Case 1. Hearing Mass in a Convent

A certain bishop permitted a certain congregation of nuns to establish a new convent in a certain city; but, lest the faithful be absent from the one parish church, he did not wish to permit lay people to be admitted to hear Mass in the convent chapel. Sometimes, however, it would be much more convenient if guests and friends of the convent who remained for a time either within the convent itself or in a neighboring house could satisfy the precept within the convent, since the church was more than a thousand paces distant. The superioress did not wish to refer the matter to the bishop, but asked Paul, the priest who was giving the annual exercises to the nuns, what it was lawful to do in the case. He, however, asks:

1. What conditions must be fulfilled in order that the precept of hearing Mass on feast days may be satisfied?

2. What are public, semi-public, and private oratories?

3. Can bishops derogate from the common law of the Church?

4. What is to be said of the case?

1. What are the conditions to be complied with in order to satisfy the precept of hearing Mass on days of obligation ?

The whole of Mass must be heard, in the proper place, with bodily presence, and with attention.¹

1 See Manual of Moral Theology, vol. i, p. 258.

2. What are public, semi-public, and private oratories?

An authentic answer to this question was given by the decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, Jan. 23, 1899: “Moreover, it is established that public oratories are those which, by authority of the Ordinary, have been perpetually dedicated to the public worship of God, blessed or even solemnly consecrated, and have a door on the street, or from a public street open a free entrance to the faithful universally. Private oratories, on the contrary, in the strict sense are said to be those which have been erected in private houses for the convenience of some person or family by an indult of the Holy See. Those which hold a middle place between these two, as the name itself indicates, are and are called semi-public oratories.”

3. Can bishops derogate from the common law of the Church?

No; Benedict XIV gives expression to this principle of canon law in several places of his well-known work De Synodo Dioecesana: “It is known to everyone that a bishop cannot relax a law enacted by a superior, nor impart to another that permission which he cannot grant to himself.”² “The common laws, rites, and customs of the Church received everywhere can be removed or changed only by the authority of him to whom belongs authority and power over the universal Church; otherwise an immense disturbance of ecclesiastical discipline and hierarchy would arise.”³ “Today a bishop cannot command his subjects to present themselves at the parish Mass, because he cannot abolish a custom which, since it is in force throughout the whole world, has now assumed the nature of common law.”⁴

2 Book xi, chapter 9, no. 5.

3 Book xiii, chapter 18, no. 11.

4 Book xi, chapter 14, no. 10.

4. The case. A certain bishop allowed a Congregation of nuns to found a convent with a chapel in a certain town, but he forbade them to admit lay people to hear Mass of obligation in their chapel so that the only church in the place might not be deprived of its worshipers. Sometimes the nuns had guests and friends staying either in the convent itself, or in a house in the neighborhood, and as the church is over a mile distant it would be convenient if they could hear Mass in the convent so as to satisfy the precept. The Superioress did not like to refer the matter to the bishop, but she asked the advice of Paul, a priest who was giving a retreat to the nuns, about what was lawful in the circumstances. Paul will know that inasmuch as the common law of the Church allows the faithful to satisfy their obligation of hearing Mass on Sundays and holidays in public and semi-public oratories they can validly fulfil the precept of the Church by hearing Mass in the convent chapel, as it is a semi-public oratory. However, the bishop had a perfect right to make the regulation which is mentioned in the case, and the Superioress should loyally observe it. She may presume that the bishop had no intention of making the guests within the convent go outside to the church to hear Mass, so they may be admitted to hear it in the convent chapel. Friends outside should go to the church, unless there be reason for making an exception in a particular case, and then the Superioress might avoid difficulties by arranging with the parish priest.