SUNDAY. — From Latin *dies Dominica*, “day of the Lord.” There is debate over the time, place, and manner in which this day came to be associated with the Sabbath, which it eventually replaced in the obligation of weekly rest. However, the prevailing opinion is that the feast originated in Jerusalem, before the dispersion of the Apostles, as a weekly liturgical and Eucharistic gathering to commemorate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which occurred on the first day of the week. Rationalists and modernists have instead traced it to solar and Mithraic cults, but the facts argue against this. It is true that a planetary week, originating in Babylon, passed into Egypt, spread among the Greeks, and, at the beginning of the Empire, among the Romans; it bore a certain resemblance to the Hebrew week, which, however, made the Sabbath the concluding day, whereas in the pagan system it marked the beginning of the week. Indeed, Sunday was first called *prima sabbati*, *una sabbati*, or *dies octava* to signify that it had been added to the Sabbath as an invitation to continue the devotional practices begun on the preceding day. Outside the Jewish world, however, the pagan usage prevailed. Justin (I Apol., 67) states that Christians gathered on Sunday “because this first day is the one on which God created the world, and because on this same day our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead.” It should be noted, however, that the clearest and oldest testimonies regarding Sunday come from the territories of Palestine, Syria, and Greece, where solar worship took less root.
Callewaert adduces direct arguments for the origin of Sunday in a Jewish milieu from two New Testament passages dating to 54–56 AD: “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week (*kata mian sabbatou*), each of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper” (1 Cor 16:1–2). “We stayed for seven days. On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered” (Acts 20:7–8). Thus, Paul would have taken advantage of the customary weekly gathering, which was marked by a certain solemnity due to the mysteries celebrated there.
The term *Sunday* first appears in sources outside the Jewish world. St. John in the Apocalypse (1:10) calls it *dominica dies*; the *Didache* (ch. 14), written in Syria at the beginning of the 2nd century, refers to it as *Dominica Domini*; St. Ignatius of Antioch simply calls it *dominica* (Ad Magnesios, IX); St. Justin, however, uses *dies solis*, following the pagan fashion of the planetary week, which assigned this day to the sun, just as Monday was assigned to the moon.
The weekly commemoration of Christ’s Resurrection gave rise to many rites. Among these was the practice of spending the night between Saturday and Sunday in prayer, the “breaking of bread,” and, in some places, in expectation of the glorious return of the Lord. Also explained are the joyful character always associated with this day, excluding fasting and other penitential practices; the ceremony of sprinkling with holy water before the solemn Mass, a figure of the Baptism administered in its most solemn form at dawn on Easter; and the complete dedication of Sunday to God, forbidding the celebration of saints’ feasts on it unless they are of the first or second class (since the time of Pius X).
The regular celebration of Mass was established, which the faithful regarded as a duty equal to that still practiced on the Sabbath in the synagogue, and it eventually replaced it, while for Gentiles it immediately became the rite of the new faith. The *Didache* attests to this practice; St. Justin emphasizes its obligatory nature; Tertullian (De idol., 14) highlights its importance. The Council of Elvira in the year 300 (Mansi, II, 1 sqq.) reproves the negligent in its observance, which appeared as a precise obligation in the Council of Agde in 506 (Mansi, VIII, 326 sqq.). The Mass was ordinarily to be heard in one’s own parish church; but from the 13th century, the innovations of the mendicant orders increasingly weakened this ancient ordinance, despite its being upheld for some centuries by synodal decrees. Leo X, with the bull *Intelleximus* of 1577, partially ratified the new usage, permitting attendance at Mass in the churches of these orders; the Council of Trent (sess. XXII) contented itself with a simple exhortation; the *Code of Canon Law* (can. 1249) stipulates that the precept is satisfied in any Catholic rite, whether outdoors, in churches, in public or semi-public oratories, or in cemetery chapels; private oratories are excluded unless favored by privilege.
The early Christians observed rest on the Sabbath, but
the gradual and progressive distancing from Jewish customs and the penetration of Christian doctrine into social structures transferred the law of rest to Sunday. Tertullian already attests to this (Ad nation., I, 13; Apol., 16), though perhaps the force of his words should not be overstated: it seems that work was avoided only to the extent necessary to attend the liturgy. In essence, even Constantine’s law of 321 (Codex Theodosianus, ed. Mommsen, I, 87) states the same thing; only the Council of Orléans in 538 (Mansi, IX, 16 sqq.) directly condemns manual labor.
That rest was in a certain sense observed even in the hereafter, with the suspension of punishments in Hell and Purgatory, is affirmed in legendary documents. In recent decades, the ongoing evolution of forms of life and the emergence of new demands have led liturgical congresses and pastoral letters to address the theme of the sanctification of Sunday. Pius XII’s encyclical *Mediator Dei* reaffirmed traditional forms: “Sunday and holy days must be consecrated to divine worship, by which God is adored and the soul is nourished with heavenly food. Although the Church prescribes only that the faithful abstain from servile work and attend the Eucharistic Sacrifice, and lays down no precept regarding evening worship, it is nonetheless necessary, without doubt, that all should repair to our temples, to be instructed in the truths of the Catholic faith, to sing the praises of God, and to be enriched by the priestly blessing of the Eucharist” (AAS, 39 [1947], pp. 575–76).
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