Saturday Mass Vigil Question

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My youngest brother is starting to attend soccer matches on Sundays. It usually takes up all is day and afternoon. I told him he can’t miss Mass and that he should attend the Saturday Mass Vigil.
But I feel uneasy about this. I don’t want him to think that when it’s not convenient or he has some plans he can just go to Saturday Mass at night.
Is it wrong to do that if you have plans of some sort for Sunday?
 
No - there is absolutely no difference between attending Saturday evening vigil and Sunday mass, any more than there is between attending Sunday morning and afternoon/evening masses.

All are equally valid ways to fulfil your obligation, none are there as a ‘last resort’ or anything.

If your brother was attending in order to, say, do extra paid work or something else contrary to the spirit of a Sunday, AND which could have equally well been done on Saturday, that would be different.
 
LilyM said:
No - there is absolutely no difference between attending Saturday evening vigil and Sunday mass, any more than there is between attending Sunday morning and afternoon/evening masses.

All are equally valid ways to fulfil your obligation, none are there as a ‘last resort’ or anything.

If your brother was attending in order to, say, do extra paid work or something else contrary to the spirit of a Sunday, AND which could have equally well been done on Saturday, that would be different.
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Like sleeping in? There are many people who attend Saturday night Mass so they can sleep in on Sundays. Somehow, that doesn’t seem right to me.

Anyway, soccer season is short, so the OP’s brother should hopefully be back at Sunday Mass when it ends.
 
paramedicgirl said:
Like sleeping in? There are many people who attend Saturday night Mass so they can sleep in on Sundays. Somehow, that doesn’t seem right to me.

Anyway, soccer season is short, so the OP’s brother should hopefully be back at Sunday Mass when it ends.
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As I said, no different than choosing between morning and afternoon masses on a Sunday - lots of people would choose the later over the earlier so that they can sleep in as well. Catching up on much-needed sleep is not wrong or sinful, as long as you attend Mass!
 
Liturgically - Sunday starts on Saturday evening, therefore there is no sin when you attend Sunday Mass anytime from Saturday evening through to Sunady evening - as long as you attend and are in a state of Grace when you receive communion.
 
Thank you everyone. That clears up many things. I guess I had a misconception about the Saturday Mass vigil. Thank You.
 
paramedicgirl said:
Like sleeping in? There are many people who attend Saturday night Mass so they can sleep in on Sundays. Somehow, that doesn’t seem right to me.

Anyway, soccer season is short, so the OP’s brother should hopefully be back at Sunday Mass when it ends.
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what difference does it make? Either sleep in and go to mass late or go to an early mass tired and go back to sleep after it is over. I have done both and the sleeping in one and going to mass later is a much better option. The student masses are always Sunday night. I wonder why? We like to sleep and having late mass for us gives us absolutely no excuse to miss mass since it is right by campus and rides are provided for people who are too lazy to walk a little.
 
paramedicgirl said:
Like sleeping in? There are many people who attend Saturday night Mass so they can sleep in on Sundays. Somehow, that doesn’t seem right to me.
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Isn’t Sunday supposed to be a day of rest?

I always go to a Sunday evening Mass. School five times a week requires me to get up at 5:30 in the morning, so it’s nice to have a day where I can sleep in. But if there wasn’t a Sunday evening or Saturday vigil in my area, of course I would go to a morning Mass.
 
wjp984 said:
what difference does it make? Either sleep in and go to mass late or go to an early mass tired and go back to sleep after it is over. I have done both and the sleeping in one and going to mass later is a much better option. The student masses are always Sunday night. I wonder why? We like to sleep and having late mass for us gives us absolutely no excuse to miss mass since it is right by campus and rides are provided for people who are too lazy to walk a little.
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That’s ok! Lots of people who go to early Mass on Sunday sleep during the Mass. :sleep: If you go to late Mass, you’re not sleeping through it and are actually participating!
 
I, too, have heard that there’s no difference between attending Saturday Vigil and Sunday Mass.

I wonder if it means we should refrain from shopping, working, etc. on Saturday evenings as well as we should refrain from them on Sundays, then.
 
I really don’t see why it would make any difference. It was instituted for a reason ands it is the same as the Sunday Mass. Much ado over nothing IMO, I go Saturday evening SO I CAN SLEEP IN LATE ON SUNDAY. Do I feel guilty? Not on your life…I arise every morning during the week to go to daily Mass.

:heart:Blyss
 
Instumentum Laboris

vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20050707_instrlabor-xi-assembly_en.html

The Eucharist in Various Situations in the Church
  1. The Lineamenta responses indicate that Mass attendance on Sundays is high in various particular Churches in the countries of Africa and also in some Asian countries. The opposite is the case in the majority of countries in Europe, America and Oceania. In some cases, the percentage of those who participate at Sunday Mass is as low as 5%. Generally speaking, the faithful who neglect to attend Mass on Sundays do not consider participating at Mass important in their life. Basically, they lack an understanding of the true nature of the Mass as Sacrifice and Eucharistic Banquet which gathers the faithful around the Lord’s altar.
Mass on Saturday evening permits those **truly unable **to attend Sunday Mass to fulfill their Sunday obligation. However, in some cases, people take advantage of this privilege to engage in servile work on Sundays. In many places, the number of persons attending weekday Masses is small. Some participate on a regularly basis, others on occasion, and still others come out of a sense of their Christian commitment.

Ongoing, intensive catechesis on the importance and obligation to participate at Holy Mass on Sundays and Holydays of Obligation needs to be encouraged. At times, the obligatory character is minimized by a person’s insisting that its observance depends on how one feels at the moment.
 
This is all valid, but remember two things.

The first is that it is perfectly legitimate to do NECESSARY servile work on Sundays. With increasingly casualised and part-time labour markets, it is increasingly necessary for some to work for at least some part of their Sundays.

Don’t forget increasing cost of housing v average weekly wage as well. Here in Australia, in the 1950s the average house/unit price was 4 years worth of the average yearly salary. Now it’s 8 years. I would imagine rents have gone up in a similar way.

So by any standard housing is a whole heap more expensive, hence it is necessary to work increasing hours, and increasingly to work on Sundays, simply to keep a roof over one’s head.

The second thing to bear in mind is that, as the document points out, people who consider Mass unimportant tend not to attend at all. If you ask people who attend Mass on Saturday vigils as opposed to people who attend on Sundays I doubt there would be any significant difference in their attitudes. The document is not speaking about people who legitimately, for no other reason than their own personal preference, attend Saturday vigil rather than Sunday mass.

Again, as I have said before, there IS no difference between the legitimate preference of Saturday vigil over Sunday masses and the legitimate preference of Sunday evening as opposed to Sunday morning. IT IS THE SAME MASS, IT IS (LITURGICALLY SPEAKING) THE SAME DAY!!! If the latter choice is unproblematic then so is the former choice.
 
Walking_Home said:
Instumentum Laboris

vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20050707_instrlabor-xi-assembly_en.html

The Eucharist in Various Situations in the Church
  1. The Lineamenta responses indicate that Mass attendance on Sundays is high in various particular Churches in the countries of Africa and also in some Asian countries. The opposite is the case in the majority of countries in Europe, America and Oceania. In some cases, the percentage of those who participate at Sunday Mass is as low as 5%. Generally speaking, the faithful who neglect to attend Mass on Sundays do not consider participating at Mass important in their life. Basically, they lack an understanding of the true nature of the Mass as Sacrifice and Eucharistic Banquet which gathers the faithful around the Lord’s altar.
**Mass on Saturday evening permits those **truly unable ****to attend Sunday Mass to fulfill their Sunday obligation. However, in some cases, people take advantage of this privilege to engage in servile work on Sundays. In many places, the number of persons attending weekday Masses is small. Some participate on a regularly basis, others on occasion, and still others come out of a sense of their Christian commitment.

Ongoing, intensive catechesis on the importance and obligation to participate at Holy Mass on Sundays and Holydays of Obligation needs to be encouraged. At times, the obligatory character is minimized by a person’s insisting that its observance depends on how one feels at the moment.
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So does going to Mass on Saturday night so people can sleep in Sunday qualify them in the “truly unable” category? I think not.
 
paramedicgirl said:
So does going to Mass on Saturday night so people can sleep in Sunday qualify them in the “truly unable” category? I think not.
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If you read the following sentence, it appears that the point the document is making is you should not attend Saturday mass for the purpose of doing servile work on Sunday. I didn’t see any mention of sleeping habits in the document.
 
sea_oat said:
I wonder if it means we should refrain from shopping, working, etc. on Saturday evenings as well as we should refrain from them on Sundays, then.
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No. Saturday is Saturday, and Sunday is Sunday, midnight to midnight. Saturday evening mass fulfills your obligation not because it is Sunday, but because Canon Law spells out that you may fulfill your obligation the evening before any Holy Day (of which Sunday is one).

I asked this question a couple years ago, and with the help of one of the staff apologists, got to the bottom of the issue:

When does Sunday begin and end?

By the way LilyM, I was wondering what is the generally accepted rule is in Australia for when evening masses are scheduled. From my link above, the Canon Law Society of America holds the opinion that it must start after 4pm, while the opinion of the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland is anytime after 12 noon. I doubt you have access to a similar publication from Australia’s canon lawyers, but what’s the earliest Saturday evening mass you’ve heard of?
 
Digitonomy said:
No. Saturday is Saturday, and Sunday is Sunday, midnight to midnight. Saturday evening mass fulfills your obligation not because it is Sunday, but because Canon Law spells out that you may fulfill your obligation the evening before any Holy Day (of which Sunday is one).

I asked this question a couple years ago, and with the help of one of the staff apologists, got to the bottom of the issue:

When does Sunday begin and end?

By the way LilyM, I was wondering what is the generally accepted rule is in Australia for when evening masses are scheduled. From my link above, the Canon Law Society of America holds the opinion that it must start after 4pm, while the opinion of the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland is anytime after 12 noon. I doubt you have access to a similar publication from Australia’s canon lawyers, but what’s the earliest Saturday evening mass you’ve heard of?
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The earliest I know of is 5pm Saturday, so it sounds like we follow the US in practice at least. I don’t know what the legal situation here is, but I don’t know of any church that has SATURDAY Masses after noon on Saturdays.

Interesting point though. Do any of our UK CAFers know of any vigil masses in the UK that are held earlier than this?
 
Unfortunately…in this day and age…people often need to work at jobs that require being there on Sundays. Most employers don’t give you days off based on your religious practices. That has been my case before. Since the Masses for Sat. evening and Sunday are the same…I am still wondering what the big deal about it is anyway.

:heart:Blyss
 
Interesting point though. Do any of our UK CAFers know of any vigil masses in the UK that are held earlier than this?
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The earliest Vigil Mass I have heard of in the UK is 6pm or 6.30pm for a Sunday vigil. For a Holy Day vigil the Mass would usually be at 7.30pm.
 
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