Do you ever leave mass early?

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CelticWarlord said:
As a social phobic I cannot bear the thought of being greeted by strangers so I generally leave during communion, if not right after the Lord’s Prayer so I can avoid the sign of peace.
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I used to be the same way. If I wanted to stay until at least Communion I would go off to the side or the back where nobody was around before the sign of peace. That way I could receive before leaving. A few times I forced myself to stay in the pew during the sign of peace and eventually got comfortable with it and now quite enjoy the brief moment of connection with fellow parishioners. I also eventually stayed until the end of Mass and now sometimes walk out with everyone and greet the priest. At other times after the final blessing I’ll leave as soon as the priest leaves the sanctuary.
 
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RoseScented said:
I once left mass early because I started shivering uncontrollably for absolutely no reason (or so I thought) and started to feel extremely ill. Turns out I got home and found out I had a fever of 102+.
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Your post made me remember the time I felt nauseous and sweaty before Mass. Went home before Mass started.

Heart attack…
 
Never before the final blessing…I need all the help I can get.
Dante
 
Thank you very much for your kind words. His autism is a-typical. Basically it has been labelled Pathological Demamd Avoidance. We usually have to be outside the main body of the church. However He has managed to escape my grasp before and run into the church screaming and blowing out the Advent Candle/Paschal candles before. It is so mortifying especially when some might mistake it for lack of discipline. The trouble is discipline doesn’t work on him like it does my other boys. I know renting in a one bed flat with 4 out of 5 us in one room exarcebates things but we have no money for anything bigger. Please pray for us. I am depressed
 
I attend one church that for whatever reason is stingy on the air conditioning at times. Don’t know whether it’s a budget problem or a technical problem but some days it has been quite hot in there. I have been making an effort to sit as close to the AC vents as possible in hopes of getting a little circulating air. The other week the priest saying the Mass there did say at some point that his vestments were very hot.
 
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@LilyM

Benediction isn’t the mass but it is adoration of Jesus. Far more important than a rosary!
 
I cannot remember the last time I have left Mass early.
I believe the final blessing to be special.
I am sure that over the long time that I have been a Catholic, I may have left early. But I honestly cannot remember when that was.
 
PatK63 said:
@LilyM

Benediction isn’t the mass but it is adoration of Jesus. Far more important than a rosary!
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That is as may be, but still by no means obligatory, and still no reason to be guilt-tripped so badly for not attending.
 
I think I learn a valuable lesson and a truth! I am grateful at a time when so many self identified Catholics do not believe that the host is actually Jesus!
 
You’re all better Catholics than me!
We leave before the final hymn quite often. Kids sport is the main reason - we can squeeze both mass and game in if we are efficient with our time.
 
Sorry Petra. I read your post too quickly and I thought you wrote , my husband left the church screaming

Sorry!
 
Tis_Bearself said:
hen you’re ahead of a lot of the people who identify themselves as Catholics.
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That’s very kind of you. Father Paul Paproski, who runs the Oblate group nearest to me, said in a brief correspondence that I knew more about Catholicism and attended Mass more often than most Catholics. I found that to be a rather sad commentary.
 
Define leaving early. Some people think you have to stay until the last note the recessional song, when in fact you can leave after the final blessing. As soon as Fr says, “this mass is ended…”, you are allowed to leave.

Rarely, if ever have I left before the final blessing. I usually wait until the priest has passed me.
 
Actually I’ve never met the priest at any of the parishes where I go. It’s not something I have ever wanted to do.
 
JanetF said:
Some people think you have to stay until the last note the recessional song, when in fact you can leave after the final blessing. As soon as Fr says, “this mass is ended…”, you are allowed to leave.

Rarely, if ever have I left before the final blessing. I usually wait until the priest has passed me.
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I remember one Mass when I was a child, where the priest was processing from the altar and actually stopped dead in his tracks halfway out, stopped the organist and sternly said something like “Will the people who are walking out in the back kindly wait until the priest has fully processed out of the church!” Ever since then I rarely walk out while the priest is processing.

In addition, some churches have an odd processional layout and I had one situation of trying to leave down a side aisle after the priest and servers, lectors etc had processed all the way out of the church down the main aisle, only to be shooed back into my pew by others because I didn’t realize that the priest and the whole procession were coming back into the church and up that side aisle in order to get to the area in back of the sanctuary through some little door. The aisle was very narrow (room for 1 person) so I would not have been able to get past the procession going the other way.

My mother told a true story about a parish priest from before my time who saw people walking out of Mass after Communion and yelled, “What’s the matter, you got weak kidneys?”
 
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Of course. Although I was at a Saturday evening Mass once where the Deacon had to leave early. He did it quite unobtrusively - I didn’t even notice he was gone until it was time for the final blessing. No idea why he left and I haven’t seen that particular Deacon at a Mass since.
 
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