Two Masses a Day?

[TikiTokiguy]

I went to Mass on Saturday evening, 4:30pm. So that counts for Sunday right? I’m not officially Catholic yet, I’m in RCIA.

I was wondering, another parish is having a Mass Sunday at 7pm. Since I went to Mass once can I go again to another Mass or is that considered a no no?

Also, I’m five weeks or so into an RCIA class and I don’t have a sponsor yet. Should I be getting one soon? Will this disqualify me getting baptized?

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

I went to Mass on Saturday evening, 4:30pm. So that counts for Sunday right? I’m not officially Catholic yet, I’m in RCIA.

I was wondering, another parish is having a Mass Sunday at 7pm. Since I went to Mass once can I go again to another Mass or is that considered a no no?

You can attend as many Masses as you wish, the only proscription that the Church has is regarding the reception of the Eucharist (which you can not do yet anyways). That is that you can only receive the Eucharist twice a day and one of them must be in the context of the Mass.

Also, I’m five weeks or so into an RCIA class and I don’t have a sponsor yet. Should I be getting one soon? Will this disqualify me getting baptized?

The only persons that can answer this question are your priest and the person running your RCIA program, speak with them about this.

 

[Spirithound]

You can attend as many Masses as you wish, the only proscription that the Church has is regarding the reception of the Eucharist (which you can not do yet anyways). That is that you can only receive the Eucharist twice a day and one of them must be in the context of the Mass.

Specifically, at least the second time must be within the context of Mass.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Specifically, at least the second time must be within the context of Mass.

I am sorry but according to Immensae Caritatis—On Facilitating Reception Of Communion In Certain Circumstances from the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments one may receive a second time for the following reason.
at the administration of viaticum, when communion may be given to the members of the household and the friends of the sick person who are present

Unless you have an updated source.

 

[Spirithound]

Unless you have an updated source.

Ah, ok, your source is correct but incomplete, for then it would follow that neither reception of Holy Communion might need to be in the context of Mass. The Code of Canon Law says:

Can. 917 A person who has already received the Most Holy Eucharist can receive it a second time on the same day only within the eucharistic celebration in which the person participates, without prejudice to the prescript of ⇒ can. 921, §2.

Can. 921 §1. The Christian faithful who are in danger of death from any cause are to be nourished by holy communion in the form of Viaticum.
vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P39.HTM

To summarize my understanding:
The first reception of Holy Communion may be in the context of a Communion service, Holy Mass, or Viaticum.
The second reception may be in the context of Mass or Viaticum.
The third reception must be as Viaticum.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Ah, ok, your source is correct but incomplete, for then it would follow that neither reception of Holy Communion might need to be in the context of Mass. The Code of Canon Law says:

Can. 917 A person who has already received the Most Holy Eucharist can receive it a second time on the same day only within the eucharistic celebration in which the person participates, without prejudice to the prescript of ⇒ can. 921, §2.

Can. 921 §1. The Christian faithful who are in danger of death from any cause are to be nourished by holy communion in the form of Viaticum.
vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P39.HTM

To summarize my understanding:
The first reception of Holy Communion may be in the context of a Communion service, Holy Mass, or Viaticum.
The second reception may be in the context of Mass or Viaticum.
The third reception must be as Viaticum.

There we go!

 

[TikiTokiguy]

This is a little confusing. lets say I get baptized and confirmed. And then I go to my parish Saturday evening 4:30pm and I take the Eucharist. Can I go back Sunday morning at the same parish and take the Eucharist?

 

[ConstantineTG]

Actually you may receive three or more times in cases of necessity. You may be administered Last Rites often on the same day if your condition is deteriorating. Although realistically you may me given the Last Rites only once. But if there’s a priest available, especialy if he’s a close friend, he can if your conditions changes for the worse.

 

[MarkThompson]

This is a little confusing. lets say I get baptized and confirmed. And then I go to my parish Saturday evening 4:30pm and I take the Eucharist. Can I go back Sunday morning at the same parish and take the Eucharist?

Yes. It is always permitted to receive twice in one day, provided the second time is at a Mass and not a communion service or something (let’s forget Viaticum for the time being; you’re not dying are you?). So you could receive twice on Sunday itself, for instance at a morning Mass and and afternoon Mass. No problem.

The hard question – I have read various interpretations either way – is whether you could receive on Saturday evening, and then twice more on Sunday. In other words, does the Saturday Communion count as being “on” Sunday, making it a total of three? The evening Mass satisfies your Sunday obligation, but is it also considered to be Sunday for purposes of the rule about taking Communion? Or does the counter reset at midnight? Like I say, it’s a difficult question.

But (once you are admitted to Communion), you can definitely receive at a Mass on Saturday evening and then a Mass on Sunday, since even if those do count as the same “day,” it’s okay to receive at two Masses on a given day.

 

[mick321]

This is a little confusing. lets say I get baptized and confirmed. And then I go to my parish Saturday evening 4:30pm and I take the Eucharist. Can I go back Sunday morning at the same parish and take the Eucharist?

No need to be confused.
The solution is quite simple.
Go to Confession on Saturday.
Receive Holy Communion on Sunday.

 

[malphono]

Yes. It is always permitted to receive twice in one day, provided the second time is at a Mass and not a communion service or something (let’s forget Viaticum for the time being; you’re not dying are you?). So you could receive twice on Sunday itself, for instance at a morning Mass and and afternoon Mass. No problem.

The hard question – I have read various interpretations either way – is whether you could receive on Saturday evening, and then twice more on Sunday. In other words, does the Saturday Communion count as being “on” Sunday, making it a total of three? The evening Mass satisfies your Sunday obligation, but is it also considered to be Sunday for purposes of the rule about taking Communion? Or does the counter reset at midnight? Like I say, it’s a difficult question.

But (once you are admitted to Communion), you can definitely receive at a Mass on Saturday evening and then a Mass on Sunday, since even if those do count as the same “day,” it’s okay to receive at two Masses on a given day.

The question of multiple communion in a single day has been discussed in several threads in L&S, including [thread=497760]this one[/thread] a few months back.

Rather than compose something new as my contribution to this thread, I’ll simply take an excerpt from that one.

jmcrae;7103366:

By my best understanding, the twice-a-day rule is in place to accommodate people who attend a regular daily Mass every day, on the days when they also

go to a wedding or a funeral, etc.

The second time is not generally supposed to be the exact same Mass as the first time, but if there is a special reason (someone is getting married, someone is being buried, a relative is receiving a Sacrament such as First Holy Communion, Confirmation, or Holy Orders, they can still participate in Holy Communion at their relative’s special Mass, as well as the regular daily Mass that they attend.

We all have plenty of daily tasks that we must attend to, and although it’s a very good thing to be a daily communicant, being a twice-daily communicant has the potential to interfere with one’s duties to one’s employer and family - one must keep a proper balance in life.Interesting that you bring that up. During one of the other recent threads that veered into the multiple-communion issue, I posed the question to a priest friend of mine who is a very well respected Canon Lawyer. His answer was exactly what you say: the intent of canon 917 is that, under normal circumstances, a person should not receive more than once on a given day. The built-in exception is meant to accommodate weddings, funerals, memorial Masses, etc.

 

[laszlo]

I am sorry but according to Immensae Caritatis—On Facilitating Reception Of Communion In Certain Circumstances from the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments one may receive a second time for the following reason.
at the administration of viaticum, when communion may be given to the members of the household and the friends of the sick person who are present

Unless you have an updated source.

Here is the updated source (1965 5)

1. Why are the faithful permitted to approach for holy Communion twice on only two days?

Resp.: Without prejudice to the general law, granting on only one Communion per day, the Church, supported by the principle of fuller participation through the reception of the Eucharist in the sacred celebrations, on those days in which she celebrates for the whole community two liturgical offices distinct from one another, grants the faculty of giving Communion twice to the faithful who participate at both celebrations. She does not extend this faculty to all days with several celebrations when they would only be a repetition of one and the same celebration in favor of the faithful who could not be present at a single celebration. Briefly: When one Office is celebrated, even if it is repeated, only one approach to the holy table is granted; when a double Office is celebrated, a double Communion is granted.
notitiae.ipsissima-verba.org/

In plain English you may go to communion at funeral Mass, at Wedding Mass, if there is different Mass for St Mark and the Litany Major, on Christmas (Midnight Mass, Mass at Dawn, Mass for the day) etc

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Here is the updated source (1965 5)

1. Why are the faithful permitted to approach for holy Communion twice on only two days?

Resp.: Without prejudice to the general law, granting on only one Communion per day, the Church, supported by the principle of fuller participation through the reception of the Eucharist in the sacred celebrations, on those days in which she celebrates for the whole community two liturgical offices distinct from one another, grants the faculty of giving Communion twice to the faithful who participate at both celebrations. She does not extend this faculty to all days with several celebrations when they would only be a repetition of one and the same celebration in favor of the faithful who could not be present at a single celebration. Briefly: When one Office is celebrated, even if it is repeated, only one approach to the holy table is granted; when a double Office is celebrated, a double Communion is granted.
notitiae.ipsissima-verba.org/

In plain English you may go to communion at funeral Mass, at Wedding Mass, if there is different Mass for St Mark and the Litany Major, on Christmas (Midnight Mass, Mass at Dawn, Mass for the day) etc

Actually I believe my source is more up to date as it is dated "January 29, 1973 " and yours is dated 1965.

 

[JackVk]

I was pondering this yesterday. I went to 2 different Masses; one at noon at my main parish, where I usher, and one at 5 pm at another parish where I help out with the youth group. I had asked 2 priests about it, one said I could receive communion and the other said no. So the fact that there was a thread on this subject was one of those “God Moments” for me

 

[ProVobis]

This is a little confusing. lets say I get baptized and confirmed. And then I go to my parish Saturday evening 4:30pm and I take the Eucharist. Can I go back Sunday morning at the same parish and take the Eucharist?

Yes, but you don’t need to get confirmed first. And also you should have undergone the First Communion process.

However, in answer to your OP, communion aside, you can attend (or watch on Youtube) as many Masses on any given day as you desire. So if you aspire to sing in the choir or become an usher or server, for example, go for it.

 

[ZxM]

if the person is getting baptized and confirmed the same day then they would receive first communion at that same time.