Mass in a Home

[Margarite]

Over Thanksgiving I stayed at a friend’s house and the family was very good friends with a priest I know. Every day the priest came over to the family’s house and said mass on their dining room table. He wore a plaid shirt and jeans while celebrating mass, no vestments at all. Now, we were in a rather large city and the priest I am talking about knew the priest at a local parish fairly well, he also was only a short 2.5 hour drive from his own home and parish. He knew he was going to say mass for this family in their home.

I was going to confront him about this at the time, but he and I got in an arguement about whether or not Christ had the Beatific Vision on earth (he thought not and I conferred with certain theologians I know and they looked up their answer in St. Thomas A. and agreed with me that He did). Anyways, because of that arguement and because he has a certain position of authority over me, and because I am 21 and he 70, I did not want to push his temper too far.

Basically my question is, can a priest under the circumstances listed above say mass in a home without vestments?
A second question I have is are there any specific rules to having mass in a home?

Thank you so much!
Merry Christmas!
Margarite

 

[Joan_M]

If a priest says Mass in someone’s home he still must wear the proper vestments.

 

[jmcrae]

There are circumstances where saying Mass in someone’s home is permitted - in all charity, simply assume he knows what he’s doing, and that he has the proper permission.

I used to travel with a priest, and he would say Mass for us out on the road, or in our motel room, or anywhere that we happened to be, whenever it was time for daily Mass. He died recently - may he rest in peace. He was a wonderful traveling companion.

 

[Matthew_Holford]

Over Thanksgiving I stayed at a friend’s house and the family was very good friends with a priest I know. Every day the priest came over to the family’s house and said mass on their dining room table. He wore a plaid shirt and jeans while celebrating mass, no vestments at all. Now, we were in a rather large city and the priest I am talking about knew the priest at a local parish fairly well, he also was only a short 2.5 hour drive from his own home and parish. He knew he was going to say mass for this family in their home.

I was going to confront him about this at the time, but he and I got in an arguement about whether or not Christ had the Beatific Vision on earth (he thought not and I conferred with certain theologians I know and they looked up their answer in St. Thomas A. and agreed with me that He did). Anyways, because of that arguement and because he has a certain position of authority over me, and because I am 21 and he 70, I did not want to push his temper too far.

Basically my question is, can a priest under the circumstances listed above say mass in a home without vestments?
A second question I have is are there any specific rules to having mass in a home?

Thank you so much!
Merry Christmas!
Margarite

Home Masses are permissible. Celebrating without the proper vestments is illicit.

 

[laszlo]

Permission needed from the bishop and proper vestment is required

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=201856

I do not believe that a 21 years old lay individual is the appropriate person to confront a 70 years old priest about this topic. One can complain to the local pastor, to the local bishop, to the bishop of the priest in question, and it is their responsibility to make appropriate steps.

 

[Theophorus]

If a priest says Mass in someone’s home he still must wear the proper vestments.

I agree with the other posters yes to home Masses no to lack of vestments.

Back home in Ireland there is a great tradition of station Masses around the parish in various houses, the priest always wears the proper vestments.
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal and the Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Sacramentum both attest to the proper place of vestments during Mass. regardless of where that mass is celebrated.

 

[PLAT]

Well our parish has a Children’s Christmas mass every year in a school hall (for those kids, of course, that would be better off coming at 7 instead of 12).

EDIT:
Of course, altar boys and preist have proper vestments, and proper objects are used, including incense, cross, altar candles, etc.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

I have been to many home Masses, usually when I was travelling with a priest or he was visiting the area. Even if the priest knows the local priest, it doesn’t mean it is always easy for the priest to say Mass in that church.

If the priest in question is in his 70s, he is probably used to saying daily Mass, which all priests used to do and often celebrated in ‘privately’ in that the Mass wasn’t on a specific schedule or expected to be attended by anyone. The Masses could also have been said as a special blessing to the family being visited.

In a situation like that, I would always err on the side of charity. If anything about the Mass bothered you, and you could have it cleared up in an ordinary conversation, you had no obligation to attend or receive communion.

 

[Matthew_Holford]

I have been to many home Masses, usually when I was travelling with a priest or he was visiting the area. Even if the priest knows the local priest, it doesn’t mean it is always easy for the priest to say Mass in that church.

If the priest in question is in his 70s, he is probably used to saying daily Mass, which all priests used to do and often celebrated in ‘privately’ in that the Mass wasn’t on a specific schedule or expected to be attended by anyone. The Masses could also have been said as a special blessing to the family being visited.

In a situation like that, I would always err on the side of charity. If anything about the Mass bothered you, and you could have it cleared up in an ordinary conversation, you had no obligation to attend or receive communion.

We’re not disputing the fact that priests can celebrate Mass in a person’s home. To be frank we’re saying that if a priest celebrates Mass without the prescribed vestments he’s being disobedient to Church law.