holy Days that are abrogated if these feast days fall on a Saturday or Monday:
The Solemnity of the Mother of God
All Saints Day
and the Feast of the Assumption

From the USCCB
usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/canon-law/complementary-norms/canon-1246.cfm

Tomorrow is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, it is not a feast day that is abrogated, even though it falls on a Monday. It still remains a Holy Day of Obligation
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
If you are in the US, then yes, you need to attend Mass. If you are in another country then you need to follow the applicable rules for that country.

Most holy days in the US are abrogated if they fall on a Saturday or Monday. The exceptions are the two December days, Immaculate Conception and Christmas. The Immaculate Conception is the patronal feast for the US so we observe it every year.

The other holy days are covered by this norm:

Whenever January 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, or August 15, the solemnity of the Assumption, or November 1, the solemnity of All Saints, falls on a Saturday or on a Monday, the precept to attend Mass is abrogated.

As you can see, December 8 and December 25 are not on that list.
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The FSSP priest said pretty much the same thing to us. Furthermore, the 5:30 pm Mass he celebrated for Sunday did not fulfill the IC obligation. So even though I went last night and tonight, I still have to go tomorrow.
 
I can’t wait until 7 pm EST TLM at St Martin of Tours in Louisville tonight. Not only am I blessed to have the TLM as an option to fulfill my Immaculate Conception obligation, there will be a wonderful presentation of relics after Mass.
Father Carlos Martins of the Companions of the Cross will be here
with his very special ministry to teach about these holy objects.
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He will bring with him over 150 relics, some as old as 2000 years. Among the treasures will be relics of St. Maria Goretti, St. Therese of Lisieux (the “Little Flower"), St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Faustina Kowalska. In addition, there will also be present a portion of the veil of Our Lady, as well as one of the largest remaining pieces of the True Cross in the world. Those in attendance will be able to examine and venerate each relic.
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You are encouraged to bring your articles of devotion (such as rosaries, holy cards, etc.) and pictures of ill friends/family members which you will be able to touch to the reliquaries as a means of intercession.
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page 2 bottom right here…
stmartinoftourschurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Dec072014.pdf
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🙂

Or view it here
74.142.49.38:8001/view/viewer_index.shtml?id=6164
 
It is not a holy day of obligation in the UK, but I assume you are in the USA.
 
Yes, although I am sure that US posters are in the majority here, it is confusing when answers are given as if they are universal but in fact only apply in the US.

For instance, a reply from Fr. Serpa on AAA to the question, ‘What should we do in Dec. 8th’ says that it is an HDO, with no qualifier that it is an HDO only in the US.
 
While you have an obligation to go to Mass tomorrow, nobody “has to go to Mass” ever. Just as Adam “never had to” eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge…he did it out of Free Will…we are better serving God by attending Mass out of desire, and not out of mere obligation.
 
Neofight said:
While you have an obligation to go to Mass tomorrow, nobody “has to go to Mass” ever. Just as Adam “never had to” eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge…he did it out of Free Will…we are better serving God by attending Mass out of desire, and not out of mere obligation.
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That being said, willfully skipping Mass on a hDO without sufficient reason is a mortal sin.
 
Yes, but that said, there is an easy trap of legalism that can detract from liturgical awareness. You see this when there is obsessing over what “counts” for what, etc.

Historically, and taking a long view, the day may come when the phenomenon of anticipated Masses is studied by liturgical scholars. Many of the questions that arise on this issue are connected to this phenomenon.

In my own experience, I have heard complaints from parishioners when the Saturday evening Mass is canceled on, say, December 25.
 
Neofight said:
While you have an obligation to go to Mass tomorrow, nobody “has to go to Mass” ever. Just as Adam “never had to” eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge…he did it out of Free Will…we are better serving God by attending Mass out of desire, and not out of mere obligation.
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There is merit in doing the right thing even when your emotional and intellectual inclination is to do the opposite. By doing this, one is practicing the virtues of perseverance and fortitude. Merit lies in the will and what one ultimately chooses to do in spite of one’s desires.
 
ProVobis said:
the 5:30 pm Mass he celebrated for Sunday did not fulfill the IC obligation.
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That would be true for the 99.99% of people at that Mass where it was the only Sunday Mass they had attended-- which I am sure was the intended audience of that comment. You, OTOH, had already fulfilled the Sunday obligation and therefore it certainly would meet your Dec 8 obligation. The priest was quite correct that it doesn’t meet both at once.
ProVobis said:
So even though I went last night and tonight, I still have to go tomorrow.
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No, you do not “have” to go but I’m sure you will. And it will be nice to celebrate the IM feast.
 
For the benefit of any Canadians here, it no longer is a HDO in Canada and hasn’t been for a few years.

I’m going anyway, leaving in a few minutes for the abbey where it will be fully in Gregorian chant for the propers and ordinary and in French plainchant for the rest 😛

It’s also an opportunity to visit the abbey gift shop for my wife’s birthday coming up later this week 🙂
 
I have a form of post traumatic stress disorder. anyone can be affected by this; we are most familiar with military men who have been in combat returning home affected by this.

I got ptsd being raised in a dysfunctional household.

One way that it affects me is that I get stressed out when people are talking in church before Mass or during Mass. I sort of lose my composure, my blood pressure goes up, and there’s hardly a point for my being in church. My local bishop has given me not a dispensation from Mass but the assurance that I don’t have to confess an absence from Mass for this reason. for a while, I didn’t even “bother” to go to weekend Mass for this reason, but I thought I had to go back and try.

I attend Mass during the week, when I can, and I have resorted to wearing earplugs when I go to church on the weekend. I’m sitting there saying the rosary before Mass with bright orange ear plugs in my ears.

It’s usually safe for me to attend Mass during the week. In this one church, there are three ladies who come early and sit and chat before Mass. this one day, I was bold enough to sit right behind them. I figured I might as well as find out what they’re talking about – you know, “if you can’t fight them, join them?” well, of course, it was near Halloween and one old lady brought candy to distribute to the other “girls.” She seems to be the designated lector, as well, who reads the sacred writings. I think one of the other ladies is an extraordinary minister. I guess rank has its privileges to talk in church and disrupt others.

At st. Phil’s in battle creek mi, where I attend mass once in a while, there are signs on entering the church to be quiet out of respect for the Eucharist.
 
Neofight said:
While you have an obligation to go to Mass tomorrow, nobody “has to go to Mass” ever. Just as Adam “never had to” eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge…he did it out of Free Will…we are better serving God by attending Mass out of desire, and not out of mere obligation.
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Well stated.
 
OraLabora said:
For the benefit of any Canadians here, it no longer is a HDO in Canada and hasn’t been for a few years.

I’m going anyway, leaving in a few minutes for the abbey where it will be fully in Gregorian chant for the propers and ordinary and in French plainchant for the rest 😛

It’s also an opportunity to visit the abbey gift shop for my wife’s birthday coming up later this week 🙂
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I was received into the Church in Canada in 2005 and as long as I’ve been a Catholic, the Immaculate Conception has never been a holy day of obligation. The only holy days of obligation I’ve ever known in Canada are Christmas and Mary, Mother of God (Jan 1). …so I would say it must have been more than a “few” years ago! 10 year anniversary as a Catholic this January 😃
 
twf said:
I was received into the Church in Canada in 2005 and as long as I’ve been a Catholic, the Immaculate Conception has never been a holy day of obligation. The only holy days of obligation I’ve ever known in Canada are Christmas and Mary, Mother of God (Jan 1). …so I would say it must have been more than a “few” years ago! 10 year anniversary as a Catholic this January 😃
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Well I returned to the Church after a long absence in 1997, and i’m pretty sure it was a HDO back then, the local parishes had evening Masses to accommodate those who worked during the day, something never done outside of HDOs (and Ash Wednesday) back then.

So I guess we can settle on “sometime between 1997 and 2005” 😃
 
OraLabora said:
For the benefit of any Canadians here, it no longer is a HDO in Canada and hasn’t been for a few years.

I’m going anyway, leaving in a few minutes for the abbey where it will be fully in Gregorian chant for the propers and ordinary and in French plainchant for the rest 😛

It’s also an opportunity to visit the abbey gift shop for my wife’s birthday coming up later this week 🙂
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Yeah, found that out today…I arrived in Ontario on business, went crazy trying to find a church with an evening Mass within reasonable driving distance I could make after work…and didn’t. Although not a day of obligation, I was really surprised I couldn’t find a church with an evening Mass…several (to far to travel) had morning and noon masses, per their ordinary parish schedule.
 
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