Question Regarding Opus Dei Mass Attendance

[Utopia]

Greetings,
I have been interested in the Work for some time now. I should mention that I have done a great deal of reading, reached out to local members, and now look forward to attending the next Evening of Recollection. I am aware that the final contract you sign requires you to live by the norms of Opus Dei, one of which being daily Mass attendance. My questions are as follows:

1. If one attends the Vigil Mass on Saturday then what does one do about Sunday Mass? Do you attend both? Or, should one find a Saturday morning Mass that will have different readings from the Sunday Mass? I ask this because I am very attached to my Saturday Vigil.

AND…

1. If one just CANNOT make mass and misses a day isn’t this essentially a breach of contract?

Thanks so much for any help and God Bless!!!

 

[baltobetsy]

You do the best you can according to your own life circumstances. If that means Saturday vigil is your Mass for Saturday, so be it. If that means you miss daily Mass occasionally, so be it. They’re not standing over you waiting to catch you in some breach of contract. The norms of piety are strong suggestions, not legal requirements. They are meant to bring you close to God and are quite adaptable.

 

[Utopia]

You do the best you can according to your own life circumstances. If that means Saturday vigil is your Mass for Saturday, so be it. If that means you miss daily Mass occasionally, so be it. They’re not standing over you waiting to catch you in some breach of contract. The norms of piety are strong suggestions, not legal requirements. They are meant to bring you close to God and are quite adaptable.

Thanks so much for the reply. I kinda figured that would be the case. My hope would be to attend as often as possible as I enjoy doing this now.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Greetings,
I have been interested in the Work for some time now. I should mention that I have done a great deal of reading, reached out to local members, and now look forward to attending the next Evening of Recollection. I am aware that the final contract you sign requires you to live by the norms of Opus Dei, one of which being daily Mass attendance. My questions are as follows:

1. If one attends the Vigil Mass on Saturday then what does one do about Sunday Mass? Do you attend both? Or, should one find a Saturday morning Mass that will have different readings from the Sunday Mass? I ask this because I am very attached to my Saturday Vigil.

AND…

1. If one just CANNOT make mass and misses a day isn’t this essentially a breach of contract?

Thanks so much for any help and God Bless!!!

I think the best place to find the correct answers would be within Opus Dei.

We can speculate here as to the answer but nothing that is said here will be authoritative, only Opus Dei has the authority to answer these questions.

 

[Red_Meg]

@ByzCath–

I’m not sure how “authoritative” an answer you need… Betsy is a cooperator of Opus Dei, IIRC, and a long-standing source of very good, reliable information about the Work here on CAF.

I’m a supernumerary who posts far less frequently, and I can say that you do your best with daily Mass. I know there have been instances when a daily Saturday Mass was not an option (ie just not offered in the vicinity) for a particular member of the Work, so attendance at both Saturday evening vigil and Sunday morning Mass was done instead. Back in my college days when the Saturday vigil was my Sunday Mass of choice (I was in charge of the music for that Mass) that normally meant for me Saturday morning Mass, then Saturday evening Mass.

That being said, back to Utopia’s original query about “breach of contract”-- the norms of piety we promise (not vow!) to follow in Opus Dei are not binding under pain of sin. We don’t have the same weight of obligation a vowed religious does. We do it because we want to, not because we have to. And during those times when the “other” demands of my vocation (i.e. nine children) prevent me from attending Mass on a given day, I’ve been advised in confession to simply offer it up and make a spiritual communion during the time I would have attended Mass had I been able. There aren’t “plan of life police” walking around monitoring us.

Hope this helps? I’ll try to pop back in later and check for replies but it may be a while…

Best,

Margaret

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

@ByzCath–

I’m not sure how “authoritative” an answer you need… Betsy is a cooperator of Opus Dei, IIRC, and a long-standing source of very good, reliable information about the Work here on CAF.

I’m a supernumerary who posts far less frequently, and I can say that you do your best with daily Mass. I know there have been instances when a daily Saturday Mass was not an option (ie just not offered in the vicinity) for a particular member of the Work, so attendance at both Saturday evening vigil and Sunday morning Mass was done instead. Back in my college days when the Saturday vigil was my Sunday Mass of choice (I was in charge of the music for that Mass) that normally meant for me Saturday morning Mass, then Saturday evening Mass.

That being said, back to Utopia’s original query about “breach of contract”-- the norms of piety we promise (not vow!) to follow in Opus Dei are not binding under pain of sin. We don’t have the same weight of obligation a vowed religious does. We do it because we want to, not because we have to. And during those times when the “other” demands of my vocation (i.e. nine children) prevent me from attending Mass on a given day, I’ve been advised in confession to simply offer it up and make a spiritual communion during the time I would have attended Mass had I been able. There aren’t “plan of life police” walking around monitoring us.

Hope this helps? I’ll try to pop back in later and check for replies but it may be a while…

Best,

Margaret

My point is that if you have a question about Opus Dei then you should ask Opus Dei. Just as if you have a question about an order or diocese you should ask them.

I do not understand why someone who has a question about a specific group and how they do things would ask that question in an anonymous internet forum. Doing so does not really get you an answer, it gets you the opinion of those who respond.

 

[Utopia]

My point is that if you have a question about Opus Dei then you should ask Opus Dei. Just as if you have a question about an order or diocese you should ask them.

I do not understand why someone who has a question about a specific group and how they do things would ask that question in an anonymous internet forum. Doing so does not really get you an answer, it gets you the opinion of those who respond.

I asked the question with the hopes of an Opus Dei member responding and was very lucky to receive answers from both a member and a cooperator. I asked on here because this is a wonderful source of information that connects all kinds of people and Opus Dei is an international, not just local organization. Further if someone else was wondering the same thing, they now have an answer. I agree if one really has complex questions they should approach the source, but with questions such as the ones i asked I assumed this would be a good place to seek a quick answer.

 

[Utopia]

@ByzCath–

I’m not sure how “authoritative” an answer you need… Betsy is a cooperator of Opus Dei, IIRC, and a long-standing source of very good, reliable information about the Work here on CAF.

I’m a supernumerary who posts far less frequently, and I can say that you do your best with daily Mass. I know there have been instances when a daily Saturday Mass was not an option (ie just not offered in the vicinity) for a particular member of the Work, so attendance at both Saturday evening vigil and Sunday morning Mass was done instead. Back in my college days when the Saturday vigil was my Sunday Mass of choice (I was in charge of the music for that Mass) that normally meant for me Saturday morning Mass, then Saturday evening Mass.

That being said, back to Utopia’s original query about “breach of contract”-- the norms of piety we promise (not vow!) to follow in Opus Dei are not binding under pain of sin. We don’t have the same weight of obligation a vowed religious does. We do it because we want to, not because we have to. And during those times when the “other” demands of my vocation (i.e. nine children) prevent me from attending Mass on a given day, I’ve been advised in confession to simply offer it up and make a spiritual communion during the time I would have attended Mass had I been able. There aren’t “plan of life police” walking around monitoring us.

Hope this helps? I’ll try to pop back in later and check for replies but it may be a while…

Best,

Margaret

Margaret,
Cant thank you enough for the reply. You and Betsy are great. This is what I was looking for. I was curious as to how a member of the Work deals with situations just as you described. As Im sure I will learn a lot more about the “living” of the Work when I start attending meetings and such, I am trying to gather as much knowledge as possible as I am incredibly intrigued and knew the wonderful people on this site would have some answers. Warmest Regards—Matt

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

I asked the question with the hopes of an Opus Dei member responding and was very lucky to receive answers from both a member and a cooperator. I asked on here because this is a wonderful source of information that connects all kinds of people and Opus Dei is an international, not just local organization. Further if someone else was wondering the same thing, they now have an answer. I agree if one really has complex questions they should approach the source, but with questions such as the ones i asked I assumed this would be a good place to seek a quick answer.

This is why I brought up “authority”.

What kind of “authority” do members of Opus Dei (be they a cooperator or something else) have to reply to these sort of questions?

If I have a question as to the rule and constitutions of my Order I would not just ask any member of the Order, I would go to the prior of my house and/or to the prior provincial as the authority resides with them to answer such questions.

 

[jaaraf]

This is why I brought up “authority”.

What kind of “authority” do members of Opus Dei (be they a cooperator or something else) have to reply to these sort of questions?

If I have a question as to the rule and constitutions of my Order I would not just ask any member of the Order, I would go to the prior of my house and/or to the prior provincial as the authority resides with them to answer such questions.

You do have a point, ByzCAth. The best person to ask would be one of the directors of Opus Dei.

Let me state my own experience though because I happen to be an associate member of Opus Dei and because of the nature of my professional work (I am a medical doctor doing residency training in radiology). My directors and the chaplain of the Center of the Work I go to (int he past and at present) are fully aware of such circumstances and advised me accordingly with regards to the norms of piety.

I had to be in a situation when on not a few occasions while on my senior clerkship year, I had to be on hospital duty every other day for almost 35 hours at a time i.e. I start duty at the hospital on Friday at 7:30 am then go off at 5:00 pm on Saturday then go on duty again at 7:30 am on Sunday and be off at 5:00 pm on Monday. My daily mass for Saturday therefore was the Vigil Mass at 5:30pm at my parish, then on Sunday I would attend Mass at 5:30 am also at my parish before my hospital duty commenced on Sunday. I have had to miss weekday Mass as well on days when I had to assist at operations past 7pm and there were no more scheduled masses for the day anywhere near where I work.

We just try to adjust the norms to our circumstances. There may be days when unforseen things happen and you are unable to do one norm or the other, but usually these are exceptional cases if one keeps to a reasonable yet flexible timetable.

 

[Colorad007]

@ByzCath–

I’m not sure how “authoritative” an answer you need… Betsy is a cooperator of Opus Dei, IIRC, and a long-standing source of very good, reliable information about the Work here on CAF.

I’m a supernumerary who posts far less frequently, and I can say that you do your best with daily Mass. I know there have been instances when a daily Saturday Mass was not an option (ie just not offered in the vicinity) for a particular member of the Work, so attendance at both Saturday evening vigil and Sunday morning Mass was done instead. Back in my college days when the Saturday vigil was my Sunday Mass of choice (I was in charge of the music for that Mass) that normally meant for me Saturday morning Mass, then Saturday evening Mass.

That being said, back to Utopia’s original query about “breach of contract”-- the norms of piety we promise (not vow!) to follow in Opus Dei are not binding under pain of sin. We don’t have the same weight of obligation a vowed religious does. We do it because we want to, not because we have to. And during those times when the “other” demands of my vocation (i.e. nine children) prevent me from attending Mass on a given day, I’ve been advised in confession to simply offer it up and make a spiritual communion during the time I would have attended Mass had I been able. There aren’t “plan of life police” walking around monitoring us.

Hope this helps? I’ll try to pop back in later and check for replies but it may be a while…

Best,

Margaret

I know this is an older thread, but I had the same question.

So if I went to an weekday Mass on Saturday morning, and then later again for the Anticipated Mass on Saturday night, would that “cover” me, as it were, for both Saturday and Sunday?

 

[jaaraf]

I know this is an older thread, but I had the same question.

So if I went to an weekday Mass on Saturday morning, and then later again for the Anticipated Mass on Saturday night, would that “cover” me, as it were, for both Saturday and Sunday?

Yes, it would cover for your Saturday and Sunday mass… Actually, in the Center of Opus Dei I would go to, they sometimes have Saturday morning Mass then vigil Mass if they have a very early morning Sunday excursion the following day.

 

[Ysa1971]

Very useful answers. Thank you.