Man has a heart attack or stroke during Mass

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mbrown75

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Hello everyone,

I’m currently in RCIA and before classes this morning during mass, a man had either a heart attack or a stroke in the middle of the priest’s sermon. 5 or 6 people stood up and interupted the sermon and yelled out “We need a doctor” and “Call 911.” The priest didn’t say anything, nor really do anything. Immedietaly after the incident, he started (like usual) the Nicene Creed. Now I’m really not sure if the man is alive right now or not, however, as a priest, shouldn’t he of came over and prayed or at least started a prayer for the congregation. I’m not yet a Catholic, technically a Protestant, so I’m just not sure.

Anyone know if the Priest is obligated to do something here? I would assume so.

P.S. - This incident happened before communion, if that makes a difference

Thank you very much
 
The Priest should have certainly went and announced the mean and prayed with him and likely stay with the man until the ambulance arrives. This I rather strange to me. He should be traine in this.
Don’t let this discourage your walk home!
 
Interestingly enough, the exact same thing happend at our parish a few years back.

The service paused, doctors came over check the guy out, waved to the priest to let him know the gentleman was going to be ok.

The priest continued the mass while one of the doctors waited with the man for the ambulance to arrive.

When the Mass was over the Priest joined him and his family at the hospital.

I’ve no doubt that the Mass would have been stopped had his condition proven life threatening.

The good news is we had 3 doctors in attendance and it turned out just to be a blood pressure thing.

Chuck
 
Thank God it was just blood pressure. Sounds like that priest was much more sympathetic that the thread starters.
 
We had a case where an altar server passed out while kneeling. Myself and another person carried the boy to the sacristy, and a Dr. from the congregation came back.

We called an ambulance, the boy was transported to the hospital, and the priest joined us afterward.

It ended up being a nerve issue, anytime the boy knelt.
 
I was sitting two rows from the back of the church during Mass last year, when the elderly man in front of me had something similar happen. An R.N. just happened to be sitting in his same pew. She had him lay on the pew, and we called 911. The R.N. kept monitering his blood pressure (it was low), and I went and got some cool towels for him from the bathroom. One of the ushers came over, and we asked him if he could lead the paramedics in when they got there. The paramedics were there in approx. five min., and the usher led them in through the back. Father kept looking back at us to see what was going on, but could see everything was under control, so he kept the Mass going. The paramedics were very quiet when they came in, monitered him, hooked him up, layed him on a gurney, and took him out without anyone further than six rows up even knowing anything had happened. (The man had changed medicine, and was having a blood pressue problem).

Now if the man were having severe problems, and we started yelling for a Dr., then I’m sure Father would have stopped the Mass, and been right there.
 
mbrown75 said:
Hello everyone,

I’m currently in RCIA and before classes this morning during mass, a man had either a heart attack or a stroke in the middle of the priest’s sermon. 5 or 6 people stood up and interupted the sermon and yelled out “We need a doctor” and “Call 911.” The priest didn’t say anything, nor really do anything. Immedietaly after the incident, he started (like usual) the Nicene Creed. Now I’m really not sure if the man is alive right now or not, however, as a priest, shouldn’t he of came over and prayed or at least started a prayer for the congregation. I’m not yet a Catholic, technically a Protestant, so I’m just not sure.

Anyone know if the Priest is obligated to do something here? I would assume so.

P.S. - This incident happened before communion, if that makes a difference

Thank you very much
Click to expand...
I had a similar thing happen at a non-denom. church i attended. in fact, i was part of a group put together to respond to such incidents. The offical guideline was to remove the person from the congregation and then do an assesment, so as not to desturb anyone from the message. This from a group of people who’d pray for you in the middle of a supermarket for a bruised elbow.

I would also like to know what the Cath. Church’s position on this is. it reminds me of Jesus’ teaching, Matt 12:11, “if your donkey fell into a well on the sabbath, would you not pull it out?”

i wonder if the priest froze up? i’ve seen many people not know what to do when faced with an emergency.
 
I was holding hands with someone during the Lord’s Prayer (I don’t do it anymore) who fainted very suddenly. It happened to him from time to time.
 
This happened a couple of years ago in a small church near where I live. Being a small church where everyone knows everyone, the priest knew the man had previous heart problems. The priest stopped his message. Asked the parish to remain calm until the ambulance arrived. Asked the organist to play soft music and he went and gave the man the anointing of the sick and was still praying over the man when the ambulance arrived. After the ambulance left, Father went back to the lectern and stated that he would not finish his message as there was a lesson learned here today, and he finished the mass.

Funny thing is that for a month afterward some people complained how long mass was that day. Apparently some people did not get the message.
 
beth40n2 said:
This happened a couple of years ago in a small church near where I live. Being a small church where everyone knows everyone, the priest knew the man had previous heart problems. The priest stopped his message. Asked the parish to remain calm until the ambulance arrived. Asked the organist to play soft music and he went and gave the man the anointing of the sick and was still praying over the man when the ambulance arrived. After the ambulance left, Father went back to the lectern and stated that he would not finish his message as there was a lesson learned here today, and he finished the mass.

Funny thing is that for a month afterward some people complained how long mass was that day. Apparently some people did not get the message.
Click to expand...
Wow, apparently not. Being a new comer to the church, I was very disappointed. The priest didn’t even looked that alarmed. I dont mean to criticize the man, no one is perfect, it just made a bad impression.
 
mbrown75 said:
Hello everyone,

I’

Anyone know if the Priest is obligated to do something here? I would assume so.

P.S. - This incident happened before communion, if that makes a difference

Thank you very much
Click to expand...
well I wasn’t there so cannot comment, but if there seemed to be a lot of agitation and commotion on the part of the congregation so they were interfering with care of the patient, maybe the priest was trying to calm them down and restore order. Certainly the priest could interrupt Mass to anoint the man, and stay with him until EMS arrived, but I would expect those around the man to call 911, clear the area around him and otherwise care for him in the meanwhile, not expect the priest to handle everything.
 
This thread came up a couple of months ago, and as I recall, there are a couple of interesting rules for situations like these. First, no matter what happens, once started, the Mass must be completed. That means that even it is the priest that collapses, another priest from somewhere else would have to be found to finish the Mass, even if he had to drive some distance. Second, the priest is allowed to check on the parishoner, with one exception. If the priest is in the middle of the consecration, he MUST complete the consecration first, and then he can go assess the situation. He is, of course, allowed to speed through it as quickly as he can, and this wouldn’t take much time.
 
Rolltide said:
This thread came up a couple of months ago, and as I recall, there are a couple of interesting rules for situations like these. First, no matter what happens, once started, the Mass must be completed. That means that even it is the priest that collapses, another priest from somewhere else would have to be found to finish the Mass, even if he had to drive some distance. Second, the priest is allowed to check on the parishoner, with one exception. If the priest is in the middle of the consecration, he MUST complete the consecration first, and then he can go assess the situation. He is, of course, allowed to speed through it as quickly as he can, and this wouldn’t take much time.
Click to expand...
I remember a discussion about this on Catholic Answers Live Radio a couple of years ago. There is some canon law or GIRM that does state once the Liturgy of the Eucharist is started the mass must be completed.

Although I do think the priest could stop a minute and ask the congregation to stay calm, and make sure there were medical staff such as a doctor, nurse, EMT or someone to help the person and call an ambulance. I realize he can not leave the altar if the body and blood has already been consecrated. But acknowledging the situation would be good.
 
This summer I was at a Serra event for the seminarians and diaconate candidates for our Archdiocese. The day started out with a golf scamble and finished up with a BBQ meal.

After the meal the vocations director was introducing the seminarians when one of the Serra members, an older gentleman, started to vomit and almost passed out. Someone called for a doctor and everything stoppped.

The Archbishop was present and he went over and publically gave the man the annoiting of the sick and led everyone present in prayer for the sick man. We waited for the ambulance to arrive and started back up after he had been transported to the hospital. One of the priests went with him to the hospital.

We later got a report from the hospital that the man had heat stroke from the morning on the golf course and was doing fine.

I thought this was one of the most wonderful examples of the purpose of the annointing of the sick and a superior teaching moment by the Archbishop for all the priests and seminarians present that day. I hope that if the same thing happened during a mass that the priests of our Archdiocese would follow the Archbishop’s example.
 
Rolltide said:
This thread came up a couple of months ago, and as I recall, there are a couple of interesting rules for situations like these. First, no matter what happens, once started, the Mass must be completed. That means that even it is the priest that collapses, another priest from somewhere else would have to be found to finish the Mass, even if he had to drive some distance. Second, the priest is allowed to check on the parishoner, with one exception. If the priest is in the middle of the consecration, he MUST complete the consecration first, and then he can go assess the situation. He is, of course, allowed to speed through it as quickly as he can, and this wouldn’t take much time.
Click to expand...
I have heard of one case where that actually happened. The priest died at the altar, right before Communion. Of course help was provided for the priest, but the Mass stopped until a priest from another parish arrived to distribute Communion. It seems that this would be the proper procedure, at least to me.

This is all second-hand to me, but the person who told me is very reliable.
 
This happened in my parish about 20 years ago. Our pastor was stricken with debilitating pain in his legs (turned out it was related to heart failure). It was right before distribution of Holy Communion. A laicized priest, a well know parishioner, stepped forward and completed the Mass.
 
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