Question about liturgy and Holy Days of Obligation

[DL82]

Where I live (England), the feast of the Ascension is transferred to the Sunday after (in the Ordinary Form), so I did not attend church on Thursday for Ascension.

I was out of town this Sunday, so went to a different parish, which offers the Extraordinary Form. They were celebrating the Sunday after Ascension (as feasts are not transferred in the EF).

So, have I missed Mass on a Holy Day of Obligation? I feel like it’s missing somehow.

 

[Phemie]

Where I live (England), the feast of the Ascension is transferred to the Sunday after (in the Ordinary Form), so I did not attend church on Thursday for Ascension.

I was out of town this Sunday, so went to a different parish, which offers the Extraordinary Form. They were celebrating the Sunday after Ascension (as feasts are not transferred in the EF).

So, have I missed Mass on a Holy Day of Obligation? I feel like it’s missing somehow.

You attended Mass on Sunday, so you met your obligation. Which Mass was actually celebrated is irrelevant. You would have also met your obligation if it had been a funeral Mass, a Nuptial Mass or an Ordination Mass.

 

[OraLabora]

HDOs are a Church/diocesan thing and not tied to the form of the Mass. I am an oblate of a Benedictine abbey where Ascension is celebrated on the Thursday. Being retired I was able to attend, but it was not an HDO just because it was offered. The HDO was the Sunday. In dioceses here, Ascension is celebrated on the Sunday (the abbot, who did the homily, even remarked on that in his homily to remove any confusion as to why the readings aren’t the same as in their misalettes). If I had not been to the abbey on Thursday, but went to Sunday Mass there, even though I would have missed the Mass for the Ascension, I would have still fulfilled my obligation as it is defined locally by my Conference of Bishops and diocese.

 

[Usige]

As others have pointed out the requirement us to attend Mass on a specific day, not to hear a specific liturgy. For instance if you attend the EF exclusively you would still be bound to attend Mass on January 1st even though that is not celebrated as the feast of Mary, Mother of God, but rather is an Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord. You could never celebrate Mary, Mother of God as the feast was established after 1962 so would therefore perpetually “miss” that feast in the EF.

I know it might seem strange that the obligation is to attend on a specific day and not a specific celebration, but that’s the way the law is written.

 

[Catholic4Christ]

You could never celebrate Mary, Mother of God as the feast was established after 1962 so would therefore perpetually “miss” that feast in the EF.

Well, sort of. October 11’s feast celebrates the Blessed Virgin’s Maternity in the EF, but it wasn’t a day of obligation.

 

[Usige]

Well, sort of. October 11’s feast celebrates the Blessed Virgin’s Maternity in the EF, but it wasn’t a day of obligation.

That’s true. I guess I was thinking about it as a Class I feast (Solemnity post 1969). I seem to remember that Oct 11 is a Class II so I guess it would have been more correct to say that you would always miss the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God since the feast was not raised to the dignity of a solemnity/first class feast until 1969.

 

[DL82]

Thanks all. Was my first time at an EF Mass in a long time, and first time ever for my little boy (20 months). He did really well, considering, and people there were very welcoming even to a very energetic toddler!