Attending Mass at a hospital chapel

[texasag7599]

Has anyone regularly attended Mass at a hospital? I have recently thought about going to daily Mass but there is nothing really convenient around except there. Obviously I would rather go to one at a parish but going at a hospital chapel intrigues me for some reason. Anyway, just wanting to know about any experiences you may have had.

 

[LovingMass]

I’m interested in the responses you get to this question. I have a hard time getting to daily mass at the offered times, so someone suggested that I attend at our local Catholic hospital. Others’ (name removed by moderator)ut on this would be helpful.

 

[SecretGarden]

Depending on the hospital you might get lucky to have a mass at a hospital. I know many hospitals rely upon volunteers to conduct an liturgy of the word because there is a shortage of priests at the moment. Aside for that, I really don’t know what is available because each country, state, province, city works differently.

 

[ProVobis]

There was a daily Mass in the hospital chapel when I was visiting my dying father a few years ago. The Mass is also broadcast to each room at the hospital. Hospital Masses seem to have a little more meaning, and I go back there from time to time.

 

[marytk]

I know people who do this. I have gone in the past during school vacations.(The localCatholic hospital had a Mass at 11:00 , It is a fine idea. The Mass will likely be short since some are on breaks and others are weak.
I know that many who go to weekday Mass have to either use another Parish or go to the hospital or a school Mass to fit their schedule.

 

[texasag7599]

I guess we are lucky here in that our hospital has a retired priest, actually the old priest from my parish, and it is broadcast in the hospital. I couldn’t possibly go every day because of work, children, etc., but two or three days a week would really help me and they offer Mass at a perfect time for me.

 

[CB_Catholic]

I work at a Catholic hospital and we have daily Mass usually at 12 noon, except for Saturday. The Mass is broadcast on the hospital’s TV system. It is usually not well-attended because most patients cannot go in person and most employees can’t get away from work at that time because it is either their assigned lunch or they are covering for someone else’s lunch (this is mostly not a matter of preference). We used to have it in the morning and the attendance was better, but now there is no priest available in the morning.

In any case, don’t expect a large turnout, and expect a rather short Mass, although our priests do give a homily.

 

[Cat]

The Masses held at the Catholic hospital (OSF) in our city is between 10 and 20 minutes long, usually closer to 10 minutes than 20 minutes. People joke that they didn’t realize Father can talk so fast!

But there is a reason–as someone else mentioned, this is a hospital, and even the people on break never know whether a STAT or Code will call them back to work. Same for the guests and patients–medical emergencies do not wait for anything.