Is a Sunday night Mass still a Sunday Mass?

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DaveBj

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My reason for asking is that when my wife doesn’t want to get up on Sunday mornings (she has legitimate reasons, bad nights from her COPD or diabetes), I go alone to the 11:00 a.m. Mass, and she goes to the 6:30 p.m. Hispanic Mass. She’s been asking me to go with her to the Sunday night Hispanic Mass, and I have been refusing.

I have nothing against hearing the liturgy in Spanish; I speak some Spanish, and the Hispanic priest is a buddy; I see him on weekday mornings when he concelebrates, which is just about every day, and when I’m going to be tied up on Sunday mornings, sometimes I go to the 7:30 p.m. Saturday Mass, which is also Hispanic

However, there are things I want to get done on Sunday evenings (including an hour or so of preparation for 0500 Monday morning. Moreover, I don’t understand how, if a Mass at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday can be a Sunday Mass, a Mass 25 hours later can still be a Sunday Mass. My wife says that it is the Sunday liturgy.

I’m probably misinformed somewhere; can someone straighten me out?
 
Sunday evening mass is still a Sunday mass. After all, its still on Sunday.

Your spouse is correct.
 
Sundays and holy days, unlike other days, are a bit longer. They begin with First Vespers the evening before and end at midnight of the day. Every other day begins and ends at midnight.
 
Yes it is legitmate

Here is the relevant Canon
Canon 1248
1. The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day.
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So the obligation to attend Mass is fulfilled by a Mass said anytime on Sunday, as well as on the evening of the day before.

In our Archdiocese, it is required that each Vicariate have a parish that offers a Sunday evening Mass, so that people like your wife would not have far to drive to find a Sunday evening Mass.

My parish has an 8:30pm Mass, and two other nearby parishes have a 5:00pm and 5:30pm Mass respectfully.
 
Thanks, all. Especially Brendan, for supplying the relevant Canon. I stand corrected. (Well, actually I’m sitting, but you know what I mean!)

I’m still going to limit myself to Sat’y vigil or Sunday morning, unless there is just absolutely no other choice.

Thanks again. Y’all are the best.
 
DaveBj said:
My reason for asking is that when my wife doesn’t want to get up on Sunday mornings (she has legitimate reasons, bad nights from her COPD or diabetes), I go alone to the 11:00 a.m. Mass, and she goes to the 6:30 p.m. Hispanic Mass. She’s been asking me to go with her to the Sunday night Hispanic Mass, and I have been refusing.

I have nothing against hearing the liturgy in Spanish; I speak some Spanish, and the Hispanic priest is a buddy; I see him on weekday mornings when he concelebrates, which is just about every day, and when I’m going to be tied up on Sunday mornings, sometimes I go to the 7:30 p.m. Saturday Mass, which is also Hispanic

However, there are things I want to get done on Sunday evenings (including an hour or so of preparation for 0500 Monday morning. Moreover, I don’t understand how, if a Mass at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday can be a Sunday Mass, a Mass 25 hours later can still be a Sunday Mass. My wife says that it is the Sunday liturgy.

I’m probably misinformed somewhere; can someone straighten me out?
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A liturgical day is midnight to midnight, but its celebration is sometimes anticipated on the evening of the previous day. Fulfillment of the Mass obligation is on the liturgical day itself or the evening before (which is the USA is from 4 PM). Therefore might use different readings.
 
From the Code of Canon Law
Title XI. Computation of Time

Can. 200 Unless the law expressly provides otherwise, time is to be computed according to the norm of the following canons.

Can. 201 §1. Continuous time is understood as that which undergoes no interruption.
§2. Useful time is understood as that which a person has to exercise or to pursue a right, so that it does not run for a person who is unaware or unable to act.

Can. 202 §1. In law, a day is understood as a period consisting of 24 continuous hours and begins at midnight unless other provision is expressly made; a week is a period of 7 days; a month is a period of 30 days, and a year is a period of 365 days unless a month and a year are said to be taken as they are in the calendar.
§2. If time is continuous, a month and a year must always be taken as they are in the calendar.

Can. 203 §1. The initial day (a quo) is not computed in the total unless its beginning coincides with the beginning of the day or the law expressly provides otherwise.
§2. Unless the contrary is established, the final day (ad quem) is computed in the total which, if the time consists of one or more months or years, or one or more weeks, is reached at the end of the last day of the same number or, if a month lacks a day of the same number, at the end of the last day of the month.

From the General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar:
I. The Liturgical Day in General
  1. Each day is made holy through the liturgical celebrations of the people of God, especially through the eucharistic sacrifice and the divine office.
The liturgical day runs from midnight to midnight, but the observance of Sunday and solemnities begins with the evening of the preceding day.
 
DaveBj said:
My reason for asking is that when my wife doesn’t want to get up on Sunday mornings (she has legitimate reasons, bad nights from her COPD or diabetes), I go alone to the 11:00 a.m. Mass, and she goes to the 6:30 p.m. Hispanic Mass. She’s been asking me to go with her to the Sunday night Hispanic Mass, and I have been refusing.

My wife says that it is the Sunday liturgy.

I’m probably misinformed somewhere; can someone straighten me out?
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Can you and your wife attend a vigil Mass on Saturday evening together if morning Mass is difficult for her due to health reasons? Can you maybe attend every other Sunday in the evening with her?

From the small information you provided, I would be sad if I needed to go to Mass in the evening and my husband “refused” because he had other things he wanted to do at that time. Attending Mass as a couple is a wonderful part of marriage.
 
RoseMary131 said:
Can you and your wife attend a vigil Mass on Saturday evening together if morning Mass is difficult for her due to health reasons? Can you maybe attend every other Sunday in the evening with her?

From the small information you provided, I would be sad if I needed to go to Mass in the evening and my husband “refused” because he had other things he wanted to do at that time. Attending Mass as a couple is a wonderful part of marriage.
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She never knows from how she feels on Saturday evening how she’s going to feel on Sunday morning. Part of the Sunday morning reluctance is due to the fact that she stays up watching medical shows on TV unti welll after midnight every night. I’ve decided that getting her to shut down at a reasonable hour in the evening is not a hill that I’m willing to fight and die for, but I also don’t think that it’s something that I necessarily have to accomodate.
 
I thank God for the sunday night mass at my church. I usually can’t get up in time for the sunday morning masses and that 5pm mass sunday night saves me.
 
DaveBj said:
She never knows from how she feels on Saturday evening how she’s going to feel on Sunday morning. Part of the Sunday morning reluctance is due to the fact that she stays up watching medical shows on TV unti welll after midnight every night. I’ve decided that getting her to shut down at a reasonable hour in the evening is not a hill that I’m willing to fight and die for, but I also don’t think that it’s something that I necessarily have to accomodate.
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Its sometimes hard when one spouse’s personality helps them plan in advance to get ready for the next day and the other spouse picks an evening routine that can interfere with the next morning.

You use Sunday evening as a time to be ready for an early morning wake up.

Your wife spends Saturday evening (maybe every evening) watching tv instead of getting to sleep early (or at a normal time), which then can have an effect on how she feels in the morning. Sleep habits/ cycles and illness can keep us off the “normal” time for sleep.

Two people, two personality styles, add illness and poor sleep habits… sounds like you may have tried to get her to turn the tv off earlier… I’m saying a prayer that this Sunday will find her able to attend Sunday morning Mass with you.
 
A few times I’ve gone to an evening Mass on Sunday when I’ve had no other choice. The Sunday readings were still done. It still counts.
 
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