At What Age Did Your Parents Regularly Take You to Mass?

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SMHW

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This question is obviously aimed mostly at those who grew up Catholic. If you grew up in a non-Catholic church going family I’d love to hear your stories too.

Back in the early 1960’s my parents didn’t regularly take us to Mass until I was five or six years old. Until then they usually went to Mass separately. I would occasionally attend with one parent or the other but my parents didn’t consider it important that young children attend. Now my parents would not have dreamed of missing Mass themselves without a VERY good reason. Once I started first grade I cannot remember missing Mass except in the case of illness or, on one occasion, when we were travelling cross country by train and did not have the opportunity to stop for Mass.

I had two younger brothers who were 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 years younger than me. My younger sister was born the August before I started first grade. By the time that the younger brother was three or four I think we often did all attend Mass together. But since my father would occasionally act as an usher or have to help count the collection after Mass they would sometimes still go to a different Mass.

By the time my youngest brother came along (when I was eleven) the church had preschool during some of the Masses. He usually attended preschool during Mass. My sister may have done so too but I really don’t clearly remember.

Now I had friends who did attend Mass together as a family. But I think they were in the minority. Most families I knew sometimes went to Mass together and sometimes didn’t. But they definitely all went once they were in school.
 
It was so early in life, that I do not recall. I know that from the second grade onward, in Catholic elementary school, with nuns as teachers, and three priests in the rectory, we all went to Mass every school day at 8:00 am. So, for a long time, I went to Mass six days a week.
 
I have no memory of not going to mass. so from infancy I was taken to mass.
 
My parents took me, and my three younger brothers, to Mass as soon as we were out of the hospital after birth! I was baptized six days after I was born, and was going to Mass shortly thereafter.

Deacon Ed
 
My Mom is Lutheran and my Dad is Catholic. He started taking
me to Mass when I was five years old. I am not positive, but
I think he did the same with my three younger sisters.
 
I was 8, my brothers from the time they were babies. My parents did not start regularly attending church until I was 8, then they came back to the faith. So, I consider myself an almost cradle Catholic! 🙂
 
I was baptized with two weeks of my birth, and my parents started taking me to Mass immediately thereafter.
 
from infancy, actually about 3 months, as back then it was not considered a good idea to take a baby out in public sooner. From the time I could sit up I knew we had to behave, it is inconcievable that my dad would have let any misbehavior go on, and as for cheerios and juice, no way. We did have special prayer books and story books that were religious in theme we were allowed to take, but from the time I could read (age 4) I tried to read along in the missal (there was no such thing as a missalette back then). A lot of my reading and vocabulary was learned in reading along in this way.

They eventually had 6 kids, and with my parents we took up an entire pew (6th pew back, St. Joseph side, St. Marys church in Royal Oak MI), with them strategically placed so one of them could crack any kid that looked like he was not kneeling with has back straight and butt off the pew. Dad liked the Low Mass because it was shorter (he had a hard time going for more than an hour without a cigarette). but I loved to go to the “choir Mass” and always prayed there would be a song I loved and knew well enough to sing along.

I had to learn the Mass prayers in Latin for first communion, and it is hard to see how that could be accomplished unless a child went to weekly Mass from a young age.
 
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BayCityRickL:
It was so early in life, that I do not recall. I know that from the second grade onward, in Catholic elementary school, with nuns as teachers, and three priests in the rectory, we all went to Mass every school day at 8:00 am. So, for a long time, I went to Mass six days a week.
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THATS SO AWESOME!! I wish all catholic school were like that.
 
Never. They said it was ‘too hard’ to take children and I’m constantly told I should just make it easy for myself and not take my five. My parents only had two. Too hard with two? Whatever … Then again, they also told me I only needed to go to confession once to be able to do communion and then would never need to go again.
 
Since before I can remember! We always lined up (there was 13 of us in the family) in the 2nd or 3rd pew on the right side. Everyone knew us as we filed in one right after the other. (Some views of it before Katrina - olgchurch.net/Our%20Church.htm). I was an altar boy.

I also remember that we always sat down at the table together to eat dinner. 6PM.

Went to Our Lady of Gulf Elementary and St. Stanislaus College (all-boys Catholic High Shool). Boy, I miss the good old days!
 
I remember my mom being very angry that when I was born she had to take me to the Church to be baptized. My siblings were baptized in the hospital.

I don’t know if my mother left me at home or any of my siblings. I doubt it. Like others here I don’t ever remember not going to church.
 
My mom started taking my twin sisters (4 years older than me) when they were about 6 months old. They were born very tiny and had to spend a lot of time in the hospital before that. A priest came to the hospital so they could be baptized in a timely fashion. I think she’s said that after I was about a month old she started taking me to Mass. After I was born she started playing the organ at our parish so she would take me with her daily.

I have a lovely picture, she’s playing the organ and I’m asleep on the pew that’s up against the wall behind her. The light is coming through one of the stained glass windows shining on my face (I look to be about 2 years old), its a picture I love to look at.
 
Hi

I was not a cradle catholic, but my grandmother was a devote daily mass goer. She took me whenever I was with her until I caused sooooooo much trouble the priest ousted me from the church and told me never to come back.

I became and RCIA catholic and our first was taken from the day she got out of the hospital until circumstances dictated that we left the church for 9 years, except to return to have our son baptized. By the time we returned they were old enough to serve and then it wasn’t a problem they got out of hand the priest dealt with it, and the behaviour soon stopped.

scared
 
I’m a cradle Catholic and can never remember not going to Mass as my parents took me from an infant.
 
Adult convert here, slightly different upbringing…

My father was (and still is) a full time Evangelist. He averages 20 services per month (when I was a young child in the 60’s, some of these were week long meetings in the same place – those were the exception, the rule was a different congregation for every service).

The oldest of 4 children, dad carried me to the platform during a service when I was 6 weeks old. After that, I only missed services for severe illness; same went for my siblings as they came along. By the time I was 18 months old, I would sing a solo during the service – which progressed to being a full part of the music ministry (again, same for my sibs).

There was no “children’s church” or other entertainment for us – we sat quietly on the front row (when we were not up front singing) – and in those type of meetings it is not uncommon for a sermon to last 30 – 60 minutes. When we were very young, if we would get fussy or fidgety, mom would take us out for a minute – then we came right back in. My parents did not believe in letting kids “play” in the cry room or nursery. My father had to correct me for talking during Church exactly twice in my life, and I most definitely remember it – he called me out from the pulpit. Only took me twice to learn that lesson :o .

You can see, to me as a convert – the idea of not taking children to Mass (so much MORE than the services of my childhood) seems odd.
 
I really don’t remember when my parents srarted takening me to Sunday Mass.

I know I started to go to Mass every day at my Catholic school, starting in the 1st grade.

Trick
 
I converted to Catholicism at 23.

I was raised evangelical Protestant. I assume that I was taken to my parents’ “church” probably every Sunday.
 
Children are obligate to attend mass when they reach the “age of reason”; basically, when they have some concept of right & wrong and what is going on in the world around them. This is generally accepted to be around the age of 7.

Before this point, it makes no spiritual difference to their souls if they are in church or not. I know some people love to show how their 3 year old knows to bow or say “Jesus”. But I do not believe it has a real impact on their spiritual formation. (This is my personal opinion.)

Ideally, children under 7 would be left home because (again in my opinion) they are a major distraction to their parents and the congregation at large. However, this is not always an option for parents, so unruly children in mass should be treated with love. The same goes doubly true for their parents!

Many churches have established nurseries or “Sunday school” for young children during popular masses. I highly encourage parents to use these services! By not taking your extremely young children to mass, you remove the temptation to focus on something other then God.

It also makes mass seem like a “grown-up” activity to your children. Anyone who knows children knows that they can’t wait to do “grown-up” activities. By creating a waiting period and sense of expectation to attend mass, you physiologically make the experience more desirable and attractive to children.
 
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