Masses on Saturday Evenings
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Masses on Saturday Evenings
Even the daily liturgy covers the Sunday obligation
Rome, 7 February 2018 (ZENIT)
Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university.
Kindly clarify whether a Mass celebrated on a Saturday evening (say, at or after 6 p.m.) in Ordinary Time must be that of the Sunday, or is there the option of celebrating the Saturday Mass or a votive Mass of the Virgin Mary? — R.H., Jos, Nigeria
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A: Actually, the best reply I can offer is, it all depends on where you are.
With respect to this theme canon law says the following:
“Canon 1247. On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are obliged to participate in the Mass. Moreover, they are to abstain from those works and affairs which hinder the worship to be rendered to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s day, or the suitable relaxation of mind and body.
“Canon 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.”
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.
With respect to the first question, according to Canon 1248.1 any Catholic Mass celebrated on a Saturday evening would fulfill the Sunday obligation even if it were not the actual Sunday liturgy.
Thus, if one attends a Saturday evening Mass in the extraordinary form or an Eastern Catholic liturgy, this fulfills the Sunday obligation even though the celebration follows a different liturgical calendar.
Also, if one assists at a wedding or funeral on Saturday evening, one would not be obliged to attend Sunday Mass. If the Mass coincided with a regular parish Mass, then usually the Sunday liturgy would be followed. If the Mass did not coincide with a parish celebration, it would be most recommendable from the spiritual point of view to incorporate the elements of Sunday Mass such as three readings and the creed.
Likewise, the members of a religious community that habitually celebrates its daily Mass in the evening would not be obliged to celebrate the Sunday Mass twice and could celebrate the Mass of the day or a votive Mass of Our Lady. Canonically speaking, anybody attending this Mass would fulfill the obligation to attend Sunday Mass although most would not be aware of this fact and would attend Mass on a Sunday.
This is because universal liturgical law does not oblige the celebration of Sunday Mass on a Saturday evening, although in most cases it would be the right thing to do.
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.
These are usually countries where a common national rule was deemed necessary since they have an abundance of convents, monasteries, shrines and other chapels with regular Masses with a wide variety of practice.
In countries where there is no national rule each bishop could decide what is best and could decree binding rules for his diocese. The bishop can also dispense in concrete cases from the general rule.
In Italy, for example, the bishops’ conference has decreed that all Saturday evening Masses must be the Masses of the Sunday. In the norms it states that if it is necessary to celebrate weddings and funerals, they should preferably begin no later than around 3 p.m.
Should celebration in the early evening prove impossible, the general liturgical norms for ritual Masses celebrated on Saturday evening would apply. The possibility of celebrating these ritual Masses would depend on the liturgical season, and in all cases the elements proper to Sunday Mass would be included.
This is because in Italy the time when the Mass would begin to fulfill the Sunday obligation would usually be after 4 p.m. Canonists are divided on this topic, and some argue that any Mass after noon would be sufficient.
All agree, however, that bishops have the authority to validly establish either option.
In Spain the norms are even stricter. All Masses after noon on Saturday must be the Sunday Mass, although allowing for ritual Masses according to the general rules.
Indeed, to comply with this norm, several religious communities that celebrate daily evening Mass now make an exception on Saturday and have Mass in the morning.
Where no explicit rule exists, I think that as a general pastoral rule all public Masses celebrated after 4 p.m. should be Sunday Masses.
There could be precise exceptions, such as the daily celebrations in religious communities that are not open to the faithful in general, or a priest who celebrates alone or with one minister due to a just cause such as travel or illness.
In such cases the daily Mass may be celebrated.
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Follow-up: Masses on Saturday Evenings [2-27-2018]
With respect to our February 7 column on the Saturday celebration of Sunday Mass, a reader from Malta asked: “Please refer to your reply on the obligation of Sunday Mass and how to spend the day on Sunday. My wife and daughter work as nurses on a shift basis, and on some Sundays they are obliged to work. I am sure that they are excused in respect to the Sunday obligation. My difficulty is the following. Why does the Catechism of the Catholic Church not mention the situation of those that are required to work on Sunday, at least in that part which you referred to in your reply?”
I did not refer to this aspect in my reply, as the main thrust of the question was elsewhere. The questions addressed by our reader are treated in Canons 1247 and 1248 in the Code of Canon Law.
Canon 1247 states the obligation to assist at Mass on Sundays, while No. 1248 Subsection 2 says that if assistance at Mass is impossible due to the lack of a minister, or for some other grave cause, then it is recommended that the faithful assist at the Liturgy of the Word if this is celebrated in the parish church.
The sense of canon law is clear. Assistance at Mass is obligatory, except for a “grave cause.” The use of the expression “grave cause” indicates that the obligation is a very serious one. For obligations that admit more readily to exceptions, canon law usually uses expressions such as “a just cause.”
These norms apply the canonical and moral principle “ad impossibilia nemo tenetur” (nobody is obliged to do the impossible): When an objective impossibility exists, then the consequent obligation disappears. For this reason the Church recommends, but does not oblige, that Catholics sanctify Sunday in some other way, such as assisting at a Communion service, following a televised Mass, or praying at home.
An objective impossibility need not always be a dramatic situation. Examples of objective impossibility could be age, illness, the need to care for a sick relation, or seasonal variations which make leaving home a hazardous task. Catholics involved in necessary Sunday occupations such as police, medical personnel and flight attendants are also exempt while on duty.
It is not always easy to judge what is objective, as conditions vary from person to person. However, Catholics should not be too light in assessing their difficulties and should be willing to make reasonable sacrifices to assist at Mass.
Therefore, in the case of our reader’s wife and daughter, whenever they are on a Sunday shift at the hospital they can be considered as being exempt from the obligation if the shift objectively impedes assistance at any Sunday Mass.
They should, if possible, attend a Saturday evening Mass, or at least strive to sanctify the Sunday in some other way.
This article has been selected from the ZENIT Daily Dispatch
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