Saturday Masses

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Would someone please kindly explain to me how it is possible that in the Church one’s Sunday obligation for attending Mass can also be fulfulled by attending on Saturday afternoon and evenings. When and why was this started? 🤷 Thanks in advance for any information to help me understand this.
 
January 1970 in the U.S. began the widespread practice of the Saturday Vigil Mass. I believe there had been studies regarding it since the 1950s and even earlier, and the decision was actually made in 1970.

The opportunity for Catholics to attend the Saturday vigil Mass for the Sunday obligation has its roots in Jewish tradition. For Jews, a day does not start at 1 minute past midnight; a day starts at sundown and continues to the following sundown. When you read Genesis you will note that it says, "evening came, then morning. . .the first day. . .second day. . .etc. The day ‘starts’ with the coming of evening.

Now it is arbitrary to establish a time of 5 p.m. as ‘evening’. After all, in summer in many areas, sundown does not occur until later. But unless we had Mass times changing continually all year long (not practical), we can go with the earliest time average, which is about 5 p.m. for most places most of the time.

Basically the 20th century saw a huge increase in the numbers of people who ‘had to’ work on Sundays. Thus, the Vatican studied the question, proposed by the bishops, as to what could be done. Careful study and prayer, and guidance by the Holy Spirit, led to the pastoral decision that after a certain time (designated 'sundown) on Saturday, a Mass (which would normally be the vigil, or ‘anticipated’ evening Mass) would meet the Sunday obligation.

Since in the time of Christ and the first Christians, the Jewish community which were the first converts to Christianity would have considered a day to ‘begin’ at sundown, and since their own worship practice for sabbath had service start at sundown Friday evening (though the Sabbath itself was Saturday), it seems logical to conclude that a Christian service after Saturday sundown could likewise be seen as one that would have been considered by Christ Himself to meet the “Sunday” or “Lord’s Day” obligation. And thus the decision was made to offer this, which is very helpful for many people who cannot make a Sunday Mass (for various and good reason) but can make it on a Saturday evening.
 
It started with vigils for major feast days, such as Christmas Eve and Easter Vigil.

I think the logic comes from the Jewish way of telling time. Sunset indicates the start of the new day. Jesus could have possibly resurrected on Saturday evening, but for Jews that is already the day after Sabbath, so by our calendar its considered Sunday.

That is why when Jesus died on Friday, they were hurrying to get him buried because Sabbath starts at sundown, not at midnight.
 
Thank you to both posters who answered my question. I have never heard this discussed before.
 
From what I can figure out, a vigil Mass is held on the eve of some holydays and Saturday. But is this only true at these times? We have a Mass on Sunday at 5:30, which I am assuming is a Sunday Mass, not a vigil. Am I correct in this?
 
GKCT said:
From what I can figure out, a vigil Mass is held on the eve of some holydays and Saturday. But is this only true at these times? We have a Mass on Sunday at 5:30, which I am assuming is a Sunday Mass, not a vigil. Am I correct in this?
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Yes, it is a Sunday Mass. The Saturday vigil option basically extended the obligation window of opportunity to 30-some hours. (We have a local Mass at 4pm Saturday.)
 
The exception to vigil Masses is when Saturday is itself a holy-day such as Christmas. By the way, they are called anticipatory Masses here and are legal after 4pm.
 
Bob_Aliano said:
The exception to vigil Masses is when Saturday is itself a holy-day such as Christmas. By the way, they are called anticipatory Masses here and are legal after 4pm.
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Technically, a vigil mass is a different mass said on the eve before certain days - eg. Christmas, Easter, etc. On other days - Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation which do not have a Vigil the mass of the Sunday or Holy Day is said on the eve as the anticipatory mass.

Either satisfies the obligation for the next day.
 
Joe_Kelley said:
Technically, a vigil mass is a different mass said on the eve before certain days - eg. Christmas, Easter, etc. On other days - Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation which do not have a Vigil the mass of the Sunday or Holy Day is said on the eve as the anticipatory mass.

Either satisfies the obligation for the next day.
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Right. But a little tweaking of the vocabulary is in-order.

In casual conversation, or even in the parish bulletin, we sometimes call it a “Saturday vigil Mass” but this is technically not the correct term.

The liturgical day of Sunday begins at 4:00 PM on Saturday (the “time of first vespers” which is “evening”). That means that it is not an “anticipated Mass” because we aren’t anticipating Sunday–from a liturgical point of view, Sunday has already begun. If it’s 5 PM on Saturday, the “next day” is Monday, from a liturgical view.

Many of us are in the habit of using terms like “vigil Mass” or “anticipated Mass” but these aren’t apt descriptions of what’s happening. A Mass celebrated after 4 PM on Saturday (in the secular calendar) is actually happening on Sunday in the liturgical calendar, so it’s a Sunday Mass, and is no different than any other Sunday Mass, say for example the Sunday 9 AM Mass.

For many Catholics, this is something new. Under the 1917 code, Saturday evening Masses were indeed “anticipated Masses for Sunday” but in the 1983 code, that changed, because the Church restored the biblical and early-Christian practice of the day beginning at evening. It’s not just the code itself that changed, but our entire understanding of the “liturgical day” has changed in recent decades—the new code reflects this understanding.
 
jeanannemarie said:
Would someone please kindly explain to me how it is possible that in the Church one’s Sunday obligation for attending Mass can also be fulfulled by attending on Saturday afternoon and evenings. When and why was this started? 🤷 Thanks in advance for any information to help me understand this.
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Pope Pius Xll issued his Apostolic Constitution “Christus Dominus” in 1953 which changed the fasting rules before Communion from 12 to 3 hours. In this document he also allowed for Masses to be said after the noon hour and in the evenings. Flowing from this, he issued a Motu Proprio “Sacram Communionem” in 1957 which extended the permissions already granted in 1953. Thus, the Saturday anticipated Mass came into being. In some places these permissions were accepted wholeheartedly and in other places, not so much…
In the parish where I grew up, we began having Saturday evening [5;30pm] Masses right around the time I started High School which would be 1959. I do know that the practice wasn’t adopted in one of our neighbouring dioceses until at least a year later. The U.S. was quite a bit later in allowing the practice, and I remember reading that the Archbishop of Chicago wouldn’t allow it until 1983.

Here are the relevant documents from Pius Xll.

papalencyclicals.net/Pius12/P12CHDOM.HTM

ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P12FAST.HTM

This link also has some more info on Saturday anticipated Masses.

adoremus.org/eucharisticummysterium.html
 
Frosty said:
Pope Pius Xll issued his Apostolic Constitution “Christus Dominus” in 1953 which changed the fasting rules before Communion from 12 to 3 hours. In this document he also allowed for Masses to be said after the noon hour and in the evenings. Flowing from this, he issued a Motu Proprio “Sacram Communionem” in 1957 which extended the permissions already granted in 1953. Thus, the Saturday anticipated Mass came into being. In some places these permissions were accepted wholeheartedly and in other places, not so much…
In the parish where I grew up, we began having Saturday evening [5;30pm] Masses right around the time I started High School which would be 1959. I do know that the practice wasn’t adopted in one of our neighbouring dioceses until at least a year later. The U.S. was quite a bit later in allowing the practice, and I remember reading that the Archbishop of Chicago wouldn’t allow it until 1983.
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I’m not sure about Chicago, but in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, these Masses were never permitted until the 1983 code. The difference was that until 1983, these Masses required the permission of the bishop–once the 83 code went into effect, these ceased to be “anticipated” and became “Sunday Masses” so the bishop’s permission is no longer needed.
 
FrDavid96 said:
I’m not sure about Chicago, but in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, these Masses were never permitted until the 1983 code. The difference was that until 1983, these Masses required the permission of the bishop–once the 83 code went into effect, these ceased to be “anticipated” and became “Sunday Masses” so the bishop’s permission is no longer needed.
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Thanks Father. When I typed my post I wasn’t thinking about the 1983 code at all. Actually, I’d never heard anyone use the term “anticipated” Masses until I started reading this forum.
 
…and so on Sunday, at what time does the liturical day of Sunday actually end? These are just idle questions of curiosity on my part! Thank you everyone. I will read the links as soon as I have the time to devote to them. I am glad that I asked about this. I knew that someone would fill me in. Thanks again.
 
jeanannemarie said:
…and so on Sunday, at what time does the liturical day of Sunday actually end? These are just idle questions of curiosity on my part! Thank you everyone. I will read the links as soon as I have the time to devote to them. I am glad that I asked about this. I knew that someone would fill me in. Thanks again.
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Sundays (and other major feast days) are the exception. When it comes to the other 6 days, they begin at midnight. Sunday ends (or Monday begins) at midnight.
 
It is also interesting to note that in the LOTH there is no Evening or Night prayer listed for Saturday. Instead, you have Sunday Evening Prayer I, Sunday Night Prayer after Evening Prayer 1, followed by Sunday Morning Prayer (after the Invitatory).

Interestingly enough, there is also an Evening Prayer II and Night Prayer after Evening Prayer II on Sundays, so as Father indicated, Sunday does NOT end 24 hours later (liturgically speaking).

In fact, since Sunday starts 4 pm Saturday, and goes until Midnight Sunday, our day of rest and worship is 32 hours long! Cool…
 
When I first started trying to figure out the LOTH, that confused me a bit…but it makes sense.
 
FrDavid96 said:
Right. But a little tweaking of the vocabulary is in-order. . . …
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Thanks for the tweaking Father.

It gets too easy to go along with popular usage and drift from the proper vocabulary. Somewhere down the line it usually returns to bite us when we find our usage is misleading our understanding of the subject.
 
=jeanannemarie;6926387]Would someone please kindly explain to me how it is possible that in the Church one’s Sunday obligation for attending Mass can also be fulfulled by attending on Saturday afternoon and evenings. When and why was this started? 🤷 Thanks in advance for any information to help me understand this.
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  1. Its approved by Rome
  2. It’s foundation is in Jewish Tradition for Sabbath Rest, which begans at sundown the day before.
  3. It’s goal is to make it easier for the parish priest [fewer Sunday Masses] AND for the laity [easier to fullfill there Grave Moral Obligations.]
As a “Church PRACTICE” this was and is changeable.

Love and prayers,

Pat
 
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