When does Sunday end?

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Kepha15

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This is going to sound silly, but when does Sunday end for liturgical purposes? My parish offers an 8:30 p.m. Mass on Sundays (sort of the “last chance” Mass for the diocese), which I often attend. However, since I know the Saturday evening vigil (which is much earlier) counts as a “Sunday” Mass, shouldn’t the Sunday evening Mass count as a vigil also? And if it does, wouldn’t that count as a “Monday” Mass?

Is the decision up to the individual celebrant (as long as he uses the Missal for Sunday), or is there an actual “time” cutoff?

Thanks for your responses.
 
From my knowledge, the Saturday evening mass is a vigil mass for the “Sunday Mass.” That Saturday vigil is usually after sunset/during sunset.
If a Sunday evening mass at around 8:30, it depends upon the sun. (correct me if I’m wrong here) it may/may not count for the Sunday obligation, but it may be a Monday vigil.
(again, correct me if i’m wrong)
 
I think Sunday, along with all of its obligations, ceases upon midnight as that commences the next day. Since Monday is a third or fourth class feast, there can’t be a vigil Mass for it on the evening of the prior day. Also, even if a Mass were said in the evening before a holy day of obligation, it can be for either the holy day or the previous day upon the discretion of the priest. This is my understanding of the matter, but someone can correct me.
 
Confiteor_Deo said:
I think Sunday, along with all of its obligations, ceases upon midnight as that commences the next day. Since Monday is a third or fourth class feast, there can’t be a vigil Mass for it on the evening of the prior day. Also, even if a Mass were said in the evening before a holy day of obligation, it can be for either the holy day or the previous day upon the discretion of the priest. This is my understanding of the matter, but someone can correct me.
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Thanks! That does clear things up quite a bit. I didn’t know there wasn’t the possibility for a vigil Mass for Monday. But that makes sense!
 
By canon law a day runs from midnight to midnight. That means that Sunday ends at midnight.

Can. 202 §1. In law, a day is understood as a period consisting of 24 continuous hours and begins at midnight unless other provision is expressly made; a week is a period of 7 days; a month is a period of 30 days, and a year is a period of 365 days unless a month and a year are said to be taken as they are in the calendar.

For liturgical purposes, you can fulfill your Sunday obligation the evening before. So in terms of attending Mass, you can go from Saturday evening through midnight on Sunday.
Can. 1248 §1. A person who assists at a Mass celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the feast day itself or in the evening of the preceding day satisfies the obligation of participating in the Mass.
 
Anticipated Masses can only be offered before Sundays and certain solemnities, especiall holy days of obligation. Think of them as longer than 24 hours, even though that is technically not the case. All the rest run from midnight to midnight.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
By canon law a day runs from midnight to midnight. That means that Sunday ends at midnight.

Can. 202 §1. In law, a day is understood as a period consisting of 24 continuous hours and begins at midnight unless other provision is expressly made; a week is a period of 7 days; a month is a period of 30 days, and a year is a period of 365 days unless a month and a year are said to be taken as they are in the calendar.

For liturgical purposes, you can fulfill your Sunday obligation the evening before. So in terms of attending Mass, you can go from Saturday evening through midnight on Sunday.
Can. 1248 §1. A person who assists at a Mass celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the feast day itself or in the evening of the preceding day satisfies the obligation of participating in the Mass.
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Liturgically, the prayers of the Church (such as the Liturgy of the Hours) change over at Vespers of the prior evening only for Sundays and solemnities. It is as if Sundays and solemnities are each celebrated as a “super day.” This is not done for penitential days: for example, you will not find parishes offering an anticipatory Mass for Ash Wednesday.
 
ProVobis said:
Sunday 11:59pm.

If the next day is a Holy Day, I think it depends on the feast.
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Even if the following Monday is a Holy Day, one can fulfill the obligation to assist at Mass for Sunday any time from the evening of the preceding day until 23:59 Sunday.

tee
Not A Canon Lawyer
 
tee_eff_em said:
Even if the following Monday is a Holy Day, one can fulfill the obligation to assist at Mass for Sunday any time from the evening of the preceding day until 23:59 Sunday.

tee
Not A Canon Lawyer
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Is that what we agreed upon last time Christmas fell on a Monday and we could kill two birds with one stone? I’m expecting vico to chime in here at any moment. Maybe there’s a 2:30 pm Mass somewhere in Louisiana that day;)
 
ProVobis said:
Is that what we agreed upon last time Christmas fell on a Monday and we could kill two birds with one stone? I’m expecting vico to chime in here at any moment. Maybe there’s a 2:30 pm Mass somewhere in Louisiana that day;)
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I was (and am) deliberately biting my tongue on the two-fer question 😛 What are you trying to do, wake the sleeping giant of [user]FrDavid96[/user]?

😛
tee
 
tee_eff_em said:
I was (and am) deliberately biting my tongue on the two-fer question 😛 What are you trying to do, wake the sleeping giant of [user]FrDavid96[/user]?

😛
tee
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I hope so. I found a Roman sundial watch. 😉

BTW I didn’t know you could do that with a user id. I learned something.
 
Kepha15 said:
This is going to sound silly, but when does Sunday end for liturgical purposes? My parish offers an 8:30 p.m. Mass on Sundays (sort of the “last chance” Mass for the diocese), which I often attend. However, since I know the Saturday evening vigil (which is much earlier) counts as a “Sunday” Mass, shouldn’t the Sunday evening Mass count as a vigil also? And if it does, wouldn’t that count as a “Monday” Mass?

Is the decision up to the individual celebrant (as long as he uses the Missal for Sunday), or is there an actual “time” cutoff?

Thanks for your responses.
Click to expand...
In the older times, the day varied in the location (Roman midnight to midnight, Umbrian noon to noon, *Babylonian *sunrise to sunrise). The Athenian rule was sunset to sunset is a day. The Byzantine liturgy for a day begins with Vespers (which for Roman Rite is Evening Prayer One). Fasting is from midnight.

The Roman Rite requires a decision to be made between Evening Prayer Two of the current day and Evening Prayer One of the next day, based on rank. If there was a Solemnity on Monday, then the celebration would begin on Sunday evening. For Sunday obligation purposes though the obligation for Sunday may be fulfilled through 11:59 PM Sunday. For example in 2006 Christmas was on Monday, so two solemnities were obligatory on Sunday and Monday. Sunday evening would fulfill for either.

In the Roman Rite, there are (since Missale Romanum 3rd edition) eight proper vigil Masses, and seven are optional. The optional vigil Mass is used on the evening of the day before the Solemnity, either before or after First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of the Solemnity. Required is Easter Vigil but it may be only after nightfall.

Vigil Masses (Ordinary Form) in the Roman Calendar, on evening before the day given.


  1. *]Nativity of the Lord (December 25) *
    *]Epiphany **
    *]Easter (on Holy Saturday after nightfall)
    *]Ascension **
    *]Pentecost *
    *]Nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24) *
    *]Saints Peter and Paul (June 29) *
    *]Assumption (August 15) *
    • Optional Vigil Mass, since 1969
      ** Optional Vigil Mass, since 2002 (Missale Romanum 3rd edition)
 
tee_eff_em said:
I was (and am) deliberately biting my tongue on the two-fer question 😛 What are you trying to do, wake the sleeping giant of [user]FrDavid96[/user]?

😛
tee
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Been busy lately. Weird schedule. Not sleeping right now. Should be, but not. Should have been sleeping last night. Could not (which is why I was sleeping Sunday afternoon and evening when I otherwise would not have been, thus causing me to be awake at this hour). Makes sense? :confused:
 
Kepha15 said:
This is going to sound silly, but when does Sunday end for liturgical purposes? My parish offers an 8:30 p.m. Mass on Sundays (sort of the “last chance” Mass for the diocese), which I often attend. However, since I know the Saturday evening vigil (which is much earlier) counts as a “Sunday” Mass, shouldn’t the Sunday evening Mass count as a vigil also? And if it does, wouldn’t that count as a “Monday” Mass?
.
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Yes, the Mass on Saturday evening is the Mass for Sunday. One can fulfill the Sunday obligation anytime from evening on Saturday to the end of Sunday (midnight) because the liturgical day begins on the evening before.

The reason for this is important. In the biblical understanding of a day, a day begins at sunset. That’s the point of transition from one day to the next. It was also the Christian understanding of a day throughout most of history until very recently.

Because Sunday is so important, the Church has always maintained (in one or more ways) the concept of Sunday beginning at sunset on Saturday . In the 1983 Code of Canon Law, St John Paul the Great made universal what previous popes had allowed on a limited basis: that Catholics could fulfill their Sunday obligation by attending any Mass beginning in the evening of Saturday to the end of the calendar day on Sunday (ie midnight).
Is the decision up to the individual celebrant (as long as he uses the Missal for Sunday), or is there an actual “time” cutoff?
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Thanks for your responses
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No, it is not something to be decided by the celebrant. Anyone who attends Mass from the evening of Saturday to Sunday midnight fulfill the Sunday obligation.

It doesn’t matter which Mass text the priest chooses, the obligation is still fulfilled by anyone who attends.

It does bring up a different issue though: the Church does have rules for which Masses may be celebrated on which days–and these are very detailed rules. Only Solemnities (and all Sundays are Solemnities) begin the evening before. Other days begin at midnight.

The priest himself is obligated to follow the calendar and obligated to make the proper choices for the Mass—so saying the Mass of Monday on Sunday evening is not permitted. Yet, that’s the priest’s obligation to make the right choices. It does not affect whether-or-not anyone who attends fulfills the obligation.
 
FrDavid96 said:
Been busy lately. Weird schedule. Not sleeping right now. Should be, but not. Should have been sleeping last night. Could not (which is why I was sleeping Sunday afternoon and evening when I otherwise would not have been, thus causing me to be awake at this hour). Makes sense? :confused:
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[post=13258396]+1 Reputation Point[/post] to you, Father. Always good to see your contribution to a thread. I hope you know I meant the *Sleeping Giant *crack in the most loving way possible, and not to make fun of anyone suffering sleep disorders.

Hope your schedule improves soon.

:tiphat:
tee
 
tee_eff_em said:
[post=13258396]… I hope you know I meant the *Sleeping Giant *crack in the most loving way possible, and not to make fun of anyone suffering sleep disorders.

Hope your schedule improves soon.

:tiphat:
tee
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👍
 
ProVobis said:
Is that what we agreed upon last time Christmas fell on a Monday and we could kill two birds with one stone? I’m expecting vico to chime in here at any moment. Maybe there’s a 2:30 pm Mass somewhere in Louisiana that day;)
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The USCCB rule is that when December 8 or December 25 falls on a Saturday or a Monday the faithful are obligated to attend the Mass for that day in addition to that for the Sunday. Similarly in England and Wales, December 25 is obligatory on Saturday or Monday.
 
Vico said:
In the older times, the day varied in the location (Roman midnight to midnight, Umbrian noon to noon, *Babylonian *sunrise to sunrise). The Athenian rule was sunset to sunset is a day. The Byzantine liturgy for a day begins with Vespers (which for Roman Rite is Evening Prayer One). Fasting is from midnight.
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Four days in one?

OMG!..the Church is TimeCube! :eek:
 
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