Does Holy Saturday Divine Liturgy count as an "easter vigil"

[krystia]

Hello!

I’m wondering if going to Divine Liturgy on Holy Saturday at a local Byzantine Catholic church fulfills the same obligation as attending Holy Saturday Mass at my usual Roman Catholic church.

The reason I ask is that I am scheduled to work on Easter, so I have to attend a vigil service.

 

[aemcpa]

Hello!

I’m wondering if going to Divine Liturgy on Holy Saturday at a local Byzantine Catholic church fulfills the same obligation as attending Holy Saturday Mass at my usual Roman Catholic church.

The reason I ask is that I am scheduled to work on Easter, so I have to attend a vigil service.

If it is an evening Divine Liturgy, yes, if fulfills your obligation. What time does it start?

 

[krystia]

8:30pm.

I’ll probably double-check with my priest to make sure it’s okay. Thanks!

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

I was under the impression that for Eastern Catholics – as well as Eastern Orthodox – the vigil was literally a vigil that lasted all night. I hope someone familiar with Byzantine liturgies will comment on this. When does the liturgy generally begin or end?

 

[RSD]

I was under the impression that for Eastern Catholics – as well as Eastern Orthodox – the vigil was literally a vigil that lasted all night. I hope someone familiar with Byzantine liturgies will comment on this. When does the liturgy generally begin or end?

I think part of the point of the question is that it would not be an Easter Vigil Mass. The Eastern church celebrates Easter on a different date. I am not at all sure that an ordinary or Lenten Mass would suffice for Easter.

 

[CB_Catholic]

I think part of the point of the question is that it would not be an Easter Vigil Mass. The Eastern church celebrates Easter on a different date. I am not at all sure that an ordinary or Lenten Mass would suffice for Easter.

Not so. Many of the Eastern Catholic Churches follow the Gregorian calendar. In my area, which has a lot of EC’s all of the parishes are celebrating Easter on the same day as the Latin church. (I checked the websites). They are mostly Byzantine and Maronite. Not all are having a Sat. evening DL, but most are.

The Eastern Orthodox, however, mostly follow the Julian calendar.

 

[CB_Catholic]

I think part of the point of the question is that it would not be an Easter Vigil Mass. The Eastern church celebrates Easter on a different date. I am not at all sure that an ordinary or Lenten Mass would suffice for Easter.

Not so. Many of the Eastern Catholic Churches follow the Gregorian calendar. In my area, which has a lot of EC’s all of the parishes are celebrating Easter on the same day as the Latin church. (I checked the websites). They are mostly Byzantine and Maronite. Not all are having a Sat. evening DL, but most are.

The Eastern Orthodox, however, mostly follow the Julian calendar.

 

[SarahB85]

At my church(Ruthenian) our Easter Divine Liturgies are 9 pm on Saturday and 10 am Sunday morning. We’ve always gone Saturday night and when I was growing up that’s the Liturgy that the most people attended. We always had our big procession with all of the kids on Saturday night and Sunday was usually older people who didn’t or couldn’t stay up that late(We’re usually in church for a little over 2 hours and then we do the blessing of the baskets after Liturgy is over).

 

[krystia]

SarahB85, thank you! I’m excited to experience the Triduum from the perspective of the Eastern Catholic Church.

 

[Aramis]

I was under the impression that for Eastern Catholics – as well as Eastern Orthodox – the vigil was literally a vigil that lasted all night. I hope someone familiar with Byzantine liturgies will comment on this. When does the liturgy generally begin or end?

It is not the sunday liturgy. For a non-byzantine, if fulfills the precept; for a byzantine, it’s a separate holy day liturgy, according to several of my prior pastors. Not obligatory, but customary attendance in addition to sunday morning.

 

[aemcpa]

I think part of the point of the question is that it would not be an Easter Vigil Mass. The Eastern church celebrates Easter on a different date. I am not at all sure that an ordinary or Lenten Mass would suffice for Easter.

Doesn’t matter. You’re fulfilling a Sunday obligation, not an Easter obligation.

 

[5Loaves]

If it is an evening Divine Liturgy, yes, if fulfills your obligation. What time does it start?

Our parish follows the traditional calendar for Great and Holy Saturday. On Holy Saturday itself, Vespers (evening prayer) with the Divine Liturgy of St Basil the Great is celebrated. Pascha Liturgy does not begin until midnight. So any Divine Liturgy served on Holy Saturday would not be a Sunday/Pascha Liturgy if the parish is following the traditional Holy Saturday and Pascha schedule.

 

[annastasia75]

At my church(Ruthenian) our Easter Divine Liturgies are 9 pm on Saturday and 10 am Sunday morning. We’ve always gone Saturday night and when I was growing up that’s the Liturgy that the most people attended. We always had our big procession with all of the kids on Saturday night and Sunday was usually older people who didn’t or couldn’t stay up that late(We’re usually in church for a little over 2 hours and then we do the blessing of the baskets after Liturgy is over).

Hi, Sarah, same here at our church, I`m just a little south of you. This is the fist time I will miss Resurrection Margins as I have a bad cold, I m pretty bummed about it, it s my favourite day of the year.

 

[theistgal]

Hi, Sarah, same here at our church, I`m just a little south of you. This is the fist time I will miss Resurrection Margins as I have a bad cold, I m pretty bummed about it, it s my favourite day of the year.

Sorry you are sick! Of course, I’m sure you know that if you’re sick, you’re not obligated to go to Liturgy or Mass. I will be one of the two cantors at our Resurrection Matins tomorrow morning - and will say a special prayer for you! Christ is Risen!

 

[annastasia75]

Sorry you are sick! Of course, I’m sure you know that if you’re sick, you’re not obligated to go to Liturgy or Mass. I will be one of the two cantors at our Resurrection Matins tomorrow morning - and will say a special prayer for you! Christ is Risen!

Indeed He is Risen ! Thank you for the prayer.

 

[CDB1718]

If you have an obligation to go to church on a certain date, you may fulfill that obligation at any Catholic Mass, Divine Liturgy, Holy Qurbana, Badarak or whatever else the Eucharistic celebration is called. Roman Catholics may technically only fulfill that obligation at a vigil service if the vigil is a Eucharistic liturgy, so Great Vespers with no liturgy doesn’t meet their legal precept.

It does not matter if the liturgy you go to is celebrating the same feast as the one you’re obligated to attend church for. You can go to a Franciscan church where they’re celebrating a different saint for the day or you can go to an Eastern Catholic church that’s celebrating a different feast. It might not be the most fulfilling decision, so that’s a personal call. The minimal obligation doesn’t take prudence into account.

The Holy Saturday liturgy would “count” for a Roman Catholic if it was a vigil liturgy. It would even count if the parish was on the Julian calendar and just starting Lent. It wouldn’t “count” for Sunday if it was a daytime liturgy for the feastday of Holy Saturday because that isn’t a Sunday vigil.

 

[Thomas48]

In the Syro Malabar Church we celebrate it on Saturday but there is no candle light Vigil.

 

[WetCatechumen]

Hello!

I’m wondering if going to Divine Liturgy on Holy Saturday at a local Byzantine Catholic church fulfills the same obligation as attending Holy Saturday Mass at my usual Roman Catholic church.

The reason I ask is that I am scheduled to work on Easter, so I have to attend a vigil service.

No, the Holy Saturday Vigil Liturgy is not an Easter Vigil. Being a vigil liturgy, and liturgically on the Sunday, it does satisfy your Sunday obligatoin. The purpose and tone of the vespereal liturgy is of anticipation.

Traditionally, matins begins around midnight with the Divine Liturgy following immediately thereafter. That is the true Easter Vigil for Byzantine Rite churches. Unfortunately, my Ruthenian parish does matins in the morning around 9:00 and DL at the normal time, at 10. I wish we did it at midnight. I always hit up the local Greek Orthodox Church on Pascha for their midnight liturgy, though (one of my best friends is GO and attends there - he will be starting at Holy Cross this fall).

 

[CDB1718]

No, the Holy Saturday Vigil Liturgy is not an Easter Vigil. Being a vigil liturgy, and liturgically on the Sunday, it does satisfy your Sunday obligatoin. The purpose and tone of the vespereal liturgy is of anticipation.

Traditionally, matins begins around midnight with the Divine Liturgy following immediately thereafter. That is the true Easter Vigil for Byzantine Rite churches. Unfortunately, my Ruthenian parish does matins in the morning around 9:00 and DL at the normal time, at 10. I wish we did it at midnight. I always hit up the local Greek Orthodox Church on Pascha for their midnight liturgy, though (one of my best friends is GO and attends there - he will be starting at Holy Cross this fall).

The Roman Catholics do the same thing with the Mass changing the night before or the morning of Easter and Christmas. This was unnecessarily confusing for someone who wanted to know if going to this liturgy would fulfill her obligation.

annastasia75, what did you end up doing?

 

[Vico]

There is no requirement regarding the readings used for a Eucharistic celebration in fulfilling the obligation for a Sunday or Holy Day of obligation. The liturgical day is always midnight to midnight, although the celebration of it is sometimes anticipated on the previous evening, or even transferred to a different day.