PRECETTO FESTIVO. — By the festive precept is understood the obligation to sanctify Sundays and days of obligation by attending Mass and abstaining from certain kinds of work.
I. ORIGIN, FOUNDATION, VALUE, AND JUSTIFICATION
The precept is included in the Decalogue: “Remember the day of rest, to sanctify it” (Ex. 20, 8-11; cf. Deut. 5, 12-15).The obligation has both an individual and a social value; it concerns not only individuals and families, but also the community, all Israel as a nation (cf. Ex. 21, 12-17). Observance of the law ensures the return of Israel’s political and social prosperity (Is. 58, 12 ff.), while its violation, which brings hardship, hunger, and misery (Ier. 17, 21-27; cf. Ex. 20, 12-32; 22, 8), is punished by the death penalty (Num. 15, 32-36). On the Sabbath, not only must rest be observed, but sacrifices must also be offered to God (Ex. 46, 4): the Jews gathered in the synagogues to pray and to listen to the word of God (Act. 15, 21; 13, 27).
In the New Testament, the ceremonial aspect of the Sabbath was abrogated. Christ, in fact, emphasizes worship of the Father in spirit and truth (Io. 4, 23), and corrects Pharisaic casuistry, affirming that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath (Mc. 2, 27). St. Paul reproaches the Galatians, who had converted to Christianity, for observing, according to the Mosaic law, days, months, seasons, and years (Gal. 4, 10), and warns the Colossians that the obligation to observe new moons and Sabbaths is no longer in force (Col. 2, 16). Although for some time the Apostles and the first Christians gathered together with the Jews on the Sabbath for the praise of God (Act. 2, 46; 3, 1; 5, 12; 21, 26), they soon held their own assemblies for prayer and the celebration of the Eucharist (Act. 2, 42), thus introducing the custom of sanctifying the day following the Sabbath, on the morning after which Christ had risen. The precise date of the replacement of Sunday by the Sabbath cannot be determined. Nevertheless, it is undisputed that, at the time when the First Letter to the Corinthians was written (56), and at the time of the composition of the Acts of the Apostles (ca. 63), Christian liturgical meetings were held on Sunday (I Cor. 16, 2; Act. 20, 7), and that this practice was constant and universal at the end of the 1st and during the 2nd century (Apoc. 1, 10; Doctrina duodecim Apostolorum, cap. 14; Barnabae Epist., cap. 15; s. Ignazio d'Antiocchia, Ad Magn., cap. 9; s. Giustino, Apol., I, 67; PG 6, 429; s. Dionigi di Corinto [m. nel 180], nella lettera ai Romani riportata da Eusebio di Cesarea, Hist. eccl., I, IV, cap. 23; PG 20, 390; Tertulliano, Apol., cap. 16; PL 1, 371).
The sanctification of Sunday entailed attendance at Mass (cf. Concilio di Elvira [306], can. 21: Hefele-Leclercq, I, 233; di Sardi [343], can. 11: ibid., 7, 792; d'Agde [506], can. 21, 64: ibid., II, 990, 1002; d'Orléans [541], can. 3: ibid., II, 1014; di Clermont [535], can. 15: ibid., II, 1141-42; d'Orléans [541], can. 3: ibid., II, 1166; Sermoni di s. Cesario d'Arles, 280-81, tra le opere di s. Agostino: PL 39, 2274 ff., etc.) and observance of rest (cf. Constit. Apost., 8, 33: PG 1, 579 ff.; Tertulliano, Apol., cap. 16; Ad Notion. 1, 13: PL 1, 371 e 579; I, 3, C. 11, 12, de feris; Concilio di Mâcon [585], can. 2: Hefele-Leclercq, ibid., III, 209; di Mayence [813], can. 36: ibid., III, 1141; Meaux [845], can. 77: ibid., III, 125; di Cloveshoe II [747], can. 14: ibid., III, 908; di Aenham [1009], can. 15: Mansi, XIX, 297). In addition to Sunday, various other feast days were established in the different dioceses over the course of the centuries. As their number increased, people first thought of reducing abstention from servile works according to the classification of feasts (cf., e.g., the Council of Oxford of 1222: Mansi, XXII, 1153), until Urban VIII (constitution Universa of 13 Sept. 1642) fixed the number of feast days at 36, in addition to Sundays. Pius X retained only 8 (motu proprio Supremi disciplinae, 2 July 1911; AAS, 3 [1911], p. 305). Today, according to can. 1274 CIC, the feast days, in addition to Sundays, are 10, namely: Christmas, the Circumcision, Epiphany, the Ascension, Corpus Christi, the Assumption, the Immaculate Conception, St. Joseph, SS. Peter and Paul, and All Saints. By particular provisions, this number is limited in certain nations; thus, for example, in addition to Sundays, the holy days of obligation are six in the United States of America and four in France.
From what has been said, and according to the common doctrine, the obligation of the p. f. is based on natural-positive-divine law, but its determination (the choice of Sunday in place of the Sabbath and the particular manner of sanctification) derives from ecclesiastical law. Consequently, a universal abrogation of this precept is inconceivable; particular dispensations, however, are possible. The obligation of the p. f. is grave (cf. Denz-U, 1069) and concerns all the faithful who have attained the use of reason. The purpose and importance of the p. f. can be inferred from the fact that it makes easier the internal and external, individual and social worship owed to God by natural-positive-divine law (cf. Mt. 4, 10; Io. 4, 23, 24; Sum. Theol., 2°-2°, q. 84), and that human beings gain many physical, economic, moral, cultural, and religious benefits from it (cf. allocution of Pius XII, 7 Sept. 1947: AAS, 39 [1947], p. 427).
II. ATTENDANCE AT MASS
To fulfil the precept of hearing Mass, the following conditions are required:1. Devout attendance
The intention to attend Mass is sufficient; the intention of fulfilling the festive precept is not necessary, since the obligation does not depend on one’s own will. External attention is sufficient, consisting in the removal of external actions incompatible with internal attention. Thus the precept is fulfilled by one who plays the organ, sings prayers, collects alms, recites the Rosary, reads a pious book, goes to confession, etc. It is advisable to follow Mass with a small missal.2. Bodily presence
Bodily presence entails a moral union with the priest, so that, whether inside or outside the church, one can see and hear the celebrant, or at least follow the Mass from the gestures of the participants. One does not fulfil the precept by listening to Mass broadcast over the radio, although this is a good work.3. Attendance at the entire Mass
Mass must be heard in its entirety. In this regard, one should note the difference between the dogmatic and the juridical aspect of Mass. From the juridical point of view, Mass means the entire liturgical part, from the beginning (from the psalm Iudico) to the blessing imparted at the end, before the Gospel of s. Giovanni. Therefore, juridically speaking, anyone who omits any liturgical part does not perfectly fulfil the festive precept. The moral theologian, however, goes on to determine whether the matter is grave or light. Anyone who omits the essential part (Consecration and Communion) or a considerable part does not fulfil the festive precept; anyone who omits only a very small part sins lightly, but fulfils the precept.A considerable part means the section extending from the beginning through the Offertory; the essential parts of Mass (Consecration and Communion), and probably the part of the Canon preceding the Consecration, or everything preceding the Gospel together with what follows Communion. Anyone who omits a considerable part has a grave obligation to make it up at another Mass on the same day. The festive precept is not fulfilled by hearing two or more parts of Masses celebrated simultaneously by two or more priests (Denz-U, 1203); it is fulfilled, however, by hearing them successively, provided that in one and the same Mass there are the Consecration and Communion, because one hears a Mass complete as regards its substantial parts and makes up the rest.
4. Prescribed place
The festive precept is fulfilled by attending Mass in any Catholic rite, in the open air, or in a public or semipublic church or oratory (cf. cann. 1188 §§ 1-2, nn. 1-2; 1180; 1189; 1249), or in private chapels of cemeteries erected by families or private individuals for their burial. In a private oratory (domestic chapel), only those to whom the indult was granted fulfil the precept, as do their blood relatives and relatives up to the fourth degree who live with them, their guests, and the service personnel necessary to the owner or to the celebrating priest during Mass, or who are occupied in the house even on feast days. In any case, the conditions of the indult specify the limits of time and persons.Since this is a law whose determination is purely ecclesiastical, any grave cause—that is, any significant harm to oneself or to others—can excuse one.
In particular, excusing causes are: personal necessity (even a slight illness, if one fears that going out would aggravate it; the loss of an extraordinary gain; great distance from the church [more than an hour’s walk], with all the circumstances of the persons involved, roads, weather, etc. taken into account); the necessity of others (one who assists a sick person who cannot be left alone; one who remains at home so as not to give others an occasion of sin; one who provides assistance during a fire, flood, or other serious calamity; one who remains at home in obedience to a father or spouse who is easily angered in the event of disobedience, etc.); professional duties (mothers, wet nurses, custodians, soldiers, etc., in the actual exercise of their functions; domestic servants prevented by their employers [although they would have the duty, if possible, to seek other employment]); custom (in some places the following are excused: engaged women with regard to the Mass during which their marriage is announced; young brides or young mothers; widows during the first days after the death of their husband, etc.).
III. THE OBSERVANCE OF THE SUNDAY REST
This is almost the prerequisite for implementing the positive aspect of the p. f., namely, attendance at Mass. When the number of feast days increased considerably, it became desirable to reduce, before reducing the number itself, the scope of the prohibited kinds of work (cf. Council of Oxford, cited above). This discipline was highly successful and was the middle course adopted after the first reductions made by the Roman pontiffs (cf. Benedict XIV, const. Cum semper, 3 Sept. 1742, const. Inter sollicitos, 11 Apr. 1745; Pius VI, const. Cum sicut, 28 Sept. 1790). The CIC (can. 1248), while reducing the number of feast days, also retained the restriction on prohibited kinds of work. Therefore, at present, on Sundays and other feast days, the following are prohibited: 1) servile work, that is, those tasks which in ancient times were ordinarily performed by slaves, which are carried out chiefly with the strength of the body, and which by their nature concern the necessities of life (rural work [ploughing, sowing, harvesting, etc.], mechanical-industrial work [printing, work carried out in factories, mines, plants, etc.], manual work [the occupations of tailor, shoemaker, builder, blacksmith, etc.]). Such work is prohibited even when performed gratuitously or for recreation; the matter is grave and therefore the sin is mortal when the work continues for two or three hours. 2) Judicial acts (forensic acts), insofar as they involve noisy proceedings and disturb public tranquility (such as issuing citations, arguing the case, hearing witnesses, examining the parties, pronouncing the sentence). It is not prohibited, however, to consult a lawyer, grant dispensations, absolve, etc. In determining the gravity of the sin, in such acts one should consider not so much their duration as the importance of the matter. 3) Public commercial business (such as fairs, markets, stock-exchange transactions, public auctions, wholesale purchases and sales, etc.), because they prevent the necessary tranquility and distract the mind from application to divine worship.Other kinds of work are not prohibited, namely: liberal work, that which is performed chiefly with the powers of the intellect or tends by its nature toward instruction or recreation, such as reading, writing, copying, doing accounts, singing, playing an instrument, taking photographs, etc.; and ordinary activities (e.g., travelling, hunting, playing, etc.).
The excusing causes, which in themselves must be serious, are nevertheless distinct from those excusing attendance at Mass: personal necessity (one who otherwise cannot support himself and his family; or who, by not working, would have to suffer serious hardship or loss; or who performs indispensable household tasks, cooking, caring for the home, tending the animals, etc.; the mother who is unable, on weekdays, to mend or clean her own clothes or those of her children); the necessity of others (the tailor, blacksmith, etc., would lawfully work if, because of a sudden necessity, clothing or implements were to be prepared which were in urgent and unavoidable need; one who is occupied in extinguishing a fire or in another work of assistance; one who performs light manual work for charitable purposes, etc.); common necessity (bakers, butchers, innkeepers, railway workers, etc.); piety (by which it is lawful to perform those tasks that have an immediate connection with divine worship, such as, e.g., ringing the bells, carrying banners and gonfalons in procession, sweeping the church, decorating altars, etc.); custom, expressly admitted by the CIC (can. 1248), in the case of markets, fairs, and purchases and sales, may render other kinds of work lawful, such as, e.g., the occupation of barber, etc.
In addition to the excusing causes, a dispensation may also be granted by the local Ordinaries, the religious Superior, or the parish priest; the latter, however, only for the benefit of individual faithful (his own, even outside his territory; strangers, only within his territory) or of individual families, and only in individual cases (can. 1245).
der Sonntagsfeier zum 3. Gebot des Dekalogos, ibid., 37 (1913), pp. 363-709; A. Dumaine, Le dimanche chrétien, ses origines, ses principaux caractères, Bruxelles 1922; E. Dublanche, Dumanche, in DThC, IV, coll. 1308-48; A. Villen, Fêtes, ibid., V, coll. 2183-91; E. Ranwez, Opera servilia, in Collat. Namure, 32 (1938), pp. 116-23; J. S. Guiniven, The precept of hearing Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of obligation, Washington 1942. Angelo Criscito