More on silence after Mass

The post on Talking in Church elicited a good number of comments with some helpful suggestions. Thank you very much indeed. In this post I want to take up some of those suggestions (I have tried some of them already) and would like to share my thoughts with you in the hope of getting even more useful suggestions. So please comment on this post now unless you want to answer a particular point in one of the comments on the other post.

Francis pointed out that when the priest sits down after Communion, everyone else does so and then there is a general "end of lesson" feeling. I realised this years ago and I never sit down after Communion. I purify the vessels at the altar. When the Blessed Sacrament is returned to the tabernacle, all the servers kneel down until the priest or deacon genuflects and closes the tabernacle. After the purification, I stand at the altar for a quiet prayer (in fact, I find that it is a convenient time to say the "Placeat tibi", a prayer that used to be said quietly in the old rite. So the time immediately after Communion is without ambiguity a time of prayer and people are quiet and prayerful.

I am not keen on the long pausa after Communion. That seems to me to introduce an element to the Mass that is not really liturgical but the introduction of a period of private prayer in the middle of the Liturgy. Silence in the Mass was traditionally when the priest was saying some set silent prayers - that takes out the uncertainty. A short silence is provided for but I think this is best regulated by the priest saying a prayer so that the time is not variable at his whim and people do not wonder when he is he going to start again.

Another thing that I think has wrecked the end of Mass is the Notices. These are often likely to be informal so it has become the time for the "post-communion joke." I don't do the notices then (except when a visiting priest is saying Mass.) Usually, I read the notices before the sermon.

Notices in the bulletin, sermons, reminders, : yes, done all that but must do it more systematically. A good poster and some leaflets might help, too.

Prayers after Mass: check. We have the Leonine prayers after weekday Mass. Then people start talking. When they have finished, a small group says the Rosary! It might also be an idea to re-introduce the prayer for the Queen and the Marian anthem after the principal Sunday Mass. This always used to be done in England. As it is not part of the Mass itself, I can see no reason prohibiting it.

Finally, the most challenging but probably the most pertinent suggestion: the priest should stay and say some prayers himself, kneeling down on the sanctuary, after Mass. I usually do this before Mass and it certainly does help encourage silence at that time. After Mass, though, most parish priests are aware that this is the one chance they get to greet their parishioners and are therefore reluctant to miss this pastoral opportunity. However, the spiritual gain of encouraging people to make a thanksgiving after Mass probably outweighs this. Many good priests always did so, Fr Thwaites and Opus Dei recommend it strongly, and I am increasingly convinced that it is the way forward. Something to meditate upon during the Triduum.

Fr Stephanos kindly put me on to a post of his "To Receive Worthily the Eucharist" which has an extract from a document by the US Bishops' Conference and a link to the full text.

Popular posts from this blog

1962 Missal pdf online

The Church Music Association of America and Jeffrey Tucker of the New Liturgical Movement have made available the 1962 Missal online in pdf format (72Mb). The file is hosted at Musica Sacra , the website of the CMAA, thanks to a generous gift from Fr Robert Skeris While you are at it, take a look at the articles clarifying the rules for music at Low Mass and music at High Mass .
Read more

Plenary indulgences not impossible

Dilexit Prior in Letters from a Young Catholic asked some useful questions today about indulgences. I thought it would be best to do a post here especially to cover the controversial question of detachment from venial sin. But first the other questions: The conditions for gaining a plenary indulgence Pope Paul VI set down a number of norms relating to indulgences at the end of Indulgentiarum Doctrina . Norm 7 states: To acquire a plenary indulgence it is necessary to perform the work to which the indulgence is attached and to fulfil three conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. It is further required that all attachment to sin, even to venial sin, be absent. If this disposition is in any way less than complete, or if the prescribed three conditions are not fulfilled, the indulgence will be only partial, except for the provisions contained in n.11 for those who are “impeded.” It is worth reading the other norms bec
Read more

Request for Novena to Blessed Pius IX

Image
A priest friend of mine is ill in hospital. He has a special devotion to Blessed Pius IX. Could I ask you, of your charity, to say a Novena for his speedy recovery. Novena In Honour of Blessed Pius IX Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, hear our prayers and glorify your servant Pius IX, who consecrated the Universal Church to you. (Our Father...) O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you, hear our prayer and glorify your servant Pius IX who declared you Immaculate. (Hail Mary...) Saint Joseph, spouse of the most pure Virgin Mary, hear our prayer and glorify your servant Pius IX who declared you the Patron of the Universal Church. (Glory be...) Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Immaculate Mary, our Hope, and Saint Joseph hear our prayers and glorify your servant Pius IX , granting to us through his merits and intercessions the graces which we ardently desire: that the glory of God be revealed through Father's illness. (Our Father..., Hail Mary..., Glory be
Read more

Saint Gabriel

Image
The angels call for our veneration and awe as part of God’s creation. Part of the destructive modernism of the 1970s included advice to Catholic school teachers that they should not talk to children about angels. This wrought lasting damage which continues to need rectifying. We should include in our prayers a heartfelt recourse to our own Guardian Angels. The Archangel Gabriel “God is my strength” would be terrifying were he to appear to any of us. Our Lady was “troubled” at the word of Saint Gabriel and wondered at the manner of the salutation. Immediately, according to his mission, the awesome messenger explained himself. Modern retelling of the event is often reduced to the jejune “Mary said Yes to God”. In fact, she said “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word”. This conveys more accurately the flawless faith and trust of the Immaculata. In the infinitely wise providence of the Father, we now know the structure of the event in even more detai
Read more

God bless America!

Image
I wish you all a very happy Fourth of July over there in the land of the free and the home of the brave. I thought I was a bit late but then realised that it is still early evening for you. I hope you had an enjoyable day. For the video this year, here is Kate Smith IN 1938 introducing the new composition "God Bless America."
Read more