Quirk of calendar requires two obligations for Masses at Christmas time

By a quirk of the calendar that happens every five or six years, Advent 2023 is the shortest it can be. The fourth “week” of Advent is only one day, Dec. 24.

As a result, the Catholic faithful have an obligation to attend Mass twice between the afternoon of Dec. 23 and Dec. 25, to participate in Masses for the fourth Sunday of Advent, and for Christmas.

According to guidance from the Archdiocese of Baltimore, “The obligation to attend Mass for the fourth Sunday of Advent and the Solemnity of Christmas are two separate obligations which cannot be fulfilled by attending one Mass. Those who wait until 4 p.m. or later on Sunday, Dec. 24, to fulfill their obligation for the fourth Sunday of Advent would need to attend Mass on Christmas Day to fulfill their obligation for the Solemnity of Christmas.”

What that boils down to is that you can attend a vigil Mass Saturday, Dec. 23, or a Mass Dec. 24 before 4 p.m. to fulfill the first obligation. Then you would attend a Christmas Eve vigil Mass Dec. 24 or a Christmas Day Mass Dec. 25. 

So, you could fulfill the obligations by attending two Masses on Dec. 24 – one in the morning for the fourth Sunday of Advent and another after 4 p.m. for Christmas.

A somewhat similar situation comes up the following weekend without the requirement to attend two Masses, as New Year’s Day is designated as the Solemnity of Mary. It is also the World Day of Prayer for Peace, first designated as such by Pope St. Paul VI in 1967. 

All Masses celebrated in the Archdiocese of Baltimore after 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 31, are to be celebrated for the Solemnity of Mary. However, the Solemnity of Mary is not a holy day of obligation in 2024, since it falls on a Monday. “Those attending Mass after 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 31, fulfill their Sunday obligation,” the guidance from the archdiocese said. 

The next time this situation comes up will be when Dec. 24 falls on a Sunday again in 2028.

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