Distractions During Mass

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MaryK111956

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Are there other people who feel that breastfeeding during Mass is a real distraction, especially when the Mom is sitting near the front row? I realize that they try to " cover up", but this just seems in very poor judgement, considering that the priests and young altar boys could have a problem with it. Yes, it is natural and all, but what ever happened to modesty and being a good role model for children?
Why can’t young Moms sit at the back or go to the women’s lounge to breastfeed? I’m just asking here, not trying to be mean.
Thank you!
 
MaryK111956 said:
What ever happened to modesty and being a good role model for children?
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Is breast-feeding, performed with tact, immodest and a bad example? It is, after all, what breasts are primarily for.

We know now that breast-feeding has many benefits to long-term health. As a medical and healthcare researcher I would consider bottle-feeding to be a worse example and role model for children to see.

Let’s not continue to stigmatize Mums who openly breast-feed. They are the ones doing something natural and good.
 
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No, the point is that we are there for the sacrifice of the Mass, and breastfeeding near the front could be a distraction. I am not debating whether it’s healthy or not. I’m concerned about modesty and respect for the priests, young boys and all attending. Our Church is a house of prayer.
 
Jesus said as much himself. His house is a house of prayer. Why can’t that be respected through modesty and respect for Him and the celebrants at Mass? It’s not supposed to be about “us” but is about worshiping our God… He is creator, we the created, and we should respect that for what it really is. His house!
 
There are other things which are perfectly natural which we shouldn’t do in church it seems to me.
If all in the congregation were advanced spiritual beings then I expect we would not be affected in the least but my congregation is populated by people who would be affected by this behaviour and we must respect others sensitivities. Ie what do people think of when they see breastfeeding in public? And is what theyre thinking of conducive to worshipful prayer and contemplation?

We have a sacristy at our church which is attached and has an open door and enables anyone in there to hear and participate in the mass but with a degree of privacy. As a rule no one notices any activity in there and there’s usually only one person in there.
 
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Making babies go hungry is punishing them so you don’t feel uncomfortable.

Is breastfeeding really that shocking and distracting? These priests listen to everyone’s innermost secrets and evils, so I don’t think that feeding a child is going to phase them.

Is the mom not praying? Would Jesus cast the young woman and child away because He felt that He was being disrespected?
 
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First of all, if the lady is covered up, it should not pose a problem for anyone.

Second, I would hope that our adult male priests are mature enough that they don’t get all bothered by seeing a covered woman discreetly feeding a baby.
And if any young altar boys have an issue with this, then they need to learn some maturity lessons.

I do agree that a woman in the front of a church should not be whipping out a naked breast in public there, but that’s not the scenario you are describing.
 
So sorry, I forgot to be selfish and impose my body and my child’s needs on everyone else at Mass, said no decent woman. You really miss the point. It’s not about YOU or ME, not about Us. What is the Mass itself for? Who ARE we worshiping? As a collective, we should be focused on the liturgy of the Mass, not someone breastfeeding.
 
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Michael96 said:
As a medical and healthcare researcher I would consider bottle-feeding to be a worse example and role model for children to see.
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Can we please not do the whole breastfeeding moms are better than bottle feeding moms thing?

I had my children very early and my body simply never ramped up to produce the amount of milk I would have needed to sustain twins. My lactation consultant and I tried literally everything, and after 6 months I had to admit defeat as my children were failing to thrive.

So, no, I was not setting a good or bad example by bottle feeding. I was keeping my children alive by providing them with the nutrition they needed!

:roll_eyes:
 
I would suggest that anyone who is bothered by the breastfeeding should move to the back of the nave.

I doubt any priest will be bothered by breastfeeding. There are multiple paintings of our Blessed Mother breastfeeding Jesus. I think that most priests would be reminded of Mother Mary and Our Lord when they see a woman breastfeeding a child.

From what I’ve seen in our parish, many altar boys are from families with many siblings, and they have probably seen a lot of breastfeeding and don’t associate it with sex. I would also say that any teenage boy is going to be “bothered” by ANY aspect of ANY woman! It’s just part of being a teenage boy. They learn to deal with it.

Interestingly, the place I have seen more breastfeeding during Mass–at the FRONT of the nave!–is at our local Latin Mass parish! 🤔
 
Oh well. Modesty is dead then. I hope Our Lady can forgive us.
 
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If the woman is doing her best to be discrete, how is she making Mass all about her? Is it less distracting for the baby to start indicating that the are hungry, the woman to get up in the middle of Mass, and move around? Is it less distracting if she starts out in the back of the church and her other children get loud and restless because they can only see the backs of heads?

And why is it everyone else’s responsibility to determine what YOU are focused on?
 
It’s dead because I didn’t agree with you that a fully covered woman feeding a baby is somehow “immodest”?

Our Lady fed Jesus too, you know. It is even a subject of religious art from centuries ago, and Mary’s breast is not covered in many of the old pictures.

I think you need to come down off your high horse if you want to engage others in discussion.
 
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Yes, I’m sure Our Lady is horrified that there are icons in churches depicting her breastfeeding* Jesus
 
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I thank God those women are discreetly tending to their infants . And we don’t have a distressed screaming infant for the hour of Mass
 
MaryK111956 said:
Too bad. The modernists have succeeded in making modesty disrespectful, and anything goes the norm. God Bless you all.
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