Does one "cumulative" mass count?

[FrenzyJen]

We left the vigil mass early today (after the homily) because both kids were just meltdown mania.

We intend to go back tomorrow morning, but I’m wondering; Do we need to go back at the 8AM mass time? Or would we do alright to show up around 8:20, and '“pick up where we left off”, so to speak?

 

[1ke]

The Mass is not merely the sum of its parts, it is an integral whole.

If your you are able to attend another mass tomorrow you should plan on attending the entire mass.

This question really perplexes me, I must say.

 

[Catholic1954]

We left the vigil mass early today (after the homily) because both kids were just meltdown mania.

We intend to go back tomorrow morning, but I’m wondering; Do we need to go back at the 8AM mass time? Or would we do alright to show up around 8:20, and '“pick up where we left off”, so to speak?

You will be attending 2 separate Masses; there is no pause button, this is more of a do over. On behalf of the people who were at your vigil Mass, thank you for removing your children. :tiphat: I just got back from the vigil Mass and I don’t think there was more than 5 minutes of silence from various kids running up and down the aisle in the back. (I assume most of them were headed for the restroom, but extremely distracting any way.)

 

[Rosebud77]

You will be attending 2 separate Masses; there is no pause button, this is more of a do over. On behalf of the people who were at your vigil Mass, thank you for removing your children. :tiphat: I just got back from the vigil Mass and I don’t think there was more than 5 minutes of silence from various kids running up and down the aisle in the back. (I assume most of them were headed for the restroom, but extremely distracting any way.)

 

[EasterJoy]

We left the vigil mass early today (after the homily) because both kids were just meltdown mania.

We intend to go back tomorrow morning, but I’m wondering; Do we need to go back at the 8AM mass time? Or would we do alright to show up around 8:20, and '“pick up where we left off”, so to speak?

Talk to your pastor. He’s either going to say “try again tomorrow, from the top” or, as he knows your family and your children, he might say “maybe when this happens, one of you ought to stay home with the kids on Sunday, with my dispensation, and the other ought to try to get to what you know will be a full start-to-finish Mass.”

As others have pointed out, the “pause button” mode does not work. Even if it were canonically OK, would you really think it is polite for parents to be trooping in and out with their children in the middle of Mass? That would be incredibly disruptive.

As I said, though, I’d suggest you present your situation to your pastor and at least try whatever he says to do. He knows you and you are under his pastoral jurisdiction. Let him handle it.

 

[AdamP88]

You will be attending 2 separate Masses; there is no pause button, this is more of a do over. On behalf of the people who were at your vigil Mass, thank you for removing your children. :tiphat: I just got back from the vigil Mass and I don’t think there was more than 5 minutes of silence from various kids running up and down the aisle in the back. (I assume most of them were headed for the restroom, but extremely distracting any way.)

Didn’t Jesus say “let the little children come to me, for it is such as these to which my Kingdom belongs.”

 

[FrenzyJen]

Even if it were canonically OK, would you really think it is polite for parents to be trooping in and out with their children in the middle of Mass? That would be incredibly disruptive.

You mean like they already must do every week?

As I said, though, I’d suggest you present your situation to your pastor and at least try whatever he says to do. He knows you and you are under his pastoral jurisdiction.

This is such an interesting thing to me, maybe because I hear it suggested so often, but the priests at our parish don’t seem like they have the time. I know my priests at our parish don’t know my name, and any attempt to make an appointment has only ever been met with a date at least a month away.

Anyways, you all can relax. We went back to mass with the kids in a better mood this morning and stayed the whole time.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

We left the vigil mass early today (after the homily) because both kids were just meltdown mania.

We intend to go back tomorrow morning, but I’m wondering; Do we need to go back at the 8AM mass time? Or would we do alright to show up around 8:20, and '“pick up where we left off”, so to speak?

Your question brought a smile to the face of an old priest.

I remember the days when I was young and we were under the vetus ordo – which meant, of course, we operated with the manuals.

I remember one manualist who held that one who arrived late to Mass would repair the delict by remaining for the next Mass – this was in the days when there was typically a Mass every hour on the hour – and promptly walking out at the corresponding instant in which one had walked in during the preceding Mass.

In the 21st century, I would counsel you to do your best to attend the entire Mass. If you do end up arriving late because the children are again in meltdown, I am confident a choir of manualists will be looking benignly upon you and nodding smilingly.

In all seriousness…the obligation binds in so far as it is reasonably possible. Our beloved Holy Father, in these very days, said we must not be more papist than the Pope, which has become my new favourite expression of this Pope, who is truly God’s gift to the Church.

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we read about the obligation:
2181 The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.
What exactly does the Church mean by the word infant? The Code of Canon Law tells us how the word is to be understood:
*Can. 97 §1. A person who has completed the eighteenth year of age has reached majority; below this age, a person is a minor.

§2. A minor before the completion of the seventh year is called an infant and is considered not responsible for oneself (non sui compos). With the completion of the seventh year, however, a minor is presumed to have the use of reason.*

 

[Don_Ruggero]

This question really perplexes me, I must say.

Why?

 

[FrenzyJen]

Your question brought a smile to the face of an old priest.

I remember the days when I was young and we were under the vetus ordo – which meant, of course, we operated with the manuals.

I remember one manualist who held that one who arrived late to Mass would repair the delict by remaining for the next Mass – this was in the days when there was typically a Mass every hour on the hour – and promptly walking out at the corresponding instant in which one had walked in during the preceding Mass.

In the 21st century, I would counsel you to do your best to attend the entire Mass. If you do end up arriving late because the children are again in meltdown, I am confident a choir of manualists will be looking benignly upon you and nodding smilingly.

In all seriousness…the obligation binds in so far as it is reasonably possible. Our beloved Holy Father, in these very days, said we must not be more papist than the Pope, which has become my new favourite expression of this Pope, who is truly God’s gift to the Church.

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we read about the obligation:
2181 The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.
What exactly does the Church mean by the word infant? The Code of Canon Law tells us how the word is to be understood:
*Can. 97 §1. A person who has completed the eighteenth year of age has reached majority; below this age, a person is a minor.

§2. A minor before the completion of the seventh year is called an infant* and is considered not responsible for oneself (non sui compos). With the completion of the seventh year, however, a minor is presumed to have the use of reason.

Everything that you said was helpful and of value, but I wanted to let you know that the thing that shone through your post most was your kindness. That’s hard to do on the internet! Thank you for your response!

 

[EasterJoy]

Anyways, you all can relax. We went back to mass with the kids in a better mood this morning and stayed the whole time.

That’s a good outcome.

I know there are parents who have children who simply did not cope with the Mass setting when they were little. For periods of time, the parents went to Sunday Mass in shifts, then after six months or so, they tried again. It isn’t ideal, but they didn’t want to make Mass into a battleground and their children were too small to be obliged. When the children got older, they were more capable of handling and even appreciating Mass. By the time the children were in class for their 1st Holy Communion (which is the two years prior in our parish), the children were doing fine.

Finding a way to have your children at Mass every Sunday from the time they come out of the font is much better. Sometimes, though, lesser alternatives fit the situation better.