I was unclear in my question about Sunday morning. If I’ve received at Saturday 4pm, then on Sunday morning, if I attend two Masses at 10:30 and 12:30, I can only receive at one, because the Saturday Mass counts for Sunday?
The 12:30 Mass would be the 3rd time for that Sunday.
Vico says it is midnight to midnight. Canon law says “on the same day” without specifying liturgical day. Where can I read more about how to discern when canon law refers to “a day” it means a “liturgical day” beginning at Evening Prayer, or a “24 hour day” beginning at midnight? Is this explained in a commentary?
Canon law doesn’t say “midnight to midnight” it says on a day.
Canon 2 says that the code isn’t meant to deal with liturgical matters unless the code specifies otherwise. In liturgical matters, we look to the liturgical laws of the Church. The liturgical law says that the day begins at the time of Evening Prayer on the preceding day of the secular calendar for Holy Days (thus, Sunday begins at 4 PM on Saturday, but Monday begins at 12 Midnight).
Canon law says Communion twice on a day (that’s a discipline of the Church–in other words, the Church could say 1 time or 15 times, or whatever else the pope decides), but we look to the liturgical law to define the liturgical day because that’s a liturgical issue. Obviously receiving Communion is a liturgical issue.
In Church law, there’s a principle that whatever pertains to the “whole” also pertains to “any part of the whole.” For example, Sunday begins at 4 on Saturday. The Mass of Saturday evening is the Mass of Sunday. Therefore every part-of that Mass likewise pertains to Sunday.
The readings are the Sunday readings
The Mass text (collect, prayer over the gifts, etc.) are all those of Sunday, not Saturday
The obligation itself, to attend Mass on a Sunday, pertains to the Sat. eve. Mass
The required Gloria (if not Lent or Advent), homily, and petitions all apply because it’s the Mass of Sunday
The priest wears the vestments of Sunday, not Saturday (if they’re a different color)
The saint of the day, or other observance is that of Sunday, not Saturday.
Everything about the Mass on Saturday evening is that it is in-fact the “festive Mass of Sunday”
Therefore, we do not go backwards in time and say that even though every part of the Saturday evening Mass is regarded by the Church as being the Sunday Mass, but with the exception of counting the times one receives Communion.
Everything about the Mass and everything about receiving Communion pertains to Sunday, since in the eyes of the Church Saturday has ended and Sunday has begun.
Does an ordinary weekday begin at Evening Prayer or midnight? If I receive Communion at 6:30pm on Tuesday, November 8, can I receive once, or twice at Masses for the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica on November 9???
An ordinary weekday begins at Midnight. Only Sundays and Solemnities begin at the time of evening prayer (4 PM).
Nov. 9 actually is a solemnity so it begins on the evening before. The Sunday principles apply to this day, although it’s not a day of obligation.
Our 6:30pm weekday Masses use the readings of that calendar day rather than the next day’s. Is this illicit? Is it licit to use the next day’s readings for Masses celebrated after Evening Prayer?
That depends on whether the next day is a solemnity. If it is, then the proper readings would be the solemnity. The proper readings for an ordinary weekday are the readings of the calendar day, even if the Mass is in the evening.
I’d caution on using the word “illicit” because the Church’s norms on choosing the readings leave a lot to the discretion of the presider. Even though using different readings might be a bit “out of the ordinary” it’s not necessarily illicit depending on the circumstances–because the Church allows for this to happen.
In general though, the readings for weekday evening Masses should be those of the actual calendar-day, just as they would be at the morning Mass on the same day.
Does this include the Vigil/Anticipation Mass as well?
I think I’ve already covered that above. If not, let me know.
There is no longer any such thing as an “anticipated” Mass, even though some people still cling to the word. On the evening preceding a solemnity (and all Sundays are solemnities) the liturgical day begins at 4 PM, so we don’t “anticipate” something which has already begun.
How do you explain this canon?
Can. 202 §1. In law, a day is understood as a period consisting of 24 continuous hours and begins at midnight unless other provision is expressly made; a week is a period of 7 days; a month is a period of 30 days, and a year is a period of 365 days unless a month and a year are said to be taken as they are in the calendar.
Can. 2 For the most part the Code does not define the rites which must be observed in celebrating liturgical actions. Therefore, liturgical laws in force until now retain their force unless one of them is contrary to the canons of the Code.
It’s actually rather simple, even if it’s not obvious. Go back again to canon 2. The liturgical laws of the Church define the liturgical day. In that liturgical law (which has the same force-of-law as the Code of Canon Law) the Church tells us that the day does indeed begin at the time of Evening Prayer for solemnities. That’s where the “other provision is expressly made.”
