Holy Days of Obligation- Do Many Go These Days?

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I went to the anticipated Mass last night and it was almost as full as a normal Sunday Mass. We also had like 8 altar servers (we usually have lots!) in a relatively small parish. There were 2 Masses today, I imagine tonight was pretty packed. I went to another parish this evening on the way home from work, it was at most 2/3 full but I believe they had a school Mass this morning.

I noticed that one of the larger parishes in Lexington only had a single noon Mass. But the Cathedral and the other biggest parish each had 4 Masses.
 
If a person is going to be a Catholic, then fullfil your obligations; which means Mass every Sunday or its Vigil if offered and EVERY Holy day of Obligation. There is no such thing as a cafeteria Catholic. Either you are Catholic or not. If Catholicism is too tough then go be a protestant and quit mucking things up.
 
\There is no such thing as a cafeteria Catholic. \

**Oh, I disagree.

EVERYONE is, to a greater or lesser extent, a cafeteria Catholic.

There are practices, devotions, prayers, saints, writings, and such that appeal to some people–and some that don’t appeal to others.

The very fact that you are a member of the LATIN Church means, among other things, that you pick Latin spirituality over Eastern spiritualities.

But that’s why the Church is CATHOLIC–she has something for everybody. And the very fact that She offers such a wide and varied spiritual banquet just proves my point: EVERYONE is a cafeteria Catholic.

**
 
corsair said:
If a person is going to be a Catholic, then fullfil your obligations; which means Mass every Sunday or its Vigil if offered and EVERY Holy day of Obligation. There is no such thing as a cafeteria Catholic. Either you are Catholic or not. If Catholicism is too tough then go be a protestant and quit mucking things up.
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AMEN, Corsair!!!
 
We had a minimum of 4 evening Masses available to us, one was the anticipated Mass and then two evening Masses on Dec. 8 at the mother church and one at the mission Parish. We also had our usual 9 a.m. weekday Mass and then a 12:10 Mass which is the one my daughter and I attended.

I can say for sure that the 9 a.m. was full as I was driving by the church at that time and the parking lot was full. The 12:10 I attended was full too, not SRO but still very few extra seats.

The evening Masses were, I am sure pretty full because they were the ones that were available for those who work during the day.

Now, my Parish is large (over 1000 families) and I would say that the majority of those who go to Mass regularly will attend a Holy Day which is why we have so many Masses available. Of course, some will attend Mass at another Parish like some here did.

Brenda V.
 
NewEnglandPries said:
Ash Wednesday, on the other hand, which is not a day of obligation is almost always overflowing. And other non-obligation days like Holy Thursday & Good Friday also get good crowds.
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Yes, isn’t that odd? Just a theory but I think part of it is because on Ash Wednesday you “get something”, you get the ashes and it’s a little bit of excitement. It’s different from a regular mass and it’s a big Catholic-culture thing. Like Palm Sunday, you get your palms. I never go to Ash Wednesday services anymore because the church is always so full to overflowing, it’s just a miserable experience and it can last for hours in my parish.

I missed the Immaculate Conception mass, sort of by accident. I stayed home from work because I wasn’t feeling well yesterday, but I was planning to go to Mass. Then I layed down at about 4 pm and instead of resting I fell into a deep sleep and didn’t wake up till 6. The Mass I was planning to go to started at 6, and I have to go on the bus so I wouldn’t have even made it late. 😊
 
where i live, we had 26 inches of snow in the 24 hour period before the morning of the feast of the Immaculate Conception. every single activity at the church was cancelled from the day and evening before. however, the message encouraged us to attend one of the Masses offered Tuesday. i attended the noon mass and only because my son was sent home from work and was able to take me in the big Bronco. otherwise, i would not have been able to go. the church was half full. if the weather had been nice, i think it would have been full. i don’t know what the attendance was at the early morning mass or the evening mass.
 
Being blessed enough to work/live near a number of Catholic Churches and having a work schedule where I don’t start until 3pm, it was no problem getting to the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and hitting confession (FINALLY) first, then mass.

Best feeling in the world, I gotta tell ya. 😃
 
Our Immaculate Conception Mass at 12:10 pm was packed. I took the day off from work so I could attend. I usually take the day off when it is a holy day on a weekday. To me, going to Mass is a blessing, not an obligation.😉
 
CHRISTINE77 said:
Our Immaculate Conception Mass at 12:10 pm was packed. I took the day off from work so I could attend. I usually take the day off when it is a holy day on a weekday. To me, going to Mass is a blessing, not an obligation.😉
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Exactly!
 
genealogist said:
The first time the new Saturday and Monday rules for Holy Days came to my attention was in Milwaukee in August 1992. I called the chancery there and said it was a bad idea and I still think it was. Years ago people basically did go but now they miss, most if not all holy days and don’t remember that in the USA 12/8 is always a holy day.

For years I have noticed that the parochial kids are there for the holy days but not on 1/1 or 8/15 because school is not in session. As a CCD kid myself and now a CCD parent I am cognizant of the difference between school families and CCD families.

We have a bad snow here in Nebraska but mine were the only kids at Mass this morning at 10 am. No homeschoolers either. The weather is worsening so hopefully everyone went last night but I wanted to vent once again that relaxing the rules leads to chaos for holy day Mass attendance.

I believe the same would have if moral laws could be relaxed. The Lambeth Conference in 1930 relaxed the rules but everybody ran through. Thalidimide gave people cause to relax their thinking in abortion but now we have abortion on demand and it has reached near sacramental status for the secularists.
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I assume you are talking about Holy days of Obligation other than Sundays which of course are also Holy days of Obligation.
At my parish church we have 10 Masses every Sunday because we have about an 80% attendence at Mass.
On other Holy Days of Obligation (e.g. like Immaculate Conception) the Sunday Mass schedule is used (i.e. 10 Masses) to accomodate all who attend. We have high attendence whatever day the obligation is on.
 
thistle said:
I assume you are talking about Holy days of Obligation other than Sundays which of course are also Holy days of Obligation.
At my parish church we have 10 Masses every Sunday because we have about an 80% attendence at Mass.
On other Holy Days of Obligation (e.g. like Immaculate Conception) the Sunday Mass schedule is used (i.e. 10 Masses) to accomodate all who attend. We have high attendence whatever day the obligation is on.
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Wow that’s a lot of masses. How many Priests do you have at your church?
 
While church attendance by Mexican Catholics on Holy Days of Obligations (or Solemnities), might be the same as anywhere else (low numbers), the one solemnity in mind where this might be an exception is Our Lady of Guadalupe (Solemnity in Mexico). I would even dare to say that attendance on this day is higher than for Sunday masses.
 
kurtmasur said:
While church attendance by Mexican Catholics on Holy Days of Obligations (or Solemnities), might be the same as anywhere else (low numbers), the one solemnity in mind where this might be an exception is Our Lady of Guadalupe (Solemnity in Mexico). I would even dare to say that attendance on this day is higher than for Sunday masses.
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This Sunday!
 
We had a 6:30pm mass at our parish that had about 50% attendence from a regular Sunday mass. It’s unfortunate that so many do not attend, particularly a Mass in honor of Mary who has done so much for her children over the centuries. Nonetheless, I am glad I was there. It was an honor to have been in attendence. It was a blessing to have been in attendence. And yes, it was my obligation to God to be in attendance and I’m not ashamed to call it an obligation because it is. There’s nothing like receiving added graces on a holy day! 🙂
 
bpbasilphx said:
I actually find the expression “Holy Day of obligation” odious.

If one is not aware of the great signifance of the Dormtion of the Theotokos, or Holy Cross, for examples, and does not WANT to attend services on those days, will making them an “obligation” with the concomitant resentment improve the individual spiritual condition?
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When I was a teenager I didn’t want to attend mass at all, the obligation was the only thing that kept me going during those difficult years.

There is nothing intrinsicly wrong with the term Holy Day of obligation, yours is a personal issue due to the way you are choosing to interpret it, only libertines would bristle at something been made a duty.

Making it an obligation serves to communicate the importance of the feast day to the faithful and gives extra motivation to those who may be lacking it.

It is better to go to mass while not wanting to than to not go at all, in fact such sacrifice and denial of oneself is very pleasing to the Lord, the obligation has worked this way for me and I’m sure for others also. As such it is is a force for good.
 
corsair said:
If a person is going to be a Catholic, then fullfil your obligations; which means Mass every Sunday or its Vigil if offered and EVERY Holy day of Obligation. There is no such thing as a cafeteria Catholic. Either you are Catholic or not. If Catholicism is too tough then go be a protestant and quit mucking things up.
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Sorry, canon law doesn’t work that way. As long as someone is baptized Catholic and hasn’t been ex communicated then they remain a Catholic. Perhaps not a good Catholic, but a Catholic nonetheless.
 
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