Saturday obligation?

[KostyaJMJ]

I have a just reason to miss mass on Sunday. If I can attend vigil mass on Saturday evening, am I required to do so?

2180 The precept of the Church specifies the law of the Lord more precisely: "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass."117 "The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day."118

The precept specifically says that I am obliged to attend mass on Sunday, nothing about Saturday.

I really don’t want to attend any more church than I am strictly required to, so your help is appreciated.

 

[Chatter163]

"The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day."

I do not understand. What is unclear about that?

I really don’t want to attend any more church than I am strictly required to, so your help is appreciated.

Hardly a commendable attitude, but OK. . .

 

[KostyaJMJ]

I do not understand. What is unclear about that?

Nothing unclear.

The precept says

1. I am obliged to attend mass on Sunday.
2. I can fulfill my Sunday obligation by attending mass on Saturday.

I don’t see anything about being obliged to attend mass on Saturday.

 

[DSJJ]

If you can fulfil your Sunday obligation on Saturday night then you are required to attend,but your last sentence on your first post really says it all.

 

[dixieagle]

Nothing unclear.

The precept says

1. I am obliged to attend mass on Sunday.
2. I can fulfill my Sunday obligation by attending mass on Saturday.

I don’t see anything about being obliged to attend mass on Saturday.

As any Saturday evening Mass fulfills the Sunday obligation and you are able to attend on Saturday, you must go or your obligation is not fulfilled. And I think you know that.

 

[KostyaJMJ]

As any Saturday evening Mass fulfills the Sunday obligation and you are able to attend on Saturday, you must go or your obligation is not fulfilled. And I think you know that.

I admit it does seem that that would be the case you have to go on Saturday but I wan’t to be precise. And, really, it does say I have an obligation to attend Sunday mass and then nothing about any obligation to attend mass on the preceding evening. Do you have any link to were this question was addressed more precisely?

 

[agnes_therese]

I admit it does seem that that would be the case you have to go on Saturday but I wan’t to be precise. And, really, it does say I have an obligation to attend Sunday mass and then nothing about any obligation to attend mass on the preceding evening. Do you have any link to were this question was addressed more precisely?

It’s already been answered precisely. You have an obligation to attend Mass on Sunday. Vigil Mass on Saturday evening fulfills that obligation. If you can’t attend Sunday, and just “blow off” attending this evening – which seems to be your desire, forgive me if I’m wrong – then you have deliberately not met your Sunday obligation, and that is mortal sin.

 

[KostyaJMJ]

It’s already been answered precisely. You have an obligation to attend Mass on Sunday. Vigil Mass on Saturday evening fulfills that obligation. If you can’t attend Sunday, and just “blow off” attending this evening – which seems to be your desire, forgive me if I’m wrong – then you have deliberately not met your Sunday obligation, and that is mortal sin.

Canon 1247
On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass; they are also to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord’s Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body.

The canon specifically says that I have an obligation to attend mass on Sundays. I can fulfill the obligation to attend mass on Saturday evening but I am not obliged to do so. I am obliged to attend mass on Sunday. There are a lot of different ways that the canon could have been worded if I was obliged to attend vigil mass in the event I can’t go on Sunday.

Yes, you’re right the desire is to not attend this evening unless I am obliged to. Nobody I ask IRL seems to know. I might just attend now and ask the priest my next confession just in case it comes up again.

 

[agnes_therese]

Canon 1247

The canon specifically says that I have an obligation to attend mass on Sundays. I can fulfill the obligation to attend mass on Saturday evening but I am not obliged to do so.

Yes, you ARE obliged to do so if that is the only way you can fulfill your Sunday obligation. You’ve been told this by more than one person, in several different ways. You’re not going to be able to wriggle out of it.

 

[adstrinity]

Just because you cannot get to a Mass you would regularly go to on Sunday, doesn’t mean you cannot go to Mass on Sunday; there may be other Catholic churches around that would allow you to go on Sunday at a different time to fulfill your obligation.

catholicdoors.com/faq/qu212.htm

Remember, though, you must still treat Sunday as a holy day reserved for God and Him alone even if you go to Mass on the Saturday Vigil.

I must ask you why you don’t want to go to Mass any more than you absolutely have to? You seem young, as nobody over 20 would say such a thing.

 

[passus]

The canon specifically says that I have an obligation to attend mass on Sundays. I can fulfill the obligation to attend mass on Saturday evening but I am not obliged to do so.

The canon prescribes an obligation to attend Sunday Mass and you have two options as for how you can go about satisfying that obligation. You can fulfill your obligation by attending Mass on Sunday. You can also fulfill the obligation by attending Mass on Saturday evening. No matter how you go about fulfilling the obligation, the obligation still stands. The importance of the canon is not the day upon which the obligation is fulfilled (be the day Sunday or Saturday), but really, the fact that the obligation exists and that it is binding.

I might just attend now and ask the priest my next confession just in case it comes up again.

I can tell you right now that your priest isn’t going to be able to give you an answer to your satisfaction unless maybe he’s a canon lawyer.

You seem young, as nobody over 20 would say such a thing.

What on earth?

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Ch. I almost ALWAYS attend Vigil. Nothing preventing it, and you can usually go to Confession right beforehand.

 

[midori]

If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.

Having a Sunday obligation is something you can’t change. You’re able to fulfill your Sunday obligation on Saturday, so do so. You need to change the way you’re thinking about this.

Suppose you had a big lab experiment that was half your semester grade. The experiment was scheduled for a timeslot where you had a conflict, but the prof made the lab available at a different time for those who couldn’t make it. Wouldn’t you take advantage of the earlier hours and get your grade? Or would you just accept a failing grade for ignoring the opportunity?

Suppose you were trying to get into music school. You needed to record an audition tape. The only timeslot available for the recording equipment was a time when you were going to be out of town, and you couldn’t change your travel plans. The people with the recording equipment tell you that they’ll stay open for a few extra hours on a certain day when you can make it. Would you just give up on the idea of music school because you preferred to ignore the extra opportunity they gave you?

Suppose you had a library book that was due on a certain day. You had to work, and you couldn’t make it to the library to turn it in during library hours. There’s a book drop that’s available 24/7. Would you ignore the opportunity to turn your book in on time via the book drop, and argue with the librarians that you shouldn’t be fined because you couldn’t make it in to the building to personally turn in your book?

 

[marleelynn]

I have a just reason to miss mass on Sunday. If I can attend vigil mass on Saturday evening, am I required to do so?

2180 The precept of the Church specifies the law of the Lord more precisely: "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass."117 "The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day."118

The precept specifically says that I am obliged to attend mass on Sunday, nothing about Saturday.

I really don’t want to attend any more church than I am strictly required to, so your help is appreciated.

Saturday vigil masses (starting after 4pm) fulfill Sunday obligation

 

[Oneofthewomen]

I have a just reason to miss mass on Sunday. If I can attend vigil mass on Saturday evening, am I required to do so?

This is quite the feat of “linguistic gymnastics” Let me see if I have this straight…, you cannot, for legitimate reasons, attend Mass on Sunday. By your own admission, you have nothing preventing you from attending the Saturday evening vigil, which fulfills your Sunday* “obligation”, *and are asking us if it’s ok not to go, because canon law says it’s only an obligation to attend Mass on Sunday?

So, the answer is YES, you are obligated to attend Mass on Saturday evening, if you can, and know that you cannot attend on Sunday. For all intents & purposes- Saturday evening ***IS ***Sunday mass. Nice try, though

I really don’t want to attend any more church than I am strictly required to, so your help is appreciated.

This attitude saddens me. Why bother to go at all if you are only doing so out of obligation?

 

[Catholic1954]

I have a just reason to miss mass on Sunday. If I can attend vigil mass on Saturday evening, am I required to do so?

2180 The precept of the Church specifies the law of the Lord more precisely: "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass."117 "The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day."118

The precept specifically says that I am obliged to attend mass on Sunday, nothing about Saturday.

I really don’t want to attend any more church than I am strictly required to, so your help is appreciated.

If you can’t, or won’t, attend Sunday Mass on Sunday, then you are obliged to attend Sunday Mass on Saturday night.

 

[midori]

This attitude saddens me. Why bother to go at all if you are only doing so out of obligation?

Mm, I think it’s a reflection on maturity and a need for growth. Just the action of going is a positive thing, and with time, hopefully the spiritual parts will catch up.

Who was the great saint who originally fulfilled her obligations out of fear of punishment long before she fulfilled them out of love for God? Was it St. Therese, or am I thinking of someone else? And didn’t the Cure d’Ars say if we knew the value of a Mass, we’d die of joy? We know it’s important, but how many of us are on the verge of dying with joy every time we go to Mass?

St. Basil has a cool insight:

If we turn away from evil out of fear of punishment, we are in the position of slaves. If we pursue the enticement of wages, . . . we resemble mercenaries. Finally if we obey for the sake of the good itself and out of love for him who commands . . . we are in the position of children.

Just replace “turn away from evil” with “fulfill our Christian duties” or “go to Mass” or “say our prayers” or whatever, and it still holds true. If fear of punishment is the only thing keeping us on the right track, that’s to be pitied-- but at least we’re on the right track. If we only do it because we’re expecting gifts from God in return, that’s kind of pitiful, too. It should be everyone’s ambition to do the right thing for the right purpose: because of our love for God, our selfless desire to do good in all things, and our recognition of the importance of doing the right thing. Baby steps are baby steps, but we all have to start somewhere and make an effort to grow beyond.

 

[SMHW]

This is quite the feat of “linguistic gymnastics” Let me see if I have this straight…, you cannot, for legitimate reasons, attend Mass on Sunday. By your own admission, you have nothing preventing you from attending the Saturday evening vigil, which fulfills your Sunday* “obligation”, *and are asking us if it’s ok not to go, because canon law says it’s only an obligation to attend Mass on Sunday?

And indeed… This is an exercise in linguistic gymnastics more so than a real question.

On a purely logical level the English wording of the precept is not as precise as we might like. One would probably have to derive a corollary in the process of doing a “proof” for this issue. The corollary would be something like, “If there is a means to meet an obligation to attend Mass then one must make use of it”.

But then there is the matter of whether the English language is of value in answering the question in the original post. My knowledge of Latin is poor, at best, so I would not pretend to be able to gain any useful insight from legal precepts in that language. But it is possible that the Latin version of the precept might do a better job of expressing the letter of the law than the English version does.
.

 

[puzzleannie]

I experience the same confusion every time this question come up, as it does about once a week, and the same citation of the rule is given, and yet people still ask
do I have to go to Mass on Sundays and Holy Days
does Saturday evening Mass fill that obligation

the answer is there in black and white
yes you must go to Mass unless there is some compelling reason you cannot, and yes you must go at whatever time Mass is offered that you can get there, Saturday night, Sunday, or Sunday evening.

if you don’t want to go to Mas why not go the spirituality forum and enter a discussion dealing with that problem.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

This is quite the feat of “linguistic gymnastics” Let me see if I have this straight…, you cannot, for legitimate reasons, attend Mass on Sunday. By your own admission, you have nothing preventing you from attending the Saturday evening vigil, which fulfills your Sunday* “obligation”, *and are asking us if it’s ok not to go, because canon law says it’s only an obligation to attend Mass on Sunday?

So, the answer is YES, you are obligated to attend Mass on Saturday evening, if you can, and know that you cannot attend on Sunday. For all intents & purposes- Saturday evening ***IS ***Sunday mass. Nice try, though

This attitude saddens me. Why bother to go at all if you are only doing so out of obligation?

Give him a break. He was probably just trying to joke and wanted to know whether the Vigil fulfilled the obligation.

And it IS an obligation. No way around it. So we all HAVE to go, whether we ‘feel’ like it or not.