oh, bother; that one makes me weak in the knees…Although we went to Christmas midnight mass at an old church with a choir loft and when the choir sang The Hallelujah Chorus, even though they were at the back of the church, everyone applauded.
Oh yes! What would happen is that the head of the parish council would come up and speak from the lecturn at the end of Mass about Father’s ministry and express our thanks and good wishes and make a presentation to him, and yes, we would certainly applaud. And afterwards in the foyer or outside he would get a lot of appreciation form individuals and groups, and he’d probably get a good farewell celebration in the parish hall before he left.
For those who didn’t even bother to read that link, here is what he said:
The former Bishop of Rockford, Illinois, Arthur O’niell passed this weekend at age 95. May he rest in peace!
read previously and appreciated…thank you.
the liturgy is over. the priest is in the narthex greeting people. there’s perhaps 200 of the 800 people remaining when this happens. the applause takes away nothing from the service just concluded.read previously and appreciated…thank you.
I defer to the Pope. I have never applauded. Only with yesterday’s sevice was I tempted, as were soooo many, but we all refrained. We are much more open to such a temptation than the Pope. This is but one of many reasons as to why we need him as our guide.
Even if it does not occur within the liturgy, it draws attention away from God whose presence is the perpetual, central focus of the church, and directs it at a human being. I would say that it is certainly disruptive to the solemn atmosphere of sanctity. It happening during a liturgy only makes it all the more inappropriate.
well then, the people at the 8.00am Mass at my parish, the pastor and our bishop will have Much To Answer For. I was going to add that people talk and babies sometimes cry during this time, but the Inquisition will be down on us if I admitted that.
Don’t be snarky. I am not contradicting the fact that your priest has the rightful pastoral authority to permit or restrict it. I am only explaining that we cannot argue that applause ‘takes away nothing’. I believe that your priest permits it for good reason, for example to let the congregation feel more relaxed and natural, and I fully respect that. I only wanted to respond to your post and I have no wish to create conflict.
All I can say is that God is present every week and this week, the Holy Spirit moved us to tears and temptation to applaud for seeing His reflection, that which we called to see, even more so in this week’s service. We hear His voice each week. This week, His voice was booming…I don’t know; when the Holy Spirit moves me that much, the typical reaction seems insufficient.Even if it does not occur within the liturgy, it draws attention away from God whose presence is the perpetual, central focus of the church, and directs it at a human being. I would say that it is certainly disruptive to the solemn atmosphere of sanctity. It happening during a liturgy only makes it all the more inappropriate.
If you truly want to thank God, there’s no greater applause you can give him after a mass than to kneel back down and give him several moments of prayer.
I thank you for your testimony and I applaud you for it, pun not intended. Certainly we must give God the glory that is due to Him. I do not fault people for applauding, but they must know that it can only be directed toward God and not man. In practice, it can be hard to distinguish. That is why Pope Benedict XVI (as Cardinal Ratzinger) appealed directly to us to decide when is appropriate to applaud and gave us moral guidelines on its use (namely, refraining from applause for human achievements and keeping God the focus of worship), but otherwise does not impose any laws on its use.
our pastoral authorities permit it because it takes away nothing from the concluded liturgy, otherwise, they would not permit it at all. this is an all or nothing issue. if it detracted from the liturgy, it would be barred and I wouldn’t dispute their decision. you should accept their decision as well, and not second guess their reasoning.Don’t be snarky. I am not contradicting the fact that your priest has the rightful pastoral authority to permit or restrict it. I am only explaining that we cannot argue that applause ‘takes away nothing’. I believe that your priest permits it for good reason, for example to let the congregation feel more relaxed and natural, and I fully respect that. I only wanted to respond to your post and I have no wish to create conflict.
It would really irritate me if people did it after a homily. I guess I distinguish from doing it during liturgy, or after Mass is over after the last song. Even still, I don’t participate because I never thought of Church as the appropriate place to break out in applause except for obvious reasons such as a wedding ceremony, receiving people into the Church, or other type of ceremony such as a bishop’s installation.