Best and Worst time to go to the bathroom during mass?

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On the lighter side although still it’s important to be reverent during the entirety of mass. When nature calls when’s the best and worst time to take care of business?

The gospel reading was going on and nature was calling. I waited until the end of the gospel and then walked to the back. I began to wonder this question so I figured I’d ask the forum.

I think the best time would either be during the homily or during the collection. The worst would be during the consecration. In my humble opinion.
 
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It truly doesn’t matter. Go when you need to. Better that you answer nature’s call than not, and risk at best discomfort, and at worst embarrassment.

-Fr ACEGC
 
For me, If I need to leave, I do it when everyone is standing so as not to make a spectacle of myself. Right before the end of the Gospel is ideal and then return when everyone is standing again.
 
edward_george1 said:
It truly doesn’t matter. Go when you need to. Better that you answer nature’s call than not, and risk at best discomfort, and at worst embarrassment.
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What Father said.

Since the day that I actually had to drive home for a diaper during Mass, as the current one just couldn’t wait and the bag turned out to be empty, such concerns have been minor by comparison . . .

hawk
 
Go to the loo before Mass if you know you haven’t been there in a while. This is teacher talking. 🤣
 
Knight said:
On the lighter side although still it’s important to be reverent during the entirety of mass. When nature calls when’s the best and worst time to take care of business?
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Not sure when the best time is. As someone else mentioned, a time when everyone is standing will be less conspicuous.

The worst time to go? A minute too late.
 
I don’t think there is ever a good time. I only go when it’s an absolute biological imperative, so any time at that point is a good time in my opinion lol
 
Back in the 1990’s when my godson was a teenaged boy, he attended a church here in Pittsburgh where a major deal was made of the Sign of Peace- lots of hugging by the church’s women who were very perfumed- sort of like my own elderly aunts in the 1960’s.

He really somehow “had to go” when he knew this was coming down.

At least it showed he was paying attention to how the Mass was progressing I guess.
 
Offetory.

Out of courtesy to the homilist, unless it is an emergency I would wait until he is finished.

Or during the “Liturgy of the Bulletin”.
 
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Perhaps during the homily, because in a sense this is not part of the mass, at least not in the old mass it wasn’t any way, and priests used to take of their chausable for the homily to symbolize that.

Ideally never however. If it’s a week day it’s not as bad as there’s one less worry: the obligation
 
edward_george1 said:
It truly doesn’t matter. Go when you need to. Better that you answer nature’s call than not, and risk at best discomfort, and at worst embarrassment.

-Fr ACEGC
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I agree. If it’s urgent, stand, genuflect, and then go. At my church, I think most of the attendees are more worried about their personal relationship with God and their own self-reflection than an individual coming or going for whatever reason. I see it all the time and think nothing of it. I’m there to reflect on my life during the week, ask God’s pardon for my iniquity, and celebrate his everlasting grace and mercy with his Body.
 
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TheLittleLady said:
Out of courtesy to the homilist, unless it is an emergency I would wait until he is finished.
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I don’t know, at my church, the typical homily is 30+ minutes.

I’d be more concerned if the bathroom was in front of the church (rather than in the foyer) than the time I had to go. Of course as a lector, this is far more embarrassing as you’re in the front of the church.

For me, it’s executive functioning and an allergy fit not #1 or #2. Of course if you wait three hours before mass to eat, hopefully you won’t find yourself having a bout of food poisoning. In other words, you just never know!
 
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It’s part of my routine that my first stop at church is the john – I go, wash my hands, and then go on in. I’ve never had to leave Mass to go, but if I had to, I’d try to hold out to the collection.
TheLittleLady said:
Or during the “Liturgy of the Bulletin”.
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snork

D
 
I rarely see this - mostly moms taking kids out.
No way do I drink coffee before mass - lol
After mass - the church has two bathrooms downstairs - doors closed - people waiting.
Upstairs - two bathrooms - doors closed also.
One or two people milling about.
Ohhhhh I don’t look forward to aging !

But as a side note -
I don’t even like wiping my nose with a hanky during mass -
I wait when we sit from standing or when kneeling -
And in - that split second - fast - I do a quick wipe !

Sitting in the back row now - I hardly worry about that.
 
At St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, the answer is “Anytime is bad.” They don’t have a bathroom.

I’m fact, they send you into the lobby of the building next door, which is not kept well at all. Last time I was there, a homeless guy was washing himself in the sink.
 
If someone really needs to go (and there are all kinds of reasons why that might be) then they should just go, regardless of what is going on during Mass.

I sing in the choir and we practice for a half an hour before Mass begins. There are times when we just don’t get a chance to slip away before Mass begins. And there are other days when we end up needing to sip more water than usual and we find we just can’t make it through Mass. Even our choir director occasionally has to make an exit. Our choir location is in the nave of the church (although off to a side.) In cases when we have to leave, we usually try to slip out when people are changing positions and/or other people involved in the liturgy are moving from one place to another.
 
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