How late can one come to mass?

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Maxwell03

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Seriously how late can one come to mass?

I was always told to arrive at least 10 minutes before mass for a silent prayer and to ready myself for mass.

(Not sure what category this should be in)
 
I have heard that one should try to be in Mass before the Gospel, but I dont really have a source
 
Maxwell03 said:
Seriously how late can one come to mass?
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Many years ago before the Mass was reformed we were taught that we fulfilled our obligation to attend Mass if we were present from the lifting of the veil from the chalice and pattern at the Offertory until the priest’s Communion .

Now I would say we should not be late for Mass unless we have a good excuse .
 
You should arrive 15 minutes before Mass, to pray and prepare yourself for Mass.

Getting to Mass merely to fulfill an obligation is a problem in of itself.

Jim
 
I was under the impression that the Gospel reading was the cut off point.
 
For some, due to work schedules, travel time, etc… arriving late can be unavoidable.
 
You should strive to be on time. Usually this is possible for Sunday Mass; can be iffy for weekday Masses due to conflicts with work schedules, traffic, a dearth of available Masses, and increased likelihood of sudden, unannounced Mass schedule changes.

However, there is no longer any formal criteria for how “late” one can or can’t be.
 
Canvas said:
I was under the impression that the Gospel reading was the cut off point.
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People have been told all kinds of things about what elements of the Mass you have to be present for in order to say you were there, especially if they went to Catholic school.
We’ve been over this before, however, and the Church does not officially specify a particular “cut off point”.
 
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I am sure we have all (at least most of us) been late before. Sometimes things happen—kids won’t cooperate, there is a car accident or you just were not good at managing your time or you tried to fit too much in (like I’ll just pick up my prescription—the store is on the way to Church and you end up missing the beginning of Mass)

I think the poster was asking how late they could be and still consider their obligation fulfilled.
 
Yes, I meant to respond directly to another poster in the thread, but someone I didn’t use the reply function!
 
The feeling that the church is only a few walks away from me but sometimes I’m still late because of waking up late or I just can’t manage my time somtimes.
 
Oh, I think a Deacon might have been the one who said the Gospel was the cut off point. I have just been under that impression for a long time. If it is not an official teaching, he probably didn’t say it was a definitive doctrine (he is not the kind of guy that would pass off an opinion as an official teaching) but “a lot of people think the Gospel is the cut off point”, probably just to give an idea what common practice was.

Now, if there is no official teaching, I’ll gladly concede. As I recall, I don’t recall seeing anything in the CCC or any other source that makes a definitive proclamation.
 
Maxwell03 said:
I was always told to arrive at least 10 minutes before mass for a silent prayer and to ready myself for mass.
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That is really excellent advice! Many parishes have a rosary before Mass, which is also an excellent habit. We should not plan on walking in the door at 10am for 10am Mass. That is how we wind up being late.
 
There are a lot of “unofficial opinions” from priests and Catholic bloggers all over the web. Most of them are trying to get at the idea that you should make a sincere effort to participate in the whole Mass, but they also don’t want to say that somebody who was late because they were taking care of a sick family member or had some other emergency committed a sin.

i’ve found that where there’s no Church rule, it’s good to ignore opinions and do what feels right to you. If I feel I am too late for the Mass and it is a Sunday or obligation day, I will attend the Mass for which I am late, but also I will try to go to another Mass that day. If no other Mass available that day I will go to one the next day.
 
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Canvas said:
I was under the impression that the Gospel reading was the cut off point.
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This is what my mama told me when I was a child.

As far as I know there’s nothing written about getting there 15, 10, or 5 minutes before mass starts. We all have our own standards. Even when I had a child living at home with me I was never late for mass, or if I knew I wasn’t going to make it I went to the next scheduled time. I’m one of those annoying people who always arrive early though, so …
 
This has been my understanding also,I will be interested to find out the official teaching 🙂
@Frdavid may be able to help .
God bless.
 
Luckily for me, there are two Churches in my Parish, and they have a number of Masses that start only a half an hour apart, and are only a short drive apart. (large Parish—one very old Church, one modern but much larger Mission Church, but both served by the same Redemptorist Clergy). So if you are late to the 10:30 am at one, there is one at 11 am at the other. They make it very easy to fulfill your Sunday obligation, there are so many Masses offered in just my home Parish.
 
JimR-OCDS said:
You should arrive 15 minutes before Mass, to pray and prepare yourself for Mass.

Getting to Mass merely to fulfill an obligation is a problem in of itself.
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I agree fully.

Adopt the military model “if you’re not 15 minutes early you’re late.”

And my personal rule for Mass is: Procession to Recession.
 
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