Holy Thursday Mass

[Marita_Glasner]

Can a NO Mass be celebrated on Holy Thursday Morning? Our monthly Mass at a Nursing Home is due on that day.

Thank you.

 

[InThePew]

Can a NO Mass be celebrated on Holy Thursday Morning? Our monthly Mass at a Nursing Home is due on that day.

Thank you.

From the Roman Missal: “the local bishop may permit another mass to be celebrated in the evening and, in case of genuine necessity even in the morning, but only for the faithful who are in no way able to participate in the evening mass. Holy Communion may only be distributed to the faithful during mass but it may be brought to the sick at any hour of the day.”

So, the short answer is yes but it would have to be a “Mass of the Lord’s Supper” since there’s no mass of the day in the missal. A Liturgy of the Word with Holy Communion is also prohibited. given that folks in a rest home aren’t all that mobile, this seems to me to be a “case of genuine necessity”. It’s up to your parish priest (and local bishop) to decide but you can at least point out to him what the missal says (ie. it is allowed)

 

[FrDavid96]

Can a NO Mass be celebrated on Holy Thursday Morning? Our monthly Mass at a Nursing Home is due on that day.

Thank you.

Yes.

However, it cannot be the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper.

What the priest cannot do is take the prayers from the evening Mass and use them. There is no specific morning Mass for Holy Thursday, other than the Chrism Mass (which is obviously not for your situation).

I had a similar situation a few parishes back. The solution was to pray a Votive Mass of the Eucharist in the morning at the facility.

 

[FrDavid96]

From the Roman Missal: “the local bishop may permit another mass to be celebrated in the evening and, in case of genuine necessity even in the morning, but only for the faithful who are in no way able to participate in the evening mass. Holy Communion may only be distributed to the faithful during mass but it may be brought to the sick at any hour of the day.”

So, the short answer is yes but it would have to be a “Mass of the Lord’s Supper” since there’s no mass of the day in the missal.

No, it very specifically cannot be the “Mass of the Lord’s Supper.” That has to be done in the evening. Some other appropriate Mass has to be chosen.

A Liturgy of the Word with Holy Communion is also prohibited.

Again, no. There’s nothing prohibiting this.

Go back and re-read the text you were kind enough to type for us.
“Holy Communion…may be brought to the sick at any hour of the day.”

Since we’re obviously discussing the elderly/infirm, Communion outside of Mass can be done any day other than Holy Saturday, and even then, Viaticum is permitted (indeed required) for those who need it.

Maybe that was a typo. Did you mean to type “permitted” rather than “prohibited”? Or missed the word “not”?

given that folks in a rest home aren’t all that mobile, this seems to me to be a “case of genuine necessity”. It’s up to your parish priest (and local bishop) to decide but you can at least point out to him what the missal says (ie. it is allowed)

Yes. It’s a case of genuine necessity—at least it could be, because we don’t know all the details. It’s still up to the local pastor to decide if it’s truly necessary.

You’re on the right track, but just off by a few details.

 

[FrDavid96]

There is a rubric for the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper which permits a priest who has already celebrated another Mass “for the convenience of the faithful” to con-celebrate again at the Evening Mass.

This tells us that the situation the OP inquired about is indeed something that the Church has already considered. It stands to reason that if a priest is permitted to concelebrate after a first Mass, then surely he can celebrate that first Mass.

It also means that if a priest is in a situation where he’s able to attend two Masses of the Lord’s Supper (maybe his own at 6 PM and at a neighboring parish at 8 PM) he can do it.

 

[phil19034]

There is a rubric for the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper which permits a priest who has already celebrated another Mass “for the convenience of the faithful” to con-celebrate again at the Evening Mass.

This tells us that the situation the OP inquired about is indeed something that the Church has already considered. It stands to reason that if a priest is permitted to concelebrate after a first Mass, then surely he can celebrate that first Mass.

It also means that if a priest is in a situation where he’s able to attend two Masses of the Lord’s Supper (maybe his own at 6 PM and at a neighboring parish at 8 PM) he can do it.

Father - what’s the earliest that the Mass of the Lord’s Supper may be celebrated? I remember a few years ago our Cathedral used to have the Mass of the Lord’s Supper around 3 or 4PM (different pastor). I assumed, it was so the faithful who took the day off and attended the Chrism Mass earlier that day would not have to wait around until 7PM to also attend the Lord’s Supper.

But now, the Cathedral has the Chrism Mass at 9:30am / 10AM and the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7PM.

So, out of pure curiosity what’s the earliest time the mass can take place?

Thank you and God Bless

 

[FrDavid96]

Father - what’s the earliest that the Mass of the Lord’s Supper may be celebrated? I remember a few years ago our Cathedral used to have the Mass of the Lord’s Supper around 3 or 4PM (different pastor). I assumed, it was so the faithful who took the day off and attended the Chrism Mass earlier that day would not have to wait around until 7PM to also attend the Lord’s Supper.

But now, the Cathedral has the Chrism Mass at 9:30am / 10AM and the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7PM.

So, out of pure curiosity what’s the earliest time the mass can take place?

Thank you and God Bless

There’s no universal, set time. The Easter Vigil, naturally, must begin no earlier than sunset. There’s no such rule for the Holy Thursday Mass. The rubrics state “…in the evening, at a convenient time…” Again, contrast “convenient time” with the more strict rule for the Easter Vigil.

Obviously, it’s an evening Mass, so it should not occur too early.

As I like to say, when one wants to know what the law says, read the law.

1. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper is celebrated in the evening, at a time that is more convenient for the full participation of the whole local community. All priests may concelebrate even if on this day they have already concelebrated the Chrism Mass, or if, for the good of the faithful, they must celebrate another Mass.
   Paschalis Solemnitatis The (almost) exact same paragraph appears in the Roman Missal.

What we need to keep in mind is that the notion of having Holy Thursday Mass in the evening is not some mere arbitrary decision made by the Church, as if to say that it makes no difference if it were to happen in the morning, we just choose evening. It’s also not just a matter of convenience either; as if the Church wants it in the evening so that it happens after typical business hours.

There are very real and very important spiritual, historic, and scriptural values to be kept in having that Mass in the (true) evening.

It’s good for us to remind ourselves that before the reforms of the 1950’s Masses that belonged in the evening had been moved to the morning (even the Easter Vigil Mass was on Holy Saturday morning, yep, the Easter Vigil, oi veh!). The Church in Her wisdom (and the wisdom of Pope Pius) realized that this was a mistake. We had reached the point where we were (in a sense) ignoring the biblical time-of-day and all that entails (darkness vs light, end of day vs beginning, even the Jewish method of reckoning days) for a mostly arbitrary value of having all Masses in the morning.

We must be wary of repeating mistakes of the past. It’s an evening Mass, and it belongs in the evening.

 

[InThePew]

No, it very specifically cannot be the “Mass of the Lord’s Supper.” That has to be done in the evening. Some other appropriate Mass has to be chosen.

There is no other mass. If we go back to the Missal, the rubrics read as follows emphasis added):

1. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper is celebrated in the evening, at a convenient time, with the full participation of the whole local community and with all the Priests and Ministers exercising their office.
2. All priests may concelebrate even if they have already concelebrated the chrism mass on this day, or if they have to celebrate another mass for the good of the Christian faithful.
3. Where a pastoral reason requires it, the local Ordinary may permit another mass to be celebrated in churches and oratories in the evening and, in case of genuine necessity even in the morning, but only for the faithful who are in no way able to participate in the evening mass. Care should nevertheless be taken that celebrations of this sort do not take place for the advantage of private person or special small groups, and do not prejudice the evening mass.

So the idea is that the local community come together as a whole to celebrate the mass. It envisages however that sometimes this isn’t always going to be possible and so allows another mass (ie. another mass of the Lord’s supper) to be celebrated, even in the morning (being an explicit exception to the instruction in 1 that it be in the evening). All other masses are prohibited on this day (GIRM 372-374), even funeral masses so it’s either a Mass of the Lord’s Supper or nothing.

Again, no. There’s nothing prohibiting this.

Go back and re-read the text you were kind enough to type for us.
“Holy Communion…may be brought to the sick at any hour of the day.”

I take your point on this - it’s not expressly prohibited.

 

[FrDavid96]

There is no other mass. If we go back to the Missal, the rubrics read as follows emphasis added):

1. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper is celebrated in the evening, at a convenient time, with the full participation of the whole local community and with all the Priests and Ministers exercising their office.
2. All priests may concelebrate even if they have already concelebrated the chrism mass on this day, or if they have to celebrate another mass for the good of the Christian faithful.
3. Where a pastoral reason requires it, the local Ordinary may permit another mass to be celebrated in churches and oratories in the evening and, in case of genuine necessity even in the morning, but only for the faithful who are in no way able to participate in the evening mass. Care should nevertheless be taken that celebrations of this sort do not take place for the advantage of private person or special small groups, and do not prejudice the evening mass.

So the idea is that the local community come together as a whole to celebrate the mass. It envisages however that sometimes this isn’t always going to be possible and so allows another mass (ie. another mass of the Lord’s supper) to be celebrated, even in the morning (being an explicit exception to the instruction in 1 that it be in the evening). All other masses are prohibited on this day (GIRM 372-374), even funeral masses so it’s either a Mass of the Lord’s Supper or nothing.

We aren’t discussing usual circumstances (ie the typical parish setting).

As I have already written, the OPs priest can find a solution.

The solution requires the permission of the local bishop (although I did not draw attention to that, it’s articulated in the GIRM which had already been posted)—if the pastor decides to go the route of a Mass. Of course, no permission is necessary if he decides on a Communion service.

A Votive Mass of the Eucharist was one solution that I used a few years back. I think I was clear in that in no way do I think this is the only possible solution.

As a general rule, the bishop can dispense from the law to permit a votive Mass on days that they are otherwise prohibited (there is huge precedent and even recommendations from Rome on this particular issue and I can provide documentation if you really need it). In most circumstances, even the pastor can dispense to allow a votive Mass. Since the bishop is already given permission to allow for a different Mass, he can certainly attach a dispensation for a Votive Mass along with that permission.

Again, I am merely presenting this as an example of one way that the situation can be resolved.

I take your point on this - it’s not expressly prohibited.

That phrase has a particular and specific meaning. It means that nothing in the law prevents it. On the contrary, with regard to giving Holy Communion to the Sick on Holy Thursday, the Church commends this. There is a world of difference.

The fact that you describe it as “not expressly prohibited” is an indication that you do not understand what you’re writing about. The first time, I thought it was a typo. Apparently, it wasn’t; and how you responded demonstrates that you don’t understand the topic.

Indeed, for a nursing home, a Communion Service (ie Communion for the Sick) is actually the better option than having a Mass on Holy Thursday morning. (The best option being to arrange for the elderly to be in the church in the evening, but that’s not realistic) The former is commended, the later requires special permission from the bishop.