Late to Mass and Ushers

[ut755l]

Hi all, I teach 5th grade CCE and was asked by one of my students if it is against the rules to be seated in the church once mass begins. I have looked at the GIRM and have found no specific rules as to when ushers should or should not seat people that are late to mass.

If anyone could answer the question for me or point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.

 

[Cat]

I’ve heard that some priests in our city specifically request that ushers wait to seat people until certain times in the Mass to minimize distractions. (My husband serves as an usher.)

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

I’ve heard that some priests in our city specifically request that ushers wait to seat people until certain times in the Mass to minimize distractions. (My husband serves as an usher.)

My pastor does the same. If someone comes in during the middle of a prayer the ushers have them wait until the prayer is finished. The same thing if someone comes in during one of the readings – they stand in the back for a couple of minutes until the reading is finished. The idea being that latecomers shouldn’t distract those who are already present.

 

[1ke]

Seating and ushers are not part of the GIRM because they are not elements of the liturgy.

Regarding such practical matters, what the pastor says goes and so should common sense and common courtesy.

Don’t be late to Mass.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Hi all, I teach 5th grade CCE and was asked by one of my students if it is against the rules to be seated in the church once mass begins. I have looked at the GIRM and have found no specific rules as to when ushers should or should not seat people that are late to mass.

If anyone could answer the question for me or point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.

It’s just common sense. You don’t walk around when prayers are being spoken or the Scriptures are being read.

 

[ut755l]

Ushers are actually mentioned in the Girm, they just don’t describe what to do with them. I agree with everyone that says that disturbing people that during prayer or during the liturgy is inappropriate I was just hoping that there was a resource or link I could use that answered the question.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Ushers are actually mentioned in the Girm, they just don’t describe what to do with them. I agree with everyone that says that disturbing people that during prayer or during the liturgy is inappropriate I was just hoping that there was a resource or link I could use that answered the question.

I think you could say it’s a cultural thing. I have been to Mass in a few different settings and in a few it seems normal for people to come and go through out the whole Mass.

 

[bpbasilphx]

Don’t forget the old minor order of porter (ostiarius).

Their function was (among other things) to keep order regarding people going in and out of the church.

 

[Sarabande]

At most masses I’ve attended or cantored, if people are late, they tend to wait in the back of the church until an appropriate time to find a seat. Although at one mass my family and I attended on a vacation, we got lost trying the find the church and arrived during the processional hymn. They had this woman guarding the entrance into the church. She wouldn’t let anyone in while the hymn was being sung. She was like a guard dog. Big turn-off. We had to stand in the vestibule until the processional was finished and the opening prayers were finished. I have never experienced anything like that. I felt like it was as if people were waiting in line to get into a religious nightclub with a bouncer at the entrance.

 

[LilyM]

I’m a bit concerned about making someone wait to get a seat - Mass is NOT the theatre, and parishioners are NOT a theatre audience who have a right to be upset by latecomers because they’ve paid to see a show.

Everyone who comes should be both allowed to enter and cheerfully welcomed into the presence of the Lord, and be found a seat as quickly as possible, and provided they do so discreetly they should disrupt no-one’s prayers.

 

[Ghoti]

I’m a bit concerned about making someone wait to get a seat - Mass is NOT the theatre, and parishioners are NOT a theatre audience who have a right to be upset by latecomers because they’ve paid to see a show.

Everyone who comes should be both allowed to enter and cheerfully welcomed into the presence of the Lord, and be found a seat as quickly as possible, and provided they do so discreetly they should disrupt no-one’s prayers.

I think the latter is the point most here are trying to make.

I have been late to Mass on occasion (MC, MC, MMC), and I find that usually one waits until an “appropriate moment” to be seated. Any time when changing from a standing/kneeling/sitting position is a good time: everyone is moving, so there’s no distraction. It’s also easy if there is an empty seat near the back, especially if it’s on the end: just slip in.

Again, if you’re late, you may just have to put up with inconvenient seating.

My father has been late on occasion: mainly because he drops Mom off at the Church and then spends an awfully long time trying to find a parking space (old church, old town, narrow streets, tiny lot). So he usually spends the first part of Mass in the back with the “sharpshooters” and then comes up when everyone sits for the Liturgy of the Word (Mom likes to sit up front).

 

[solayan]

For a while my parish had a problem with people coming in late and trying to find seats during the readings, which was often disruptive. Our pastor not only instructed the ushers to ask them to wait until between the readings to find a seat, he also used the whole thing as an excuse to give all of us some catechesis on the importance of the Liturgy of the Word. He included notes in the bulletin and in his homilies for a few weeks highlighting the fact that the Word of God demands our full attention.

I love my pastor!

 

[LilyM]

I think the latter is the point most here are trying to make.

I have been late to Mass on occasion (MC, MC, MMC), and I find that usually one waits until an “appropriate moment” to be seated. Any time when changing from a standing/kneeling/sitting position is a good time: everyone is moving, so there’s no distraction. It’s also easy if there is an empty seat near the back, especially if it’s on the end: just slip in.

Again, if you’re late, you may just have to put up with inconvenient seating.

My father has been late on occasion: mainly because he drops Mom off at the Church and then spends an awfully long time trying to find a parking space (old church, old town, narrow streets, tiny lot). So he usually spends the first part of Mass in the back with the “sharpshooters” and then comes up when everyone sits for the Liturgy of the Word (Mom likes to sit up front).

In other words if I arrive just after the beginning of the first reading, after everyone’s seated, I miss out on everything up until the Gospel (after all, that’s when people stand up, isn’t it?). What mortal good does that do to anybody?

It’s hardly fair to people who arrive late, often through no fault of their own. I find it incredibly sad that your father should be made to suffer the punishment of being deprived of the Mass, for something which was outside his control. And if it IS their fault then they need even more to hear and see as much of the Mass as possible, since by doing so they gain the maximum possible of its graces which they are in need of.

People can discreetly and without disruption enter at any point of the Mass and shouldn’t be hindered, 99% of the time the mere act of someone entering and finding a seat isn’t a disruption at all in except in a few hypersensitive minds.

I entered once when the consecration of the Mass before the one I intended to attend was taking place. I found an empty place, went in and dropped straight to my knees - no disruption to anyone. What is wrong with that?

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

I’m a bit concerned about making someone wait to get a seat - Mass is NOT the theatre, and parishioners are NOT a theatre audience who have a right to be upset by latecomers because they’ve paid to see a show.

No…hopefully the parishioners who are there are joined deeply in prayer. And to have an usher tapping you on the shoulder and asking you to make room for latecomers completely destroys that sense of prayer. Better, I think, to wait in the back for a minute or two and move after the “amen” or after the end of the reading.

 

[Ghoti]

In other words if I arrive just after the beginning of the first reading, after everyone’s seated, I miss out on everything up until the Gospel (after all, that’s when people stand up, isn’t it?). What mortal good does that do to anybody?

It’s hardly fair to people who arrive late, often through no fault of their own. I find it incredibly sad that your father should be made to suffer the punishment of being deprived of the Mass, for something which was outside his control. And if it IS their fault then they need even more to hear and see as much of the Mass as possible, since by doing so they gain the maximum possible of its graces which they are in need of.

People can discreetly and without disruption enter at any point of the Mass and shouldn’t be hindered, 99% of the time the mere act of someone entering and finding a seat isn’t a disruption at all in except in a few hypersensitive minds.

I entered once when the consecration of the Mass before the one I intended to attend was taking place. I found an empty place, went in and dropped straight to my knees - no disruption to anyone. What is wrong with that?

Hi, Lily.

I never said anything about missing any part of Mass. My dad has never missed Mass by being late (other than the parts said while he was looking for a parking place).

I don’t mean standing out in the vestibule: I mean in the back of the church, in the space behind the last pew. “Sharpshooters” refers to the men in this area who remain there for Mass (often because there is no seating left) because they go down on one knee for the Canon.

Depending on the Mass and the church, sometimes finding a seat once Mass has started can be problematic. St Teresa’s in St John’s was regularly packed, especially in the rear rows; to find a seat, one would have to try and make a “grand procession” to a front row and then crawl over the end-people to get to the space in the middle. OTOH, at the Basilica there was often no problem finding a seat (big church, old parish, fewer and fewer attendees). OTTH (on the third hand), St Pius X had widely-spaced pews: you had to take a step forward from the seat to get to a kneeler. It was fairly easy to take a seat in the centre if the faithful were sitting (go in front), standing (go behind), kneeling (step over the legs), or a combination thereof (do a sort of pew-slalom).

On the occasions I have been late in, I have sometimes assisted from the back, if the only seats are in the centre of a pew (I’m claustro). No biggie: I stand for everything except the kneeling bits, and for those, I “take a knee” as they say in the Army.

Now for me standing at the back is little different from sitting in the back rows: I find the sea of heads in front of me distracting (major AD/HD). On the whole, I prefer to be in the front and on the aisle. But if I’m late, too bad, so sad. Lack of organization on my part should not result in an imposition on someone else’s.

Sorry for any misunderstanding any lack of clarity on my part caused.