QUESTION:
I am saddened when I see a large number of people leaving our parish church immediately after receiving Holy Communion. I always believed we were to stay until we received the final blessing. Am I wrong?
ANSWER:
You’re right; we should stay until the end. Those who don’t are letting their habits of haste pull them out of what should be an atmosphere of reflective gratitude. If that atmosphere is not there, you might encourage your pastor and your director of liturgical music to create it. If it is there and some are not affected by it, you might suggest the need for a few homilies focused on the centrality of the notion of gratitude to our faith and religion. The quiet time after reception of Holy Communion is, after all, intended to be a time of thanksgiving.
I can recall being encouraged as a child to recite a prayer called the “Anima Christi” after reception of Holy Communion. For those who do not know about the powerful communion prayer, here it is. Perhaps you remember the words:
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
AdvertisementWithin thy wounds hide me.
Permit me not to be separated from Thee.
From the wicked foe defend me.
At the hour of my death call me, and bid me come to Thee, that with thy saints I may praise Thee forever and ever. Amen.
If prayers like this were available in the pews, perhaps there would be fewer departures before the final blessing! As a good catholic faithful, we should try our best to follow closely the Holy Mass.
Got any other catholic related question? Leave it in the comment box below. May God continue to guide us!
You don’t go to a dinner party your invited to and once you have your meal you leave that’s not right
My wife & i always try to stay at least until the priest says “the mass is over”. Every man for himself after that
I served Mass for many years in the 50s and 60s, mostly with”old school” Irish priests.
Their reply when challenged on this was
“The Lord said,”Do this in memory of me!”. I don’t recall any reports of processions or hymns in the Gospels.
So, if you’re in time for the Consecration and receive Communion, you’ve completed the obligations”
Later in life I don’t this with an Archbishop (who went on to become a Cardinal) and he agreed..
That’s good enough for me!
There’s a number of fairly big faults in that, but to name one to save a lot of writing, the Gospels (and Sacred Scripture in general) aren’t the sole source of Christian doctrine and/or practice. That is the Protestant teaching of Sola Scriptura, the priests and particularly the Archbishop-turned-Cardinal really should have known this.
Unfortunately, as one of the remaining remnant of young Irish Catholics, this answer more underlines the problems among clerics of the past years than of anything else.
The Mass isn’t actually over until the reccesional to the sacristy ends and the priest blesses the servers. It’s acceptable to leave after the priest leaves the building/enters the sacristy but it is really a bare minimum.
You’re supposed to give thanks after Mass is ended. Some places in the world people will give thanks for at least 15 mins. Some of the saints spent an hour or more. A quick prayer while kneeling doesn’t have to take long.
This really only happens (leaving Mass after Communion) because people don’t know what Mass is about. It’s nothing to do with the “experience” being offered, it’s a matter of knowledge. If the priest says Mass properly and reverently and uses his homilies as a way to educate and instruct instead of being vague and sentimental then this wouldn’t happen at all. If someone is there for a vague reason, it’s not totally surprising that they would leave at a vague time.
Unfortunately though, it seems that things are becoming a little better in this way. Slowly but surely. As people stop going to Mass the ones that do are becoming hardier and better educated. As that process continues a good outcome is only a matter of time.
Let the Holy Spirit guide all our actions in our lives….at home, at work, at church, everywhere.
Yes i agree its disrespectful. i agree that unless there is an emergency but further more leave after the last hymn.
i have heard of people coming into church just before communion is served, they missed the entire mass before communion. is this a new trend? we as kids were taught if you come to church when the readings are read, go home its of no use.
I have heard of people actually telling their friends they just slipped into Mass just in time for communion!!!
where is the respect gone.? The church should start looking at this and start preaching on this disgusting behaviour. people come to church, they stand outside for the entire service and then say they were in Church??????
I attend Mass every day, and recently I had to stop going on Saturday morning because that mass ends at 8:20, and I have to drive 40 miles to get to work by 9 am. In addition, I am the one who opens the building on that day. I tried leaving after Communion, but in addition to feeling guilty at church, I felt guilty showing up at work 10 or 15 minutes late. I also felt bad about speeding, which is dangerous and therefore, even worse. So I stopped attending mass on Saturday morning until the semester/summer break. I never leave early on the other days, when mass is at 7am and work starts at 10.
I’ve had people tell me they attend a particular church because they can go to Mass and be done in 45 minutes or less. I always say that Jesus was on the cross for hours for us … we can spend all the time we need to to be at Mass until it is over.
Yeah , they always comming late and leave before the blessing . Thats the question they answer above., wheres the blessing I gave you. I wonder if they comming late and leave movie theater the same.Don’t want to see the ending?
Did anyone ever tell you to judge not lest you be judged? You are focusing entirely too much on what your fellow parishioners are doing instead of your own participation in the Eucharist. What they do is their business, it doesnt matter what you think. Behave like the Catholic Christian you profess to be. The person who commented on home health patients waiting, youve obviously never been home bound and depended on someone else to administer meds or help you bathe and get dressed. Youre a narrow minded bunch and one reason I left the Catholic Church. Give the sign of Peace at mass but forget the needs of others as soon as youre out the door. God is watching.
And by you going to another Religion think that those people are not judgemental too for whatever is done out off disrespect against their Religion? It’s unfortunately human nature for people to react with their opinions, but the fact remains, it’s DISRESPECTFUL to God to leave before the final blessing. Why are people ALWAYS bad mouthing the Catholic religion, ESPECIALLY by Catholics themselves! It sickens me!
There’s more after the “judge not lest ye be judged”. Christ tells us to pull the plank out of our own eyes so that we can better see the splinter in our brothers’ eyes. We are to judge righteously. Paul too reminds us that we will judge the angels. So those who have learned about the mass have pulled the “plank” out of their eyes. Now they can better see to guide those who haven’t learned. Yes, we should stay till the end of mass. When we receive the final blessing we have truly put on the full armor of God before going back into the world. If there’s a pressing reason to leave then it should be an exception, not the norm. And yes, we have the right or the responsibility to make sure our fellow Catholics know they should receive their final blessing. Remember we are charged to “feed my lambs and sheep”?? This is part of that feeding.
Mary—aren’t you judging us? Please practice what you preach.
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I heard it called “Grab & Goer’s”. I am going through RCIA and cannot partake as of yet but I stay until the end.
Why even bother coming to church? What all should do is wait for the final blessing; sit down in the pew; wait a minute, then relax and listen to the POSTLUDE played by the organist and let you ears receive some good sounds.
Should a child with cerebral palsy partake in the communion, although we are not sure whether she has the understanding or the concept of the whole thing ?
I see this happening in churches and it is always by the same people. It is very distracting too. there are also those using hand-phones while mass is in progress.
I almost always leave early for work. I am a home health registered nurse and I see patients who need services by a specific time.
They’ll wait.
I still say the Anima Cristi … but I do leave after Mass. Not right away I usually do not return to my pew… but stand in the back of the Church til the Eucharist is placed back into the Tabernacle and I receive the Priests blessing. However; I do not like my church moving the Tabernacle to the side. It should still be behind the Priest. I think people leave early because they have modified the Mass so much. Just my opinion. Proud to be Catholic!
I’m a cradle Catholic born and raised , , and was taught early on if you leave Mass before the final blessing , you have missed Mass! Also if you show up at or after the Gospel you are too late for Mass! There are exceptions of course m if you become I’ll or an emergency arises , but you can always go to a different Mass time!
Let us pray for those catholics who do come to Mass for the sake of it….
Remember, Judas was the first to leave mass early!
It saddens me too when this happens. Sometimes some people just do not seem to understand the Sacrament of Eucharist. We, as Catholics should understand the importance of the Holy Mass. This is only my opinion. I think we, as Catholics should learn more and be well versed about the Holy Mass.
I had to leave Mass after Communion due to my job. One times tbe schedule was that I couldn’t go at all.
Plus, one must go back to their pew, kneel, and meditate, having received the body of our Lord.
At St. John Newmann my mom Barbara Ann Bednarz passed away on January 4, 2003 at 9.35 pm on Saturday
Yes, they are wrong. Mass does not end until the dismissal. If invited to dinner, would you leap up as soon as you finished dessert and run for your car? That’s no way to treat God while you are in His House. Wait until the dismissal and for Father to leave the altar. Some priests want the congregation to follow them out. The idea is that he is leading you out to proclaim the gospel. Other priests want you to remain and finish the final hymn. If there is no choir, it is rather sad to allow the final hymn to just peter out.
Who are you to judge? We are taught that only God is our judge and it is a sin to put ourselves on a par with God. The Church and it’s members should let people decide for themselves what is right.
Yes so true its up to everyone to decide once communion is over i was brought up with the pp a total dictator in our parish im at the age i can think for myself but the usual problem is having to listen to very long boring homilys
I know we had to leave early several times but my mom was ill with acute lukemia and she just couldn’t make it the entire time but she DID NOT want to miss MASS
Tami, your response should teach everyone that it is unwise to form opinions about why people do what they do. There are many reasons someone might leave earlier than the Pharisees might think is appropriate. We all know we should wait — but none of us knows why another might leave early.
Unless you have to get to work and you’d be possibly fired yes or energ ed ncy reasons, not habit to be first out of parking lot o TV to eat quicker.without health reasons attached.