The only point I strongly disagree with is #1. This would possibly work in older church buildings, but so many Catholic churches are modern buildings, and the acoustics are simply not conducive to unamplified sound. I would say that more than half of the parishes in our city were built in modern times and have modern architecture that requires amplication of sound.
The nave in my parish is a “clamshell,” built in 1972. The priest who designed it had all kinds of noble ideas about architecture that points to God. I think it is a beautiful nave in which all the various architectural features draw a person straight to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. But the acoustics are dreadful. Several sound techs have come in to try to rig up a sound system that actually works, but I still find so many dead spots in the nave. When I am playing the piano, I cannot hear the cantor even though they are less than six feet away from me (and miked)! I often think that they ought to just give up and issue everyone in the Mass personal ear buds so that the Mass can be broadcast over an iPod (or whatever!).
It doesn’t matter if the speakers and musicians are trained to use a full voice and the power of their diaphragm or not. It wouldn’t matter if Placido Domingo or Renee Fleming did the cantoring–it would still sound like a very old Say And See toy!
This would also elminate the use of regular, ordinary, untrained singers and speakers for cantors and lectors, and replace them with people who must be trained to properly use their voice on a stage. This smacks just a little of elitism to me, since regular ordinary people with no professional training in use of the voice would not be able to participate as cantor or lector. This is not the way the OF Mass should be, should it?
Silence is certainly a beautiful way to worship the Lord, but mumbling is not silence. Most people, including me, will not stick around if we can’t hear anything. I like silence, but I can’t tolerate incoherent mumbling, and I think many people, especially older people, and possibly people with a large family of small (noisy) children, would feel the same way.
Frankly, I was taught that the Mass and the Catholic Church do not disdain humanity, but rather, appeal to the human senses, ALL of them (sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste). It doesn’t seem right and proper to eliminate “hearing” as though somehow it is irreverent to “hear” the Mass. There is nothing worldly or noble about being unable to hear.
I think Point # 1 is a false trail that really doesn’t lead to more reverence and liturgical correctness, but rather, leads to attrition and possible heresy, as there is also the danger that if people don’t hear things correctly, they will unintentionally believe incorrectly in what they THINK they heard.
**I think that rather than “turning down the volume” by eliminating use of mikes, a more sensible and productive approach would be restore more times in the Mass when silence is appropriate in the liturgy . **
E.g., when I play piano at Mass, I always try to keep playing (softly) until ALL have received Communion (people don’t want to feel as though everyone is staring at them when they receive), but when everyone has been served, I end the song, and allow the congregation a time of silence to pray or to observe in reverence the priest as he takes care of the Body and Blood of Christ after Holy Communion.
I also make sure never to noodle around during other times that are supposed to be silent (I hear some organists and pianists do this during Mass, and I don’t think it’s correct. One liturgical director actually TOLD me to noodle around during these times so that there would be no silence during Mass.
**The other step that could be taken is to teach a group of people (the ushers?) and of course, ALL the lectors and cantors, to properly use the sound system! ** I can think of plenty of occasions when the poor ushers, usually elderly gentlemen, crank up the volume in an attempt to fix a balance problem. But all those knobs and buttons and dials! How confusing! Also, I’ve seen cantors who do not pull the mike close to them, so we can’t hear them, and I’ve seen cantors put their lips on the mike so that we hear every loud “P”! I think that a lot of microphone problems could be solved by proper training.
