Does a Saturday evening “vigil” Mass satisfy the Sunday obligation?
It is of the divine law, prescribed by the third commandment of God, that a day of rest be set aside in honor of God. The theologians teach that the precept that this be observed on the Sunday and no longer on the Saturday is of ecclesiastical law, since at the beginning of the Church the apostles continued to go to the temple on Saturday (Acts 3:1; 5:12). However, the Apostles universally introduced the custom of sanctifying Sunday as the Lords Day, so much so that it had become obligatory by the beginning of the second century (cf. Prummer, II, 465, p. 386). It is certainly true that the liturgical days for Sunday and feast days have always started with First Vespers that are celebrated on the eve of the feast or on Saturday afternoon to prepare for Sunday. But it was never permitted to celebrate a Mass for the feast or for the Sunday on the eve of the day itself, at the time of First Vespers. In fact the Churchs law was explicit on this point, prescribing that Mass could not begin m
Related Questions
- I was told that the Churchs law permits Catholics to satisfy their Sunday obligation at a schismatic orthodox ceremony, and that this was the case both before and after Vatican II. Is this true?
- Does a Saturday evening "vigil" Mass satisfy the Sunday obligation?
- Does the Sunday vigil mass count for the holy day of obligation?
