Mass outside of church ground?

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Maxwell03

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Is there a rule on where you can celebrate mass and what you need to celebrate mass outside of church grounds?

For example do you need like a relic or something? Because if I’m not mistaken an altar has a relic under it.

I’m just really curious to know.
 
Every priest I know has a “Mass kit”. Some of the older/high end kits do contain a relic in a sort of tile, however, no a relic is not required for Mass.

In general a priest needs the permission of the Bishop, I believe most Bishops give that as a standing permission.
 
Relics used to be nessecary for any Mass before v2.

Now, Mass can be celebrated without them.

However, as a rule, main altars of churches, before or after the Council, have relics.
 
During WWII, priests had jeeps with altar stones.

Well, many of them: Eastern bishops provide many antimensions, the cloths issued to each eastern priest with a relic in it (as opposed to the western placement in the stone). Many RC priests could travel much more lightly for Mass with this.

At the end of the war, these were returned.

hawk
 
Our local priests celebrate Masses at the local nursing homes every week. Home Masses have been celebrated since the First Century. I do not know what the protocols/permissions are, that is above my pay grade.
 
I don’t think relic is necessary. Mass kit is sufficient but there would probably be a minimum requirement in emergency/situation.
 
And it’s certainly nice to have and use - If there is a movable altar, for example, that’s a good place to use one of the old portable stones
 
When I was in active duty in Louisiana in the early 80s I heard Mass where the priest used a Jeep hood as the altar.
 
fredystairs said:
When I was in active duty in Louisiana in the early 80s I heard Mass where the priest used a Jeep hood as the altar.
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I was under the impression that using the hood of a truck would only be used under extraordinary circumstances. In Louisiana in the early 1980’s, I would think that there would be plenty enough church buildings and ordinary altars available.
 
We were on a couple week exercise. We were in the middle of scrub oaks, sand and swamps. Sorry I didn’t include that.
 
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I’ve heard of people building altars for Mass in the wilderness out of rocks, as a physical reminder of what happened there
 
Here in our country there are a lot of small oratories almost every street has one. The oratory would have a crucifix and a statue of the blessed mother/black Nazarene or other saints with a small stone block in case a priest would say mass. There was always some holy water there.

I know almost every priest has a mass kit with all the basic needs a priest and a server. I’ve served a lot of mass outside of the church but was just curious if a relic was need because father sometimes brought one but sometimes didn’t.
 
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On the very rare ocassion we had a priest on board submarines i served on, a mess decks table served as an altar.
 
No relics needed now.

Pretty much every major Catholic conference or gathering has masses that take place in hotel ballrooms or convention center rooms. Regular tables are just elevated and used. Any large Catholic conference is likely to have a bishop celebrating mass on a rectangular banquet table in a hotel ballroom. Proper linens and vessels must still be used but a table is sufficient for a temporary altar.

A bishop can set special limits and rules for public masses outside of churches (eg communion only under one species) or can retain the right to approve such masses individually.
 
In ‘extremis’ situations the priest’s own presence and his consecrated hands are all that is needed for a valid Mass to take place. It is my understanding that this has always been the case.
 
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Hereiam said:
On the very rare ocassion we had a priest on board submarines i served on, a mess decks table served as an altar.
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To be clear, those jeeps in WWII were carrying altarstones, not tables. This wasn’t for the surface m but because of the embedded relics.

Today, the rules are different, and this would not be done.

hawk
 
I am pretty sure you need wine from grapes and bread made from wheat and water as well as the Missal.
 
dochawk said:
To be clear, those jeeps in WWII were carrying altarstones, not tables. This wasn’t for the surface m but because of the embedded relics.

Today, the rules are different, and this would not be done.

hawk
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It could still be done. However, the hood of a military Jeep was much lower. The Humvee hood is too high to use as an altar. So, the reason why it’s not done anymore is entirely practical. It’s not a matter of any difference in liturgical norms.
 
Father–

I mean that the altar stone wouldn’t be hauled around, rather than the use of the hood.

hawk
 
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