Posted on 08/14/2005 9:31:12 AM PDT by BulldogCatholic
The Chancellor's Office --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation
(taken from the Pastoral Manual, 1997 edition, Diocese of Rockville Centre)
Sunday is the day on which the paschal mystery is celebrated in light of the apostolic tradition and is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church. Also to be observed are the day of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Epiphany, the Ascension and the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Holy Mary Mother of God and her Immaculate Conception and Assumption, Saint Joseph, the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul, and finally, All Saints (canon 1246, §1).
United States: Holydays of Obligation
1. Christmas (December 25) 2. Ascension (Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter) 3. Mary Mother of God (January 1) 4. Immaculate Conception (December 8) 5. Assumption (August 15) 6. All Saints (November 1)
Special Norm for the United States
1. When a holyday of obligation falls on a Monday or a Saturday, the obligation to participate in the Eucharist is abrogated. The three holydays affected are:
a) January 1, Mary Mother of God b) August 15, Assumption c) November 1, All Saints
2. Note that these days remain “holydays,” solemnities. Even though there is no obligation to participate in the Eucharist, ritual Masses (e.g., Funeral Masses) may not be celebrated. The texts and readings are from the liturgy of the solemnity.
3. Holydays not affected:
a) Ascension Thursday b) Immaculate Conception (national feastday in the USA) c) Christmas
Is this what Vatican II has brought to the church?
Vatican II took place in 1997?
This is a question that I posed on a different thread. Since then, I have done some research and found the following:
"By the French revolution the ecclesiastical calendar had been radically abolished, and at the reorganization of the French Church, in 1806, only four feasts were retained: Christmas, the Ascension, the Assumption, and All Saints; the other feasts were transferred to Sunday. This reduction was valid also in Belgium and in Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. For the Catholics in England Pius VI (19 March, 1777) established the following lists of feasts: Easter and Pentecost two days each, Christmas, New Year's Day, Epiphany, Ascension, Corpus Christi, Annunciation, Assumption, Sts. Peter and Paul, St. George, and All Saints. After the restoration of the hierarchy (1850), the Annunciation, St. George, and the Monday after Easter and Pentecost were abolished. Scotland keeps also the feast of St. Andrew, Ireland the feasts of St. Patrick and the Annunciation. In the United States, the number of feasts was not everywhere the same; the Council of Baltimore wanted only four feasts, but the decree was not approved by Rome; the third Plenary Council of Baltimore (1884), by a general law, retained six feasts: Christmas, New Year's Day, Ascension, Assumption, the Immaculate Conception, and All Saints. Sts. Peter and Paul and Corpus Christi were transferred to the next following Sunday. In the city of Rome the following feasts are of double precept (i.e. hearing Mass, and rest from work): Christmas, New Year's Day, Epiphany, Purification, St. Joseph, Annunciation, Ascension, St. Philip Neri (26 May), Corpus Christi, Nativity of the B.V.M., All Saints, Conception of the B.V.M., St. John the Evangelist. The civil law in Italy acknowledges: Epiphany, Ascension, Sts. Peter and Paul, Assumption, Nativity, Conception, Christmas, and the patronal feasts."
At one time (approx. 1150AD), there were 41 feast days on the calendar! Much more at the above link.
Is this what Vatican II has brought to the church?
No need to blame VCII for everything with which you disagree. The Maronite Church retains the Feast of the Assumption on its proper day, which we will celebrate tomorrow. I'm guessing this is true of other Eastern Churches. Does anyone know?
You know, you can still go to Church, even if you aren't obligated to do so...
Trust me our pews will be packed.
Dear NYer,
"The Maronite Church retains the Feast of the Assumption on its proper day, which we will celebrate tomorrow."
Tomorrow, August 15, is still a holyday, the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, in the Roman Church. It's just that in the United States, it isn't obligatory.
sitetest
Heaven forbid! However, I was kinda disappointed when I went to mass on Ascension Day and that feast wasn't being celebrated.
I really think this is a disgrace. Florida also drops holy days that occur on Mondays or Saturdays, and has run Ascension Thursday into the preceding Sunday.
This is a real abuse and I hope BXVI puts a stop to it. It's a local option, and isn't done in most countries.
If the Church wants to be respected, it should keep its holidays and insist that it be allowed to celebrate them. Muslims are always getting special prayer rooms and special treatment in public places, and Catholics used to get things such as (don't laugh - it's important) suspension of alternate-side-of-the-street parking in the entire city on holy days of obligation. If we are going to adapt ourselves to the public calendar, we shouldn't be surprised to find ourselves completely disappearing as a public presence.
I'd like to see the Holy Days of Obligation observed on their actual dates. I'd also like to see civil holidays observed on their appropriate dates, and Standard Time year round :-).
Ohhh Lets not try and be sarcastic and be charitable
All God fearing Catholics know when Vatican II took place (sort of like not knowing when Pearl Harbor or 9/11 happened)
God bless you to
I'm old enough to remember when it was necessary for the local police to assign a cop to direct traffic after each Mass on Sundays. And, yes, I do recall the suspension of alternate side of the street parking on Holy Days.
The tendency is to point the finger at VCII, holding it responsible for ALL the ills when, it is has already been established, that the "I'm Okay, You're Okay" generation surfaced at precisely the same time that VCII ended. The feminists (I was never a member of their group) rose up demanding equal treatment. This was followed by the homosexuals who wanted the same.
A dear friend, native-born Italian, witnessing this upsurge in movements at the time, cautioned that this had occured before. He then pointed to the collapse of ancient civilizations such as Greece and Rome, citing the same circumstances as precursors to what we would witness in our lifetime. I think I laughed when he made this statement. I'm not laughing now.
It is so easy to fault VCII for these disappointments but if any of you have read through ALL the documents from VCII, there is NO indication in any of them that these changes should take place. On the contrary, Latin is touted as the preferred liturgical language and Gregorian Chant for sacred music. It's an easy trap in which to fall, and Satan cleverly guides us there. I have every confidence that B-16 will lead the charge to restore reverence to the NO liturgy and enforce the elimination of abuses. He certainly read enough letters from catholics when he served as Defender of the Faith, to recognize just how out of control these abuses became.
In the meantime, the onus is upon us to ask our Lord for His guidance. He tells us as much .... "ask and you shall receive". I asked and He led me to my current parish. And when I arrived, He let me know in no uncertain terms, that this is where He wanted me to be.
NY'er
As someone who respects your opinions, what then if it is not the documents do we blame these atrocities on? Do we have inept corrupt Cardinals, Bishops, and even Popes to the point that no one has the guts to put their foot down and say "stop"! "Basta" Enough!????
This traditional Lutheran still can't figure out how celebrating Ascension on the Seventh Sunday of Easter is still forty days. Forty three equals forty? This new math amazes me.
I apologize. People don't always get my sense of humor, such as it is.
As someone pointed out on another thread, Christ raises up saints when we most need them. Look to Church history for the patterns. At the time of St. Francis, church hierarchy were producing illegitimate children and selling penances. Everything old is new again.
Not ALL cardinals, bishops and priests are corrupt. My own parish priest serves up orthodox homilies each Sunday and the reaction is to walk away. Today's magnificent homily was delivered to 12 parishioners who showed up for Mass. It grieves me no end that those who need and want to hear this priest speak the "truth" are nowhere to be found. Those who are privileged to have him as a pastor, a veritable shepherd, reconcile his preaching to being "old world" ... i.e. "old fashioned". They pay him no heed.
The Maronites benefited from VCII. Consequently, in their case, they're now better off than before and still they prefer to attend the watered down liturgies served up at the "ultra liberal" RC churches. Why? Because, they're 'more palatable'. They don't encroach on the conscience. (One of our parishioners approached Father asking if he could incorporate some of thoe more "up beat" hymns sung at the local RC Churches. He educated her in the history of the Church, explaining that "we don't come to church to be entertained" but to worship our Lord.) Father doesn't care if 2 or 200 show up, he firmly believes that he will be held accountable in the eyes of God for what he preaches and never wavers in teaching solid catholic doctrine.
He not only attends to his Maronite parish but also assists the RC diocese of Albany in whatever capacity they need him. He has taken on the EEM's at the local hospital where he serves as chaplain and castigated the nun in charge of the chaplaincy program. Recently, at my suggestion, he met with a local K of C which has been without a chaplain for several years (I'm told that without a chaplain, a council is literally dead). I had hoped that they could mutually benefit from the relationship. During the meeting, Father told them outright that he not only believes in the K of C, is a 3rd degree knight but would also serve as their Chaplain. The two old gentlemen looked at him as if he had just landed form another planet. Not one to shirk responsibilites, much less a promise, he has now been 'officially' installed as their Chaplain, by Bishop Howard Hubbard of the RC Diocese of Albany (recall that Father is first a Maronite then a Latin priest). He has worked with them over the past few months to clean up the area surrounding their Council home. When none of the knights knew their financial status, he encouraged them to pull out the books and look them over. In the process they discovered that they were totally broke. They reluctantly decided to seel their Council Hall and Father offered them the use of his church for their meetings + his assistance in rebuilding their council.
When a local group of area catholics could not find a priest to celebrate Mass at 3am on the vigil of the feasts of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as a last resort, they called my pastor. Out of devotion to the Blessed Mother, he could not refuse. He never told them that the night on which the vigil began, he would be driving 8+ hours RT to Kennedy Airport to pick up his mother and brother who were arrivining from Lebanon to visit with him. They didn't arrive back here until close to midnight. For fear of falling asleep, Father remained awake until 2:30am at which time he drove over to the church to celebrate the Maronite Divine Liturgy for those area catholics still devoted to celebrating this feast. Word spread amongst the devout catholics that the Mass would be a Maronite Divine Liturgy. It was the largest turnout they have had in many years.
You tell me, then, why even the most devout catholics, knowing there was such a priest in their midst would shy away from the parish where he celebrates Mass. Hubbard is the product of VCII's ultra liberal, left wing promoters. He has served in that capacity for nearly 28 years and still has 8 more to go. The parking lot at my (now former) RC parish is packed to capacity each Sunday and that church is being 'wreckovated' to accomodate the large crowds. There is NO crucifix in that church, contemporary music rules and the pastor often eliminates certain words from the Creed to make it more 'inclusive'. Meanwhile, our pastor is struggling to raise money to renovate an old Methodist/Episcopal church he acquired for a good price, to house his Maronite community. He has even offered to celebrate the Latin Mass on Sundays for those catholics in the local community whose parishes have been shut down by Bishop Hubbard. (That would be 5 parishes now closed!)
This situation extends well beyond VCII and directly into the secular society in which we live. Sad to say, but we live in a world where sinners no longer believe in sin and shun any priest who suggests they confess their errors. They prefer to believe the psychologists, psychotherapists and psychoanalysts who assure them that they are okay. For those of us called to a more profound faith based on a personal relationship with our Lord, we must place our total faith and confidence in Him who was betrayed by one of His own disciples.
As I said in the previous post, if you approach our Lord with a sincere heart and ask Him for guidance and direction, He will not fail you. You must begin with yourself and then pray for the others. Pray for the cardinals, bishops and priests who have been misled. Like us, they are human and subject to the same weaknesses. We live in evil times; an age where Satan is actively at work. His primary target will always be the Catholic Church for she is the one founded by God's only Son. The temptation to castigate the errant prelates comes from Satan himself. Look within yourself to recognize the reality of this situation; then begin to pray for these prelates (it took me a year to reach that point). Our Lady of Fatima reminds us that Christ's priests need our prayers in order to remain pure.
The holy priests are there but Satan has shielded the ears of many catholics to their voices. Pray for them! They are the enemies of Satan and need your prayers as much as those who have fallen victim to his wiles.
This is a very important point. In the context of the "relocation" of the Holy Days, I think it may be the key point. In today's American society, nothing is valued that is not paid employment. As volunteers (Scout leaders, Sunday School teachers, nursery workers, etc.) we experience a lack of consideration that people would never think of perpetrating at their place of employment.
Would a person fail to inform his boss that he's not going to be able to attend a meeting? Of course not. Will he fail to inform his family that he's not going to arrive home in time for supper, or bedtime? You betcha!
People just don't see attending Mass on a Holy Day of Obligation as an "obligation," because they don't risk a financial penalty by skipping it ... and that is NOT the fault of Vatican 2, at least in my opinion.
(But I did think the "Constitution on the Church in the Modern World" had some goofball stuff in it!)
Keyword = "today". Some of us remember a time in American society when stores, malls, business and many restaurants were closed on Sunday out of respect for its celebration as a holy day.
Money (greed) is the driving force of today's economy. It is so prevalent that we have come to accept and no longer question the necessity to 'open for business' on Sunday. If anything, it takes a certain perspecuity for workers to organize and arrange their weekends so as not to shop on Sunday. Hey .. I did it for many years and occasionally will drop into a store to pick up something I forgot on Saturday. It is a lost discipline to view Sunday as one of rest. Who better than you to use the weekend as a time to accomplish what cannot be done during the week.
As you point out, there is no longer any respect for the workload of other 'volunteers'. Last weekend, Father asked all the able bodied to assist with cleaning the church. Since joining this parish, I have taken those words to heart. What a humbling experience to clean the House of God! But that is my view! As has been the case each time this request went out, 3 of us showed up. Some of the other parishioners point to us to suggest that we don't have a "life" like them with so much responsibility. The words "pesonal sacrifice" never enter their mind. That's okay! I 'feel' called to do this and do it out of love, appreciation and commitment. Last Saturday, I was literally on my knees before the Tabernacle, spray can of Pledge in one hand and dustcloth in the other. It was a moment of conversation between me and my Lord! I expect no gratitude from the parish for this; if anything, I find it embarassing.
There have been many years when I was so involved in the secular life of entertaining family and guests, attending my daughter's Soccer games, swimming matches, or driving her to tennis camp, that I cannot fault those who do not show up. My attitudes have changed with the response to prayer. So now I pray for the others.
Your priest sounds like an absolute treasure. Would he like to come to the Diocese of Charlotte? (:-))
Things have changed for worse all over, not just in the Catholic Church. I take my kids to Holy Day Masses, and it's not unusual for me to hear gripes and get dirty looks from people who are upset that seven children under 14 don't sit like statues the entire time. Not usually from the elderly, who often had their own large families, but from baby-boomers or my own generation. (I swear, some day I'm going to have a Total Hysterical Spasm when somebody says, "Don't you know what causes that?")
We go to the church cleanup and yardwork days, too, unless all the kids of working age are at camp.
I'm only 39, so maybe I'm just being a romantic, but it seems to me that it's a new thing for the workplace to be the center of life. Didn't people once have their lives - religious celebrations, entertaining, political activism - in the home, church, and community, and go to their workplace to earn a living?
He then pointed to the collapse of ancient civilizations such as Greece and Rome, citing the same circumstances
Parking is key, it seems.
I think a lot of people were surprised. Guess we have to write to our Bishops and tell them what we think.
Hopefully you won't be berated as the messenger like I was.
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