Is doing laundry servile work?

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This question might sound a bit strange at first glance but for many, myself included, the weekend is the only time that we have the time to do laundry. Since the Catechism tells us to rest from servile work on Sundays, this question might make a bit more sense. Is doing laundry servile work? Should we try to abstain from doing it on Sundays and just try to have it finished sometime on Saturday so we can focus on God as much as possible on the Lord’s Day? Thank you.
 
It’s not swinging loads that’s so bad but the folding and putting away certainly feels servile :crazy_face:

But in all seriousness, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
If Sunday is literally the only day you have, then do it then and be at peace.

However, (and this took me a while to work out all the details), I’ve been reclaiming the Sabbath, trying to avoid chores, etc on Sundays.
Some weeks simply get away from me, and I don’t have any other day.
If I have to swing loads I will, but I won’t fold or put away on a Sunday. I’m not saying this to lay any obligation on you 🙂 just sharing my testimony.
 
I wish I could avoid chores on Sundays. I wish it could just be a day of rest and just be able to focus on God, going to Mass and the class I’m taking for practicing Catholics that haven’t been confirmed yet. I work nights so, unless I stay up all the way from Friday night after work until the laundry room opens, Sunday is my only option. At least it’s me and my wife so only have to do laundry once every two weeks. That’s the great thing about living in an apartment. If you do it early, nobody is up and can get like 8 loads of laundry done (which I did this Sunday) in a couple hours.
 
That’s another thing. It’s a good place that’s quiet (at least until the dryers start) and can just think on the Lord and pray as well. That could be said about anything servile though where there isn’t a lot of thinking involved. Not to say all servile work is like that but some of it is.
 
Even if you lived in a country where you had to wash things by hand it’s just a simple every day chore that needs to be done,like cooking a meal,sweeping the floor .And it can be enjoyable in its own way and offered up 🙂
 
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I’ll clean your house if you clean mine :roll_eyes:😅
Doing someone else’s dishes is always more fun than doing your own.:coffee:
 
Are you carrying your laundry to the creek where you will use stones to break up dirt? That could be servile.

For the people reading here, we toss some clothes into one machine, move it to another then sit on the sofa and fold the laundry. Not quite servile 🙂
 
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TheLittleLady said:
For the people reading here, we toss some clothes into one machine, move it to another then sit on the sofa and fold the laundry. Not quite servile 🙂
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Same here. I ordered my machines to do the hard work. My washer is 35 years old and may someday soon will be consumed in the fire of the recycling furnace. In reality it will be shredded first.

One difference is that I waited to fold and put away the laundry until this morning. Wrinkles do not bother me too much.

To be more eco-friendly, I try to wait until the temperature has dropped before running appliances and putting further strain on my air conditioner. In winter I do the opposite so the furnace does not have to work quite as hard.
 
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CurtisHouse said:
This question might sound a bit strange at first glance but for many, myself included, the weekend is the only time that we have the time to do laundry. Since the Catechism tells us to rest from servile work on Sundays, this question might make a bit more sense. Is doing laundry servile work? Should we try to abstain from doing it on Sundays and just try to have it finished sometime on Saturday so we can focus on God as much as possible on the Lord’s Day? Thank you.
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I thought the “servile work” terminology was eliminated in the new Code of Canon Law. My 2nd edition of the Catechism says “On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body.” Yet people keep asking about “servile work.” I can’t find that word anywhere in reference to the Sunday obligation.
 
It is for me. Other people’s mileage may vary. I have a FB friend (female, HS classmate from 55 years ago) who loves to iron.

D
 
I LOVE to iron. I also love to fold clothes.
 
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We were in the Yucatan for nine days to visit friends and have some dental work done on the cheap. My friends use a laundry service down there and they were not open when I ran out of cloths,… so I got to do some laundry the old fashioned way… by hand. It felt pretty servile to me, but you can’t wear dirty cloths in the tropics!🥴

This is a good thread though, as I have been wondering about this over the past several weeks.
 
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Pitcairn17 said:
I thought the “servile work” terminology was eliminated in the new Code of Canon Law. My 2nd edition of the Catechism says “On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body.” Yet people keep asking about “servile work.” I can’t find that word anywhere in reference to the Sunday obligation.
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The distinction between servile and non-servile work is a traditional teaching, and the omission of this term from CIC 1983 does not mean that this teaching no longer exists.

I do have a quibble, though. Many kinds of work that are, strictly speaking, “non-servile”, are nevertheless tedious, stress-inducing, and soul-crushing, or at least they can be. Reconciling a badly out-of-balance checkbook, lengthy and intensive study of required material for school, writing a procedures handbook for one’s employer, and so on — things such as this are allowed under the rubric of “non-servile work”, nevertheless, they can seriously compromise such things as “joy proper to the Lord’s Day” and “relaxation of mind and body”.
 
that’s why the wording was changed, types of work are not quite what they used to be. the concept of servile labour just is not the same as before

you’ve got the right idea, don’t do work that makes you that miserable ifyou can avoid it or makes you stressed out, don’t work if you don’t have to and spend time with family or loved ones. avoid chores that make you bitter and angry

pushing a few buttons on the laundry machine is not servile, it doen’st even compare to the way people used to have to do laundry
 
angell1 said:
that’s why the wording was changed, types of work are not quite what they used to be. the concept of servile labour just is not the same as before

you’ve got the right idea, don’t do work that makes you that miserable ifyou can avoid it or makes you stressed out, don’t work if you don’t have to and spend time with family or loved ones. avoid chores that make you bitter and angry

pushing a few buttons on the laundry machine is not servile, it doen’st even compare to the way people used to have to do laundry
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Quite agreed. I would even argue that for a corporate desk jockey who spends 40-50 hours a week chained to a cubicle (figuratively speaking), answering phones from irate customers, a building with few windows, fluorescent lights overhead, and entirely ventilated by HVAC, it could — could — be therapeutic, relaxing, and good exercise to get out in the yard, fire up the lawn mower, and spend a few hours manicuring his yard. And of course there is the primeval male urge to crack open an ice-cold beer, stand back, and admire his handiwork. All men do this. 👨‍🔧 If women want to do this as well, I welcome them to. The beer and standing back admiring should be a requirement of canon law if it isn’t already 🍺⛳ 😺
 
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