Article — Noldin, Summa of Moral Theology
Article II.
How often it is licit to celebrate on the same day.
205. By divine law indeed nothing stands in the way of Mass being celebrated several times on the same day; but by ecclesiastical law it is licit to celebrate only once in a day,1 except on the day of the Nativity of the Lord, on the day of the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, and when power has been given by the Holy See or by the ordinary of the place.
- On the day of the Nativity of the Lord all priests can celebrate three Masses (assigned in the Missal for this day), but are not bound to do so, so that they can celebrate either three or two or only one.2
a. If a priest celebrates only one or two Masses, he ought to choose that which approximately corresponds to the hour of celebration, i.e., the first if he celebrates at midnight, the second if at dawn, the third if after dawn.
b. To dim-sighted priests who by privilege say daily a Mass of the Blessed Virgin, on the day of the Nativity of the Lord by concession of Benedict XV it is licit to celebrate the same votive Mass three times.3
c. A priest who on the day of the Nativity, by force of an indult, can celebrate in a private oratory by reason of his own illness or that of a neighbor, licitly says three Masses.4
d. Formerly there was doubt whether a priest who must complete a sacred rite begun by another but not finished could still celebrate; this doubt, however, was defined negatively by the Holy See.5
- On the day of the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed it is licit for all priests to celebrate three Masses, of which they can apply one to whomever they prefer and can receive a stipend for it; another, without stipend, they must apply for all the faithful departed; and a third, likewise without stipend, according to the mind of the supreme Pontiff.6
a. In Spain, Portugal, in the Philippine Islands, and in Latin America, by concession of Benedict XIV, all priests, both secular and regular, on the day of the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed could celebrate three Masses for the departed;7 this privilege has now been extended to the universal Church.
b. On this day itself all altars are privileged.
c. Moreover these Masses are to be said: the first, which is had in the Missal on the day of the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed; the other, which is read in the Missal in the Anniversary of the Departed, with the sequence and proper prayers; the third, which is in the Missal for daily Masses with the sequence and proper prayers.8
d. He who celebrates only one must read that which is had in the Missal on the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed; the same must be used by him who is going to celebrate Mass with chant; this one can anticipate the second and third.
e. For the Mass for which a stipend can be accepted, it is not licit to accept more unless it is offered freely; nor is it licit, by reason of external inconvenience, to accept anything for the other two Masses; nor is it licit, once a stipend has been accepted, to apply two Masses according to one's own choice and on another day to offer two according to the prescribed intention without stipend.9
f. A priest who celebrates only one Mass can apply it (with a stipend accepted) according to his own intention; he who celebrates two must apply one or the other for all the faithful departed.10
- By concession of the Holy See or of the ordinary it is licit to celebrate twice in a day, or to binate; but without a special apostolic privilege it is never licit to celebrate three Masses on the same day.11
This privilege is very rarely granted and only because of extraordinary causes, as it was granted for five years to the Mexican diocese12 and, on account of a great lack of priests, also to the diocese of Tulancingo in the Mexican province.13 In the time of the great war it was granted to military chaplains.
Note. The laws of the Church concerning the iteration of Mass were diverse at diverse times. In the first centuries scarcely any trace of Mass repeated on the same day occurs; but in the middle age, especially after the thirteenth century, the practice of repeating Mass grew strong. A twofold inconvenience especially arose from repeated celebration: namely the appearance and suspicion of avarice because of the doubled stipend received from celebration, and the danger that priests might neglect other pastoral duties. Wherefore it happened that the abuse of repeated celebration had to be prohibited. In the Council of Trent and in the new Code of Canon Law the laws now in force were enacted, according to which, except in the case of necessity, it is not licit to binate.
1 Cn. 806.
2 S. C. R., 18 June 1875, n. 3355.
3 S. R. C., 26 Jan. 1920.
4 S. C. C., 13 Jan. 1725.
5 S. C. R., 16 Dec. 1823, n. 2630.
6 Constitution Incruentum Altaris of Benedict XV, 10 Aug. 1915. Cn. 806, 1.
7 Const. Quod expensis, 27 Aug. 1748.
8 S. C. R., 11 Aug. 1915.
9 S. C. C., 15 Oct. 1915.
10 S. C. R., 28 Feb. 1917.
11 Cn. 806, 1.
12 S. C. C., 29 Mar. 1896.
13 S. C. C., 9 Sept. 1899.
206. On the faculty of binating. 1. The ordinary cannot grant the faculty of binating except in a case of necessity, where namely, because of a lack of priests, on a feast day of precept a notable part of the faithful could not hear Mass.1 This necessity can happen in two ways:
a. If one priest administers two parishes which are so distant from each other that the people of each parish cannot be present at the same sacred rite, and there is no other priest who may celebrate in the other place.
b. If the people of the same whole parish, whether because of narrowness of place or for other causes, cannot come together at the same Mass, and there is no other priest.
alpha. Hence, if in a parish whose pastor has the faculty of binating there happens to be staying a priest who is going to celebrate the other Mass, the faculty of binating ceases, since the necessity, which is the sole reason of this faculty, ceases.
beta. Previously, indeed, another Mass was customarily celebrated also because of spiritual utility, e.g., so that the people could hear the sacred rite on suppressed feast days; so that, at the arrival of a pious pilgrimage, of a bishop, of a prince, or in the celebration of nuptials or obsequies, there might be an opportunity of hearing the sacred rite; so that nobles could hear Mass on feast days in a private oratory. But from the law now in force, bination is permitted only in a case of necessity.
gamma. If viaticum to be carried to a dying person must be confected, the priest who is still fasting can and must binate, i.e., he who after the consecration and before the purification has been taken is informed; indeed probably even a priest who is not fasting can do this (n. 155).
- The judgment concerning the existence of necessity is committed to the prudence of the ordinary,2 wherefore the faculty of binating must be sought from him, on whom its concession depends.
a. Nevertheless in an unforeseen case of urgent necessity, in which recourse to the bishop is impossible, the other Mass can be celebrated from presumed license, provided the celebrant is fasting.3 Thus, for example, in a place where two priests exercise the care of souls, if on Saturday one of them is seized by illness, so that on the following day he cannot celebrate, the other can binate on Sunday, if another priest cannot be had and otherwise a great part of the people (about 60 persons) would lack the sacred rite. After the fact, however, the matter must be referred to the ordinary for recognition of the cause.
b. Since this faculty of binating is granted because of the necessity of the people, it is not personal but real; and therefore if the priest to whom it was granted cannot celebrate, another priest who supplies his place can be called.
- Outside the case of necessity, for obtaining the faculty of binating recourse must be had to the Holy See, which grants it in extraordinary cases.
A case of this kind is judged extraordinary if the people or a great part of them could not hear Mass on a day, not indeed of precept, but of great devotion, or if in mission regions the faithful rarely have the opportunity of hearing Mass.
1 Cn. 806, 2.
2 Cn. 806, 2.
3 Cf. Gury, Casus conscientiae, II, n. 264.
207. On accepting a stipend for the other Mass. In order that every occasion of base gain from the celebration of Masses might be excluded, the Church has always prohibited those binating, without a special privilege, from accepting a stipend for the second Mass, or from satisfying through it an obligation of justice, whether their own or another's.1 Nevertheless, nothing prevents them from satisfying through it an obligation of charity or of gratitude.2 License for accepting a stipend for the second Mass is sometimes granted by reason of the poverty of the celebrants or in favor of a pious cause. But compensation which is attributed to the celebrant in view of extraordinary labor or inconvenience, as if the Mass must be celebrated in a distant place, does not have the character of the stipend prohibited by the Church.3
a. The application of the fruits of the second Mass is permitted to the judgment of the celebrant, unless he must apply for the people. But if against the grave prohibition of the Church he has accepted a stipend for the Mass of bination, he is bound to its restitution, since the title of retaining it is lacking.
b. The prohibition of accepting a stipend for the second Mass must not be taken in such a way that a stipend cannot be accepted for the second Mass itself, but in such a way that another or second stipend cannot be accepted; but it makes no difference whether the licit stipend is accepted for the first or for the second.
c. Therefore pastors who binate and who must apply one sacred rite for the people can accept a stipend for neither Mass; nevertheless through the second Mass they can satisfy the burden of applying for the people on Sundays and feast days, if they must apply twice for the people.
d. Priests who from the statutes of the sodality to which they have given their name are bound to celebrate a Mass for a deceased member can satisfy this obligation by applying the second Mass on the day of bination,4 because they are not bound to this application from justice.
e. From the prohibition of receiving on the same day a double stipend there are excepted the three Masses which it is licit to celebrate on the solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord: for for these three stipends can be accepted, as the S. C. C. has declared several times. On the same day the pastor is bound to offer one sacred rite for the people; for the rest he can accept a stipend.
Note. Concerning the rite to be observed in the repetition of Mass, the appendix of the Roman Ritual should be consulted, where there is an instruction of the S. C. R. issued 12 Sept. 1857 for a priest having apostolic faculty of celebrating Mass twice on the same day.
1 S. C. C., 19 Dec. 1835; 25 Sept. 1858; 21 Mar. 1863. Cn. 824, 2.
2 S. C. C., several times, but recently in Trevir., 6 Aug. 1881.
3 S. C. C., 23 May 1861.
4 S. C. C., 5 Mar. 1887.