Does The Sunday Observance Begin On Saturday Evening, In ...

Skip to main contentAccessibility feedback✕

• Home
• Explore the Catholic Faith
  • Catholic Questions & Answers
    • What are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit?
    • If Jesus Was a Jew Why Are We Catholic?
    • Who compiled the Bible and when?
    • Who Can Receive Communion?
    • Were all twelve apostles martyred?
    • Are we living in the end times?
    • What is the Catholic view of salvation?
    • Why do Catholics Pray to Saints?
    • View All Catholic Q&As
  • Catholic Topics (Faith, Morals, and Apologetics)
    • Bible & Tradition
    • Sacraments & Worship
    • Morality & Sin
    • Mary, Saints & Angels
    • Salvation & the Church
    • Non-Catholic Religions
    • The Catholic View on Abortion
    • The Catholic View on Assisted Suicide
      • Is euthanasia a sin?
      • Catholic view on assisted suicide
      • Church teaching on euthanasia
    • What is Purgatory?
  • Becoming Catholic (Convert or Seeker)
    • How to Become Catholic
    • Understanding OCIA
    • What Catholics Believe
    • Answers for Non-Catholics
    • Why Be Catholic?
    • How to pray the rosary
  • Catholic Media (Podcasts, Articles, Video)
    • Podcasts (Trending Episodes)
      • Catholic Answers Live (Listen Now)
      • Counsel of Trent
      • Shameless Popery
      • The Jimmy Akin Podcast
      • The Cy Kellett Show
      • Sunday Catholic Word
      • A Daily Defense
    • Watch Apologetics Videos
  • Learn the Faith (Resources & Courses)
    • Articles
      • How do I know if it's a mortal sin?
      • The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
      • Will There Be Three Days of Darkness
      • Is Purgatory in the Bible?
      • Explaining the Trinity
      • What Catholics Believe About Faith and Works
    • Apologetics Topics
      • What is the Eucharist?
      • Call No Man Father
      • Common Catholic Prayers
      • Confession
      • Infant Baptism
      • Sabbath or Sunday
      • Abortion
    • Catholic Encyclopedia
      • Indulgences
      • Guardian Angel
      • Circumcision
      • Scapular
      • Heaven
    • Apologetics Online Courses
      • Beginning Apologetics
      • Evidence for Catholic Moral Teaching
      • Evidence for God
      • Evidence for the Church
      • View all courses
    • Bible Navigator
      • Confession
      • Faith and Works
      • Mary's Immaculate Conception
      • The Church Is One
      • Real Presence
• Catholic Answers Live
• Podcasts
• Video
• Magazine
• Q&As
• Tracts
• News
• Events
• Encyclopedia
• Bible Navigator
• Justin AI
• Donate
• Defenders Club
• Shop
• School of Apologetics
• Speakers
• About
• Careers
• Advertise

☰AboutShopDonatewww.catholic.com/qa/does-the-sunday-observance-begin-on-saturday-evening-in-imitation-of-the-jewish-sabbathQ&ADoes the Sunday observance begin on Saturday evening, in imitation of the Jewish sabbath?Catholic Answers Staff2019-02-23T02:17:46Share🖨️🔗

Question:

In ancient Judaism the sabbath was from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. If Sunday is the Christian sabbath, should we celebrate it from sundown on Saturday to sundown on Sunday? Is this why attending an anticipatory Mass on Saturday evening fulfills our Sunday obligation?

Answer:

The Sunday obligation applies to the modern Sunday, reckoned from midnight to midnight. This was established by canon 1246 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law.

The ancient Jews reckoned days from sundown to sundown, meaning that for them the first part of the day was evening. This is why Genesis 1 says things like, “And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day” (Gn 1:5). The same custom was observed by the ancient Phoenicians, Athenians, Arabs, Germans, and Gauls. Today Jews and other groups who keep the sabbath, such as the Seventh-day Adventists, continue to celebrate it from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. This way of reckoning time was not the only one in the ancient world. For example, the Romans reckoned days from midnight to midnight–the system we use today.

The option of attending an anticipatory Mass on Saturday evening has nothing to do with the fact the sabbath began at sundown. This provision was originally introduced for Catholics who had to miss Sunday Mass for a good reason (for example, because they had to work). The 1983 Code of Canon Law simply states: “The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day” (can. 1248, 1).

Sunday is often spoken of as “the Christian sabbath,” but this is not a technical description. Sunday is not a strict replacement for the sabbath (which has been abolished), but a day the Church instituted to fulfill a parallel function. Thus Ignatius of Antioch, the earliest Church Father to address this question, states that Christian converts “have given up keeping the sabbath and now order their lives by the Lord’s Day instead, the day when life first dawned for us, thanks to him [Christ] and his death” (Letter to the Magnesians 9 [A.D. 107]).

Did you like this content? Please help keep us ad-free Donate $5Enjoying this content?  Please support our mission!Donatewww.catholic.com/support-us