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Views from the Choir Loft

“Anticipated” Mass or “Vigil” Mass on Saturday Night?

Jeff Ostrowski · March 19, 2014

731 Vianney N HIS BEAUTIFUL and powerful sermons, St. John Vianney talks about how the early Christians celebrated vigils: prayer and fasting. In other words, the early Christians took vigils seriously.

As part of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the Church gave permission for Mass to be celebrated at night (whereas formerly Mass could only be said in the morning). Furthermore, the Church said that one can fulfill the Sunday obligation by attending Mass on Saturday evening. Some call them anticipated Masses while others prefer to call them vigil Masses.

Over the centuries, the vigil Mass often took on a somewhat “penitential” character. Vigils for the Ascension, Christmas, and so forth were not as “bright” and “happy” as the actual feast day (for the reasons given by St. John Vianney).

HERE’S THE PROBLEM:

Under the current arrangement, one could attend a “vigil” Mass for some great feast (on Saturday night) and miss out on the festivity itself. Imagine fulfilling one’s obligation by means of the “extended Pentecost Vigil” in MR3, yet not experiencing the actual Pentecost Mass! I’m told MR3 has added even more vigils (for the Epiphany and other feasts).

HERE’S THE QUESTION:

Can the Sunday Formulary be celebrated on the vigil? Obviously not for Easter Sunday, but I’m told “yes” for the rest. Is this true? Are the vigil Masses optional? I don’t know. Do you? How does your parish decide?

Here are some comments by Canon A. G. Martimort, Archbishop Henri Jenny (Cambrai, France), and Bishop Karel Calewaert (Ghent, Belgium):

Msgr. Jenny broached the problem of first Vespers and the Sunday precept. He proposed that the celebration of Mass on Saturday evening should be considered a Sunday Mass, following the example of the Easter Vigil. Msgr. Martimort replied that he was scandalized and said that this way of celebrating Sunday, after the fashion of the Easter Vigil, led to the suspicion that the Easter Vigil was celebrated on Saturday evening. Father Calewaert opposed the proposal because it would gravely damage Sunday. The President thought that any danger might be avoided by conceding a faculty to local Ordinaries: it would not be the first time and it would help meet pastoral needs.

— Development of the Liturgical Reform (Nicola Giampietro), page 108.

WE HAVE OFTEN DISCUSSED the concept of piccoluomini logic (as Msgr. Schuler called it) and noticed the harm it has done to the liturgy. Probably the most common example of piccoluomini logic is the assertion that Mass readings are “purely didactic” whereas formerly people realized the Epistle and Gospel are, in fact, prayer.

False logic seems to have been applied to the notion of “vigil” Masses. In a superficial way, someone said, “Vigil Masses ought to be at night, because that’s what vigil means to me.” They failed to consider how the liturgy had developed over the centuries. Formerly, vigil Masses were always offered the morning before … I wish they had kept this arrangement.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Anticipated Vigil Mass Saturday Night Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The sun’s disc did not remain immobile. This was not the sparkling of a heavenly body, for it spun round on itself in a mad whirl, when suddenly a clamor was heard from all the people. The sun, whirling, seemed to loosen itself from the firmament and advance threateningly upon the earth as if to crush us with its huge fiery weight. The sensation during those moments was terrible.”

— ‘Dr. Almeida Garrett, professor of natural sciences at the University of Coimbra (1917)’

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