Are there specific liturgical rules against clapping in Church?

[scriabin]

I know there are Canon Laws against clowns and balloons; but how about clapping during Mass? Applause for the musicians after Mass? Clapping started by the Priest to acknowledge a wedding anniversary? etc.

Where are these rules, prescribed or proscribed, listed?

 

[rpp]

I do not believe that canon law or the GIRM explicitly states anything about clowns or balloons at Mass. Nor do I think either document either forbids or permits clapping or applause at Mass.

Whether applause, clowns or balloons at Mass are pious and reverent practices suitable for Mass is another question.

 

[Cavaille-Coll]

If there aren’t rules, there ought to be. Musicians at Mass are not performers, and should not be congratulated on the quality of their performance, which is what applause signifies. Some will say that they are clapping with joy in the Lord, but strangely enough they don’t do it until the end of Mass. If they want to clap, hold hands, raise them, hug, sing Maranatha praise chorales, or whatever, these things are fine in the context of private prayer groups, but not at the Mass.

 

[I_Believe]

Well, I don’t think it has a place during Mass or after Mass. This may sound like nit picking or even scrupulous.

But if we believe, as we ought, in the Real Presence, then it really has no place. Especially after Mass, so soon after receiving Communion.

JMO

 

[benedictgal]

Well, I don’t think it has a place during Mass or after Mass. This may sound like nit picking or even scrupulous.

But if we believe, as we ought, in the Real Presence, then it really has no place. Especially after Mass, so soon after receiving Communion.

JMO

Pope Benedict, himself, is no fan of applause. When we applaud, we make ourselves the focus. We are congratulating ourselves for a good job with the singing, with the homily and any other thing. When applause happens, it lessens the degree of reverence, solemnity and dignity that the Mass should have.

Now, when a man is being ordained to the diaconate (transitional or permanent), to the priesthood or to the episcopacy, applause is used to signify the faithful’s ascent that this man is acceptable for entry into Holy Orders. When a diocese is erected, the faithful applaud after the Papal decree has been accepted (and their new bishop appointed) to signify that they accept this new designation and their new shepherd.

Obviously, inasmuch as he is uncomfortable with applause, Pope Benedict hears that a lot during his own Masses. However, in this case, it is a sign of respect from the faithful to the Holy Father. Notice, though, that during Triduum, the applause is suspended. The crowds at St. Peter’s do not applaud during Good Friday. The crowds at St. John Lateran do not applaud as the Holy Father is processing the Blessed Sacrament throughout his Cathedral on Holy Thursday. If you watch tomorrow’s broadcast, you will also note that during the Corpus Christi procession, there is no applause as the processoin moves from St. John Lateran to the basilica of St. Mary Major.

 

[James0235]

I know there are Canon Laws against clowns and balloons; but how about clapping during Mass? Applause for the musicians after Mass? Clapping started by the Priest to acknowledge a wedding anniversary? etc.

Where are these rules, prescribed or proscribed, listed?

Not exactly binding but our Holy Father has made his feelings known:

**"Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of the liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment.”
**
(Joseph Ratzinger, Spirit of the Liturgy, 198)

James

 

[Cavaille-Coll]

Applause generally signifies gratitude or admiration for a job well done. If an announcement was made at the end of Mass that, for example, it was the pastor’s 25th anniversary of ordination, applause would be appropriate. If people are applauding the choir at the end of Mass, that would be inappropriate. The function of liturgical musicians and choirs is to assist people in their prayer and praise of God through the Mass, not to perform for entertainment. This is why I love choir lofts. It keeps personalities to a minimum.

For those that say that musicians in the loft are “separated from the community,” what is the difference between fifteen vertical feet and fifteen horizontal feet? They are still in the same building.

 

[m134e5]

I know there are Canon Laws against clowns and balloons; but how about clapping during Mass? Applause for the musicians after Mass? Clapping started by the Priest to acknowledge a wedding anniversary? etc.

Where are these rules, prescribed or proscribed, listed?

I don’t know if there are rules about that, but I can tell you that the first time I get any kind of applause in Church for my playing, singing, or conducting is the **LAST **time I do any of that for that parish.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

. . .

Now, when a man is being ordained to the diaconate (transitional or permanent), to the priesthood or to the episcopacy, applause is used to signify the faithful’s ascent that this man is acceptable for entry into Holy Orders. When a diocese is erected, the faithful applaud after the Papal decree has been accepted (and their new bishop appointed) to signify that they accept this new designation and their new shepherd.
. . …

I would add the Rite of Sending for the RCIA where applause is asked to signify the congregation’s approval of sending the Catechumens and Candidates to the Bishop for his approval for admission to the Church.

 

[Spiller]

I know there are** Canon Laws against** clowns and balloons; but how about clapping during Mass? Applause for the musicians after Mass? Clapping started by the Priest to acknowledge a wedding anniversary? etc.

Where are these rules, prescribed or proscribed, listed?

Nope.

 

[bilop]

I know there are Canon Laws against clowns and balloons; but how about clapping during Mass? Applause for the musicians after Mass? Clapping started by the Priest to acknowledge a wedding anniversary? etc.

Where are these rules, prescribed or proscribed, listed?

A others have said, I don’t think there are rules, but I’ve heard it described like this.

Applause is OK when:

1. It’s spontaneous.
2. It recognizes some truly special occurance.

So, at a wedding, ordination, 25th anniversary of ordination, etc. it would be OK for the congregation to applaud.

But for the choir at Mass, no.

God Bless

 

[Jon_S]

Take a look at the GIRM #45. It calls for silence at designated times.

1. Sacred silence also, as part of the celebration, is to be observed at the designated times.54 Its purpose, however, depends on the time it occurs in each part of the celebration. Thus within the Act of Penitence and again after the invitation to pray, all recollect themselves; but at the conclusion of a reading or the homily, all meditate briefly on what they have heard; then after Communion, they praise and pray to God in their hearts.

Even before the celebration itself, it is commendable that silence to be observed in the church, in the sacristy, in the vesting room, and in adjacent areas, so that all may dispose themselves to carry out the sacred action in a devout and fitting manner.

 

[Jimsdun]

Why I don’t clap anymore

1. When there are hundreds of other people clapping. Whether I clap or not is not going to make the music sound any different.
2. I always seem to get out of sync
3. It makes my palms hurt
4. I haven’t memorized all the words to all the songs. How can I hold the music sheet with one hand and still clap at the same time?
5. Only Baptists and Pentacostals clap. I don’t need to pretend to be one of those.
6. Clapping = entertainment. I am not here to be entertained. I can go to a nightclub for that.

 

[John_Hiner]

Laudatur Iesus Christus.

The Holy Spirit and the Conciliar Fathers of Trent taught:

They shall also banish from churches all those kinds of music, in which, whether by the organ, or in the singing, there is mixed up any thing lascivious or impure; as also all secular actions; vain and therefore profane conversations, all walking about, noise, and clamour, that so the house of God may be seen to be, and may be called, truly a house of prayer. (Council of Trent, Session XXII, 17 September 1562, Decree Concerning the Things to be Observed, and to be Avoided, in the Celebration of Mass.)
I submit that this has not been changed by any subsequent teaching and that it is among the things set out at Trent which remain “intact” in the teachings of the Holy Spirit and the Conciliar Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, (see Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, (1963), 55 and footnotes 20 and 34). The section of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, quoted earlier in this discussion, seems to confirm this understanding of the matter (see GIRM 45).

I also think of “". . the LORD is in his holy temple; silence before Him, all the earth!" (Habakkuk 2:20); and,

Christ’s command, implemented by the Council of Trent: “It is written: ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ . . .” (Matthew 21:13.)

Spiritus Sapientiae nobiscum.

John Hiner

 

[benedictgal]

I found this quote from Francis Cardinal Arinze to be most appropriate. Even though it was made in the context of “liturgical dance”, it is still very relevent to the discussion at hand:

But when we come to Mass we don’t come to clap. We don’t come to watch people, to admire people. We want to adore God, to thank Him, to ask Him pardon for our sins, and to ask Him for what we need.

Clearly, our priorities are misguided when clapping for no legitimate reason occurs.