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Readings and prayers for vigil Masses

By Adam Schwend
Liturgy & Ritual



Q.   I attended both Christmas Eve (Vigil Mass) and Christmas Day Masses this year.  Why is it that the Vigil Mass for Christmas has different readings than the Mass during the day, but weekly Vigil Masses on Saturdays have the same readings as on Sunday?

A.   The readings are the same on Saturday evening Masses because Saturday evening Masses aren’t actually Vigil Masses.

Now, before anyone gets scared, let me say that Masses celebrated on Saturday evening are, in all actuality, Sunday Masses.  How?  Because it is the ancient tradition of the Church that Sundays and Solemnities begin with the celebration of First Vespers, which occurs the evening before the day of celebration (for example, “Christmas” begins with First Vespers of Christmas, which is celebrated around 5PM on Dec. 24).  This was inspired by the concept of a day in the ancient world, which divided our 24 hours into four nocturnal vigils and four daylight hours, the day commencing at first vigil.  Although the practice of celebrating Sunday Mass during this time is a relatively new one (it became widespread around the time of the Second Vatican Council), it certainly is a reasonable, organic development.  If we celebrate the beginning of our holiest days at 5 p.m. the evening before, the day has begun.  Therefore, it makes sense to allow Mass for that day to occur!

Now, back to the question of what a “Vigil Mass” is.  A Vigil Mass is a Mass that is completely different than the Mass for the Day.  Christmas is certainly an example of that.  The readings and prayers for these Vigil Masses tend to have a more anticipatory, rather than celebratory, tone.  In the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, there are only five true Vigil Masses:  Christmas Eve, Easter Vigil, Vigil of Pentecost, Vigil of the Birth of St. John the Baptist, Vigil of the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul (older missals, such as the 1962 missal, also include Ascension).  These true Vigil Masses have different readings, different prayers, and a different focus.  These Masses tend to prepare the participants for the imminent celebration.  Before the Second Vatican Council, it was required that these Vigil Masses take place before First Vespers.  Today, using the Ordinary Form Calendar, they can be celebrated either before or after First Vespers.  Sound convoluted?  It really isn’t.  The easiest way to remember if a Saturday evening Mass is truly a Vigil Mass is if there are different readings than Sunday.  If the Sunday readings are the same as the Saturday evening readings, the Mass is a Sunday Mass taking place on the liturgical day of Sunday (even though to the rest of the world it’s still Saturday!).

Allow me to make a few observations regarding Saturday Evening Masses.  For many places, Saturday Evening Masses were instituted especially for those members of the faithful for whom attending a Sunday Mass would be impossible.  For other, often larger parishes, it became an opportunity to institute other Masses and not try to crowd five, six, seven, or more Masses into a Sunday, turning parking lots into madhouses and working priests to the point of exhaustion.  These are very reasonable and understandable motives.  For many, Saturday Masses became a matter of convenience.  There certainly isn’t anything inherently wrong with this either.  However, it is when people attend a Saturday Evening Mass (or, indeed, ANY Mass!) in order to “just get it out of the way”, so they can give the Lord his hour and then get back to the matters at hand. 

Let’s jump out of the realm of simply fulfilling an obligation (which attending Sunday (or Saturday Night) Mass is.  Missing Sunday Mass without a grave reason such as illness or having no transportation is a very, very serious sin.  Anyone who tells you otherwise is simply wrong).  If all we care about doing is making sure we get to Mass, we are certainly fulfilling the letter of the law, but not the spirit of the law.  The spirit and letter of the law cannot be contrary to or exclusive of each other.  Sunday (ALL of Sunday…starting Saturday night!) is the Lord’s Day.  It is a day that is set aside by God as a day to rejoice in our salvation.  To do that, we avoid earthly, unnecessary labor.  But we must do more than just avoid labor.  Instead of that manual labor, we should spend time praising and rejoicing and thanking God for all he has done for us.  In his letter Dies Domini, Pope John Paul the Great suggests moments of family time throughout Sunday to share stories, reflection, and formative moments.  He also suggests times of family prayer and catechesis (parents are, indeed, the first and most important catechists).  The Church and, indeed, the Lord cannot settle for the minimalism of just shoving in an hour for Mass (and may the Lord help the priest if it goes over an hour!!).  The entire day must be one completely dedicated to the Lord (Dies Domini, paragraph 52).

So what are your Sundays like?  If you are like many of us, you are trying to get everything done around the house that you didn’t get done during the week.  Or you are getting that extra few hours of overtime in so you can take that vacation later on.  The story of Martha and Mary is a wonderful example of two different types of Sundays.  Mary ignores what the world would consider the more important things:  the household chores to simply take some time and listen to the Lord.  Martha tends to the house, the cooking, the cleaning, etc.  Which are you?  Mary or Martha?  Are you willing to just take some time for the Lord?  Or is the physical appearance of your house more important?  Do you simply lose yourself in prayer and beauty of the Mass?  Or are you the first one to complain if (God forbid!!!) Mass goes over that silly, arbitrary one hour time limit?  As we begin this new year, make a resolution.  Dedicate your Sundays to the Lord.  Do your household chores on Saturday or during the week, if at all possible.  Does simply the thought of that make you scoff and say “Yeah, right”?  If so, why?  Where are your priorities?

Questions for Liturgy and Ritual, as well as comments, can be sent to Adam Schwend at adams@scdiocese.orgor at 1821 Jackson St. Sioux City, IA 51102.