Mass Attendance in Blizzard

[James0235]

As anyone in Ohio no doubt knows most of the state seemed to get record snowfall March 7th and 8th. It was discussed in this thread.

I missed hearing it during the actual blizzard but a priest this past weekend told me that the bishop of Columbus had stated that no one in the diocese was under obligation to attend Mass that weekend.

I read this Sunday in the parish bulletin:

Last weekend was most unusual in the life of the parish. The intense but quick blizzard shut the city down, but things quickly rebounded as temperatures rose. There was no Mass last Saturday at 5 pm. At 9 am, there were 60 people present; at the 11 am, there were 42. And at the 5 pm there were 3 million. Actually the 5 o’clock Mass looked like the Christmas Vigil, as roads cleared, everyone came.

I personally tried to make it to the 9 am Mass and then later to the 5 pm Mass but didn’t get very far either time. I imagine it was a pretty similar site at the other parishes with Sunday evening Masses though.

James

 

[stbruno]

With our early Easter, snow is possible this weekend too. Let’s hope we are over with snow…sorry skiers, but I am tired of snowshoveling.

 

[ABostonCatholic]

Back in December we had a couple of bad storms. On one Sunday, we were able to get to Mass only because we were near the subway, and were able to go to a chapel downtown. There is no way we could have gotten in our car to drive to our normal parish.

 

[jpjd]

My priest told me that he will always have Mass, Mass is never cancelled. If no one would show, he would still hold Mass. I find that comforting.

 

[Karl_M]

We had a massive blizzard on Ash Wednesday. I had talked to the priest on the phone that morning, he said that we would still have the night Mass, but “that it isn’t a holy day of obligation and besides, I only have to walk across the parking lot.”

But when I talked to him that weekend, he said that hazardous weather conditions can be grounds for not going to Mass.