2:45 P.m. Vigil Mass?

[Totus Tuus]

I know the rule for vigil Masses is that they need to take place after Vespers. I have personally never done Vespers at 2:45. In the monastery we prayed all the little hours at 11 a.m., and then did Vespers at 5. There are other prayers in the Liturgy of the Hours meant to be prayed at 3 p.m., so I never considered 2:45 being "after Vespers." However, a nearby parish has a Saturday 'evening' vigil Mass at 2:45, meant to count for Sunday. Is that OK? Or is my understanding of when a vigil Mass can take place off?

[cappie]

The rationale for a vigil Mass on the previous day is of ancient origin.

The Jews, for example, regarded the day as beginning and ending at sundown, not at midnight. Thus the celebration of the Sabbath began on Friday evening, which was called the day of Preparation.

For this reason, when Jesus was crucified on a Friday, Joseph of Arimathea and the others were in a hurry to bury his body because, as St Luke records, “It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.” (Lk 23:54; cf. Jn 19:42)

The Jews to this day continue the custom of beginning the celebration of the Sabbath on Friday evening.

Similarly, in the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours said by priests, religious and many lay people, the office for major feast days like Solemnities and Sundays has for a long time begun with First Vespers on the evening before.

On this basis, after the Second Vatican Council the Church introduced the possibility of celebrating the Sunday Mass and Masses on holydays of obligation on the preceding evening.

The reason, as stated in the Instruction Eucharisticum Mysterium, of May 25, 1967, was “to enable the Christians of today to celebrate more easily the day of the resurrection of the Lord.” (Ch II, II, C)

Nothing was said in the Instruction about the time at which the vigil Mass could be celebrated, except that the Easter Vigil could not begin before sunset. (Ibid.)

Normally the setting of the sun was the beginning of the vigil in ancient times, but this can vary substantially between winter and summer in places far from the equator.

For this reason, a certain time of the day has most often been chosen, independently of whether or not the sun has set. In the Diocese of Rome and in other places, vigil Masses may be celebrated after 5pm.

While, as I said, the Church has not indicated any particular time for the vigil Mass, it might be reasonable to say that a wedding Mass beginning as early as 4pm could be considered a Sunday Mass. Maybe the local bishop has given some special dispensation??

[cappie]

Came across this from Our Sunday Visitor:

“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” ([url="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P4N.HTM"]Code of Canon Law, 1248 §1[/url]).

In the United States, the bishops have specified that “evening” means no earlier than 4 p.m.