Saturday p.m. Mass

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Our priest told us that ONLY those who work on Sunday may fulfill their Sunday obligation by attening Saturday p.m. Mass. Can this be true?
 
**NO! ** (Others may have some qualifiers to add.) Of course it has to be late enough in the day to be the vigil Mass. I think it’s 4 p.m.?
 
lbuchman said:
Our priest told us that ONLY those who work on Sunday may fulfill their Sunday obligation by attening Saturday p.m. Mass. Can this be true?
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No. It’s not true.

It’s my understanding that many priests and bishops would prefer that people attend Mass on a Sunday if they are able. But there is no such preference expressed in the Church documents.

Catholics are perfectly free to choose either Saturday evening or Sunday to attend Mass without worrying about which is “better”, “holier”, and/or “preferable”,
 
lbuchman said:
Our priest told us that ONLY those who work on Sunday may fulfill their Sunday obligation by attening Saturday p.m. Mass. Can this be true?
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This is not true. From the Code of Canon Law:
Can. 1248 §1. A person who assists at a Mass celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the feast day itself or in the evening of the preceding day satisfies the obligation of participating in the Mass.
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One does not need a special reason to assist at Mass on the evening of the preceding day.
 
lbuchman said:
Our priest told us that ONLY those who work on Sunday may fulfill their Sunday obligation by attening Saturday p.m. Mass. Can this be true?
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No, either satisfies the Obligation , but Sunday IS the Lord’s Day.
 
lbuchman said:
Our priest told us that ONLY those who work on Sunday may fulfill their Sunday obligation by attening Saturday p.m. Mass. Can this be true?
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Nope, not true, the Saturday evening mass is just as valid as any Sunday mass. It is not a lesser mass in any way. Feel free to go to it at any time.
 
I’m wondering why a priest would spread false information like that.
 
aloysiusg said:
I’m wondering why a priest would spread false information like that.
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I think we would have to know more about the priest and the parish. I have my suspicions, but it is on conjecture at this point.
 
SMHW said:
It’s my understanding that many priests and bishops would prefer that people attend Mass on a Sunday if they are able.
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That could be true (but I do not know it to be so). If it is, I wonder why they schedule Saturday evening services so liberally?

tee
 
I have heard people claim this before (never a priest just random people.) Their reasoning is that we are supposed to keep the Lord’s day holy and what better way to keep the Lord’s day then going to Mass.

Of course they are forgetting two things:
a) the difference between the ideas of satisfying an obligation and a preference.
b) That by traditions much older then current traditions, a day technically starts at sundown of the day before.

Yes we still need to keep Sunday Holy even if we go to Mass on Saturday night, but that doesn’t mean we HAVE to go to Mass on Sunday if we went to Mass on Saturday.
 
No, I know people who always go to Saturday evening mass.

I come from a more conservative school of thought, so I have been taught to go on Sunday whenever possible, but if necessary Saturday is A-OK!

Sometimes, my family goes on Saturday night when we are taking a trip the next day, or if my brothers have soccer games all day, or if my parents just want to sleep in because it was an extra hard week. But 98% of the time we go on Sunday mornings.👍
 
tee_eff_em said:
That could be true (but I do not know it to be so). If it is, I wonder why they schedule Saturday evening services so liberally?

tee
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I think it may be (taking into account what Marauder said) that even if a certain number of bishops and priests *prefer *that Catholics attend Mass on Sundays, they are more concerned that Catholics meet their obligation than they are about the day Catholics chose to meet that obligation.

But again, there is no official preference for Sunday morning over Saturday evening so I consider the preferences of any individual priests or bishops to be more or less irrelevant if they are going to schedule Saturday Masses anyway.

I have actually heard someone at my parish (I can’t remember if it was a priest or a lay professor of liturgy who is a parish member) say that many (whatever “many” means) Church leaders are concerned that so many Catholics prefer attending the Christmas Vigil Mass over the Christmas morning Mass. I would tend to think that views about holy days might spill over onto Sundays.

I do know that at my parish the Saturday evening anticipatory Mass comes at the cost of there being no Saturday morning Mass. If any priests do think that Sunday is a preferable day to attend Mass, I hope it is based more on theological, traditional, and liturgical considerations than it is on wanting some time off. (Although I certainly understand priests wanting and needing time off!!!)
 
No, this is not true. In fact, in the early days, Sundown is actually the begining of Our Lord’s Day, what a wonderful way to begin the day:thumbsup:

Now “Sunday Night Mass” (which I learned is common in large Parishes), should be only for people who can not get to either Saturday Night Mass or a Sunday Mass (before 4PM).
 
Liturgically speaking, Sunday, being the Lord’s Day, is longer than the others. It begins at sundown on Saturday and ends at midnight on Sunday.
 
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