How late can I arrive ..?

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How late in a mass can one arrive and still be allowed to receive communion?
 
Actually, there is no hard and fast rule about this, but you should always plan on being there for the processional.

Asking how late you can be, makes it seem you don’t want to be there on time.
 
According to the question, you can arrive as late as the line going up to receive communion is ending. You can recieve communion no matter when you enter during the Mass. The question is, “Is my holy day of obligation full filled” ? Is that what you meant?
 
if your aim is just to receive communion, then you can arrive there during the distribution of communion

if you wish to fulfill your Sunday obligation, there’s no hard rule but common sense tells me that obligations need to be fulfilled in its entirety. so be there for the beginning of Mass. if you’re late because of an unavoidable reason, then its fine. but don’t be late habitually
 
It used to be that if you got there for the reading of the Gospel, you had satisfied the obligation. Or that you had to be there for the Offertory, Consecration and Communion.

As I got older, I decided that I needed to arrive about 15 minutes before the start of the Mass, so I could prepare properly.

One time, I remember seeing a parishioner rush into Sunday Mass just as the distribution of Holy Communion was ending. The pastor saw him and waited and asked if he was ok; evidently a member of the local fire department; gave him a blessing AND Holy Communion.

Another time, another priest, another parish, gave a “hilarious” sermon about the “near disaster” the previous Sunday from the danger of the “early leavers” colliding with the “late arrivers”. I don’t remember a lot of the sermons and homilies, but I remember that one.
 
to expound on my statement

if i have an obligation to someone for $100 and i only gave $95, thats not fulfilling my obligation

so if you have an obligation to go to Mass on Sundays, you should be at mass for its entirety. there might be circumstances that may prevent you from being there 100% of the time, but as long as its an exception to the norm rather than the norm, then you’re fine.
 
As a personal practice I only receive communion if I arrive prior to the Sanctus.

This has been something that I’ve wondered about for some time now as I’ve seen some interesting things in my time.

Thanks all for the feedback!
 
Technically, you could just get there in time before the Priest stops handing out Communion. BUT, this would simply count as you receiving Communion, it would not fullfill you Mass obligation. There is another thread on Mass Obligation.

Pax!
 
jmvbxx said:
As a personal practice I only receive communion if I arrive prior to the Sanctus.

This has been something that I’ve wondered about for some time now as I’ve seen some interesting things in my time.

Thanks all for the feedback!
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Is this habitual?
 
jmvbxx said:
How late in a mass can one arrive and still be allowed to receive communion?
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As others have already said, there are 2 questions.

With regard to receiving Communion, there’s no point which you’re required to arrive. Because a priest can administer Holy Communion at any time, even outside of Mass, he can likewise administer Communion to one who arrives late for Mass. If you think about it for a second, even if you arrive an hour after Mass is over, you can knock on the rectory door and ask the priest to give you Communion. Now, I do NOT recommend doing this :eek: I only point-out that it can be done. Therefore if a priest can give you Communion when you’ve missed all of Mass (the “whole”) he can likewise give Communion if you’ve missed any parts of the Mass (the “part”). When one can dispense from the whole, he can likewise dispense from the part (although this isn’t a dispensation, I’m using the word in a generic sense).

Of those priests who see a need to call attention to the issue of late arrivals (because for some reason, it has become a problem), the general practice is to say “if you’re not here for the Gospel, don’t come for Communion.”

Something to keep in mind though is that while the priest may give Communion to one who hasn’t attended Mass (or any part), it’s still within his own discretion to determine if it’s appropriate for him to do so. Depending on the circumstances, this might or might not happen. To use the examples already provided, a person who has a habit of being late and the priest knows there’s no good reason, the priest can decide not to do it; on the other hand, the priest can decide that the fireman had a good reason and therefore give Communion.

The other question:

The generally accepted standard is that one has to be there to hear the Gospel to fulfill the Mass obligation. This is the standard that’s been applied for decades, so it enjoys the force of custom–because this is how the law has been interpreted and applied. The two parts of the Mass form a single whole: the Word and the Eucharist. There is also some indirect precedent for using the Gospel as the “moment”; for example, a priest who isn’t celebrating Mass is permitted to hear confessions in the same church where Mass is celebrated, but he must stop before the Gospel. That’s a pretty good indicator that someone going to (or waiting for) confession can be “excused” from the rest of the Mass until the Gospel. So while there’s no solid answer, the typical one is that someone has to be there for the Gospel to fulfill the obligation.
 
interesting reply Father David

in the Philippines, confessions last until The Lord’s Prayer, when the priest has to leave and assist in distributing Communion. and mind you he begins hearing confessions shortly beforfe the Mass begins, there’s just a lot of people in line (to the parish i go for confession at least)

is it a general rule to stop hearing confessions when the Gospel begins? or is this determined by the Bishop? or is this rule just relaxed in the Philippines because of the number of people wanting to say their confessions?
 
choy said:
interesting reply Father David

in the Philippines, confessions last until The Lord’s Prayer, when the priest has to leave and assist in distributing Communion. and mind you he begins hearing confessions shortly beforfe the Mass begins, there’s just a lot of people in line (to the parish i go for confession at least)

is it a general rule to stop hearing confessions when the Gospel begins? or is this determined by the Bishop? or is this rule just relaxed in the Philippines because of the number of people wanting to say their confessions?
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First, yes it is a “general rule” but it’s nothing more than that. It’s merely the accepted practice. This isn’t in the code of canon law, or in any liturgical law. But there is more to it than just that…

In re-reading my post, I used too strong a word “must” stop before the Gospel. This isn’t a “must” but a “should” If it’s a situation of hearing confessions of someone who isn’t at Mass in the first place, a priest (obviously not the celebrant) can hear a confession any time. The CDWDS responded to a question about this, and the response was that confessions during Mass could be heard, but that they should cease before the Gospel–but the context seemed to be more toward the idea that the people going to confession were also going to Mass. I can’t, at the moment, find that letter online. A similar letter (adoremus.org/confessions1001.html) says that confessions can be heard during Mass (w/o any restrictions on time) but also cautioned that going to confession should not “interfere with active participation in the Mass” That leads me to conclude that there is some distinction between those who are in church to go to Mass, and those who are there to go to confession. For the later, confessions can be heard anytime.

In any case, the reason why I brought up the subject in the first place was to provide an example of how we might determine “how late is too late?” The part about confessions during Mass was only to provide a possible moment (ie the Gospel) and support that conclusion with some indirect, but related examples. I can see this discussion of when, and under what circumstances, confessions can be heard during Mass as something which might take on a life of its own and take this thread off-topic. Still, it’s a good topic, so if you want to discuss it further, you might want to consider starting a new thread. If you do, and I find more solid information in my research, I’ll be happy to participate in the discussion. No doubt other members will have more sources.
 
FrDavid96 said:
As others have already said, there are 2 questions…
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Thank you for this insight post. I appreciated the separation of the two points … up to what point is it ok to receive communion? and when have you fulfilled the obligation of attending mass?

Honestly, I had never considered the second question before. As I mentioned earlier … I am a bit of a ‘stiff’ in terms of making sure I arrive on time but it does occasionally happen, especially for an evening mass during the week, that we don’t arrive right at the beginning. As mentioned, I have avoided receiving communion if I was not present for the Sanctus. After reading your post, I don’t see a problem in shifting that a little to being present for the gospel.

Thanks again!
 
jmvbxx said:
LOL!! Quite the opposite in fact! I am one of those that wants to be out the door at least 30 minutes before mass begins and it is less than a 3 minute drive 🙂
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Great!! You had me worried there for a minute. 😃
 
I attended a Mass at a church in Phoenix. Right before the Alleluia was sung the doors from the narthex closed automatically - with a gentle but noticeable thud. I am sure that gets the message across.
 
dconklin said:
I attended a Mass at a church in Phoenix. Right before the Alleluia was sung the doors from the narthex closed automatically - with a gentle but noticeable thud. I am sure that gets the message across.
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in my parish the doors are closed at the beginning (or during) the procession

of course since they’re not locked, no one is prevented from coming in (or leaving early)
 
jmvbxx said:
How late in a mass can one arrive and still be allowed to receive communion?
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you can receive communion at any Mass, even on Sunday, no matter when you arrive (if otherwise of course you are properly disposed). But that does not take care of your Sunday Mass obligation. You still must assist at an entire Mass from start to finish. The readings are part of Mass, as is the final blessing, so missing those means missing Mass. You can receive communion again in the context of a full Mass on the same day.
 
My pastor knows my work schedule…I thought about that, missing the Liturgy of the Word, and did not go to communion.

It happened again, and so I asked him at end of Mass, and he told me to go to communion.
 
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