Father Kenneth Doyle
Q. There was considerable confusion among my friends over the recent feast of the Immaculate Conception (Saturday, Dec. 8). My own parish announced it as a holy day of obligation, but the church in the next town over simply called it a “holy day.”
Both parishes had only one Mass on that Saturday morning, whereas in times past, churches used to have two or three morning Masses on a holy day of obligation and perhaps another one in the evening.
But this time on Saturday evening, churches had only the vigil Mass for Sunday, and some people thought that by attending that they were covering both obligations. I thought that any holy day pertaining to the Blessed Mother was never done away with. Can you clear this up for us? (Somerset, N.J.)
A. As often as it is explained to them, Catholics in our country are still uncertain as to the holy days of obligation, but let’s lay it out once more. In the U.S., there are six holy days of obligation, i.e., feast days on which Catholics must attend Mass.
They are: the Mary Mother of God, Jan. 1; Ascension (of the Lord) 40 days after Easter; Assumption (of the Blessed Virgin Mary), Aug. 15; All Saints’ Day, Nov. 1; Immaculate Conception (of the Blessed Virgin Mary), Dec. 8; and Christmas, Dec. 25.
Now comes the confusing part. In most areas of the country, the celebration of the Ascension has been transferred to the following Sunday, so there is no obligation in those dioceses to attend Mass on that Thursday.
[hotblock]
On three of the feasts — Jan. 1, Aug. 15 and Nov. 1 — when the feast day occurs on a Saturday or a Monday, you get “two for one.” That is, the obligation to attend the feast day Mass is lifted and attendance at a weekend Mass covers you both for the feast and for Sunday.
But (and this seems the hardest part for people to grasp) during two feasts, Catholics are still obliged to go to Mass no matter what day they occur. Those feasts are Christmas (because of its centrality as the birthday of Christ) and the Immaculate Conception (in part, at least, because it is the patronal feast of the United States.)
For those two feasts, you can’t get “double credit” by attending one Mass as some people thought in the question you posed. (Since I’ve now reviewed the rules in the simplest and shortest way I can and it’s still taken more than 200 words, confusion should come as no surprise.)
As for the scheduling of parish Masses on Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012: Since most parishes in the United States now have only one priest, I can understand why you would have only one Mass on that Saturday morning, especially since the same priest had to celebrate the Sunday vigil Mass later that day (maybe even two vigil Masses.)
Some parishes wisely scheduled a vigil Mass for the feast that Friday evening to make it easier for people to fulfill their obligation for the Marian holy day.
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Questions may be sent to Father Kenneth Doyle at askfatherdoyle@gmail.com and 40 Hopewell St., Albany, NY 12208.
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What if a student from Florida is taking summer classes at Villanova (near Philly) mostly online, but is actually staying in D.C. on that day – the student actually no longer has a residence in the Philadelphia area and will only return for maybe 2-3 days in June. Is that person still obligated to attend Mass on Ascension Thursday?
I know that I’m late on this but here’s how it goes:
The Saturday-or-Monday Rule: If either January 1 (Mary, the Mother of God), August 15 (the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary), or November 1 (All Saints) falls either on a Saturday or on a Monday, then the obligation to attend Mass for that Holy Day is dispensed, for that particular year.
In the ecclesiastical provinces (A region of dioceses which include an archdiocese, along with a cluster of smaller dioceses, that are geographically associated with the archdiocese) of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Omaha, and Philadelphia, the Ascension continues to be celebrated on the proper Thursday (the Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter), and in these provinces, the Ascension is always observed as a Holy Day of Obligation. All other ecclesiastical provinces of the United States have transferred the Ascension to the following Sunday (the Seventh Sunday of Easter), and for these provinces, the Ascension simply carries the Sunday obligation. Nonetheless, the Ascension always holds an obligation of Mass attendance.
Because the Immaculate Conception is the Patronal Feast of the United States, it remains a Holy Day of Obligation, whenever December 8 (the Immaculate Conception’s natural date of observance) naturally falls either on a Saturday or on a Monday. Moreover, regardless of which day of the week it falls on, Christmas, December 25, is always a Holy Day of Obligation.
If either December 8 or December 25 naturally falls either on a Saturday or on a Monday, then you must attend two Masses: You must attend one Mass for the Holy Day, as well as another Mass for the preceding/following Sunday. Attending only one Mass will not fulfill both obligations. In short, in these instances, you cannot “two-fer.” The only time that a “two-fer” is admissible is if a Holy Day of Obligation falls on a Sunday (with the exception of the Immaculate Conception and the Ascension (in the ecclesiastical provinces that continue to observe it on the proper Thursday)), because then, the Sunday obligation coincides with the Holy Day obligation.
However, there’s one small caveat, concerning the Immaculate Conception:
If December 8 were to fall naturally on a Sunday (which would be on a Sunday of Advent (i.e., the Second Sunday of Advent)), then all of the Masses for that Sunday, December 8 (including at the Saturday evening Masses on Saturday, December 7 for the following Sunday), will be for the Second Sunday of Advent, because the Sunday of Advent takes liturgical precedence over the Immaculate Conception (I believe that this is according to the GIRM (the General Instruction of the Roman Missal)). As a result, the Immaculate Conception, for that year, must be transferred over to the next day, Monday, December 9. When the Immaculate Conception’s date of observance transfers to Monday, December 9 (which only happens in this particular instance, of which I am currently speaking of), the obligation to attend Mass is not transferred with it. It is when this occurs, and only when this occurs that the obligation to attend Mass for the Immaculate Conception is dispensed, for a particular year.
To add to the confusion, I noticed on the 2013 calendar, December 8th falls on a Sunday so according to my Catholic calendar, Immaculate Conception will be celebrated on Monday 12/9 so as to not dismiss a Sunday in Advent. But, on my calendar, it isn’t marked as a holy day of obligation. Hmmm…