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JamesCaruso
Guest
No, I do not think it has ever been a requirement.
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JamesCaruso
Guest
Canon 904 of the New Code of Canon Law (1983) urges the daily celebration of Mass as against the provision of the old Canon Law (Canon 805) of 1917, according to which a priest was obliged to say Mass only “several times a year”, although Bishops were to see to it that their priests celebrated every Sunday and holyday of obligation. mervyncarapiet.blogspot.com/2012/11/priests-daily-mass.html
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Mrs_Sally
Guest
I’m not sure there was ever more than one Saturday morning Mass even when there weren’t anticipated Sunday Masses. There have always been other liturgies - baptisms and weddings - as well as things like group meetings, parish dinners, etc. that happened on Saturday.
To the OP, don’t take it so hard. Use that time to do some private devotions and study, like lectio divinia.
To the OP, don’t take it so hard. Use that time to do some private devotions and study, like lectio divinia.
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Sirach2
Guest
Thanks to those who gave (name removed by moderator)ut regarding this. I did some further checking and found this information.
The GIRM states:
Fr. Serpa noted:
The GIRM states:
- Mass should not be celebrated without a minister, or at least one of the faithful, except for a just and reasonable cause. In this case, the greetings, the instructions, and the blessing at the end of Mass are omitted.
Fr. Serpa noted:
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Deo_Gratias42
Guest
I know it’s very strongly urged. The problem with finding a Mass nearby instead is that pretty much every priest takes his day off on Monday.
If there’s an FSSP apostolate, daily Mass is more abundance. Mondays were our prior priest’s day off. Mass started at 7:15 am unless he had a plane to catch, Mass would be celebrated as early as 4:30 am (I never made it for such). Our current priest takes his day off whenever, but we still have daily Mass 7 days a week unless the priests are both gone for Recollection Days. We’re lucky because one of our priests here serves a different dioces and isn’t required to attend the diocese’s “Priest Study Days”. While every other parish’s daily Masses are cancelled, we still have daily Mass.
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Sirach2
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We have a priest here who takes Friday off, so those parishioners never have a chance to attend for First Friday. We get a lot of visiting Catholics on this day. Who knows, maybe he has an obligation that we know nothing about, although I do know the secretary refers to it as his day off.
Wednesday, like the doctors, seems to be prevalent here. Maybe they all play golf together.
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agapewolf
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So far no one seems to be taking into consideration that weddings and funerals often happen on Saturdays. If there is only one priest, he has to do the Saturday evening mass, in addition to a funeral and a wedding that day, they’ve topped out their max.
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triumphguy
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You must be in my parish!
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DarkLight
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I suspect the actual issue is that confession seems to be held mostly on Saturdays here.
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Journey322
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IDK. Our parish has a Saturday Mass.
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Journey322
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Hope that helps…Haha!
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GwenL
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See my post #6. Asked and answered.
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GwenL
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Regarding priests celebrating Mass every day: the Church does not require that priests celebrate Mass daily.
My understanding is that priests who are pastors of souls are required to say Mass for the faithful as a matter of justice. Priests who are not pastors of souls are required to say Mass for the faithful as a matter of charity. From these two requirements, a priest could be obligated to say Mass on a Sunday or HDO for the faithful.
But, recall that a priest who is in mortal sin commits sacrilege when he says Mass (the Mass is still valid, of course). If he must say Mass, from justice or charity, he is to go to confession first, or if unable to go to confession (and that’s pretty easy to imagine), he must make an act of perfect contrition before saying Mass. Same applies to administering any other sacrament. So, was that act of contrition really perfect, I’m sure he wonders. The priest who is in mortal sin is risking sacrilege and possibly heaping mortal sin upon mortal sin when he brings us the sacraments!
Why would you want to force a priest into that corner, when he does not need to say Mass out of charity or justice? If a priest is unable to get to confession, why would the Church force him into possible sacrilege?
My understanding is that priests who are pastors of souls are required to say Mass for the faithful as a matter of justice. Priests who are not pastors of souls are required to say Mass for the faithful as a matter of charity. From these two requirements, a priest could be obligated to say Mass on a Sunday or HDO for the faithful.
But, recall that a priest who is in mortal sin commits sacrilege when he says Mass (the Mass is still valid, of course). If he must say Mass, from justice or charity, he is to go to confession first, or if unable to go to confession (and that’s pretty easy to imagine), he must make an act of perfect contrition before saying Mass. Same applies to administering any other sacrament. So, was that act of contrition really perfect, I’m sure he wonders. The priest who is in mortal sin is risking sacrilege and possibly heaping mortal sin upon mortal sin when he brings us the sacraments!
Why would you want to force a priest into that corner, when he does not need to say Mass out of charity or justice? If a priest is unable to get to confession, why would the Church force him into possible sacrilege?
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GwenL
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According to my rector, a priest desiring to celebrate Mass on any given day is a “just and reasonable cause.” Priests celebrate privately all the time, for many reasons. Their schedule on the day off just might not be in synch with that of the parish church, so they say Mass in the rectory/friary chapel.
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agapewolf
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Actually, it isn’t. This has nothing to do with my point.
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UpUpAndAway
Guest
My parish has six priests and three churches. One is on indefinite medical leave (and I’d be surprised if he ever returns, but that’s another story), but that still leaves us with five. We have a total of fifteen weekday Masses, each of which attracts between ten and forty people, but no Saturday Mass. I don’t, however, blame anyone for this—least of all my pastor, Fr. B, who seems to be doing something all hours of the day and night and does not take days off outside of his semi-annual vacations (one week in winter and four weeks in summer). It’s just how it is. No one but me seems to want Saturday Mass anyway. At least, no other parishioner has asked for it that I know of.
Rather than try and reinvent the wheel, I attend Saturday Mass in a nearby three-church parish. They have two priests, but Saturday Mass goes on without fail every weekend. They usually get between fifteen and twenty people. The pastor, Fr. R, has assured me, however, that even if only one person comes there will always be a Mass on Saturday morning as long as he is the pastor of the parish.
And since each Mass is prepared by a sacristan, he has the guarantee of at least one person showing up for it!
Both parishes are large (21,000 and 22,000 people respectively) so the demands on the priests’ time are tremendous in both. I know both pastors pretty well, and I know they both have great reverence for Holy Mass—Fr. B has celebrated at least one Mass every day of his nearly forty years of priesthood (even while seriously ill) while Fr. R has not missed a Sunday Mass since before his First Communion more than sixty years ago. The only reason I can figure for the two-priest parish to have Saturday Mass and the five-priest parish not to is sheer stubbornness on the part of Fr. R.
The only time I know of in the last year when we had a non-funeral, non-wedding Mass on Saturday morning in my parish was a couple of months ago before Fr. B went away for a week. He announced it several times beginning a week earlier. A whopping three people showed up.
At least, no other parishioner has asked for it that I know of.Rather than try and reinvent the wheel, I attend Saturday Mass in a nearby three-church parish. They have two priests, but Saturday Mass goes on without fail every weekend. They usually get between fifteen and twenty people. The pastor, Fr. R, has assured me, however, that even if only one person comes there will always be a Mass on Saturday morning as long as he is the pastor of the parish.
And since each Mass is prepared by a sacristan, he has the guarantee of at least one person showing up for it!Both parishes are large (21,000 and 22,000 people respectively) so the demands on the priests’ time are tremendous in both. I know both pastors pretty well, and I know they both have great reverence for Holy Mass—Fr. B has celebrated at least one Mass every day of his nearly forty years of priesthood (even while seriously ill) while Fr. R has not missed a Sunday Mass since before his First Communion more than sixty years ago. The only reason I can figure for the two-priest parish to have Saturday Mass and the five-priest parish not to is sheer stubbornness on the part of Fr. R.
The only time I know of in the last year when we had a non-funeral, non-wedding Mass on Saturday morning in my parish was a couple of months ago before Fr. B went away for a week. He announced it several times beginning a week earlier. A whopping three people showed up.
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Brendan
Guest
We have a Saturday 9:00am Mass each week, with the addition of a 7:00am Mass on First Saturday’s
Since the 9:00am Mass is the only Sat am Mass in the area, it is very well attended, the Church would be about half full, which is pretty good for a ‘daily’ Mass.
I personally enjoy it, as my wife and I will often go and leave the kids at home (assuming we can actually get one of the teens out of bed to babysit
) . We will then stop off for breakfast at a local family restaurant. It makes for a really nice ‘date’ 
Since the 9:00am Mass is the only Sat am Mass in the area, it is very well attended, the Church would be about half full, which is pretty good for a ‘daily’ Mass.
I personally enjoy it, as my wife and I will often go and leave the kids at home (assuming we can actually get one of the teens out of bed to babysit
) . We will then stop off for breakfast at a local family restaurant. It makes for a really nice ‘date’
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JamesCaruso
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We have confessions every weekday plus Saturday, and last Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday, we had confessions, too. My church is very sinful so we need all the confessions we can get.IDK. Our parish has a Saturday Mass.
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DarkLight
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So I’ve checked 7 parishes in our area - everything I could possibly get to. Three Saturday Masses in total, all at just about the same time.
That’s what gets me - not just that they’re cut down, but that the parishes around that offer it all offer Mass at the same time. If you can’t make that one exact time you’re basically out of luck, and if you’re on the bus system you can’t make that time… And when I asked a priest about it at one of the other parishes he just sort of looked at me like I was asking a stupid question and said “All the other Masses are on Sunday” and then walked off.
That’s what gets me - not just that they’re cut down, but that the parishes around that offer it all offer Mass at the same time. If you can’t make that one exact time you’re basically out of luck, and if you’re on the bus system you can’t make that time… And when I asked a priest about it at one of the other parishes he just sort of looked at me like I was asking a stupid question and said “All the other Masses are on Sunday” and then walked off.
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PatriceA
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Sounds like he didn’t realize you were talking about the Saturday morning mass and not the vigil mass.
None of the local parishes around me offers the Saturday morning mass. I have to drive 30 minutes to the closest parish that offers it.
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