Shortest Mass Ever?

[Saints_Alive]

I recall being told, many years ago [before the EF came to be and all masses were in Latin], that eight minutes was the minimum. I attended a few that were a minute or two shy of that.

The EF came first. I think you meant the OF.

I also say whoever told you that an EF was prayed in 8 minutes needed a new watch

 

[babochka]

Wow. I think the shortest Mass that I’ve ever attended was about 25 minutes, homily included. I once attended a Divine Liturgy that was just short of 50 minutes. I was shocked. I didn’t know it could be done so quickly!

 

[Joe_Kelley]

The EF came first. I think you meant the OF.

I also say whoever told you that an EF was prayed in 8 minutes needed a new watch

I have known a priest to recite the whole Credo in Latin without pause to take a breath.

 

[agnes_therese]

St Alphonsus Liguori is considered the Church’s top moral theologian.

Canonization does not = a declaration that every opinion is infallible. And by the way, the quote you provided obviously refers to Mass as it was in his day, not the Ordinary Form we are discussing here.

I see thread after thread here criticizing our priests, often on little or no evidence, with people automatically jumping to the conclusion that any tiny mistake, or anything the person hasn’t seen before, is deliberate abuse, mortal sin, “great irreverance,” etc.

What ever happened to charity and respect for priests? Gone the way of the dodo bird, apparently.

 

[theyoungmonk]

First I did not criticize any individual priest merely presented the view of a Doctor of the Church. Indeed St. Alphonsus is the Doctor of Moral Theology and his works have been declared without error, not even St… Thomas Aquinas has that privilege. When we follow his opinions we can be sure that we are not far off and may count his writings as a strata of the law, as a work of authority.

Generally this applies even more to the OF as it is actually supposed to be longer than the EF, if the rubrics are followed closely. In the OF the words must be said clearly at an easily understood pace, while the EF allows a faster pace for the sotto voce prayers of the priest. Going back to the writing of St. Alphonsus he actually expresses fifteen minutes as the absolute minimum, in preceding sections he pointed out that most Moral Theologians held the opinion that twenty minutes was a minimum. This shows how St. Alphonsus was making charitable allowance and granting more leeway.

 

[dconklin]

Back in the day… I went to college at a small Catholic University and main Sunday AM Mass was at least 90 minutes. There was a parish in town that was known for quick Masses. We nicknamed it St Dominios. Mass in 30 minutes or less or your salvation was guaranteed.

 

[ProVobis]

Generally this applies even more to the OF as it is actually supposed to be longer than the EF, if the rubrics are followed closely.

I think this has only happened lately. For a while, there seemed to be a temptation to keep the sermons short and not to pause between prayers. If one looks at the texts (especially using EPII, as Fr. David noted) he can see that the OF can be done easily in ten minutes. Point is that the Mass (both EF and OF) can be as short or as long as one desires. Ever been at a Pontifical Solemn Mass in the EF? The procession alone is more than 10 minutes.

 

[theyoungmonk]

true both forms can be rushed. I would say that any Mass that takes less than 15 Minutes cant be reverent, in either form. One must take care and give proper time to the celebration. The signs of the cross must be formed properly, the words must be clear, nothing that cant be omitted should be. The periods of silence and reflection should be observed, St. Alphonsus says that if a Mass cannot be celebrated well then it should not be celebrated at all, a badly celebrated Mass is an insult to God. If you don’t have time for Mass then don’t have Mass, 15 minutes is not a long time to give to almighty God who in His infinite mercy descends upon the altar.

 

[Cone]

I assisted at a Mass yesterday that lasted fourteen minutes, homily included. We skipped over the Creed and the Our Father, but most other parts were there.

It was a 6:15 am Mass, so I guess most folks were heading to work. Being the oddball, I was headed home. About 35 communicants (mostly older adults) present.

I got to spend some extra time in the empty nave after the service. I do love a quiet, dark, Nave.

Is fifteen minutes about as short as a Mass can be?

Maybe the celebrant was double parked.

 

[Joe_5859]

End result:

The priest finishes the post-Communion prayer.

Looks at his watch.

When the 10-minute mark arrives, he gives the final blessing.

Mass cannot be measured in terms of minutes and seconds simply for its own sake.

If all the necessary parts are done, and the prayers are done reverently, then the time is simply a non-issue.

I happen to speak fast. That’s normal for me.
On days when the readings are rather short (ie they don’t drag on overly long, like some in the current weekday Lectionary), Mass is finished in less than 10 minutes. Nothing was missing, so there’s no problem.

Very true.

It’s more important to emphasize that all the proper prayers be prayed reverently than to try to shoehorn things into an arbitrary time constraint. There’s nothing inherently more sacred about a Mass that is 10 minutes and 1 second long from one that is 9 minutes and 59 seconds long.

 

[smead2942]

A few weeks ago, I attended one similar to yours. Our parish had just finished cleaning up after a massive fundraiser, so we the volunteers wanted to fulfill our obligation but still sleep in the following morning. Thus, our priest held Mass.

We did the readings, but Father completely ignored the “Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ”, the homily, and Nicene Creed. He went straight into the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and didn’t wash his hands (the water and bowl were misplaced from an earlier mass so he ignored it) and omitted the Our Father.

No one really had an idea what was going on. Not to disrespect the Body and Blood of our Lord, but the Mass was a disaster. I really hope it was valid.

 

[SyroMalankara]

That’s terrible.

The Malankara Syriac Divine Liturgy cannot be properly celebrated in less than an hr., and not very well in less than 1hr45m…

A 10m Mass? Why bother speeding through something like that, just pray the hours and tell the people to go home.

 

[Batfink]

Our normal early morning (pre-work & school crowd) is about 35-40 minutes, but that’s with around 50 communicants so just the distribution of communion takes time.

I used to be at a parish where a retired missionary priest would often say the weekday Masses. He had spent a lifetime offering Mass for people in various far-flung countries who spoke neither Latin nor English so he was used to not pausing for the people to respond: he would say all the priest’s and the people’s parts without really pausing for breath. Even with the sign of peace and a homily, and his general slowness of movement owing to his age, the Mass would last about 12 minutes.

 

[dans0622]

That’s terrible.

The Malankara Syriac Divine Liturgy cannot be properly celebrated in less than an hr., and not very well in less than 1hr45m…

A 10m Mass? Why bother speeding through something like that, just pray the hours and tell the people to go home.

Building upon my prior comment about my action as Pope Suburban, outlawing 10 minute Masses, it is obvious that you will have to serve in my Curia, as Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship/Discipline of the Sacraments. Let’s get some breath from the other lung (or other ventricle, as a Maronite canon law professor of mine liked to say) over in that dicastery.

Dan

 

[CHCL]

I have been to short masses before (About 20-25 minutes.) But this is mostly due to a small amount of people.

I can’t imagine a mass under 10 minutes.

 

[twf]

I don’t think I’ve ever been to a mass shorter than 20-25 minutes. I find that at daily masses the homily is rarely omitted (even though it is optional for daily masses). There was one parish I used to occasionally attend which did omit the homily for daily masses, but this was to allow more time for elements such as Eucharistic Prayer I (the Roman Canon), which the priests preferred to use as the parish also celebrated the EF, and a significant number of communicants.

 

[tafan]

Building upon my prior comment about my action as Pope Suburban, outlawing 10 minute Masses, it is obvious that you will have to serve in my Curia, as Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship/Discipline of the Sacraments. Let’s get some breath from the other lung (or other ventricle, as a Maronite canon law professor of mine liked to say) over in that dicastery.

Dan

Well, if I was Pope Tafan, I would say that every parish had to had a daily mass that lasted no longer than 15 minutes, excluding communion, and had to start no later than 7:00am in the morning!!!

My pet peeve is that most parishes around here now have their daily mass starting at 8:00, 8:30, or 9:00 am and they often last 30 minutes.

There is one parish around here that has a 6:30am mass, that only lasts 15 minutes, excluding communion. Communion often takes 5 minutes because the chapel is normally full.

It seems to me that too many parishes simply don’t want anyone except old retired folk going to daily mass. I suppose it is not good for the soul of common working people to go to daily mass, one has to be 60-70 years old before it stops being harmful.

You know, if you make the sacraments available, more people will go. Our parish started daily confessions, every evening except Sundays, a few years ago: guess what? There is a line every day!!!

 

[Joe_5859]

I understand omitting something like the homily under time constraints. That can add minutes. But the Our Father? That takes, like, 30 seconds to say.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

It appears to me that one cannot rush a mass in the vernacular as much as one in Latin. One cannot recite prayers in the vernacular without getting some sense of their meaning; however one can rattle off Latin purely by rote. As I noted earlier, I have heard the Credo rattled off without a pause for breath. I doubt one could do that in the vernacular.

 

[pianistclare]

It appears to me that one cannot rush a mass in the vernacular as much as one in Latin. One cannot recite prayers in the vernacular without getting some sense of their meaning; however one can rattle off Latin purely by rote. As I noted earlier, I have heard the Credo rattled off without a pause for breath. I doubt one could do that in the vernacular.

LOL. You haven’t been to a Mass in Spanish have you? LOL
The Mexican population, much like the Irish, recite the prayers, each at their own pace, so it’s a big cacophony and then Amen amen amen amen. We English speakers tend to speak in unison, taking the same pauses, the same breaths. It’s amazing to hear it in Spanish and everyone is at a different place in the prayers. It also surprised me in Ireland. No even attempted to pray together. Just get it done.