Marital Relations Before Mass

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There is no rule regarding marital relations just before going to mass as there is for fasting for example, true?
 
Correct, there is no rule (assuming you are married). And why would there be? Sex within marriage is not sinful.
 
In the Latin rite, no, there is no such rule. However, similar rules are not unheard of. Orthodox priests may keep such a rule for a day beforehand if I correctly recall, and the Israelites in the OT would abstain from marital relations in various situations. Such a practice is mentioned here from Exodus 19:
15 He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”
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Pug said:
In the Latin rite, no, there is no such rule. However, similar rules are not unheard of. Orthodox priests may keep such a rule for a day beforehand if I correctly recall, and the Israelites in the OT would abstain from marital relations in various situations. Such a practice is mentioned here from Exodus 19:
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That’s because “priests” in the Orthodox faith may be married. But laity do not have to follow that rule.
 
No particular reason other to distinguish them from laity. They are fully ordained.

My favorite Orthodox priest is Fr.Thomas Loya who is an authority of Pope John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body.”
 
stbruno said:
That’s because “priests” in the Orthodox faith may be married. But laity do not have to follow that rule.
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Which brings up something I’ve wondered about: How about married deacons in the Latin rite? Are they required to - or suggested to - abstain from relations when they are to be on the altar – at least as a pious practice?
 
Nothing wrong with marital relations before Mass, as long as you’re not late as a result 😉
 
Some Instructions from my missal:
On the eve of your Communion, be more recollected than usual, think often upon the happiness you are to enjoy the ensuing day in receiving your God. As this should be your last thought on retiring to rest, so it should also be your first at awaking. Imagine that your Guardian Angel addresses you in these words: “Behold, the Spouse cometh; go forth now to meet Him.” Arise as early as possible to receive the great Guest, Who deigns to honor you with His visit. Say your morning prayers with more than ordinary fervor, and repair early to the church, to prepare leisurely for the happy moment. If there before Mass begins, or while another is being said, occupy your mind with thoughts of the great blessings which our Lord bestows on those who love Him, and recite such prayers as the following…

I leave it to you to decide where sex just before Mass fits into this mindset.
 
Cranch said:
Some Instructions from my missal:
On the eve of your Communion, be more recollected than usual, think often upon the happiness you are to enjoy the ensuing day in receiving your God. As this should be your last thought on retiring to rest, so it should also be your first at awaking. Imagine that your Guardian Angel addresses you in these words: “Behold, the Spouse cometh; go forth now to meet Him.” Arise as early as possible to receive the great Guest, Who deigns to honor you with His visit. Say your morning prayers with more than ordinary fervor, and repair early to the church, to prepare leisurely for the happy moment. If there before Mass begins, or while another is being said, occupy your mind with thoughts of the great blessings which our Lord bestows on those who love Him, and recite such prayers as the following…

I leave it to you to decide where sex just before Mass fits into this mindset.
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Whoever wrote that was almost certainly single and childless for starters.

Relations with the spouse God has provided for you in order for you to co-participate with Him in the process of creation is nothing wrong or shameful, or incompatible with holiness or proper preparation to receive the Eucharist. If it were so we would be instructed to refrain from it as we are from food and drink.
 
Coder said:
There is no rule regarding marital relations just before going to mass as there is for fasting for example, true?
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No, there is no rule, although according to this there was an “ancient tradition” of abstaining the day before. However, it continues on to read: “Unlike fasting, however, conjugal abstinence was never prescribed by the Church for laymen.”
 
The Jewish tradition encourages lovemaking on the Sabbath. It’s obviously a restful and good activity, so it should be a part of a happy and healthy Sunday!
 
In the Old Testament, those who were in battle were not permitted to have intercourse. This was the reason David was so upset when Urias did not go unto his wife, Bathsheba, for David wanted to blame her pregnancy on her husband, rather than expose the truth. But Urias knew the law, and did not go in to her. David then had him placed in the front line of battle to guarantee his murder.
2 Sam. 11:9 “But Urias slept before the gate of the king’s house, with the other servants of his lord, and went not down to his own house.”

I’m not sure where to find the law, but it is probably in Leviticus.
 
LilyM said:
Relations with the spouse God has provided for you in order for you to co-participate with Him in the process of creation is nothing wrong or shameful, or incompatible with holiness or proper preparation to receive the Eucharist. If it were so we would be instructed to refrain from it as we are from food and drink.
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Don’t you see the obvious flaw in your reasoning? Food and drink are not wrong or shameful or incompatible with holiness. Abstaining from them is partially about having a clean place to receive Christ, but considering that - ESPECIALLY with the one-hour “fast” that is today’s norm - we don’t come at all close to really emptying out our stomachs before reception the practice is much more about discipline. Overlooking the fact that despite its positive qualities sex can be an occasion to impurity even for the married, the real heart of the matter is using self-restraint, self-discipline, and self-denial to prepare interiorly to receive the Blessed Sacrament. Indulging in marital relations can be incompatible with this ideal.
 
Rykell said:
I’m not sure where to find the law, but it is probably in Leviticus.
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Perhaps you mean a combo of two ideas, that sexual relations brings on the state of uncleanness, and that you want your soldiers in camp to be clean.

lev15 said:
18 'If a man lies with a woman so that there is a seminal emission, they shall both bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
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Dt23 said:
9 "When you go out as an army against your enemies, you shall keep yourself from every evil thing. 10 "If there is among you any man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he must go outside the camp
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From this I deduce that the man who had relations with his wife would also be out of the battle camp until evening, at least. Also, you can read a bit further in the 2sam passage you gave to read:
Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.”
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