Any Lectors Out There?

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sshepeck

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Hello,

I’ve just committed myself to becoming a Lector at my parish. I have to admit I am kind of nervous about the idea of reading in front of everyone, despite the fact that I’m a high school English teacher and I do a lot of reading/speaking every day. Can any of you seasoned Lectors out there give me any tips or advice on how to do this well?

Thanks!
 
Well, I was a lector, but no longer.

Anyway, my advice, always read the readings for Mass the day before. Look up words you aren’t sure of how to pronounce.

Before Mass starts, make sure the Lectionary is on the correct pages and the music ministry, is playing the songs listed. Use the missalette in the pews to verify that what your reading the correct readings for that Mass.

Also, be sure to go to the podium with the micro-phone, to announce hymns. Some lectors at my parish have the bad habit of announcing the hymns from their seat in the asp. Us old timers with hearing problems can’t hear them, especially if they’re women.

Other than that, relax, it’s a piece of cake once you’ve gone through it.

Jim
 
I practice the readings all week before the Sunday that I am scheduled to read. I also like to read commentary about the readings so that I have a better understanding about what I am reading. Then before I go to the parish, I pray to the Holy Spirit for his guidance and assistance.
 
Congratulations on becoming a lector.
I can honestly say it will change your life. (Well, it will a bit.You will have less nervousness speaking in public in the future)

I have noticed every parish has a slightly different way of proclaiming. i.e. some have commentators, some announce the hymns for the offertory, entrance, eucharist, others do not. Follow your parishes rules for the liturgy.

As far as ideas, the previous idea is great. I used to go to www.lectorprep.org. It would give me an idea of the context of the reading, and suggestions on how to proclaim it.

Practice the reading out loud a few times. You will notice where you might stumble, and if you read it more than once you’ll be much more confident when you actually proclaim.

My mentor as a lector would remind me to read the words slowly, and if you are confident about the phrasing, remember to engage the people, especially the ones at the back of the church. If you engage them, you have EVERYBODY engaged.

Bless you
 
sshepeck said:
Hello,

I’ve just committed myself to becoming a Lector at my parish. I have to admit I am kind of nervous about the idea of reading in front of everyone, despite the fact that I’m a high school English teacher and I do a lot of reading/speaking every day. Can any of you seasoned Lectors out there give me any tips or advice on how to do this well?

Thanks!
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I am a lector and have some ideas for you. Most new lectors end up reading too fast as well as not take the natural pauses in the reading. As you practice, try to read slower than you might normally would in your class room. When you practice at a slower pace, you will be ready when up there and feeling a bit nervous. Likewise look at the reading and look for the natural pauses in them and what i mean by that is not just periods. Someone explained to be when i started is that the Bible is broken up into mini expressions or thoughts. When you take the natural pauses and not read the Bible as one big run on sentence, it will make more sense to the listener. Likewise, when I am reading a conversation ( and there are lots of them), I try to slightly change my inflection to make it sound like a real conversation. Example, Moses said (pause) “…” I slightly without being too dramatic change my inflection in the quote. As a final thought, you can practice and try to tape record it to see how you sound when you play it back. I would think as an english teacher, you would have a nack for reading liturature so I’m sure that will come in handy to you. I had a creative reading class at college which helped me as a lector. I wish you the best, I have found being a lector an incredible privledge and always feel humble by the opportunity.
 
A few random thoughts…

-find out if the choir is singing the responsoial psalm or not. Its kind of awkward if you’re doing the first reading, step down, and the choir is expecting you to do it.

-check with the priest before mass for any special instructions.

-the lectionary is actually printed well. Pause momentarily at the end of each line. PAuse a bit longer if the next line is not indented.
  • (i know some wont agree with this one) remember that a significant portion of the parish is likely tuning you out and thinking about football, breakfast, or what not. If you flub something, half wont notice. In fact the only people who will are the priest, people who are reading along in the missal, and those whose favorite verse you just flubbed.
-after awhile the jitters go away. We were all nervous starting out.

-read the reading in other translations.

-please pay attention to clothing choices. Plumber imitations, broken zippers, too revealing clothing, etc. is not good.

Hope that helps.
 
You could assidiously remind yourself that the graceful content of your holy words of the Sacred Scripture at Mass is the proclaimation of Jesus Christ, and his roles in this is also your role. Hence, you have no mutual control on how you perform it. For it is all in the hands of God. That is the humble truth. You could advantageously admit that you need to pray and accept your diginifed limitations, and that God is very well capable of combining the roles of which I mentioned.

(Sorry, I do not know where in the Catechism that your role as lector combines with the role of Jesus as proclaimer, but it is in there some place.)

St. Augustine comments on St. Ambrose’s teachings saying, “‘For our heart is not in our own power, nor are our thoughts.’ And this everybody who is humbly and truly pious feels to be most true.” (On the Gift of Perseverance, 19)

This feeling that Augustine relates in accordance with Ambrose, might denote one who has lost his mind. But the funny thing is that is what a life of perfection carries us toward. A free acceptance of the disaster we cause to our mind due to the consquences of sins. We find ourselves through our communites, be it the classroom or the Church, primarily by the way of the Church, which is, man and the family - even moreso primarily by communion with the soul and Jesus Christ. But this communion is a subjective matter, and thus finds its objective counterpart in this gift of self to a community, one of which at a specified time.
 
I read the Bible passages from time to time, but I’m not on the regular roster at the moment. I hadn’t thought of myself as a “lector” but as “ordained” reader.

I have the advantage of some Toastmasters training, which leads to the odd situation that in ordinary life I’m told I tend to be soft spoken, but when I’m reading at the lectern I adopt my “Toastmasters voice”.

The most consistent fault that I hear in readers generally is that they don’t pause enough, and they read too quickly, like they want to get it over and done with as soon as possible.

If you want to do a good job of reading aloud, **pausing is critical. **Once you’ve got that under control, then you can move onto other areas, such as voice inflection, eye contact (visually memorise the next few words and then look at the congregation while you read them), and even some hand gestures if you’re enough of an actor.

We have liturgy training from time to time, but nobody ever seems to address this single issue of “pause”. It’s the single biggest fault that I hear, and it makes all the difference between an effective reading, and one that is an also-ran.
 
Bob_Crowley said:
I read the Bible passages from time to time, but I’m not on the regular roster at the moment. I hadn’t thought of myself as a “lector” but as “ordained” reader.

I have the advantage of some Toastmasters training, which leads to the odd situation that in ordinary life I’m told I tend to be soft spoken, but when I’m reading at the lectern I adopt my “Toastmasters voice”.

The most consistent fault that I hear in readers generally is that they don’t pause enough, and they read too quickly, like they want to get it over and done with as soon as possible.

If you want to do a good job of reading aloud, **pausing is critical. **Once you’ve got that under control, then you can move onto other areas, such as voice inflection, eye contact (visually memorise the next few words and then look at the congregation while you read them), and even some hand gestures if you’re enough of an actor.

We have liturgy training from time to time, but nobody ever seems to address this single issue of “pause”. It’s the single biggest fault that I hear, and it makes all the difference between an effective reading, and one that is an also-ran.
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Yes, mastering the art of pausing is very critical and probably the most important skill in reading. I have found likewise that my music background has helped me because the Bible seems to have a natural rhythm to it. i also pray that the Holy Spirit lead me to read in a way that honors the Bible and touches those listening.
 
My husband is a Lector, thanks to his wife signing him up!

He is a musician with a great speaking voice, so it was kind of a no-brainer for him to get involved with this ministry. He has come to really enjoy reading, as well as the camaraderie of our rather large lector pool.

He always warms up his voice for about an hour before Mass on the days he reads.
I think it also helps to have a bit of an ego about your presentation style as it helps to put the point across without “acting”.
 
Also, do not read Scripture as if you’re an actor in a play. The inflections and animation you present, are distracting.

We have a person at my parish who thinks he’s an actor, and does the readings as if he’s playing a role in a play. 😃

Jim
 
JimR-OCDS said:
Also, do not read Scripture as if you’re an actor in a play. The inflections and animation you present, are distracting.

We have a person at my parish who thinks he’s an actor, and does the readings as if he’s playing a role in a play. 😃

Jim
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inflection is a fine line to walk. It is best when it is very subtle. I think if someone focuses more on the natural pausing, not too much to brake the rhythm but enough to not make it sound like one big run one sentence, then one can hit the mark. I always try to rely not on my natural abilities but on the Holy Spirit because it isn’t about you but Holy Scripture and that is where the focus should be.
 
Maybe it’s already been said - but just in case i’ll mention it - practice BOTH readings because if the other lector is a no-show, in my parish I have to read them both.
 
The good thing is you don’t have to “perform”.

Just speaking slowly and clearly goes a long way.

Many people have difficulty hearing in church.

Pause after each sentence.
 
Highly recommmend…

Workbook for Lectors, Gospel Readers, and Proclaimers of the Word 2014, USA Paperback– August 1, 2013
by Graziano Marcheschi(Author),MA(Author),DMIN(Author)

Peace
 
Daily Mass also needs Lectors. During the years that I have done my weekday worship, I went through some phases:
  1. Try, with differing levels of concentration, to understand half of the words being recited;
  2. Getting annoyed with the Lector, for stumbling over (and skipping) words (some of which REALLY matter to the sentence);
  3. I began reading the Readings on the Internet on most mornings, to see what the Reading is supposed to sound like;
  4. Printing a copy of the Readings, pre-read them before Church; and
  5. Printing, but not reading them until the Lector does. It’s new, and fresh, that way.

    A few months ago, I asked the twice-a-week Lector if I could be the Lector for one day (as part of my Spiritual journey). I wanted to do it the way I imagined it should be done (but didn’t tell her that). Slowly, with pauses, clearly, with some emphasis here-and-there, and without stumbling over any words (after all, Jesus is the Word … they’re His). She (right then) showed me how it worked: Here’s the Book … there is where the date is listed … to change pages, lift the ribbon, turn the page–then she showed me the page I would be reading (and I memorized the page number).

    Two weeks later, I got my chance. During those weeks, I read-over my “Script” several times. On “the day” (which happened to be a favorite Saint’s feast day). . . I walked up to the Altar, bowed deeply, and looked at the book. It wasn’t set at the page I was expecting. The priest had (just so happened to have) picked a special Reading, specific to that Saint. I hadn’t known him to do that (with 3 priests at that Parish).

    The next few seconds seemed like minutes. I thought about stopping and asking what to do. Hmm … NO.
    I thought about running away (an easy NO).
    Or, turn to the “Correct” page, and read. Hmm, Hmm . . . NO.

    I took a deep breath, and just read what was there. The Old Testament reading was unfamiliar. This helped me to read the text a little-bit slower than I had even planned to. Somehow, I managed to get through it without mis-speaking.

    When the Mass was over, I wanted to find out what happened with the Reading. That Lector walked by and said: “Your day will be Thursday from now on.” (as she walked quickly past me). HUH? I wanted to do the Reading once. Anyway, I caught up with her, and asked her my what-happened-to-Today’s-Reading question. She replied: “Oh yeah, I should have told you that it might happen.” Then she told me that I did a good job, and she would like to just read once a week. … OK.

    I have learned to treasure my Thursday morning job.
 
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