Confused About the Christmas 2023 Obligation This Year? You Need to Go to Mass for Both Sunday and Christmas Day

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The faithful must attend two Masses, U.S. bishops explain.

Christmas Eve is also the Fourth Sunday of Advent this year.

That means the faithful must attend two Masses to meet their Sunday and Christmas Day obligations.

In a newsletter issued in early 2017, the U.S. Catholic bishops addressed questions regarding whether Sunday and holy day Mass obligations can be fulfilled with a “two-for-one” Mass attendance at Christmas.

In a “relatively rare” situation, which last occurred in 2017, Christmas Day this year falls on a Monday.

Because Catholics are obliged to attend Mass for Sundays and holy days of obligation, some have asked whether a Sunday evening Mass on Christmas Eve would fulfill both the obligation for a Sunday Mass and the obligation for a Christmas Day Mass.

The U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship has said the faithful should attend two Masses to fulfill their Sunday and Christmas Mass obligations.

Continued below.