Too many masses?

[RitasKid]

Priests need permission to celebrate more than one mass daily. I assume to prevent boredom, routine, loss of ability to be reverent and the like. So, for us laity, how many are too many? I’m pretty sure the answer is: it depends. Can we have some guidelines?

 

[Psalitte]

As far as I know there is no limit as to how many Masses the laity can attend, though you may only receive communion twice a day.

 

[marlap2]

As far as I know there is no limit as to how many Masses the laity can attend, though you may only receive communion twice a day.

I believe Psalite is correct, but the second communion has to be under unusual circumstances, like attending a wedding or funeral and then going to Mass later in the day.

 

[ProVobis]

No limit whatsoever. Priests over the world offer the Holy Sacrifice to God at all times for our benefit in over 23 rites. We should be able to attend one or as many as we can.

 

[pianistclare]

I believe Psalite is correct, but the second communion has to be under unusual circumstances, like attending a wedding or funeral and then going to Mass later in the day.

Priests in our Archdiocese require permission for more than two on a day.
Large parishes with a shortage of priests regularly have the same priest at 3 Masses and have other priests covering the rest. There is a parish near me that has 9 weekend Masses.
I don’t think priests get “bored” but it does take a lot out of them.
People may receive communion at two Masses. I often do because of being the Musician for some Masses.
Also, if you attend a Saturday morning wedding, and you attend the Saturday evening vigil Mass for Sunday, you are attending two very different liturgies. The readings and the homily would be considerably different, so it would not be unusual to attend and receive at both. The wedding would not fulfill your Sunday obligation. So, if you have to work on Sundays, you pretty much end up having to go twice on Saturday in that instance.

Yesterday I attended 2 weddings and had to play for the Spanish Mass. So I received only twice.
Peace.

 

[Phemie]

I believe Psalite is correct, but the second communion has to be under unusual circumstances, like attending a wedding or funeral and then going to Mass later in the day.

Canon Law doesn’t restrict the second Communion in any way, beyond saying it has to be at a Mass one is attending. There are many reasons why one would be attending two daily or Sunday Masses and you are free to receive at both. Or you could have received outside of Mass and then are free to receive again at Mass.

 

[Sunbreak]

Priests can usually celebrate more than one Mass in a day. Some priests have more than one parish to oversee and have a Mass in each parish. During the week, there may be a funeral Mass in addition to the regular Mass. My pastor has 4 Masses on the first Sunday of the month - 2 of them are in other languages and this is the only parish in the archdiocese that offers Mass in those languages.
For laity, you can go to however many Masses in a day you want. You just can’t go to communion at more than 2 Masses on the same day.

 

[Elizium23]

Priests can generally get habitual permission for two or three Masses, especially on Sundays in large parishes when they are needed the most. However, at least in my home diocese, priests cannot benefit more than once from a Mass stipend in one day. Therefore our parish have special policies in place to make sure that priests do get paid from that first Mass of the day. That is something to keep in mind when requesting a Mass intention, especially if you are trying to negotiate for a reduced or waived donation: the priests depend on that income from offering Masses. It is non-negligible for many of them.