FUNSEEKERS in central Portugal will have no excuse for missing mass this summer – a local bishop is planning to hold services at some of the region’s most popular beaches, the weekly Expresso has reported.
"Rest should not be empty time. Leisure only makes sense when it serves as a time for personal enrichment," Bishop Antonio Marcelino of the central port city of Aveiro told the weekly.
He added the initiative would "permit, during a time when people are more relaxed, a more serene reflection about life."
Weekly services will be offered in August at four beaches located near Aveiro, some 250km north of Lisbon, as well as at a popular nearby spa, he said.
Beaches are at their busiest in Portugal in August, traditionally the month when most Portuguese take their summer holidays.
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Redemptionis Sacramentum says:
[108.] “The celebration of the Eucharist is to be carried out in a sacred place, unless in a particular case necessity requires otherwise. In this case the celebration must be in a decent place.”[197] The diocesan Bishop shall be the judge for his diocese concerning this necessity, on a case-by-case basis.
Well I guess afterwards to raise money they could have beach blanket bingo.
Bishop Marcelino is considered to be one of Portugal’s most liberal Roman Catholic officials, having argued in the past that the Vatican should consider the possibility of ordaining women as priests.
8 comments
With bathing suit?
Let him be anathema!
Check out UCSD Newman Center’s Sunset Mass
Newman would be appalled. If you don’t believe me, ask these guys (yay Pittsburgh Oratorians :-D).
http://www.newmanstudiesinstitute.org/
The bathing suit may not be included beng. This might be the start of liturgical nudity, depending on the beach.
Well, he did say services, not Mass. An Oxford oratorian recommended to me praying the rosary while on one’s deckchair.
Who said services rather than Mass? Jeff’s post is about beach Masses and L posted a pic from a “Sunset Mass”.
Praying the rosary is just fine in a deck chair. It’s a sacramental and is meant to help us wherever we are, whenever.
Well, it’s true that only the headline says mass and then the article says only “weekly services”. But I think it’s safe to assume that the Bishop intends to celebrate mass on the beach.
The sand on the beach is so soft and fluffy…there should be no excuse not to kneel.
Maybe they’ll build a church entirely out of sand. Hey Jeff, how would that look?
How about on, rather than of the sand, ala Matthew 7:24-27? 😉
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