When did the rule occur that you have to go to mass on Sunday or it's a mortal sin?

[dann]

When did the rule occur that you have to go to mass on Sunday or it’s a mortal sin?

 

[Maximilian75]

Well, that was in regards to Saturday, and the Mass wasnt a thing…

 

[JimG]

Precepts of the Church

1.You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation.

2.You shall confess your sins at least once a year.

3.You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least once during the Easter season.

4.You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church.

5.You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church.

 

[1ke]

We have always had an obligation to worship God under the Commandments given to Moses. That obligation has taken different forms down through the ages. Under the Old Covenant it took the form of the Sabbath laws. In the New Covenant it takes the form of worship in the Mass.

Deacon Jeff has posted the relevant Catechism sections.

 

[AdOrientem]

dann,

S. John Paul II touched on the history in his Apostolic Letter Dies Domini:

1. Even if in the earliest times it was not judged necessary to be prescriptive, the Church has not ceased to confirm this obligation of conscience, which rises from the inner need felt so strongly by the Christians of the first centuries. It was only later, faced with the half-heartedness or negligence of some, that the Church had to make explicit the duty to attend Sunday Mass: more often than not, this was done in the form of exhortation, but at times the Church had to resort to specific canonical precepts. This was the case in a number of local Councils from the fourth century onwards (as at the Council of Elvira of 300, which speaks not of an obligation but of penalties after three absences)(78) and most especially from the sixth century onwards (as at the Council of Agde in 506).(79) These decrees of local Councils led to a universal practice, the obligatory character of which was taken as something quite normal.(80). The Code of Canon Law of 1917 for the first time gathered this tradition into a universal law.(81)

 

[71coog]

I try to be a devout Catholic but often have doubts about what causes a person to condemn himself to hell. It is hard for me to always accept that Keeping Holy the Sabbath day always means going to mass. If a person on occasion misses mass It is hard for me to believe that he is going to hell because he missed mass. Thoughts??

 

[Maximilian75]

Well, if he was unable to go, God does not hold that against him.

If he chose not to go in spite of being able to and knowing that he should go to Mass according to Gods law, then he chooses against a relationship with God.

 

[71coog]

Right, but what is God’s law. He said to “keep holy the Sabbath Day”. Is going to mass the only way to keep the sabbath day holy? And if traditional Catholics don’t consider it a “grievous” offense, is it going to send that person to eternal damnation? I just dont think that the Good Lord works that way.

 

[Maximilian75]

Well, the Church, who speaks with divine authority, has said that is how we should follow the Sabbath.

 

[margaret42]

I suppose it depends on why he missed mass. If you just don’t feel like , or want to substitute an activity for mass, then it would seem to be a mortal sin, at least objectively. But if your sick, can’t get there because of the church distance, or perhaps a snowstorm, then there’s no sin.