Must one sit during mass?

[sjaime]

I am Catholic and have a question regarding the mass. The priest at the church where I attend seems very bothered by the people who for whatever reason chose to stand at the back of the church during mass. So much so that he is constantly interrupting the mass to scold these people. He has even refused to proceed with the mass until all have been seated. I do not understand why this is an issue. Could some one please explain?

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Perhaps it’s distracting to him. Perhaps he doesn’t think it’s reverent. Perhaps it’s against the fire codes. You could ask him.

 

[Deacon_Ed_B]

Unless the church is in a standing room only situation, those standing, when here is room to be seated usually are not paying attention as they should. Before you jump all over me, this is not an absolute universal statement. Having a view from the altar I notice that these are often the ones who leave before the mass is actually over.

 

[withwind]

From my observation only from childhood until now, most of those who stand way on the back of the church tend to leave early. Some of them do not pay attention to what is going on during mass.

 

[tampasteve]

Indeed this is true…there are some in my parish that actually stand in the Narthex receive and then leave And yes, there are plenty of seats available. Of course I cannot see when they come in…but I can be almost certain that it is not near on time either…

Steve

 

[VivienneJ]

Unless the church is in a standing room only situation, those standing, when here is room to be seated usually are not paying attention as they should.

In my church, unless you get there 15 minutes before Mass starts, we have a standing room only situation, and people are really squashed into the pews, believe me . I have been in the position twice where I have had to stand for the whole service and I can assure you that when you are standing you are not paying attention as you should You are thinking how your shoes are hurting your feet, hoping you won’t fall over, shifting from foot to foot, thinking this must be the longest Bible reading ever, wondering just how much longer Father is going to speak (he only started his homily 3 minutes ago), wondering if you can lean on the wall, would anybody mind if you sat on the floor, etc, etc.

That’s apart from looking untidy and rude. How would you feel if you invited friends for coffee and they stood in your front doorway the whole time

 

[SAHW]

It depends on your reasons. If there is not enough room to sit, which happens during crowded masses, I see no problem with it. I also see no problem with it for reasons of health or care of small children.

I have had to stand at the back during masses because my back pain had gotten so intense I simply could not sit. I did receive some stares from the priest. But it was either that or I not attend mass that day. I would hope with all my heart that the priest would favor attendance.

Same with parents that have small children. To me it is far less disturbing that they stand in the back and comfort their children than to hear the child screaming throughout the rest of mass. I would think he would too.

It may be helpful if these persons talked to the priest to explain why they are having to stand so that he doesn’t think they are being stubborn or rude. Also, make certain they are standing in the back. Standing to the side can cause added distraction.

 

[Cathryn]

I have a friend who stands in the back because he is claustrophobic. The priest understands and is just glad that he comes.

I also had an uncle who stood in the back on the side because he had machine gun bullets in his legs from WWII and couldn’t bend his knees. A priest, once who didn’t know him, yelled at him from the pulpit to sit down and went on and on about being disrespectful. Thankfully, my uncle kept going to daily Mass anyway.

 

[VivienneJ]

It depends on your reasons. If there is not enough room to sit, which happens during crowded masses, I see no problem with it. I also see no problem with it for reasons of health or care of small children.

I have had to stand at the back during masses because my back pain had gotten so intense I simply could not sit. I did receive some stares from the priest. But it was either that or I not attend mass that day. I would hope with all my heart that the priest would favor attendance.

Same with parents that have small children. To me it is far less disturbing that they stand in the back and comfort their children than to hear the child screaming throughout the rest of mass. I would think he would too.

It may be helpful if these persons talked to the priest to explain why they are having to stand so that he doesn’t think they are being stubborn or rude. Also, make certain they are standing in the back. Standing to the side can cause added distraction.

I have a friend who stands in the back because he is claustrophobic. The priest understands and is just glad that he comes.

I also had an uncle who stood in the back on the side because he had machine gun bullets in his legs from WWII and couldn’t bend his knees. A priest, once who didn’t know him, yelled at him from the pulpit to sit down and went on and on about being disrespectful. Thankfully, my uncle kept going to daily Mass anyway.

Certainly in the above cases and similar, standing is quite acceptable. But I think the OP was referring to cases where there was no physical reason for people to be standing and there were sufficient seats anyway. It would be wise, if there is a physical reason, to ensure that the priest knows this. How horrible and insensitive of that priest to yell at the man who was standing when there were seats available, surely it’s obvious that he has some very good reason to remain upright.

 

[CatsAndDogs]

I am Catholic and have a question regarding the mass. The priest at the church where I attend seems very bothered by the people who for whatever reason chose to stand at the back of the church during mass. So much so that he is constantly interrupting the mass to scold these people. He has even refused to proceed with the mass until all have been seated. I do not understand why this is an issue. Could some one please explain?

Would you think it was disrespectful of a formal dinner guest to stand during dinner while eating, who had no good reason to do so other than “personal preference”?

Those who have good reason to stand should not be “testing” the Priest by not soon informing him of their “good reason” for standing.

Priests should certainly work to find out why some person is standing instead of sitting before “going off” on that person, of course.

It all boils down to “remember where you ARE, people!”

Those who must stand should stand. Those who can sit should sit. Those who are culpably disrespectful should leave, or rather be “guided” to make up their minds as to whether to respectfully stay or respectfully leave.

:shamrock2:

 

[LeroyCRHP]

If you have Ministers of Welcome they should be seating these people at appropriate times. We end up with people around the back at certain masses, but I try to seat all possible.