How can a priest celebrate Holy Mass privately

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ngoyae82

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a priest can celebrate mass alone. Now I would like to know which parts can he skip while saying holy mass
 
Basically just the introductory and concluding Rites are slightly modified. Other than that it’s the same as a normal weekday Mass.
 
Blessedwithfive said:
Homily? Maybe he just meditates…
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There is no requirement for a homily in a private Mass said by the priest alone. Homilies are for public Mass.
There is to be a homily on Sundays and holy days of obligation at all Masses that are celebrated with the participation of a congregation; it may not be omitted without a serious reason.
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From the General instructions of the Roman Missal. Thus no congregation = no homily required.

For the rubrics:
III. MASS AT WHICH ONLY ONE MINISTER PARTICIPATES
  1. At a Mass celebrated by a priest with only one minister to assist him and to make the responses, the rite of Mass with a congregation is followed (cf. nos. 120-169) the minister saying the people’s parts as appropriate.
  2. If, however, the minister is a deacon, he performs his proper duties (cf. nos. 171-186) and likewise carries out the other parts, that is, those of the people.
  3. Mass should not be celebrated without a minister or at least one of the faithful, except for a just and reasonable cause. In this case, the greetings, the introductory or explanatory remarks, and the blessing at the end of Mass are omitted.
  4. Before Mass, the necessary vessels are prepared either at the credence table or on the righthand side of the altar.
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He would either just skip the homily, or spend a few minutes meditating on the readings, or perhaps say some extra prayers or read a few Psalms.
 
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Homilies are only required on Sundays and holy days of obligation. They are encouraged at other times, but not required. Many churches have no homilies at their weekday Masses.
 
I frequently celebrate Mass privately. Usually on my day off, for instance, rather than find another Mass to concelebrate, I will just go to my private chapel and offer Mass sometime during the day. Reason is, it’s a day off. So, it’s hard to put something on the schedule. It’s just simpler to have Mass privately.
 
Why would a priest not want to share the Mass instead of having it alone?
 
Sometimes scheduling simply doesn’t work out, or his schedule only allows him to offer it at scattered times throughout the day.
 
Right…in this day & time could he not find one soul to share the Mass with?
 
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buc_fan33 said:
I frequently celebrate Mass privately. Usually on my day off, for instance, rather than find another Mass to concelebrate, I will just go to my private chapel and offer Mass sometime during the day. Reason is, it’s a day off. So, it’s hard to put something on the schedule. It’s just simpler to have Mass privately.
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16 characterssssss
 
The life of a priest is a mystery. I think so many times how sad I am that I cannot attend daily Mass…that I ask to share in the grace of the Mass offered by some priest somewhere. And when I do get to attend Mass I think of all the poor souls who cannot attend Mass and ask God to share the grace of this Mass with them too.
 
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I was simply using your quote to explain to tifischer why priests celebrated Mass alone sometimes. This website says that you have to have 16 original characters in each post, so thats why I had that odd bit at the end.
 
In the EF or the Tridentine Mass it was much easier to do a Mass alone since even with the congregation the Mass was really the priest alone, besides the homily. I have a friend who is a priest who is learning the old form so he can do this Mass alone and possibly open an EF service in our parish.
 
In the Ancient Apostolic Tradition, the concept is unheard of. Missa Privata was allowance that developed in the West to allow priests to collect daily stipends i private chapels. That’s an historical fact. In the Eastern Church, we still maintain the ancient tradition in which we only celebrate the Divine Liturgy when the community is present. Otherwise you end up in some very strange theological places.

Fr. Sebastian
steliasmelkite.org
Los Gatos, CA
 
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