Going to Mass on Aug. 15th?

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The moving or lifting of feast day obligations has always bugged me and sometimes it causes real problems for the faithful.

Last May I could not attend a Mass celebrating the Ascension and here’s why. My diocese of Galveston-Houston moved the feast to the following Sunday. Unfortunately, on that Thursday my husband and I were traveling up to New Hampshire, which is an all day affair by plane and automobile. There was no Ascension celebration in Houston on Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning. We went to Mass at the diocese in N.H. on that Sunday, but they hadn’t moved the obligation, so it was a regular Easter Sunday, not the Feast of the Ascension. You would think that within a country the bishops would be consistent. :mad:
 
The moving or lifting of feast day obligations has always bugged me and sometimes it causes real problems for the faithful.
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Last May I could not attend a Mass celebrating the Ascension and here’s why. You would think that within a country the bishops would be consistent
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Different calendars of course cause that kind of thing to occur.

Of course you know its possible for a Catholic to attend every week and still miss even Easter Sunday. If they attend a Julian calendar Eastern rite church on western Easter, and are at a Gregorian calendar church when Greek Easter comes around, they’ll never see Easter until the two feasts coincide, but still be in compliance.
 
Unfortunately not. I’ve been pretty consistently attending Mass on Monday, Thursday & Friday when our parish has 6:30 am Mass. I was going to give it a go on Monday, but it is our first day back at school (work). I got a call from my principal saying that we needed to be at school for 7:00. I thought about chancing that - I can usually make it from Mass to school in time to sign in for 7:05, but then I was notified that we have a mandatory faculty meeting at 6:45 a.m. Breakfast at 6:30.
 
I had no idea that I would see such great insights and comments on this post. Over 1,000 have viewed the post.

Thanks to all and God bless.
For those who will not be attending Mass tomorrow, there still can be special prayers to a special mother. The Liturgy of the Hours has such beautiful prayers and Psalms to use on Mary’s Feastday. As there is no Mass in my area, I am thankful for the Liturgy.

Deacon Tony
 
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m134e5:
I will go to Mass on the 15th. It ordinarily is a Holy Day of Obligation- this year should be no different. Why must people cut all the corners? I believe that no Holy Days should be transferred or the obligation dropped- especially since when the Assumption is dropped, All Saints is dropped as well (I mean the obligations)- because they fall on the same day of the week. If parishes would have Masses throughout the day, it wouldn’t be a problem for most people who work. If they still can’t make it to Mass, I’m sure they know about that in advance, and can ask their pastors for dispensations.
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Yeah…I think this is an attempt to be “pastoral” gone very very wrong…when you have something that is important–i.e. Holy Days–then you make all these rules and exceptions, and people no longer go to Mass on some of the days because the obligation is transfered to a Sunday that just shows the average joe that none of the “obligations” are important because it’d be easy just to wipe them all away. So what if people have to take off work or miss school–heard of something called sacrifice?
 
I love the way that my parish handled it. Our pastor mentioned that they are having 2 masses for the solemnity of the Assumption, one in the morning and one in the evening. He made no mention that it was not a holy day of obligation. We all know what happens when you start telling us that we don’t have to do something.

I normally attend daily Mass by myself, but today my wife and children came with me. I was happy to be there as a family celebrating this great feast of our Lady. We have seven year old twins (Mary and Elizabeth… so they loved the Gospel reading of the visitiation!) and I thought it was important for them to go even though it wasn’t required.

God Bless,
Gary
 
…to those that take issue with the decision not to make monday a holyday of obligation… go to church… don’t be concerned with the decision of the Bishop’s of the united states… they made this decision for reason’s they felt valid… no one recommended that you stay home… if you were going to church for the celebration of Mary, are you not going now because the obligation (for this year only) has been removed…

…i am torn as to the REAL reason’s some protest the decision of the Catholic Bishops…

…i have a feeling those that usually attend the service yearly will continue to do so, and those that don’t pay attention to holy days of obligation will notice. I doubt that the number that usually celebrates the feast will suddenly decide to pitch their faith or desire to thank Mary for her gift to the church.

…after church Sunday, our membership gathers outside to discuss the business of life and times of the world we live in… not one person seemed alarmed that fewer would attend because the obligation had been lifted… most of those present don’t consider it an obligation anyway…

http://micrografix.ca/GHOST.jpg
 
Bishops in the US have no liturgical back bone. I can not wait to the new translation of the Mass comes out and they try to water that down too.
 
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Kielbasi:
For the record, no Catholic is ever required to recieve Holy Communion at mass on Holy Days of Obligation.

Catholics are required to recieve communion once a year between Ash Wednesday and Trinity Sunday, and also required to receive at the point of death ( viaticum *). *(Provided they are able to in both circumstances, availability of a priest, that they are conscious and able to receive).

The requirements for Holy Days of Obligations are to hear mass, and to abstain from servile work. Period.
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Of course you are correct. My intent was to show my disappointment that the requirement to attend Mass had been lifted, and therefore, many Catholics would not avail themselves of the unfathomable honor of receiving the Eucharist. And, yes, I know that’s their loss, but I still believe the obligation shouod have remained.
I worded it badly.

Space Ghost,
I usually agree with you, but I’m not exactly sure what your point here is. Of course I went to Mass, (and was disappointed by the turnout) but I still disagree with the bishops’ decision.
Sure, they thought their reasons were valid. I respectfully, I hope, disagree.
 
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Kielbasi:
I’m not so sure about this assertion.

Of course they never had paid days off in the mills or mines for sick days or personal days, even until the 1980s when I last knew people who worked in the mills.

But they definitely were given days off.

I was at the Western Pa. History Museum, very interesting exhibits if your nearby, and saw an exhibit about the Darr Mine Disaster in Rostraver PA on Dec. 19, 1907. The mine fire killed 239 men, but no Greek Catholics, as they were given the day off for the feast of St. Nicholas, a holy day for those of that church.

I don’t know whether or not this was common practice, and whether Roman Catholics, Jews, or persons of other faiths also got holy days off, but it wasn’t totally unheard of.
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Well, then I stand corrected as far as that goes, and I’m pleasantly surprised to hear of this, at least in Western PA. Here in New England, I myself have never heard of this having been done, but you never know, there may have been some exceptions to the rule here, too.

A blessed feast day to you!
 
At Sunday’s mass, I heard the announcement that my church was going to have 3 masses on Monday! This was unusual, because they had said before that they were just having a regular mass. Maybe it has something to do with the two visiting priests we have this month?

Anyway, it was a very nice celebration and am glad I cut out of work “early” to get to it.

Also went to the Assumption Grotto celebrations. WOW! All day events. I was there from 12 to 5. A living rosary, Blessed Sacrament, regular rosary and the Stations of the Cross was AWESOME. It was all outdoors and such a beautiful day for it. I am so glad I went-wasn’t sure where I was going.

About people complaining about an extra day of mass, missing work, too busy, etc. How much do you want to bet if their favorite sports team was in the playoffs, they’d be sure to call in sick to work to make it an all day event? Or after the game with a hangover?

You make your own priorities.
 
Made the trip to Assumption Grotto and am still holding onto the moment. Beautiful Latin Mass, church, people, weather, prayers, food, and memorable moments.
It was thrilling to see so many faithful, loving, Catholic people as a parish in celebration of The Holyday, Feast of the Assumption. If you ever get the chance to attend Holy Mass at Assumption Grotto you won’t forget it!
 
By the way, this may seem a wee bit off topic, but I think I might scream the next time I hear a priest beg their parish to attend holy days by renaming them “Holy Days of Opportunity.”
  • Dan
 
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grotto:
Made the trip to Assumption Grotto and am still holding onto the moment. Beautiful Latin Mass, church, people, weather, prayers, food, and memorable moments.
It was thrilling to see so many faithful, loving, Catholic people as a parish in celebration of The Holyday, Feast of the Assumption. If you ever get the chance to attend Holy Mass at Assumption Grotto you won’t forget it!
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It was nice to meet you Grotto. How long did you end up staying?

I worked taking movies and pictures from 6:45am until 9:30pm. Between myself and one other guy, we are going to combine and edit our pictures and post them online. I know one thing for sure, I like taking pictures and I can be good, but not as good as these came out. I had asked the BVM for help and she came through because several are breathtaking, especially the one from the balcony at the 9:30 Latin Mass during elevation. The other one was during elevation at the 7:00 Mass in the Grotto with all concelebrants and Bishop Quinn. It looked like a Norman Rockwell moment. Let’s just say it was more of a Sacred Moment! I’ll post here when I have editing done. I shot wide so I could crop out what I wanted .
 
There were at least 350 people if not more at the Feast. We had Perpetual Adoration for the day, Mass, conferences, excellent italian food, and Process and Benediction to close the day. I feel so blessed…:dancing:
 
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