R
rivera01
Guest
SInce we are on the subject, how many times a day is a priest able to celebrate Mass and Commune; especially on Sunday’s?
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J
Just_Lurking
Guest
Can. 905 §1. A priest is not permitted to celebrate the Eucharist more than once a day except in cases where the law permits him to celebrate or concelebrate more than once on the same day.
§2. If there is a shortage of priests, the local ordinary can allow priests to celebrate twice a day for a just cause, or if pastoral necessity requires it, even three times on Sundays and holy days of obligation.
J
joandarc2008
Guest
I apologize I read it wrongI am talking about several Masses on the same day.
Obviously it is a very good thing to go to Daily Mass, but once a day is sufficient.
J
jmcrae
Guest
Here in the Diocese of Calgary, he can celebrate Mass up to three times on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, if he is the only priest in the parish, and twice on weekdays.
T
thistle
Guest
Every Sunday we have 10 Masses but we only have 3 priests so I guess they have permission.
I
Incomplete
Guest
It isn’t necessarily pointless. Quite a bit can change just because we’re human. What I mean by that is sometimes I go and find I can’t concentrate. My mind is elsewhere. The second time I go I might find myself much more focussed, able to both worship well and actually hear the homily. Since my priest gives powerful homilies, it’s always a loss when I can’t listen well.
Other times the first part of the homily grabs my attention and I’m lost in thought, thinking of the implications. The second time I actually listen to the rest.
The same can go for anything else in the Mass. For example, have you ever had a day when you heard the Eucharistic prayers like you were hearing them for the first time? Other times you don’t hear them at all.
But it’s not all about what you hear, either. I have prayed so often in that building that just being there helps me focus much more on God than being anywhere else. And often it “overflows” for awhile, so I am more focussed on how to treat others.
While in the chapel I look at the tabernacle and realize I am in the presence of Christ in a way that I am not at home or elsewhere, and that is always worthwhile.
I do hope that people don’t go to Mass, see someone they know has gone more than once, and start making negative judgement on it. Though I don’t know how they would be aware of what other Mass I was at if they hadn’t been there to see me. My priest knows me well and hasn’t got a problem with me showing up a lot.
HCC, I go twice only on Sundays (once a day the rest of the week) but I know that frequent attendance has in many ways contributed to growth for me. It might depend on the person, though. You would not, as has been suggested, want to do it to the detriment of other things that need to be done or of living a Christian life in other matters.
If your priest knows you well and is a man you trust, he would be the person to ask for your personal situation.
H
HCC
Guest
Okay, now I will give you the backstory and the reason I asked this question…
Over the years I have met quite a few people who assist at Mass twice a day and receive Holy Communion twice. Most have been lay people who, though lay, have the freedom to devote most of their life solely to prayer, meditation, spiritual reading and penance. They live the life of a religious, as a lay person. They gave the reason for receiving Holy Communion twice as a desire to be in greater communion with Our Lord and be transformed more closely to Him. They believed the best way to do this was through the reception of Holy communion and since it is permitted to be received twice a day, why not take advantage of that.
One person I knew was granted a dispensation to receive a third time, every single day. I never understood why that was given and never got a sufficient answer. I have always wondered why multiple communions outside of special circumstances was necessary.
However, I have been looking into religious life recently and noticed quite a few monastic orders have the practice of attending Mass twice everyday. The first being assisting at a private Mass and the second, a communal Mass.
So, are there spiritual advantages to receiving Our Lord in the Eucharist frequently? I think we would all agree that there are many. So following that logic, wouldn’t the thinking be correct that, being in the state of grace, having everything else in order, making it a daily habit to receive twice is in fact better?
Over the years I have met quite a few people who assist at Mass twice a day and receive Holy Communion twice. Most have been lay people who, though lay, have the freedom to devote most of their life solely to prayer, meditation, spiritual reading and penance. They live the life of a religious, as a lay person. They gave the reason for receiving Holy Communion twice as a desire to be in greater communion with Our Lord and be transformed more closely to Him. They believed the best way to do this was through the reception of Holy communion and since it is permitted to be received twice a day, why not take advantage of that.
One person I knew was granted a dispensation to receive a third time, every single day. I never understood why that was given and never got a sufficient answer. I have always wondered why multiple communions outside of special circumstances was necessary.
However, I have been looking into religious life recently and noticed quite a few monastic orders have the practice of attending Mass twice everyday. The first being assisting at a private Mass and the second, a communal Mass.
So, are there spiritual advantages to receiving Our Lord in the Eucharist frequently? I think we would all agree that there are many. So following that logic, wouldn’t the thinking be correct that, being in the state of grace, having everything else in order, making it a daily habit to receive twice is in fact better?
T
thistle
Guest
Assuming the person did not lie the priest or whoever gave the dispensation is wrong and contravened Canon Law. To receive a third time is ONLY if there is a danger of death. There are no other special circumstances that allows the laity to receive three times in a day.
Can. 917 One who has received the blessed Eucharist may receive it again on the same day only within a eucharistic celebration in which that person participates, without prejudice to the provision of can. 921 §2.
Can. 921 §1 Christ’s faithful who are in danger of death, from whatever cause, are to be strengthened by holy communion as Viaticum.
§2 Even if they have already received holy communion that same day, it is nevertheless strongly suggested that in danger of death they should communicate again.
M
malphono
Guest
Interesting that you bring that up. During one of the other recent threads that veered into the multiple-communion issue, I posed the question to a priest friend of mine who is a very well respected Canon Lawyer. His answer was exactly what you say: the intent of canon 917 is that, under normal circumstances, a person should not receive more than once on a given day. The built-in exception is meant to accommodate weddings, funerals, memorial Masses, etc.
M
malphono
Guest
If memory serves, the Conventual Mass is considered to be the “main Mass” of the day. Normally, those in the community who are not priests and who wish to receive, should do so then. A member who assists at a “private” Mass gains the benefits of assisting at Mass, but absent unusual circumstances, and present the Conventual Mass, there’s no reason to receive at the “private” Mass too.
Indeed there are spiritual advantages to frequent communion. But it’s not a “magic bullet” and one is not “holier” if one receives more than once on a given day. My Canon Lawyer friend was very clear about that. He was also very clear (and, I might add, strong) in saying that Canon 917 was designed to provide a built-in exception (a “codified economia” if you will) to accommodate the faithful in those unusual circumstances. It is not meant as license to multiple communion on a given day as a general rule.
Just my :twocents:
J
Just_Lurking
Guest
Dispensation can be given by the diocesan bishop under the following canon:
Can. 87 §1. A diocesan bishop, whenever he judges that it contributes to their spiritual good, is able to dispense the faithful from universal and particular disciplinary laws issued for his territory or his subjects by the supreme authority of the Church. He is not able to dispense, however, from procedural or penal laws nor from those whose dispensation is specially reserved to the Apostolic See or some other authority.
T
thistle
Guest
Why would there then be a normal restriction on the number of times a person can receive? It could be argued that it would contribute to the spiritual good of everyone to have no limits.
J
Just_Lurking
Guest
Canon lawyer Lawrence Wrenn argued that the 1983 code of canon law as originally promulgated contained no restriction on the number of times a person can receive, so as to help reemphasize the symbolic aspect of Mass as a communal meal. By this logic, it was the 1984 authentic interpretation that limited the number of times to twice a day, but the 1984 response did not indicate a reason for the limitation.
Based on this thread, it seems that there are some people who would have spiritual problems if there were no limits. But in any case, it is the diocesan bishop who gets to decide if a dispensation will be given.
What strikes me as a bit odd is that the diocesan bishop can dispense from canon 905 if he needs one of his priests to say mass more than the specified number of times in one day.
M
malphono
Guest
Canon 87 is a general canon of administrative law which sets the conditions under which a local Ordinary may dispense from various disciplinary canons. It’s not specific to the multi-communion issue.
The Roman Church sets a minimum (once a year) and a maximum (once in a given day, with the built-in exceptions noted earlier). I believe the maximum limitation is set precisely to avoid “magic bullet syndrome” where some people have a misguided notion that the more often they receive, the holier they are.
If one pays close attention, one sees that the same maximum (once per day) applies even to priests.
. Here, again, there is a built-in exception, but it is stricter than that in canon 917 in that it requires the involvement of the local Ordinary.
S
Shin
Guest
I can say that receiving twice a day and attending mass twice a day has tremendous spiritual benefits.
P
Pregustator
Guest
By that logic, one should never communicate more than once in an eternity.
What does the Christian who communicates twice a day have over the Christian who only communicates once, do you think? What are these tremendous spiritual benefits that the once-a-day communicant is missing out on?
H
HCC
Guest
I know one guy who did because he was seriously trying to fight committing serious sin. He had inherited at a young age, went wild, came back and was trying to lead a life on serious penance and conversion. I don’t know what the story was on the other people, most of them were women over 50.
H
HCC
Guest
Of the many people I have known who have communicated twice a day, only one was a Third Order Carmelite. The others may have been third order/oblates, etc… but I was not aware.
S
Shin
Guest
Honestly, one used to not be restricted to ‘twice a day’. Since we have two different possible practices… I will say I find the restriction, something not to be preferred.
I would heartily support having it lifted.
I would heartily support having it lifted.
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