Catholic Sources - Mass will Cease During Rule of Antichrist

[Pacelli]

Someone has written me for sources on the Catholic teaching that at the end of the world during the three and a half year rule of Antichrist, that the mass will cease during that time.   Below, I will be posting sources for this teaching:

St. Alphonsus Liguori:

It is true it (the continual sacrifice - Ed) will cease at the time of Antichrist: the sacrifice of the Mass is to be suspended for twelve hundred and ninety days; that is for three years six months and a half, according to the prophesy of Daniel: And from the time when the continual sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination unto desolation shall be set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Yet the sacrifice of Jesus Christ will never cease, since the Son of God will always continue to offer himself to his Father by an eternal sacrifice, for he himself is the priest and the victim, but an eternal victim and an eternal priest, not according to the order of Aaron, of which the priesthood and the sacrifice were temporary, imperfect, and inadequate to appease the anger of God against rebellious man ….” (St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Holy Eucharist, 1887, p. 22.  The book is scanned and available for free on archive.org, linked HERE , all boldfacing added for emphasis, italics from original)  

Some comments on the above:

1.  St. Alphonsus is interpreting Daniel's prophesy on the abomination of desolation to at least include the cessation of the mass.   
2.  St. Alphonsus is specific that this will only happen for the specific number of days in the prophesy, 1,290 days.   Any assertion that the mass will cease prior to then, is in my opinion, heretical.  
3.  St. Alphonus states that during this time, the continual sacrifice of Our Lord Himself will continue, but does not say what effect on the world, it will have, with no masses said here, anywhere on earth at all.  We can certainly assume that this will mean evil beyond any understanding mankind has ever witnessed, perhaps at least since the ancient times, will be everywhere upon the earth.   

[John Lewis]

The sacrifice of the Mass might be suspended, but will Holy Communion still be available during the time? Consecrated hosts, if preserved properly could easily last that length of time.

[Pacelli]

Apr 27, 2023 2:37:35 GMT -5 John Lewis said:

The sacrifice of the Mass might be suspended, but will Holy Communion still be available during the time? Consecrated hosts, if preserved properly could easily last that length of time.

It's possible.  I am wondering though, if the remaining priests of the world will either be killed or imprisoned during this time, as if they were still alive and able to, they would say mass.   

The only way one could receive in a case such as that would be to receive at home, most likely in secret.  There is a precedent for this in times of persecution.   Also, one would have to research how long the Sacred Hosts may be kept before the appearance of bread begins to degrade.   

[RitaMarita]

Apr 26, 2023 8:32:47 GMT -5 Pacelli said:

Someone has written me for sources on the Catholic teaching that at the end of the world during the three and a half year rule of Antichrist, that the mass will cease during that time.   Below, I will be posting sources for this teaching:

St. Alphonsus Liguori:

It is true it (the continual sacrifice - Ed) will cease at the time of Antichrist: the sacrifice of the Mass is to be suspended for twelve hundred and ninety days; that is for three years six months and a half, according to the prophesy of Daniel: And from the time when the continual sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination unto desolation shall be set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Yet the sacrifice of Jesus Christ will never cease, since the Son of God will always continue to offer himself to his Father by an eternal sacrifice, for he himself is the priest and the victim, but an eternal victim and an eternal priest, not according to the order of Aaron, of which the priesthood and the sacrifice were temporary, imperfect, and inadequate to appease the anger of God against rebellious man ….” (St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Holy Eucharist, 1887, p. 22.  The book is scanned and available for free on archive.org, linked HERE , all boldfacing added for emphasis, italics from original)  

Some comments on the above:

1.  St. Alphonsus is interpreting Daniel's prophesy on the abomination of desolation to at least include the cessation of the mass.   
2.  St. Alphonsus is specific that this will only happen for the specific number of days in the prophesy, 1,290 days.   Any assertion that the mass will cease prior to then, is in my opinion, heretical.  
3.  St. Alphonus states that during this time, the continual sacrifice of Our Lord Himself will continue, but does not say what effect on the world, it will have, with no masses said here, anywhere on earth at all.  We can certainly assume that this will mean evil beyond any understanding mankind has ever witnessed, perhaps at least since the ancient times, will be everywhere upon the earth.   

Great post! Thank you for sharing!

[Didymus]

Apr 27, 2023 6:25:54 GMT -5 Pacelli said:

Apr 27, 2023 2:37:35 GMT -5 John Lewis said:

The sacrifice of the Mass might be suspended, but will Holy Communion still be available during the time? Consecrated hosts, if preserved properly could easily last that length of time.

It's possible.  I am wondering though, if the remaining priests of the world will either be killed or imprisoned during this time, as if they were still alive and able to, they would say mass.   

The only way one could receive in a case such as that would be to receive at home, most likely in secret.  There is a precedent for this in times of persecution.   Also, one would have to research how long the Sacred Hosts may be kept before the appearance of bread begins to degrade.   

This would destroy the idea of some Catholics who say that the Novus Ordo is the abomination of desolation, or pachamama itself. Has any theologian speculated that this desolation would be in addition to a cult of the antichrist?

[Pacelli]

Apr 30, 2023 19:48:48 GMT -5 Didymus said:

Apr 27, 2023 6:25:54 GMT -5 Pacelli said:

It's possible.  I am wondering though, if the remaining priests of the world will either be killed or imprisoned during this time, as if they were still alive and able to, they would say mass.   

The only way one could receive in a case such as that would be to receive at home, most likely in secret.  There is a precedent for this in times of persecution.   Also, one would have to research how long the Sacred Hosts may be kept before the appearance of bread begins to degrade.   

This would destroy the idea of some Catholics who say that the Novus Ordo is the abomination of desolation, or pachamama itself. Has any theologian speculated that this desolation would be in addition to a cult of the antichrist?

It would have to be researched.   There are many good explanations of the time of the antichrist.   St. Alphonsus is here connecting the abomination of desolation to the cessation of the mass, so it seems likely that the mass will be universally replaced by something clearly evil.  

Fwiw, as an opinion, I think the abomination of desolation will be something far worse than the Protestantized Novus Ordo.   Whatever this is to be, I think it will be clearly evil, and there will be no doubt about it in the minds of Catholics.  With the Novus Ordo, there has been debate about it since the start, and not all that have accepted it, have lost the Faith. 

Also, the mass has never universally ceased during this crisis, as in the eastern rites, it continued on.