§ 2. On the Obligation of Celebrating by Reason of Office

By reason of the office which they have undertaken, all Pastors of souls are held not only to celebrate Mass, but also sometimes to apply it for the people. - That this twofold obligation may become better known, let there be the following:

1604. Principles. I. All pastors of souls are held, and indeed under grave obligation, to CELEBRATE Mass on individual Sundays and feasts of precept. - For the obligations of the people and of the pastor are correlative; whence on those days on which the people are held to hear Mass, on the same days the pastor also is held to celebrate it, as is had from Trent, saying: "But if they have care of souls, let them celebrate Masses as frequently as they may satisfy their office."¹⁶ But if someone is legitimately impeded, he is held to supply through another, lest the people lack Mass.¹⁷ By accident, the pastor is held to celebrate also on days other than the aforesaid, for example if the necessity of consecrating urges for ministering Viaticum; likewise if, on the occasion of the nuptial blessing or of funerals, the faithful reasonably ask. For the Ritual itself insinuates that these be performed with Mass accompanying. Nor, however, is he held to apply the fruit of the Sacrifice, unless he accepts a stipend. Thus the Holy Office, September 1, 1841.

1605. II. All pastors of souls, similarly, under grave obligation, are held to APPLY Mass FOR the people on individual Sundays and feasts of precept. - This is clear from Trent,¹⁸ saying: "Since by divine precept it has been commanded to all to whom care of souls has been committed, to know their sheep, to offer Sacrifice for them, etc." Therefore the obligation of celebrating for the people is OF DIVINE LAW, according to that John 21:17, Feed my sheep; but the Church has defined more accurately to whom this obligation extends itself, on what days it urges, and how it is to be fulfilled. These things must now be investigated singly.

1606. Questions. Q. 1. WHO are the PASTORS of souls upon whom the obligation of applying for the people is incumbent?

Resp. 1. They are: 1. Bishops, after possession of the See has been obtained,¹⁹ administrators, or others marked by whatever title, who actually preside over a canonically erected diocese. Nor indeed are Capitular Vicars, the See being vacant,²⁰ or Vicars General held to this. - 2. Abbots having quasi-episcopal jurisdiction over clergy and over people with a separate territory.²¹ - 3. Pastors, whether secular or regular; whether removable or irremovable; whether they have suitable support or do not have it; although immemorial custom to the contrary were present, as Benedict XIV declared.²² 4. All those functioning in place of a pastor, such as both vicars-curate, to whom care of souls is so committed that habitual care remains with another, for example at Rome in St. Mary Major with the Chapter; and vice-pastors, or vicars, who, the parish being vacant, are deputed to preside over it.²³ But if someone has two distinct parishes,²⁴ or if a Bishop exercises the office of pastor, he is held to apply a twofold Mass.²⁵ Otherwise, however, if a Bishop rules two dioceses.

Resp. 2. Immune from this burden are priests who have only secondary or subsidiary care, as chaplains or cooperators of the pastor,²⁶ chaplains of Nuns,²⁷ chaplains of hospitals, colleges, and other places of this kind.²⁸ Likewise, titular Bishops are not bound by this law; nor Apostolic Vicars or missionaries, "provided it does not concern places in which episcopal Sees and parishes have already been canonically erected, and to which the Apostolic Vicar and missionaries have been sent to perform the functions of legitimate pastors." Thus the S. C. de Prop. Fide, March 23, 1863.²⁹

Q. 2. Which are the FEAST DAYS on which pastors of souls are held to apply for the people?

Resp. They are all those which are numbered in the list of Urban VIII (cf. n. 654, q. 3),¹ as is clear from the Constitution Amantissimi Redemptoris,² in which Pius IX brings forward these things: "By these letters we declare, establish, and decree that pastors and all others actually exercising care of souls ought to celebrate and apply the sacrosanct Sacrifice of the Mass for the people committed to them, both on all Sundays and other days which are still observed from precept, and also on those which, from the indulgence of this Apostolic See, have been removed and transferred from the number of feast days of precept, just as the curators of souls themselves were bound when the mentioned Constitution of Urban VIII flourished in its full vigor, before feast days of precept were diminished and transferred.... This one thing we except, namely that when the divine Office has been transferred together with the solemnity to Sunday, only one Mass for the people is to be applied by the pastor."³ Likewise, satisfaction is made by one Mass if the feast falls on a Sunday.

It is said Office together with the solemnity; for, if the solemnity alone is transferred, for example according to the privilege conceded to France and Belgium with respect to the feasts of Epiphany, Corpus Christi, Saints Peter and Paul, and the Patron of the place, and in several dioceses also with respect to the feasts of the Purification, Annunciation, Nativity, and Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mass for the people ought to be applied on the very day on which the Offices of the aforesaid Feasts are commonly recited in the Church, as is clear from various decisions of the S. C. of the Council.⁴

Q. 3. HOW must the obligation of celebrating for the people be satisfied?

Resp. Pastors of souls are held to fulfill this obligation:

1. On the established days, unless legitimate dispensation has intervened. In the Bull Cum semper, Benedict XIV conceded to Bishops the faculty of dispensing with pastors laboring under grave poverty, that on feast days they can apply for those giving a stipend to them, yet with the burden of celebrating on another day for the people. - But for a broader Indult, if grave reasons are present, recourse must be had to the S. Congregation OF THE COUNCIL.⁵

2. In the established place, namely in the parochial church, as is clear from various declarations of the S. C. of the Council.⁶ Nevertheless it has been declared:⁷ "A pastor legitimately absent on a feast day satisfies his obligation by applying Mass for his people in the place where he is staying; provided that another priest celebrates in the parochial church for the necessary convenience of the people, and explains the word of God." Nor indeed is it required that a solemn Mass be applied; a private Mass suffices.⁸

3. Through themselves; because it is a personal obligation, as the S. C. C. declared on September 25, 1847, in Mechlinien., doubt 4.⁹ Therefore contrary custom cannot, but only a canonical cause can, furnish a sufficient reason that they may be able to celebrate through another. But a canonical cause is judged to be: 1. grave infirmity; 2. legitimate absence; 3. obligation of singing the conventual Mass;¹⁰ 4. dispensation of the Superior. - But the celebration of a funeral Mass, although the corpse is present, is not a sufficient cause which can exempt from the personal burden.¹¹ Yet for suppressed feasts, of which no solemnity remains among the people, particular Indults are sometimes conceded, by force of which it is licit to remit the parochial Mass to the following day, if obsequies occur with the body present, or buried the day before, the blessing of spouses, etc.¹²

4. Those legitimately impeded are held to celebrate through others, because the obligation is not only personal, but at the same time real.¹³ Wherefore the S. C. C. declared: "A pastor in any way legitimately impeded from celebrating Mass is held to have it celebrated on a feast day through another, and applied for the people, in the parochial church; but if this has not been done, as soon as he can, he ought to apply Mass for the people."¹⁴