Expert: Fr. Michael - 1/12/2008

Question
Father Jerome,
My father is 81 years old and suffers from severe spinal stenosis.  It is very difficult for him to walk more than 10 feet without numbness in his feet and a lot of pain in his legs and feet.  Would he fulfill his obligation to attend Sunday Mass if he watched the Mass on television.  Thank you.

Answer
First of all, there is no Traditional Latin Mass broadcast on television: they are all associated with the Novus Ordo.  But even if there were, the answer is an emphatic NO!.  Watching a service on television is never a valid substitute for assisting personally at Holy Mass.  One's physical presence is required; otherwise, you might as well watch cartoons and munch on popcorn, for all the sacramental value a "Television Mass" has.

The real answer to your question lies in a different principle. Someone who is significantly ill, such as your father, is excused from the ecclesiastical obligation of assisting on Sundays and Holydays at Holy Mass to worship his Creator. Nevertheless, the general commandment to keep holy the Lord's Day remains. Any private devotions may be used for this purpose: reading Sacred Scripture, the lives of the Saints, or passages from the Roman Missal; saying the Penitential or Gradual Psalms, meditating upon the mysteries of the Faith; singing the Sacred Chant (which St. Augustine tells us is praying twice); or even viewing the recording of a truly Traditional Latin Mass. For further information, click on http://www.traditio.com/tradlib/faq05.txt