Decision #6 - Weddings, Quinceañeras, and Baptisms
Problem to be Solved
How do we schedule our ad hoc liturgies, namely, weddings, quinceañeras (15eras), and baptisms?
Rubrical Considerations
As obedient Catholics, we always start with the instructions from the Church.
Baptisms
#8 & 9 of the praenotanda of the Rite of Baptism for Children state:
8. As for the time of baptism, the first consideration is the welfare of the child, that it may not be deprived of the benefit of the sacrament; then the health of the mother must be considered, so that, if at all possible, she too may be present. Then, as long as they do not interfere with the greater good of the child, there are pastoral considerations, such as allowing sufficient time to prepare the parents and to plan the actual celebration in order to bring out its true character effectively. Accordingly:
1. If the child is in danger of death, it is to be baptized without delay, in the manner laid down in no. 21.
2. In other cases, as soon as possible - if need be, even before the child is born, the parents should be in touch with the parish priest (pastor) concerning the baptism, so that proper preparation may be made for the celebration.
3. An infant should be baptized within the first weeks after birth. The conference of bishops may, for sufficiently serious pastoral reasons, determine a longer interval of time between birth and baptism.
4. When the parents are not yet prepared to profess the faith or to undertake the duty of bringing up their children as Christians, it is for the parish priest (pastor), keeping in mind whatever regulations may have been laid down by the conference of bishops, to determine the time for the baptism of infants.
9. To bring out the paschal character of baptism, it is recommended that the sacrament be celebrated during the Easter Vigil or on Sunday, when the Church commemorates the Lord’s resurrection. On Sunday, baptism may be celebrated even during Mass, so that the entire community may be present and the relationship between baptism and eucharist may be clearly seen; but this should not be done too often. [emp. mine]
Masses (Weddings and 15eras)
Canon 905 states:
§1 Apart from those cases in which the law allows him to celebrate or concelebrate the Eucharist a number of times on the same day, a priest may not celebrate more than once a day.
§2 If there is a scarcity of priests, the local Ordinary may for a good reason allow priests to celebrate twice in one day or even, if pastoral need requires it, three times on Sundays or holydays of obligation.
Challenges
Spanish
Of the three priests assigned to parish ministry in our Family, only one (Fr. Moore) currently speaks Spanish. And yet, half or more of our weddings and baptisms - and all of our quinceañeras - in the county are for Spanish speaking families. Even though, by necessity, we have a non-Spanish-speaking priest saying a Spanish Mass each Sunday, for once-in-a-lifetime moments it seems more appropriate to prioritize Spanish fluency. This, unfortunately, means that maybe 60% of these liturgies will fall on 33% of our priests.
Number of Masses
Our priests are already fairly maxed out on weekend Masses. At most, a priest is allowed to say two Masses on a Saturday and three Masses on a Sunday, and that is a grueling schedule week after week. Our weekend Mass schedule has 75% of our priests already saying 4 x Masses each weekend, meaning their Saturday or their Sunday is already full. Adding a wedding or baptism to this schedule every weekend is not sustainable.
Recent Numbers
Proposed Solutions
General Note: Nearly all sacraments can be celebrated in groups. For the sanity of our priests, we will want to start doing more combined baptisms, combined weddings, and combined 15eras. Scheduling an individual baptism or 15era should be avoided; and for convalidations (weddings for those already married civilly), combined celebrations should be regularly scheduled and strongly recommended. We should still be able to maintain the practice of individual weddings for first marriages.
Masses (Weddings & 15eras)
Preference #1 - Included in Normal Masses
Just as baptisms occasionally happen during Sunday Mass, so might also weddings and 15eras, and this would prevent the need to schedule additional Masses. Parishioners will always be encouraged to celebrate these events during normally scheduled daily or weekend Masses.
Preference #2 - Scheduled During the Week
Similarly, just as funerals are often scheduled during the week, so could be weddings and 15eras. These are far easier to schedule because priests already have designated office hours reserved for extra liturgies like funerals.
Preference #3 - Added Weekend Liturgies
If neither of the above options works, or it is important to the family, a Mass can be added on the weekend. the following principles will be respected:
Canon 905 will be respected, and a priest will not celebrate more than 2 Masses on a Saturday or 3 Masses on a Sunday.
Priests will only be scheduled for extra Masses at their home campus or campuses they are already visiting that day, and then as close to their next liturgy as is reasonable.
These are the general times when Masses can be added at different locations, based on the Sunday rotation:
Assumption: Saturday, 1:00 pm
Sacred Heart: Saturday, 2:30 pm
St. Joseph (Lynden): Sunday, 1:00 pm
St. Joseph (Ferndale): Saturday, 1:00 pm
St. Joachim, St. Peter, St. Anne: Saturday, 10:00 am
Priest Scheduling Considerations
Fr. Tyler always celebrates the Viking Catholic Mass on Sundays, meaning he always has 3 Sunday Masses. As such, he can never celebrate an additional Mass on Sundays.
A priest can never add a Mass on Saturday and also celebrate the 7:00 pm Mass in Lynden. This is most impactful for Fr. Moore, who is doing many of the Spanish liturgies - whenever he celebrates a wedding or 15era on Saturday, a different priest will need to say the Spanish Mass in Lynden.
Baptisms & Weddings Outside of Mass
Baptisms are relatively easy, as they do not add to the number of Masses restricted by Canon 905 and they can also be celebrated by deacons. The easiest place to put baptisms are before a priest’s first weekend Mass or after a priest’s last weekend Mass. Weddings outside of Mass can also take any of these spots. These are scheduled never to interference with the additional Mass times listed above. To that end:
Regularly Scheduled, Once Each Month
Assumption (English and Spanish): Sunday, 2:00 pm
Celebrated by a deacon when the priest does not celebrate the 12:30 pm at Assumption.
Sacred Heart: Sunday, 12:30 pm
Celebrated by a deacon when the priest celebrates the 12:30 pm at Assumption
St. Joseph, Lynden (English and Spanish): Saturday, 2:00 pm
St. Joseph, Ferndale: Sunday, 12:00 pm
Celebrated by a deacon when the priest celebrates the 12:30 pm at Assumption
[Twice a year, maybe January and June, baptisms can be scheduled during the regular weekend Masses.]
Ad Hoc, during Mass
St. Peter: Sunday, 8:30 am
St. Joachim, Sunday, 8:30 am
St. Anne, Saturday, 5:00 pm
Proposed Fr. Moore Schedule
Below are the potential liturgies that Fr. Moore can celebrate each weekend. Since he is the only Spanish-speaking priest, it is assumed that he will only do Spanish sacraments, and that English sacraments will be entrusted to the vicars.
1st Saturday/Sunday of the Month
Assumption: Saturday (1:00 pm) Spanish Wedding/15era || Sunday (2:00 pm) Spanish Baptisms
2nd Saturday/Sunday of the Month
Sacred Heart: Saturday (2:30 pm) Spanish Wedding/15era
3rd Saturday/Sunday of the Month
Ferndale: Sunday (1:00 pm) Spanish Wedding/15era
(or Saturday, 1:00 pm, not preferred)
4th Saturday/Sunday of the Month
St. Joseph (Lynden): Saturday (2:00 pm) Spanish Baptisms || Sunday (1:00 pm) Spanish Wedding/15era
A Note on Funerals
This post does not discuss funerals because we do not schedule funerals for the weekend. Locations with an office will schedule funerals for days when that location has a priest with office hours. The non-office locations will be scheduled ad hoc.
These are the default days when funerals will be held at office locations (based on the daily Mass rotation):
Assumption: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
Sacred Heart: Monday
St. Joseph (Lynden): Thursday
St. Joseph (Ferndale): Wednesday
It is reasonable for Assumption to have more funeral times because of how often Assumption celebrates funerals. (See “Every Day at Assumption” in our daily Mass rotation.)