can someone explain to me why the 1917 code forbade priests to say Mass without a server? that happens a lot nowadays at the TLM. Also why does no 2 mention a woman and her husband in part 2? I am not good in Latin so please explain to me what this means if you know.
Can 813 §1. Sacerdos Missam ne celebret sine ministro qui eidem inserviat et respondeat. §2. Minister Missae inserviens ne sit mulier, nisi, deficiente viro, iusta de causa, eaque lege ut mulier ex longinquo respondeat nec ullo pacto ad altare accedat.
The English translation I have (
The 1917 or Pio-Benedictine Code of Canon Law in English Translation with Extensive Scholarly Apparatus by Dr. Edward N. Peters, Ignatius Press ©2001) translates Canon 813 this way:
Canon 813§1. A priest should not celebrate Mass without a minister who assists him and responds.
§2. The minister serving at Mass should not be a woman unless, in the absence of a man, for a just cause, it is so arranged that the woman respond from afar and by no means apprach the altar.
Note: The justification for this translation is from
Canon Law Digest III: 318-40; X: 146-47, and "The Law Requiring a Server at Mass: A Study of Its Origin, and the Development of Its Interpretation" (doctoral diss. 37, University of Ottawa, 1952, by Anselm Regan, 1952.
I do not have these sources, but I have known of priest who, before Vatican II (and the new and improved code) who said Mass without a server when none was available without any qualm of conscience. I presume that the 1917 Code, in the Latin, is saying what I quoted above telling priests that they
should always have a minister to assist at Mass, but that it is not mandatory and that the sources the author provided make this clear.
The translation seems to say that there should be a server and if a man is not available, a woman can be used to make the responses; however the woman will not approach the altar. The only question is whether the use of "should" is a proper English translation. I believe it to be because of my personal knowledge related above.
Other than this, I can not be of further service.