Have you ever been verbally attacked at Mass?

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Duesenberg

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Have you ever been verbally attacked at Mass, either before or after? I was thinking about the time a guy sitting behind me at Mass really attacked me for no good reason.

After Mass was over, he touched my shoulder and I turned around. He said “those things are not allowed!” I replied “what?”

I took a drink from a water bottle before Mass which he said was “forbidden.” He said it was wrong for me to listen to music on an mp3 player before Mass (not that he could hear it). He said that I should not hold a blessing cross during Mass and that I should not use it to bless myself. He also said that I should not be tracing a cross on the Gospel reading of my misallete before doing so on my forehead, lips and heart(!) Finally he said my “5-on-5 posture” during the Lord’s Prayer was “not approved.”

For a split second I looked for Alan Funt and his candid camera. Then I chuckled and very seriously replied “mind your own business.” That was that. Has anyone else experienced anything similar to this?
 
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Unless you have a medical condition that means you cannot go for an hour without water, it is impolite to bring a water bottle to Mass.

Wearing headphones and listening to music during Mass, if you were my kid I would ground you for even thinking of such a thing.

Never heard of 5 on 5 so heaven knows what posture you came up with!
 
No, never. Well, maybe. One time a woman did hunt me down after Mass to let
me know that my baby and 2 year old should always be in the cry room, and
never in the main Church. I was shocked, because I thought they done
rather well that day. I didn’t feel the need to take them out at any time,
and I’m pretty quick to remove a fussy baby or toddler. I didn’t really
consider it being attacked, though. It’s been 13 years and it still stings.

What is a five-on-five posture?
 
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TheLittleLady said:
Unless you have a medical condition that means you cannot go for an hour without water, it is impolite to bring a water bottle to Mass.
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That’s simply untrue. Nothing more than a personal opinion.
TheLittleLady said:
Wearing headphones and listening to music during Mass, if you were my kid I would ground you for even thinking of such a thing.
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I didn’t say that. Please don’t try to add things.
TheLittleLady said:
Never heard of 5 on 5 so heaven knows what posture you came up with!
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Hmmm…
 
babochka said:
No, never. Well, maybe. One time a woman did hunt me down after Mass to let

me know that my baby and 2 year old should always be in the cry room, and

never in the main Church. I was shocked, because I thought they done

rather well that day. I didn’t feel the need to take them out at any time,

and I’m pretty quick to remove a fussy baby or toddler. I didn’t really

consider it being attacked, though. It’s been 13 years and it still stings.
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That’s actually worse than what I experienced.
babochka said:
What is a five-on-five posture?
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He disapproved of a very traditional prayer posture during the Lord’s Prayer? How strange.
 
Correction is not always verbal attck. Poor guy meant well but didn’t know how to connect with you.
 
When I was visiting the Cathedral in Denver, I had my smartphone out immediately prior to a Mass, and some old lady growled intensely but quietly, “Put that away or I’ll smash it in your face!”

I said, “What?”

She said it again.

I said, “What?”

She said, “You heard me.”

Without saying a word or putting an expression of alarm on my face, I walked 10 feet away from her but deliberately kept my phone out for an additional 30 seconds or so.

Not a very good way to respond, I know.
 
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About 5 minutes after it happened, that is what came to my mind. “Okay, go ahead. Smash it in my face”.

In all honesty it was with me for the rest of the day and the next. I mentioned the occurrence to one of the Confessors during Reconciliation.
 
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Duesenberg said:
Wearing headphones and listening to music during Mass, if you were my kid I would ground you for even thinking of such a thing.

I didn’t say that. Please don’t try to add things.
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To sit in the pew listing to your jams before Mass or after or during Mass is rude.

Bringing a water bottle into the Church (unless you have a medical condition where you cannot go without water or step to the water fountain) is boorish behavior.

Do you bring along a bottle of water to the ballet? Bring your iPod/headphones to a nice restaurant?
 
Which I would have done sooner anyway. She accomplished nothing.There was nothing courageous in her action whatsoever.
 
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Yes, I find it a little hard to believe that even happened at all. Children are taught to pray that way. And a grown man is going to call someone out for that? Nope.
 
Shakuhachi said:
Correction is not always verbal attck. Poor guy meant well but didn’t know how to connect with you.
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He was very angry – the bulging veins in the neck, the whole bit. I really wouldn’t have minded fraternal correction if I had done something wrong. But I did not. It was sorta Twilight Zoney…

Of course it might have been a much bigger deal had I been a female or if he would have been a physically threatening individual.
 
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TheLittleLady said:
To sit in the pew listing to your jams before Mass or after or during Mass is rude.
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Now you are becoming overtly offensive. The Litany of the Saints, the Te Deum, Jesus Christ is Risen Today, etc. are not “jams.” Characterizing them as such is discourteous and listening them them in that situation is not “rude” as you believe.
TheLittleLady said:
Bringing a water bottle into the Church (unless you have a medical condition where you cannot go without water or step to the water fountain) is boorish behavior.
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No it’s not. You’re simply mistaken when it comes to good versus bad manners and your judgements are rather ridiculous.
TheLittleLady said:
Do you bring along a bottle of water to the ballet?
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Actually I (and a great many others) take a bottle of water to MANY performing arts. The Disney Center allows one small bottle of water per patron. If I happened to be sitting by myself at a restaurant, I would have no problem listening to my MP3 player. That would not be a breech of good manners.
 
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I used to bring a water bottle for my 88 year old mom who had an intermittent choking problem and couldn’t walk very well, so wasn’t able to step out to the restroom easily (no water fountain out there anyway).
If someone had a problem with that, I can’t say I cared much.

Now that Mom is deceased, I do not tend to bring a bottle of anything just for me, but on occasion I have had to bring a bottle of water or some Gatorade (for after communion) in cases where it is very hot and/or I have had to walk a distance to the Mass (or the Mass is one stop on my walking tour for the day as a tourist) and/or the Mass is outdoors and/or I will be standing up through the whole Mass because it is a big event and/or I am not feeling well. Not every church has a drinking fountain available, and I am much more concerned about passing out from dehydration or electrolyte loss than I am about whether some nosy parker thinks I am rude to have a water bottle. But I’ve never had anyone complain.

There are certain large Masses where they have security checkpoints and one’s water bottle might not be let in. I make sure to leave it behind when I know I will have to be going through security (such as a Papal Mass, or a Mass in a historic landmark such as St. Peter’s or St. Vitus’s).
 
Sometimes when I’m scheduled to read I’ll bring a bottle of water. Last thing I want to happen is that my mouth goes dry just before I go up to read.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I used to bring a water bottle for my 88 year old mom who had an intermittent choking problem and couldn’t walk very well, so wasn’t able to step out to the restroom easily (no water fountain out there anyway).

If someone had a problem with that, I can’t say I cared much.
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Don’t worry, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with bringing a water bottle to Mass, so long as one is discreet. Altogether different than idly swinging on a Starbucks or a Big Gulp. I started bringing a water bottle when I jogged to Mass. Then I realized how much it helped my singing so I continue bringing it with me.

I am mindful not to choose a loudly decorated water bottle to bring to Mass. No hot pink or neon green water bottles.
 
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fredystairs said:
Sometimes when I’m scheduled to read I’ll bring a bottle of water. Last thing I want to happen is that my mouth goes dry just before I go up to read.
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Yep. Our cantors and choir members all have water bottle close by. Sometime the Mass celebrant as well.
 
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