How long does your mass last?

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Polak

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I remember when I went to mass as a child and it would last 1 hour. For some time now the length of the mass has been closer to 45 minutes. Since mass was allowed to resume after the pandemic, with shorter sermons suggested, it can even be as short as half an hour now (today’s was about that long).

Personally I find that a bit disturbing. I know in some Orthodox churches their mass lasts 3 hours. I’m not saying ours should be that long, but I would have thought we could manage 1 hour, at least for the services on Sundays.

How long is the mass at the church you normally attend?
 
Daily Mass is usually 20 to 30 minutes.

Sunday Mass is usually 45 minutes to an hour.

The Sunday morning Masses at many churches seem to be running maybe 5 to 10 minutes quicker during COVID due to the necessity to sanitize pews between Masses (although one church has dealt with this by instead having different Masses sit in different pews so they can just clean all the pews after all the Masses are done). I typically attend the afternoon Mass on Saturday or Sunday, and those Masses seem to run a little longer because there isn’t a Mass scheduled after them.

It’s not a big deal to me to have the Mass run a little shorter, because the shortness is created by abbreviating the hymns and the homily, as well as by having fewer people in the Communion line because the churches are only about half full. It’s not like the lectors and priest are speed-reading the Scripture or the priest is rushing through the Consecration.

If you don’t like how short your Mass is, you can always go twice.
 
45 minutes.

Keep in mind that Pope Francis’ request to give short homilies preceded Covid 19 by years.

In fact, the celebrant gives homilies for 10-15 minutes with us.

I don’t know how things are going with you, but here after 10 minutes people are more distracted than a second-grade child parked in a college engineering classroom.

Also because in my part it is rare for a homily to be concrete and applicable, we like sociology, and the hermeneutic of “let’s not complicate the lives of the faithful, otherwise the churches remain empty”.
 
Daily Mass about 1/2 hour. Sunday depends on whether there is music or not. The early morning Mass I typically went to pre-Covid had no music and was about 45 minutes long. We now have music back at some Masses but no singing and no long lines for communion, so those Masses are running about 45 minutes versus an hour pre-Covid. Lots of people are still live-streaming.
 
Polak said:
I know in some Orthodox churches their mass lasts 3 hours.
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The Eastern tradition has no concept of the “Low Mass”. For the East, every liturgy is a “High Mass”…the idea of simply reciting, rather than singing, the liturgy is unthinkable. The idea of dispensing with incense is unthinkable. The idea of shortening any of the prayers is unthinkable. I admire the East for their absolute devotion to stunning, spectacular liturgies come rain or shine… it truly is amazing. On the other hand…when you have a Pandemic like this…there is value in the Latin approach. If not for the concept of the “Low Mass”…a “bare bones” liturgy…many of the faithful would be completely deprived of the sacraments. My parish has doubled the number of weekend Masses to accommodate more people during the pandemic…if every Mass had to be a “high Mass” with incense and chant and all the bells and whistles, then this would simply be impossible.

I think both approaches have their merits.
 
I would further note that at least in my area, the Eastern churches do not have weekday services, unless it’s a special holy day.

Almost every RC church has Mass every day of the week. It may be a 20-minute Mass, but it’s Mass, and you get to receive Our Lord.

I doubt that I would have time in my schedule for a 2 or 3 hour Mass every day of the week. 20 to 30 minutes is usually do-able though.
 
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When I was a kid, Sunday Mass was either 30 minutes or 50 minutes. The shorter Mass was the earlier time with no music/singing at all. The later Mass had the four hymns, most of the Mass parts sung, and a slightly larger crowd.

Now, I don’t see a lot of difference except in one parish, Mass is almost exactly an hour (the priest preaches a little longer than the childhood priest did - who seemed to loathe even giving a homily), and another parish that I attend roughly equally sometimes goes for an hour and twenty minutes. The longer time is because they really enjoy their music, so hymns, etc are longer and drawn out (sometimes there are five or more instead of the typical four), and their crowd is usually larger, making communion longer. The priest there also preaches a fairly lengthy time (but it’s of the quality that you usually don’t notice or mind).
 
Daily mass is about 35 to 40 minutes.
Sunday mass use to run about 70 minutes now it runs about 55 minutes since there is little music.
 
At my parish, Daily Mass (Ordinary Form) is around 30 to 45 minutes. Sunday Mass (Ordinary Form) is 1 hour, Extraodrinary Form (High Mass) is usually between 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1.5 hours.
 
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About 50 min to an hour for Low Mass, both weekdays and Sundays. High Mass is about 1 hour 15 mins or slightly longer. Sermons are the same length as usual, I haven’t noticed that they were shortened due to Covid.
 
Since the pandemic started, we’ve been participating in the livestream from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

We live across the Potomac in Virginia, but go to the shrine occasionally. So, it’s familiar. Good production values. Beautiful pipe organ and ensemble providing the music.

They clock in at an hour.
 
Sundays usually 1 hr and 15 mins, weekdays 30-40 mins as there are a lot less people attending and the homily is usually much shorter.
 
Daily Novus Ordo Mass is 30 minutes.
Sunday Novus Ordo Mass is an hour and fifteen minutes.
Daily and Sunday Low Mass is an hour.
High Mass is an hour and a half.
 
Sometimes I wish an optional mass was offered with a longer, more in depth sermon. I’d go for sure.
 
Our Divine Liturgy was 1.5 hours this morning (almost 2 if you count the “Hours Services” before Liturgy)
Tis_Bearself said:
I would further note that at least in my area, the Eastern churches do not have weekday services, unless it’s a special holy day.
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The reason for that is: in order to receive Eucharist at Divine Liturgy, one fasts from midnight and also abstains from conjugal relations during the night before. If we have liturgy 7 days a week, priests and their spouses are going to have to be celibate 😬
 
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Not sure if the conjugal part applies to EC’s. I seem to recall we had the discussion before. Perhaps an EC can testify.
 
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Polak said:
I remember when I went to mass as a child and it would last 1 hour. For some time now the length of the mass has been closer to 45 minutes. Since mass was allowed to resume after the pandemic, with shorter sermons suggested, it can even be as short as half an hour now (today’s was about that long).

Personally I find that a bit disturbing. I know in some Orthodox churches their mass lasts 3 hours. I’m not saying ours should be that long, but I would have thought we could manage 1 hour, at least for the services on Sundays.

How long is the mass at the church you normally attend?
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I currently attend a Catholic Traditional Latin Mass parish, and it is an hour and thirty minutes long on Sundays.
 
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Afaik, the conjugal part does apply in the UGCC but Idk about other Eastern Catholic Churches.
 
Our Liturgy is usually an hour but can run longer if Father gives a good long homily. On Pascha, normally it runs at least 3 hours because we have the Prayer at the Tomb, Resurrection Matins, Divine Liturgy, myrovania and the blessing of the baskets (this is pre-crisis, mind you).

This year Father had the blessing of the baskets in the parking lot with everyone observing social distancing, even with their cars. (Most people parked every other space.) Then it was just Father and I for the Prayer at the Tomb, Resurrection Matins and Divine Liturgy (no myrovania). I was so happy to be in church for Pascha - my joy was indescribable.
 
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