What Time on Saturday PM does the priest HAVE to celebrate the Mass of Sunday

[paleric]

I understand that a priest can say the Mass of Sunday on Saturday evening and that different dioceses give different hours stating when that can happen. But does a priest HAVE to say the Mass of Sunday on a Saturday afternoon or evening? Is he bound by law to celebrate the Mass of Sunday on a Saturday afternoon or evening or may he still say the Mass of that Saturday, or any Mass allowed to be said that Saturday (e.g. a votive Mass, a daily Mass for the Dead) at 7PM on a Saturday?

 

[Reverent_Howler]

I’ve seen vigil Mass scheduled on Saturdays no earlier than 4PM local.

 

[paleric]

OK thanks but does the priest HAVE to say the vigil Mass from 4pm and after or can the priest say the Saturday Mass, or a votive Mass, or a Mass for the Dead at 7pm that Saturday

 

[Vico]

I understand that a priest can say the Mass of Sunday on Saturday evening and that different dioceses give different hours stating when that can happen. But does a priest HAVE to say the Mass of Sunday on a Saturday afternoon or evening? Is he bound by law to celebrate the Mass of Sunday on a Saturday afternoon or evening or may he still say the Mass of that Saturday, or any Mass allowed to be said that Saturday (e.g. a votive Mass, a daily Mass for the Dead) at 7PM on a Saturday?

It makes sense to use the Sunday readings for Saturday Masses provided to fulfill the Sunday obligation. These two masses on the vigil fulfill Sunday Obligation:

• Guardian Angel Cathedral in Los Vegas, NV – Saturday 2:30 PM
• Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City, MO – Saturday 2:30 PM

 

[Jen7]

I believe the vigil isn’t supposed to start before sunset/sundown. But it does. :woman_shrugging:t2::woman_facepalming:t2:

 

[Phemie]

That’s not the OP’s question.

May a priest celebrate the Saturday Mass after 4 p.m., or, 7 p.m. or 10 p.m. on Saturday, or is he bound to celebrate Sunday Mass at that time?

 

[Phemie]

I believe the vigil isn’t supposed to start before sunset/sundown. But it does. :woman_shrugging:t2::woman_facepalming:t2:

The Saturday evening Mass is not a vigil and evening isn’t defined by sunset. When the celebration of Mass in the “evening” was allowed in the early 1950s, the document made it clear that they should not start before 4 p.m. It was not related to sundown.

The only vigil that must not begin until full dark is the Easter Vigil.

 

[Beryllos]

I found an article that addresses the question of the OP and related aspects:

Masses on Saturday Evenings | EWTN

A few brief excerpts:

There are two distinct, albeit related, questions. One regards the Mass formula to be used on Saturday evening, the second the time when a celebration covers the Sunday precept.

universal liturgical law does not oblige the celebration of Sunday Mass on a Saturday evening

There are, however, some bishops’ conferences which have legislated on this subject so as to avoid conflicts and to ensure that the majority of the faithful benefit from the full treasure of the Sunday liturgy.

any Catholic Mass celebrated on a Saturday evening would fulfill the Sunday obligation even if it were not the actual Sunday liturgy

 

[HeDa]

The priest doesn’t have to, except if there is a major solemnity the next day, then the readings and every other prayer would be for that solemnity. All the Mass alternatives that priests can celebrate on a day are in the book Ordo, which is published (book/online) by your diocese or Bishop´s conference.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

except if there is a major solemnity the next day

Every Sunday is a “major solemnity”. There are a few celebrations that can outrank an average Sunday, but not very many that actually occur.

 

[gotDoug]

I’m not sure what they rules have to say about it celebrating the Mass of Sunday and then the Mass of the day (or a votive Mass), but at my parish, the Mass of Sunday was said at 5 p.m. on Saturday followed by the Mass of the day (Saturday) at 7 p.m. It did feel a bit odd though certain times of the year when there was a big transition between holidays. Advent comes to mind. Father would light a candle on the wreath and then later blow out the candle that was lit for the Mass of Sunday. Another huge change in mood that I recall was signing the Gloria for the Solemnity of St. Joseph an hour after the Passion of the Lord was read for Palm Sunday.

The priest is not bound to celebrate the Mass of Sunday on a Saturday. I think the only time he would be bound to celebrate a Sunday Mass on Saturday is if he knew he could not celebrate a Sunday Mass on Sunday for whatever reason. However, if he is assigned to a parish that has a Sunday Mass on Saturday, I’m sure he will “have” to celebrate it, especially if there aren’t other priests around. If he is at a parish that doesn’t have Sunday Mass on Saturday then he probably won’t be celebrating Sunday Mass on Saturday evening. The “obligation” may come from particular parishes or communities that the priest is assigned to serve, but not from any law.

 

[Anesti33]

HeDa:

except if there is a major solemnity the next day

Every Sunday is a “major solemnity”. There are a few celebrations that can outrank an average Sunday, but not very many that actually occur.

Only a few solemnities have an obligatory vigil. Easter, Christmas, Pentecost, probably the Immaculate Conception and Assumption, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist.

It is important to distinguish the colloquial use of “vigil” from the liturgical use in which texts are provided that actually differ from the day of the celebration. Normal Sundays don’t have a vigil, and so the vesperal Mass (is that the right term?) on Saturday uses the texts of the Sunday Mass itself and is, for all intents and purposes, a Sunday Mass, not anticipated, not a vigil.

 

[Vico]

Cor_ad_Cor:

HeDa:

except if there is a major solemnity the next day

Every Sunday is a “major solemnity”. There are a few celebrations that can outrank an average Sunday, but not very many that actually occur.

Only a few solemnities have an obligatory vigil. Easter, Christmas, Pentecost, probably the Immaculate Conception and Assumption, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist.

It is important to distinguish the colloquial use of “vigil” from the liturgical use in which texts are provided that actually differ from the day of the celebration. Normal Sundays don’t have a vigil, and so the vesperal Mass (is that the right term?) on Saturday uses the texts of the Sunday Mass itself and is, for all intents and purposes, a Sunday Mass, not anticipated, not a vigil.

Interestingly the translation of Saint Pope Paul VI Eucharisticum Mysterium uses anticipating:

28. 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.

Currently, in the Missale Romanum, the only required true Vigil Mass is for Easter.

Nativity of the Lord (December 25) 1
Epiphany 2
Easter (on Holy Saturday after nightfall)
Ascension 2
Pentecost 1
Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24) 1
Saints Peter and Paul (June 29) 1
Assumption (August 15) 1
1 Optional Vigil Mass since 1969
2 Optional Vigil Mass since 2002 (Missale Romanum 3rd edition)

 

[Phemie]

I have to admit that at the age of 67 I have yet to experience a Christmas Vigil. I’ve never been in a parish where the first Mass celebrated Christmas Eve wasn’t the “Mass During the Night”. In fact, about 18 years ago I had a Pastor go ballistic when I asked if the 6:30 Christmas Eve Mass, which I was scheduling readers for, was going to be the Vigil. “Don’t be ridiculous, who ever heard of that?” I’ve never asked the question again.

 

[Margaret_Ann]

In the Byzantine Tradition, the liturgical day begins at sunset and ends with the Ninth Hour.

So in my Ukrainian Greek Catholic church, the 4 p.m. Divine Liturgy on Saturday is for Sunday. Our sister parish has an evening Liturgy on Saturday for Sunday as well.

However, this coming Saturday is the iFeast of the Entrance of the Mother of God in the Temple - one of the 12 Great Feasts of the year AND a Holy Day of Obligation. Normally for a Great Feast our pastor would have Liturgy in the morning. However, no one (except me because I’m the lay cantor) would be at Liturgy on Saturday morning unless it was for a funeral. Nor would they come out Friday evening (unless it was Good Friday).

So even though the 4 p.m. Liturgy is supposed to be post-Feast & Sunday, we are going to have Liturgy at 4 p.m. for the Feast Day and next Sunday will be post-Feast.

This is for the Feast of the Entrance:

Liturgical Texts and Music – Part of the Royal Doors Family

This is next Sunday (post-Feast):

Liturgical Texts and Music – Part of the Royal Doors Family

If this sounds confusing, well… Maybe @dochawk can explain it a little better.

 

[dochawk]

On this one, I"m not sure I’m much help.

We’re somewhat more flexibile than the west in general, but they’ve gotten very flexible in recent decades–basically favoring having people participating in the feast over which day it happens.

in my parish, if a feast lands on Wednesday, we observe on wednesday, while if on Thursday, we do it on the eve (Wednesday). (Wednesday is normally our only weekday liturgy).

I’d also note, though, that Saturday evening liturgy as Sunday’s ins a very recent innovation in the Catholic East. The only reason it exists is that parishioners were being lost to RC Saturday Masses . . .

 

[TheLittleLady]

How sad. The Christmas Vigil is such a lovely Mass.

ETA

@paleric are you asking if a pastor says Mass on Saturday at 4 and uses readings other than the readings for Sunday, if that still fulfils your Sunday obligation?

 

[bluerose]

If I remember correctly, my brother-in-law, who is a priest, once celebrated a nuptial Mass on a Saturday evening and there was great deal of confusion over whether he should use the readings for Sunday or if the readings for the nuptial Mass would “count” for Sunday. He assured them that the readings didn’t matter, it would count for Sunday (the couple was flying out early the next morning for their honeymoon and weren’t sure if they would arrive at their destination in time to attend Sunday Mass), but many guests attended the earlier vigil Mass or made plans to attend Mass the next day because they didn’t think it would count for Sunday Mass with the wedding readings.

 

[Diaconia]

This is governed by a combination of rules of the Bishops Conference in a specific country AND Particular Law in dioceses that have them.

That’s why it can differ from diocese to diocese, as well as regions within a country.

Individual priests may further make exceptions for pastoral reasons, but those are generally one-off situations.

Finally, concerning Eastern practice, Divine Liturgy is prescribed to be celebrated in the morning, Vespers in the evening.

Since Eastern parishes are typically very small, priests offer the Liturgy when more/most people can attend - typically in the evenings during the week for a high Feast. This too, is allowed for pastoral reasons.

Deacon Christopher

 

[CatholicZ09]

Interestingly enough, a few years ago — probably eight or nine — our then-parochial vicar chose to use the readings for the Christmas Vigil for the “Mass during the Night” — which has always been at Midnight at my parish. It was cool hearing the readings from the Vigil Mass at Midnight Mass.