Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ginosko!shadooby!mailrus!iuvax!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: sunday vs. saturday Message-ID: Date: 22 Oct 89 17:40:46 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA Lines: 36 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article anselm!svalcour@dartvax.uucp (Scott Valcourt ) writes: >According to the Catholic >Church, a vigil mass may be celebrated on the Saturday before the Sunday >mass, while the Sunday mass is the one that is celebrated on the "Day >that the Lord has made." On special days, like Easter, for instance, >Easter Vigil may not be celebrated until sunset on the Saturday before. >I understand that this caused a bit of controversy when the Daylight >Savings Time was changed and gave us more light in the evening before >the mass. This caused many masses to be scheduled later (after sunset). >My question is: if this "sunset" problem is such a problem, why does >the Catholic Church allow for Sunday evening masses, after sunset, which >"count" (if that's what people use it for) for fulfilling Sunday >obligation? I refuse to attend Sunday night mass strictly on this >basis. Any "light" to shed? "Sunset" isn't a problem in general. The word "vigil" carries the meaning of staying awake the night before a feast, and the Easter Vigil rite practically requires darkness. Holding up the Paschal candal and announcing "Lumen Christi" with the afternoon sun streaming through the stained glass somehow doesn't cut it. Frankly, I find it an abomination to have an Easter Vigil service which starts before 11PM or so, the customary practice before this "Sunday vigil" stuff confused matters. Ditto on the demise of the Christmas "Midnight Mass" which now seems to be scheduled for the moment the malls close on Christmas Eve. Humbug. The Catholic Church considers your Sunday obligation fulfilled if you attend Mass anytime on Sunday or at a Saturday vigil. You are free to attend Mass at the time you prefer, of course, but a Mass on Sunday evening is perfectly OK in the eyes of the Church, and there isn't any contradiction in the practice that I can see. -- Steve Dyer dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer dyer@arktouros.mit.edu, dyer@hstbme.mit.edu