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Why does everyone faint in church? What the Priest has to say...

Although I have been a Priest for only a few years, I have seen many people faint in church.  In my experiences, and being in a very large Parish, I see one or two fainters a month.  There are three main reasons I think are the cause of this unexplained fainting.  

1.  The unsteady temperature of the church.  Such a large, old church is hard to keep at a steady temperature, especially with the waves of eager church goers coming in and out.  At the start of mass the temperature is fairly cold, but several minutes after it has started, with all the body heat, the temperature rises. This change from cold to hot can affect the body and make people feel faint.  Unless of course you go to St. Mary's Parish in Altoona, which is always freezing cold, or so I have been told.  

2.  In my particular church, it is very old, and architecture is breath taking, literally.  The dozens and dozens of humungous stained glass windows, the massive marble pillars, and the statues and sculptures are enough to make anyone weak in the knees.  

3.  During a Catholic mass there is a lot of standing, sitting, and kneeling.  After sitting through a nice, relaxing homily,  when they stand up, some people do it too fast, and not enough blood and oxygen get to their brains.  Sort of like if your alarm goes off in the  morning and you jump out of bed, you may feel a little dizzy for a second.  

Usually when someone faints in church, they are not out for long, and come to fairly quickly.  There is no need to stop mass for these fainters.  All the people surrounding them tend to do a good job of taking care of them and making sure they are okay.  There has been on several occasions,  where someone will faint and then not get up right away, or they may fall and hit their head badly, or there is need for medical assistance.  In this case, it is appropriate to stop mass until they are taken care of.  It usually doesn't take long because at a service with almost 1000 people, there is bound to be someone with medical knowledge who knows what to do with a fainter.