Fast Mass

[ProVobis]

A low mass in the tridentine form can be said in about 15 minutes. I was an altar boy in the late 50’s and I’ve served at such masses.

Reb Levi

Daily Masses back then were scheduled at every half-hour. And sometimes there was a Mass said at the side altars at the same time. And the servers had to be good. (We had one stutterer which made things difficult. ) It was common to have 20-25 minute Masses, since there were very few communicants and no sermon.

That said, there’s no way I can say the Tridentine form in 15 minutes.

 

[bilop]

Are you able to attentively and prayfully follow along with your Missal at a Mass between 15 and 30 minutes?

Yes. I’m the altar server.

We’ve never done 15 minutes, but certainly under 30. And that’s the Sunday Mass.

Remember, for a daily low Mass, we’re talking no entrance or exit hymns, no homily, no distribution of communion to the faithful, and, if a requiem Mass is said (as is commong for daily low Mass) a shorter text of the Mass, omitting several prayers.

God Bless

 

[Credo_in_Deum]

Thank you - Good reading.

Not a problem. Another book which shares a similar opinion is ":" By St. Joseph CafassoPriest - The Man Of God

• …You are all aware that a priest cannot be excused from mortal sin who celebrates Mass in less than a quarter of an hour, and with difficulty from venial sin, if he celebrates in less than twenty minutes; this is the opinion of Pope Benedict XIV. Each Priest should make sure that he keeps within these limits.* —St. Cafasso pg.107

It should also be noted that the OP has not given us the duration of the “Fast Mass.”

 

[TrueLight]

Are you able to attentively and prayfully follow along with your Missal at a Mass between 15 and 30 minutes?

Yes, I read and speak quickly,

Not to go off on a tangent, but some people also ask if it is reverant to pray the Rosary quickly. Why not?

 

[ProVobis]

Yes, I read and speak quickly,

Not to go off on a tangent, but some people also ask if it is reverant to pray the Rosary quickly. Why not?

Of course. If you only have 15 minutes for lunch, three rosaries are better than one on any day.

 

[TrueLight]

Of course. If you only have 15 minutes for lunch, three rosaries are better than one on any day.

Three in 15 minutes? You couldn’t possible have done that!

 

[TheBand]

Yes, I read and speak quickly,

Not to go off on a tangent, but some people also ask if it is reverant to pray the Rosary quickly. Why not?

I guess I would ask why would you want to pray the Mass or the Rosary quickly?
I too can read or speak quickly if I need to but in an act of prayer like the Mass or the Rosary it seems to me that one should take their time to refect on what one is praying. I feel that our world and lives nowadays are moving so fast that when we take time to be with the Lord (Mass or Rosary) we need to slow down.

 

[GangGreen]

Most EF Low Masses that I’ve been to/watched have all been between 40 minutes and an hour (including Communion). This includes the FSSP Mass that streams daily on the internet. I can imagine that someone going extra fast, no one receiving Communion or other things can cut off quite a bit of time from the Mass, however, the same can be said about the OF (there are a lot less prayers in the OF).

A priest and servers who speak Latin very well will be able to get through the Mass much quicker than a priest and/or servers who don’t. That said, I can’t imagine a Mass being less than 30 minutes unless something is being done that isn’t quite right.

 

[janeway529]

Someone once told me that the most common liturgical abuse of the Tridentine Mass was for a priest to speed through the prayers.

I’ve been to a OF Mass that was 18 minutes, with a 2-minute homily, communion, and no hymns.

 

[sw85]

Regarding Mass in 15 minutes, read post 11.

I regularly serve at weekday Ordinary Form Masses of 25 minutes including homily and purification of the vessels at the altar. They are not rushed but very reverent, two altar servers, ringing of bells, even chanted preface and sanctus.

I once attended daily Mass where the priest celebrant was an ex-Marine, and the priest who was acting as deacon was an active Navy chaplain. It was a fairly quick Mass, definitely under 30 minutes even with a brief homily and a decent number of people receiving communion.

I wouldn’t have called it “rushed,” it just wasn’t leisurely. It was efficient, without pretension, very martial, like the men who celebrated it. There was an odd beauty to it; the whole thing communicated the urgency of spiritual warfare. Of course, we also had to leave pretty quickly – we were “borrowing” the Church and the regularly scheduled Mass started shortly thereafter – so maybe that’s all it was.

 

[sw85]

Someone once told me that the most common liturgical abuse of the Tridentine Mass was for a priest to speed through the prayers.

I’ve been to a OF Mass that was 18 minutes, with a 2-minute homily, communion, and no hymns.

I’ve heard this as well. Specifically I’ve heard that the priest would start saying “Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam ad vitam aeternam, amen” at one end of the communion line and finishing it at the other, rather than saying it for each and every person receiving communion.

 

[ProVobis]

I’ve heard this as well. Specifically I’ve heard that the priest would start saying “Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam ad vitam aeternam, amen” at one end of the communion line and finishing it at the other, rather than saying it for each and every person receiving communion.

I thought about this the other day. It would be against the current rubrics but would there be a problem theologically if the priest were to say this once for all the communicants instead of individually? Or “Corpus Christe” and have all communicants respond “Amen” at the same time? Just asking.

 

[roveau]

A low mass in the tridentine form can be said in about 15 minutes. I was an altar boy in the late 50’s and I’ve served at such masses.

Reb Levi

I find that very difficult to believe. Some of our priests in the early 1960s used to race through but it would still take about 30 minutes. We had a priest at our parish who used to delight in brief Masses. His record in OF on a Sunday was about 20 minutes.

 

[Elizium23]

I find that very difficult to believe. Some of our priests in the early 1960s used to race through but it would still take about 30 minutes. We had a priest at our parish who used to delight in brief Masses. His record in OF on a Sunday was about 20 minutes.

It’s not hard to believe at all if you consider abuses such as omitting parts wholesale.

 

[thewanderer]

I find that very difficult to believe. Some of our priests in the early 1960s used to race through but it would still take about 30 minutes. We had a priest at our parish who used to delight in brief Masses. His record in OF on a Sunday was about 20 minutes.

Yeah… I can see that. I used to live in a place Sunday Mass averages about 25-35 mins. And thats not just one priest, or parish, or diocese, but the norm for the whole country. The record for a short Mass though is about 12 minutes, admittedly, it was during the week, but still, if you cut out anything that is not essential the Mass really isn’t that long.