Saturday vigil Mass

[whatevergirl]

Sure, going to Mass Saturday evening can “count” for the Sunday obligation. But, we can’t forget that there is more to keeping the Lord’s Day holy than participating in Mass, and, all day Sunday is still the Lord’s Day, even if we attend a Saturday evening Mass. The “job” doesn’t end after Saturday Mass.

I only say this because I can tend to forget that, if I go to an anticipatory Mass… Sunday seems like a lazy day, not the Lord’s Day. Going to Mass on the day itself can help quash that mindlessness, at least for me.

Dan

That’s an interesting take. I think so too…I am not sure if we are ever to be ‘lazy,’ but we are to rest. Resting from our labors and laziness are two separate things.

 

[twf]

bkovacs: It sounds like you don’t believe that Our Lord entrusted the keys to Peter…if Peter and the apostles tell us that we can satisfy our obligation Saturday night, then we can satisfy our obligation Saturday night…“whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven…” That being said, I think the Church would agree that Sunday mornig is the ideal time to celebrate the holy sacrifice, with other times allowed for the sake of the faithful.

 

[Phemie]

This is not true. You can’t blame Vatican II for everything you don’t like! The anticipated Mass on Saturdays was allowed for in the Apostolic Constitution “Christus Dominus” of Pope Pius XII in 1953. Long before Vatican II.

No. Christus Dominus relaxed the fasting rules and gave permission for Masses in the evening, not for anticipated Masses. Prior to 1953, it was forbidden to celebrate Mass after noon.

Rule VI. If the circumstance calls for it as necessary, We grant to the local Ordinaries the right to permit the celebration of Mass in the evening, as we said, but in such wise that the Mass shall not begin before four o’clock in the afternoon, on holy days of obligation still observed, on those which formerly were observed, on the first Friday of every month, and also on those days on which solemn celebrations are held with a large attendance, and also, in addition to these days, on one day a week; with the requirement that the priest observe a fast of three hours from solid food and alcoholic beverages, and of one hour from non-alcoholic beverages. At these Masses the faithful may approach the Holy Table, observing the same rule as regards the Eucharistic fast, the presumption of Canon 857 remaining in force.

 

[malphono]

No. Christus Dominus relaxed the fasting rules and gave permission for Masses in the evening, not for anticipated Masses. Prior to 1953, it was forbidden to celebrate Mass after noon.

Merci, Phemie. That’s just the way I read PP Pius XII too.

 

[whatevergirl]

Does anyone know the history behind Saturday evening mass? Why did the Church find it necessary to open this timeframe up for the faithful to have mass? We sometimes attend Saturday evening mass, but typically go to Sunday. Was jsut curious as to when this came about, and the ‘why’ behind it.

 

[Phemie]

Does anyone know the history behind Saturday evening mass? Why did the Church find it necessary to open this timeframe up for the faithful to have mass? We sometimes attend Saturday evening mass, but typically go to Sunday. Was jsut curious as to when this came about, and the ‘why’ behind it.

It did start after Vatican II but prior to May 1967 because that is the date of Eucharistium Mysterium, Instruction on Eucharistic Worship, which says this:

1. Anticipating the Sunday and Feast Day Masses on the Previous Evening
   Where permission has been granted by the Apostolic See to fulfill the Sunday obligation on the preceding Saturday evening, pastors should explain the meaning of this permission carefully to the faithful and should ensure that the significance of Sunday is not thereby obscured. The purpose of this concession is in fact to enable the Christians of today to celebrate more easily the day of the resurrection of the Lord.

All concessions and contrary customs notwithstanding, when celebrated on Saturday this Mass may be celebrated only in the evening, at times determined by the local Ordinary.

In these cases the Mass celebrated is that assigned in the calendar to Sunday, the homily and the prayer of the faithful are not to be omitted.

What has been said above is equally valid for the Mass on holy days of obligation which for the same reason has been transferred to the preceding evening.

Note the part it red. Obviously this was not a world-wide practice.

Now Canon Law doesn’t say that we have to attend an anticipated Mass only that we have to attend a Mass.

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.

I guess if I pop in to someone’s wedding at 7 pm on Saturday, I’ve fulfilled my Sunday obligation.

 

[Leopard]

…I guess if I pop in to someone’s wedding at 7 pm on Saturday, I’ve fulfilled my Sunday obligation.

That is correct, as long as it falls within the time that the local bishop has said that anticipated Masses may be celebrated, and that it is a Catholic Mass.

 

[dans0622]

Does anyone know the history behind Saturday evening mass? Why did the Church find it necessary to open this timeframe up for the faithful to have mass? We sometimes attend Saturday evening mass, but typically go to Sunday. Was jsut curious as to when this came about, and the ‘why’ behind it.

Hello whatevergirl,

As others have said, it was widely implemented in the late 60s. The basic notion behind having Mass in the evening of any day of the week is for the convenience of the faithful. Again, as it has been pointed out, Pius XII opened that up in 1953, along with the modification of the rules for the Eucharistic fast. Another turning point was the reform of the Easter Vigil Mass by Pius XII in 1951–it was now to begin on Saturday evening. So, since each Sunday is said to be a “little Easter,” the notion of having Sunday Mass on Saturday evening was more reasonable. (If I am wrong about this progression, I hope to be corrected. I don’t know much about Pre-Vatican II liturgical law and reforms…)

Anyway, the Church, seeing how the world is more and more pagan, as well as more industrial and mechanized, noticed that many people had to work on Sundays or were prevented from going to morning Mass during the week (factories can run 24 hours a day, unlike a farming operation). So, to make the Mass available to them, it was decided to make these changes.

That’s how I understand it, anyway.

Dan

 

[whatevergirl]

Thanks Phemie, and Dan for your explanations. I appreciate it…always wondered.

 

[Phemie]

That is correct, as long as it falls within the time that the local bishop has said that anticipated Masses may be celebrated, and that it is a Catholic Mass.

Huel, in his commentary on Canon Law (which I can’t quote accurately because it’s at the office, not at home) says that one’s attendance at a wedding or funeral on Saturday evening should not be considered fulfilling your Sunday obligation. I think it matters whether you are primarily there for the wedding, and wouldn’t be there otherwise, or whether you are there primarily to attend a Saturday evening Mass. Unfortunately, I have nothing to support my thinking. Personally, if I’m invited to a wedding and attend the Nuptial Mass I don’t consider it having fulfilled my Sunday obligation and will return to Mass the next day. If I go to a Saturday evening Mass that just happens to be a Nuptial Mass I feel that I’ve fulfilled my obligation.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

Do what ever you want. Why not celebrate Good Friday on Wednesday.

 

[Frosty]

I guess I should have been clearer in my response previously. ***Christus Dominum * ** was the catalyst for a wider interpretation of allowing Masses to be celebrated after the noon hour and in the evening. I clearly remember First Friday Masses when I was in grade school being said at 5:30pm. A few years later in 1957, Pius XII issued a Motu Proprio, Sacrum Communionem in which he expanded the permission to say Mass to every day after midday.

Having taken into consideration the considerable changes which have occurred in working and office hours and in all social life, We deemed it advisable to comply with the insistent requests of the Bishops and have therefore decreed:

Ordinaries of places, excluding vicars general who are not in possession of a special mandate, may permit Holy Mass to be celebrated every day after midday, should this be necessary for the spiritual welfare of a considerable number of the faithful

.

http://www.saint-mike.org/Library/Papal_Library/PiusXII/Constitutions/Sacram_Communionem.html

I have no idea of how this permission was implemented in dioceses other than my own or in what year certain dioceses chose to have a Saturday anticipated Mass. What I do know is that the Saturday evening Mass began to be celebrated in my diocese the year I started High School in 1959. It was at 5:30pm and was not all that well attended for the first few years until gradually more and more people began to accept it as a legitimate was of fulfilling the Sunday Mass obligation.

 

[Kearney]

Are these changes because Pope Paul VI said that the Church, after Vatican II, exist to serve man and to make it wasier for modern ma and his world to be Catholics? The purpose of the Church now is to serve man and love him, his art, his sports, his culutre, his world?

9I’m just quoting the Pope here).

 

[Phemie]

I guess I should have been clearer in my response previously. ***Christus Dominum *** was the catalyst for a wider interpretation of allowing Masses to be celebrated after the noon hour and in the evening. I clearly remember First Friday Masses when I was in grade school being said at 5:30pm. A few years later in 1957, Pius XII issued a Motu Proprio, Sacrum Communionem in which he expanded the permission to say Mass to every day after midday.

.

http://www.saint-mike.org/Library/Papal_Library/PiusXII/Constitutions/Sacram_Communionem.html

I have no idea of how this permission was implemented in dioceses other than my own or in what year certain dioceses chose to have a Saturday anticipated Mass. What I do know is that the Saturday evening Mass began to be celebrated in my diocese the year I started High School in 1959. It was at 5:30pm and was not all that well attended for the first few years until gradually more and more people began to accept it as a legitimate was of fulfilling the Sunday Mass obligation.

I know we had evening Masses: I made my first Communion & was Confirmed at weekday, 7 p.m. Masses in 1959 & 1960. I don’t recall anticipated Masses until well into the 60s, certainly never with the Tridentine Rite.

 

[Leopard]

Huel, in his commentary on Canon Law (which I can’t quote accurately because it’s at the office, not at home) says that one’s attendance at a wedding or funeral on Saturday evening should not be considered fulfilling your Sunday obligation. I think it matters whether you are primarily there for the wedding, and wouldn’t be there otherwise, or whether you are there primarily to attend a Saturday evening Mass. Unfortunately, I have nothing to support my thinking. Personally, if I’m invited to a wedding and attend the Nuptial Mass I don’t consider it having fulfilled my Sunday obligation and will return to Mass the next day. If I go to a Saturday evening Mass that just happens to be a Nuptial Mass I feel that I’ve fulfilled my obligation.

Canon law says a Catholic must assist at Mass at the prescribed time for Sundays and Holy Days. It does not say the Mass can not also be a nuptial Mass, a funeral Mass, a Confirmation Mass or any other kind of Mass. A Catholic May assist at a second Mass if he chooses, but this is not obligatory.

 

[FrDavid96]

Canon law says a Catholic must assist at Mass at the prescribed time for Sundays and Holy Days. It does not say the Mass can not also be a nuptial Mass, a funeral Mass, a Confirmation Mass or any other kind of Mass. A Catholic May assist at a second Mass if he chooses, but this is not obligatory.

Actually, along those lines, the liturgical law of the Church specifically permits for those Masses to be celebrated on Sundays (well, Sunday funerals are discouraged but you get the point).