The Sabbath Day Rest according to Post-Conciliar Teachings

            The period after the Second Vatican Council manifested a shift in emphasis on how the faithful should keep the negative precept of the third commandment, i.e. abstaining from work on the Sabbath. The primary difference of this period is that Church teaching avoids specific prohibitions against the Sabbath day rest, while at the same time develops its understanding of the importance of leisure. It was not the Council itself that approached the teachings on the Sabbath day rest any differently, but rather post-conciliar documents.⁽¹⁾The documents of the Second Vatican Council do not teach anything different regarding the Sabbath. Sacrosanctum Concilium restates the importance of Sunday worship for the faithful and briefly mentions the importance of the Sabbath day rest, stating it is to be, “a day of joy and of freedom from work” (106). The section on modern economic life in the Gaudium et Spes does not explicitly mention the Sabbath, but it discusses the need for leisure and rest in the midst of modern economic conditions that can exploit workers (67).

            In Part II of this article, I will first show how the new 1983 Code of Canon Law no longer gave clear prohibitions of activities compared with the 1917 Code of Canon Law. I will then give a summary of Pope Saint John Paul II’s teachings from the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church and his 1998 apostolic letter, Dies Domini. After comparing these teachings with the pre-conciliar teachings, I will conclude with some recommendations on how to live the Sabbath day rest today.

            The shift in emphasis of the post-conciliar era regarding the Sabbath day rest is most concisely revealed in the change in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. Here are the parallel canons from the two different Codes: 

            1983 Code: “On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass; they are also to abstain from those labors and business concerns which impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy which is proper to the Lord’s Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body” (Canon 1247). 

            1917 Code: “Mass must to be heard on the holy days of obligation; servile works and legal actions must be abstained from; and also public markets, fairs, and any public buying and selling are forbidden, unless they are exempted by legitimate customs or particular indults” (Canon 1248).⁽²⁾“Festis de praecepto diebus Missa audienda est; et abstinendum ab operibus servilibus, actibus forensibus, itemque, nisi aliud ferant legitimae consuetudines aut peculiaria indulta, publico mercatu, nundinis, aliisque publicis emptionibus et venditionibus” (my translation).

            A most evident change in the canon is that there are no longer any explicit prohibitions from work in the 1983 Code, thus giving a more general explanation about the obligation to sanctify the Sabbath day. Work is simply to be abstained from to the extent that it would impede (impediant) the worship of God and proper relaxation. The 1917 Code lists the work that is to be avoided, including servile work, legal actions, and commercial dealings; it also shows the seriousness of the Sabbath rest by noting that in certain cases, an indult is needed to break the Sabbath rest.⁽³⁾For example, I have known of farmers even after the Second Vatican Council who were in the habit of asking for permission from their parish priest to work on the Sabbath when there was threatening weather.

           According to the University of Navarre commentary on the 1983 Code, “the substantial content [between these two Canons] is the same.”⁽⁴⁾Code of Canon Law Annotated, ed. Ernest Caparros, Michel Thériault, Jean Thord (Midwest Theological Forum: Woodridge, 2004), 958. It is not clear why the 1983 Code of Canon Law teaches only, “in a more general way the nature of the obligation”⁽⁵⁾Ibid. and no longer mentions explicit negative prohibitions. Nonetheless, there is no contradiction between these two canons so the force of law of the 1917 Code would still carry weight. As Canon 21 of the 1983 Code states, “In a case of doubt, the revocation of a pre-existent law is not presumed, but later laws are to be related to earlier ones and, insofar as it is possible, harmonized with them.”

            For a better understanding of how the 1917 Code was applied to the Sabbath, one can look at the popular moral manuals that were in use prior to the Second Vatican Council.⁽⁶⁾I have surveyed several approved Catholics manuals from the local college library for this article and their teachings on abstaining from opus servile on the Sabbath are generally in agreement. Although I have looked at several manuals for this article, I will simply refer to two: Moral Theology by Rev. Heribert Jone and Rev. Urgan Adelman⁽⁷⁾Heribert Jone, O.F.M., Cap. and Urban Adelman O.F.M., Cap., Moral Theology (The Newman Press: Westminster Maryland, 1958). and Moral and Pastoral Theology by Fr. Henry Davis.⁽⁸⁾Henry Davis, S.J., Moral and Pastoral Theology: In Four Volumes, vol. 2, Commandments of God: Precepts of the Church ( Sheed and Ward: New York, 1959). Both manuals have the imprimatur and base their teachings on the 1917 Code of Canon Law. 

            The manualist tradition asserts that the Sabbath rest requires abstinence from all servile work, judicial acts, and commercial occupations. For example, the Davis manual first defines servile work in a general way: “True servile work is forbidden, namely such as is done by servants or hired manual labourers, and requiring bodily rather than mental activity.”⁽⁹⁾Ibid., 66. The Jone manual states servile work that is to be prohibited includes, “plowing, sowing, harvesting, etc.; sewing, cobbling, tailoring, printing, masonry work, etc.; all work in mines and factories, etc.”⁽¹⁰⁾Jone., 121.

            The manuals hold that one could fall into grave sin not only from missing Sunday Mass, but from doing too much servile work. For example, The Jone manual states, “About two and a half or three hours of such [servile work] according to its arduousness is a grievous sin.”⁽¹¹⁾Ibid. Cf. Davis, 67.

            Causes that excuse one from the Sabbath rest include a dispensation from the bishop or one’s pastor, religious services, and one’s own or a neighbor’s necessity. For example, the Jone manual lists some of the necessary works that excuse one from the Sunday rest: “all indispensable housework”; “poor people may work on Sunday if they cannot otherwise support themselves”; “mechanics may sharpen, repair, etc., tools that farmers and artisans need for Monday”; and “lighter manual labor is also probably lawful for charitable purposes or to avoid ennui.”⁽¹²⁾Jone., 123.

            The point here is not to give an exhaustive examination of the question but simply to note that prior to the Second Vatican Council, what one was permitted to do, or not do, on the Sabbath was a serious moral question that both the faithful and pastors of souls had to consider. 

The Sabbath Day Rest according to Pope Saint John Paul II

            In this section, I will present the teachings of the Sabbath rest by Pope St. John Paul II from both his 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church and his 1998 apostolic letter, Dies Domini. I will compare these documents to the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Roman Catechism (Catechism of the Council of Trent) of 1566. 

            The Catechism of the Catholic Church re-states the Church’s constant teaching that Sunday Mass is a serious obligation to which the faithful are “bound to participate”,⁽¹³⁾Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2180. and that, “Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.”⁽¹⁴⁾Ibid., 2181. It then explains the Sabbath rest in five paragraphs basing itself on the creation account in Genesis 2:2-3. The key line regarding the teaching on the Sabbath day rest states that the faithful are to “refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body.”⁽¹⁵⁾Ibid., 2185.

            The first noticeable difference in this section is that, unlike St. Thomas’s teaching and the Roman Catechism’s teaching, there is no reference to the Old Testament passages which explicitly forbid work on the Sabbath day.⁽¹⁶⁾St. Thomas quotes Leviticus 23:25 and Jeremiah 17:22 in his Explanation of the Ten Commandments, and Exodus 20:11 and Leviticus 23:3 in Summa Theologica II-II.122.4.3. The Roman Catechism quotes Exodus 20:8-11. “Thou shalt do no work on [the Sabbath day].” The rest from work in the new Catechism is based solely on imitating God’s rest on the seventh day of creation. Perhaps this why the new Catechism, unlike St. Thomas and the Roman Catechism, also does not explicitly teach that “servile work” on the Sabbath is forbidden. The only form of prohibition referenced in the new Catechism is in the corporate sense, that public authorities and employers have an obligation toward their citizens and employees to allow, “time for intended rest and divine worship.”⁽¹⁷⁾Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2187. Hence, the negative precept of the third commandment remains undeveloped. 

            There is also a difference in how and when one may break the Sabbath day rest. Whereas St. Thomas and the Roman Catechism give detailed exceptions to work on the Lord’s day based on Scripture (e.g. one may decorate the church or altar, based on Matthew 12:5), the Catechism of the Catholic Church gives a more broad list of exceptions that allows for wider interpretation. For example, it lists situations that can “legitimately excuse” one from the Sunday rest such as family needs, “important social service”, “sports, restaurants”, and “social necessities”.⁽¹⁸⁾Cf. Ibid., 2185, 2187.

            The third difference is the expansion of the idea of leisure. For example, two of the ends of the Sabbath day listed above are, “joy proper to the Lord’s day”, and “relaxation of mind and body”. The word “leisure” appears no less than five times in this section of the Sabbath rest in Catechism of the Catholic Church.⁽¹⁹⁾Paragraphs 2184, 2185, 2186, 2187, 2194. Making reference to the Second Vatican Council document Gaudium et Spes, the Catechism explains, “The institution of the Lord’s Day helps everyone enjoy adequate rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social and religious lives.”⁽²⁰⁾Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2184. The referenced paragraph from Gaudium et Spes, 67 does not mention the Sabbath day, but discusses the need for leisure in the midst of demanding economic activity.

            In order to further develop the Church’s understanding of the third commandment, Pope St. John Paul II promulgated his Apostolic Letter, Dies Domini (On Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy) in 1998. He explains that the purpose of this letter is to “recover the deep doctrinal foundations”⁽²¹⁾Dies Domini, 6. of the third commandment, especially since “changes in the socioeconomic conditions have often led to a profound modification of social behavior and hence of the character of Sunday,”⁽²²⁾Ibid., 4. and that the percentage of those attending Sunday Mass is “strikingly low”.⁽²³⁾Ibid., 5.

            The Pope explains that the modern custom of the “weekend” has become widespread. While the weekend break from the five day work week provides a needed time for rest, it also has the potential of causing Sunday to lose “its fundamental meaning and becomes [merely] part of the ‘weekend.’”⁽²⁴⁾Ibid., 4.

            He gives a brief history of the Sabbath day rest stating that for “several centuries, Christians observed Sunday simply as a day of worship, without being able to give it the specific meaning of Sabbath rest.”⁽²⁵⁾Ibid., 65. Hence, the Sabbath day rest was not part of the early Church’s practice. “Only in the fourth century did the civil law of the Roman empire recognize the weekly occurrence…[and] would not work.”⁽²⁶⁾Ibid., 64. Once the Edict of Constantine was issued in 321, Church Councils began to teach on the importance of observing the Sunday rest. 

            The earliest Church Council that mentions the Sabbath day rest was the Council of Laodicea in the late fourth century: “Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord’s Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be Judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.”⁽²⁷⁾Council of Laodicea, Canon 29. Here Pope John Paul II mentions that from the sixth to the ninth century Church Councils began to prohibit the exploitation of workers and opera ruralia. Ibid., 64-66. The Judaizers were early Christians who believed that they must still adhere to the Mosaic law. From this canon we learn that the Christians were to rest on the Lord’s day (Sunday) “if they can”, and not on Saturday (Sabbath).  

            In addition to granting man a needed break from the burden of labor, John Paul II gives many examples of how Sunday rest is “closely linked with liberation”,⁽²⁸⁾Dies Domini, 62. cultivates a “celebration of the marvels which God has wrought”,⁽²⁹⁾Ibid., 17. and is where, “man fully discovers himself”.⁽³⁰⁾Ibid., 61. Summarizing the need for the Sunday rest, he asserts, “Although the precept may merge naturally with human need for rest, it is faith alone which gives access to its deeper meaning and ensures that it will not become banal and trivialized.”⁽³¹⁾Ibid., 13. Above all, Sunday is “an Easter celebration, wholly illumined by the glory of the Risen Christ.”⁽³²⁾Ibid., 8.         

            Using beautiful examples from Scripture, Pope John Paul II develops the positive precepts of the third commandment teaching, that keeping the Sabbath holy means that “something be done”.⁽³³⁾Ibid., 16. However, the Scriptural and historic negative precepts remain undeveloped.

            The only time an explicit prohibition against Sunday work is given is where the Pope references Canon 1247 from the 1983 Code of Canon Law, stating that Sunday rest means, “refraining from work and activities which are incompatible with the sanctification of the Lord’s Day.”⁽³⁴⁾Ibid., 67. However, no explicit mention is given as to what the “work and activities” are from which one should refrain. Similar to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the main prohibitive sense of the Sabbath day rest is that civil authorities have a duty to maintain the Sunday rest and to avoid the exploitation of workers.

The Catholic Church’s Constant Teaching on the Sabbath Day Rest

            Although this is only a brief survey of the question, the tradition of the Catholic Church indicates that abstaining from opus servile on the Sabbath and holy days of obligation is a grave matter. Whether it is the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Roman Catechism, the pastoral application of St. John Vianney, or the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the Church takes seriously any violation of the Sabbath day rest. Specific exceptions to the negative precepts of the third commandment were listed in the law, and dispensations by pastors were needed for anything beyond that. 

            Beginning with the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the Church has become less explicit in what is to be prohibited on the Sabbath. There is nothing that contradicts the earlier teaching but rather the need for rest is simply presented in more general terms, and the good of leisure is more thoroughly developed. 

            Was there a change in the Church’s teaching about the Sabbath day rest after the Council? According to the University of Navarre commentary on Canon Law, the “substantial content” of the Sabbath day rest is the same. One can conclude that the constant teaching of the Church that one must abstain from servile work and commercial activity on Sundays remains. 

            It is unclear why the Church shifted the way it taught about the Sabbath day rest but I think there are two probable reasons. The first is the general shift in the way theology was done in the post-conciliar era. The Second Vatican Council had the effect of doing away with the idea that Catholic theology was a monolithic intellectual system.⁽³⁵⁾Tracey Roland, Catholic Theology (Bloomsburg T&T Clark: New York, 2017), 91. There was a consensus among the leading thinkers of the Council that the pre-conciliar theology had become rigid and lifeless, and the ressourcement theology, of going back to the original patristic sources, would be the most fruitful path forward. There was a sense that the ancient Christian faith needed to be purified from medieval and baroque “accretions”. This meant de-emphasizing both scholastic theology and perhaps most of all, manualist theology. 

            The highly detailed manualist approach to morals was criticized for presenting the faith as if being a good Catholic was just a matter of living within a box or within the rules, rather than having a relationship with the living God. Critics asserted it was an excessively rationalistic theology rather than an encounter with the mystery of God. One can argue with the merits of this theological shift but these critics won the day, greatly influencing post-conciliar theology and liturgy, and it is not unlikely that the ressourcement theological approach influenced the Church’s teachings about the Sabbath day rest as well. 

            The second reason why the Church may have shifted the way it taught about the Sabbath day rest is the change in culture. In Dies Domini, the Pope writes that the increasingly secularized culture and the, “changes in the socioeconomic conditions have often led to a profound modification of social behavior and hence of the character of Sunday.”⁽³⁶⁾Dies Domini, 4. The Catholic Church is aware that it is no longer the dominant influence on culture and that Sunday, as a day set apart, is no longer respected. Perhaps the Church thinks that it is now in a period similar to the first centuries of the Roman Empire when the Church could not exercise much influence on the culture, and therefore is not in a position to place demands on the faithful to observe the Sabbath day rest. 

            Pope St. John Paul II also asserts that this new situation, where the Sabbath day is no longer respected, “will require a genuine spiritual maturity” on the part of Christians.⁽³⁷⁾Ibid. Since the culture is no longer reinforcing Christian morality, such as resting on Sundays, each individual must personally make the decision how he or she will live out the negative precepts of the third commandment.⁽³⁸⁾This may be compared to the post-conciliar era’s teaching on fasting laws. In 1966, the Bishops’ Conference in the United States stated that it is no longer a sin to eat meat on Fridays, but everyone must at least choose his or her own form of penance. The merits of this change can be argued, but the point is that the Church is assuming a “genuine spiritual maturity” on the part of Catholics to do his or her own penance on Fridays. The hope is that in due time, the small groups of the faithful will eventually grow to influence the culture.

            The Second Vatican Council was not meant to be a break with Catholic theology and so we do well to ground the post-conciliar theological approach in the traditional teachings. The spiritually mature Catholic must recognize that it is not enough to fulfill the Sabbath by simply having leisure and going to Mass. The historical evidence reveals that there is a long and well established tradition of the Sabbath day rest, and that there is even something intrinsic to opus servile that requires Catholics to abstain from it on Sundays. The reason it is forbidden is not because there is anything wrong with manual labor, but because of Scriptural descriptions of the Sabbath, pointing back to the time of Egyptian slavery. 

            When God freed the Israelites from bondage, He taught them about the Sabbath: “Remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out thence with a might hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:15). The Sabbath is a time to “remember” how the opus servile is a sign of the terrible yoke of Pharaoh; and by resting from it, the people of God are acknowledging both the mighty works of God and the gratitude for their freedom. With the risen Christ, the Sabbath today is not only a day to remember how God has brought freedom from Egyptian slavery, but also freedom from sin itself.

            The Church tradition also taught that the character of opus servile on Sunday is different from intellectual work. It has never been part of the tradition that there was any prohibition from doing intellectual work on Sundays. Neither Aquinas nor the pre-conciliar manuals taught this. According to St. Thomas, intellectual work is permitted on the Sabbath because “…one cannot be servilely bound to do this kind of work.”⁽³⁹⁾“Opus autem servile est opus corporale: nam opus liberum est animae, sicut intelligere et huiusmodi; ad quod opus homo constringi non potest.” St. Thomas, Explanation of the Ten Commandments. The impression is that opus servile is forbidden because it has at least the potential to bind the worker. Aquinas clarifies this when he writes that the body may be bound in service to another, but the soul always retains its liberty.⁽⁴⁰⁾Cf. Summa Theologica, II-II.104.6.1. The soul and its intellect cannot be bound. Therefore, the negative precept of the third commandment always refers to a bodily kind of work. 

            The manuals also teach that intellectual work is not prohibited on the Sabbath: “Liberal and artistic works (opera liberalia) are also lawful: studying, teaching, drawing, architectural designing, playing music…”⁽⁴¹⁾Jone, 121. The Davis manual even asserts that there is something inherent in the nature of servile work that is to be forbidden: “[I]t remains servile, whatever the motive may be, even if no wages are taken for it. It is the character of the work that determines its nature”⁽⁴²⁾Davis, 67. (emphasis added).

Faithfully Living the Sabbath Day Rest Today 

             The question then arises, “How does a faithful Catholic live out the Sabbath day rest today, with ‘genuine spiritual maturity’”? This is difficult because for most Catholics, the negative precept of the third commandment was probably never something considered. Many questions arise, such when priests should give dispensations. Quite frankly, I do not have answers to all of these questions, especially when current Church teaching is silent on these issues. However, I do have five suggestions on how to live the Sabbath day rest today. These should be considered goals towards which one can work (Remember that it took St. John Vianney eight years to establish these habits in his parish): 

            1. The main guiding principle of the Sabbath day rest comes from Christ: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). The Sabbath rest is meant to help rejuvenate the faithful and is not to be a burden. Trust that time spent resting with God and family is not time lost, but time gained. 

            2. The 1917 Code of Canon Law indicated one should avoid servile work, the commercial activity of buying and selling, and judicial actions. This was a well-established tradition and there is nothing new in the Church’s post-conciliar teaching that contradicts these precepts. Therefore, strive to avoid servile work on Sundays. Plan ahead and get in the habit of doing servile work (cleaning, washing, manual labor, etc.) on Saturdays. Look to the four exceptions of St. Thomas as to when one might practice servile work.⁽⁴³⁾St. Thomas gives four exceptions when servile work would be permitted on Sunday:  1) By necessity: The Lord excused the disciples plucking the ears of corn on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-4).  2) For the service of the Church: The priests did all things necessary in the Temple on the Sabbath day (Matthew 12:5). 3) For the good of our neighbor: On the Sabbath, Jesus cured one having a withered hand (Matthew 12:9-13).  4) By authority of our superiors: Thus, God commanded the Jews to circumcise on the Sabbath (John 7:22-23). Hence, pastors can dispense from the Sabbath rest.

            If one owns a business, close the shop on Sundays, giving employees time for rest and worship (The restaurant chain Chick-fil-A is a good example of this). If one is required to work on Sunday, at least ask one’s boss to have Sundays off. Avoid greed and trust that God will bless one’s efforts to observe the Sabbath. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that the Sabbath is “a day of protest against the servitude of work and the worship of money.”⁽⁴⁴⁾Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2172.

            Plan ahead and get in the habit of doing any needed shopping done on Saturday so there is no need for shopping on Sunday.

            3. Spend the Day with God: In St. Thomas’ Explanation of the Ten Commandments, he teaches that three things should occupy ourselves on the Sabbath day: offering Sacrifice, meditation on the Word of God, and contemplation of divine things. Therefore, one should attend Holy Mass, religious festivals, and any other activities offered at the local parish. Time away from the parish on the Sabbath should be spent on spiritual reading and prayer. 

            One should be careful not to overindulge in sports such that the good God would be forgotten. The Roman Catechism says observing the Sabbath rest corrects us from, “an inordinate love of amusements and sports.”⁽⁴⁵⁾Roman Catechism, 400. St. Thomas writes, “This day is not set aside for the sole exercise of games, but to praise and pray to the Lord God. Wherefore, St. Augustine says that it is a lesser evil to plough than to play on this day.”⁽⁴⁶⁾St. Thomas Aquinas, Explanation of the Ten Commandments.

            4. Spend the Sabbath with family. Time spent with family is always time well spent.  

            5. Spend time doing acts of mercy. The new Catechism says that “works of mercy”⁽⁴⁷⁾Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2185. are one of the purposes of the Sabbath. The Roman Catechism speaks of “giving alms to the poor and needy, visiting the sick, and administering consolation to the sorrowful and afflicted”.⁽⁴⁸⁾Roman Catechism, 405.

            Finally, when the Sabbath day rest is lived well, the peace of Christ dwells within the heart: St. Thomas Aquinas concludes: “This rest in truth is eternal life and heavenly joy: ‘This is my rest for ever and ever; here will I dwell, for I have chosen it’ (Psalm 131:14). And to this rest may the Lord bring us all!”⁽⁴⁹⁾St. Thomas Aquinas, Explanation of the Ten Commandments.

Prayer for the Observance of Sundays and Holydays of Obligation

by Pope St. Pius X, May 20, 1905 

            O most glorious Patriarch, St. Joseph, obtain we beseech thee from our Lord Jesus Christ abundant blessing upon all those who keep holy the Sundays and Holydays of Obligation of the Church, and grant that those who profane them may realize, while they have still time, the great evil which they commit and the punishment which they draw upon themselves both in this life and in the next, and grant that they may be speedily converted.             

            O most faithful St. Joseph, thou who during thy life on earth didth so loyally observe the laws of God, grant that the day may soon come when all Christians will abstain from forbidden works on Sundays and Holydays of Obligation, attend seriously to the salvation of their souls, and give glory to God, who liveth and reigneth forever and ever. Amen