Saturday Vigil Mass?Explain

  • Thread starter Thread starter hudson
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
H

hudson

Guest
Why is Saturday at 4:00 pm considered a vigil Mass for Sunday? Why is Sunday at 5:30 pm considered a Sunday Mass and not a vigil Mass for Monday? Why does every Holy Day of Obligation have a Mass at 5:30 that satisfies that same day obligation? So why is Saturday at 4:00, Sunday?
 
For Sundays, feasts of the Lord falling on a Sunday, and solemnities, the Church follows the ancient Jewish custom of starting the day liturgically at sundown the previous evening. If the Monday following is not a solemnity of higher rank than the Sunday, it is an ordinary feria, memorial or feast and the day begins liturgically at midnight (although one may anticipate Vigils the previous evening).

Basically any day that has First Vespers (evening prayer I) follows the custom of starting the liturgical day the previous evening.
 
If what you are saying is correct, wouldn’t a feast day or solemnity that is Wednesday need to have the vigil Mass on Tuesday and not Wednesday at 5:30? Because at my Church every feast day or solemnity has the 5:30 Mass on the day of. Wouldn’t that then make it a vigil Mass for Thursday? I get most everything, but this one is confusing me.
 
hudson said:
If what you are saying is correct, wouldn’t a feast day or solemnity that is Wednesday need to have the vigil Mass on Tuesday and not Wednesday at 5:30? Because at my Church every feast day or solemnity has the 5:30 Mass on the day of. Wouldn’t that then make it a vigil Mass for Thursday? I get most everything, but this one is confusing me.
Click to expand...
No, the following Thursday would be an ordinary day. Ordinary days begin liturgically at midnight. 5:30 pm the day of is still the solemnity.
 
Because Sunday is just too awesome a day to limit to only 24 hours. 😃
 
hudson said:
Why is Saturday at 4:00 pm considered a vigil Mass for Sunday? Why is Sunday at 5:30 pm considered a Sunday Mass and not a vigil Mass for Monday? Why does every Holy Day of Obligation have a Mass at 5:30 that satisfies that same day obligation? So why is Saturday at 4:00, Sunday?
Click to expand...
Saturday is not a “Vigil Mass” for Sunday, it’s a Sunday Mass.

Vigil Masses are specific Masses celebrated before various feasts: Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, Ascension, Nativity of St. John the Baptist, and the Feast of Ss. Peter & Paul. They have different readings and Collects from the Feast Day Mass. I’ve noticed though that often these Masses are not celebrated. I’ve never, ever attended a Christmas Vigil Mass, they always used the Midnight Mass for Christmas Eve Masses; Pentecost and Ascension in Canada are always on Sundays but the Mass of Pentecost and the Mass of the Ascension are usually celebrated on Saturday evening even though both these feasts have proper Vigil Masses.

Canon Law says that Mass on the evening before a Holy Day of Obligation (all Sundays are Holy Days of Obligation) fulfills the obligation. If Monday was a HDoO, Sunday’s 5:30 p.m. Mass would count for Monday if you had already fulfilled your obligation for Sunday.

If you look at the Liturgy of the Hours, Sundays and certain feasts start with Evening Prayer I on the eve of the feast and then have Evening Prayer II on the feast day itself. Evening Prayer (Vespers) can be celebrated around 4 p.m. and Sunday or the feast day is considered to have started at that point. Regular days don’t have Evening Prayer I & II, they just have one Evening Prayer which is say on the day itself.
 
Oh, and now with the new translation of the Roman Missal there is also a Mass for the Vigil of the Epiphany.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top