Clapping after Mass has ended?

[allhers]

Hey everybody,

If we believe in all of these, why then do people seem to be so unhappy, sad, down, despairing, cold, distant, stone faced, unfriendly, hard, and these are people coming out of Mass. Maybe because people nitpick, are too legalistic, waiting for any liturgical abuse so , they run to tell Father and/or the Bishop, maybe a little self-righteous, holier-than-thou, etc. You get my point. Try instead to look at the Mass with a heart open to the Holy Spirit and pray for the Spirit to come. But be careful if you do that, you just might find yourself clapping, singing, smiling, joyful, shaking hands or hugging people during the sign of peace, or maybe even reaching across the center aisle to the other side of the church to hold hands during the Our Father, or maybe really learn what the Mass truly means.

My answer to clapping is this::clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

Okay, I didn’t have a problem with the first part of what you said, (so for these purposes, and for space, I delted it,) but from this point on, above, what you wrote, I do take issue with. Personally I do not see people coming out of Mass as unhappy, sad, down, despairing, cold, distant, stone faced, unfriendly, or hard. If you do, maybe its either because they were next to you at Mass and had to put up with your clapping, hugging people during the sign of peace, or maybe even reaching across the center aisle to the other side of the church to hold hands during the Our Father. Or perhaps they are still contemplating the homily or thinking and meditating on the Mass.
Some people can appear to be one thing, when they are in their mind thinking of something else.
We know what the Mass really means, and have known ever since we were little, and it doesn’t mean to clap, hug, or even to reach across the center aisle to hold hands during the Our Father.
My answer to clapping is: (please help them Lord!)
You are actually only suppose to be greeting those right around you at the sign of peace, and are to keep it solemn, our unity is in the Eucharist!! We actually were taught to hold our hands in prayer when praying the Our Father, and not to hold hands with those around us, much less reach across the center aisle.
I am happy that you find so much joy in the Mass, but please, don’t think you can just make it up as you go along and introduce whatever you “feel” like. We’ve had enough of that the past 40 years or so.
Next you’ll be wanting us all to sing cumbaya or some such nonsense.

 

[mullenpm]

Catholic90, I am sorry I don’t come up to your standards, but I insist that clapping, hugging, etc. do not belong in church.

In my church, we do not isolate our tabernacle to a side chapel; our whole church is a prayer chapel and nothing should be allowed to interfere with that. The Tabernacle is where it should be - front and center in the main church.

Why should someone who wants to stay in church after Mass to give thanksgiving to the Lord for having received the Holy Eucharist be expected to step aside and give over the church to party goers.

No, I did not mingle with the Bishop’s party after Mass because they were too busy congregating in the aisles and chatting - and even though Mass was over - it is not a social hall - take the party outside.

 

[Crumpy]

It is a local tradition to show thanks for the cantors/singers and other musicians. Some parishes do it, some do not, I feel it is a good thing to help keep the community spirit of the parish and it does help recruit more people into the music ministry which sometimes can be very hard to do.

I was once in an independent Baptist church on a Sunday, and the congregation was applauding after some individuals sang. I think it’s OK, for some polite applause, but not routinely.

In a Catholic Church, the best way to show appreciation to the choir is to sing along with them, for congregational hymns. That’s what they’re trying to do, is to get people singing. That is their reward and feedback, and timely feedback, at that.

 

[anon52328184]

i am new to the Catholic faith and since i have been attending the church where i was confirmed i have seen clapping after a homily - not all of them and i have seen clapping at the end of the mass.

personally, i don’t think it is appropriate. i do find the mass solemn and i agree with the person who said that the cantor and musicians are performing as part of the liturgy and a thank you in the bulletin should be appropriate or perhaps during announcements.

so i do not clap along with others. i am 56, so i guess i was raised in a different generation where we were taught to show respect in the church as it is sacred and holy and we are in the presence of the Lord.

 

[at_peace]

I’m glad I’m not going to waste time worrying about stuff like this anymore.

 

[PatrickJT914]

Allhers,

I not going to respond to your reply. Are you attacking me personally? Instead of my comments. Then forget it. I really do not appreciate it.

 

[allhers]

Hey everybody,

Lighten up, please! The death of Jesus is a sad and solemn ocassion I agree. However, don’t we also commemorate His death with a special day called “GOOD Friday?” Why do you think that is? Our Mass is called many things, including a CELEBRATION as well as a sacrifice and a meal. People say that the Lord is present in the tabernacle. Yes, that is true. We Catholics believe Jesus is present in the Eucharist (Greek for " THANKSGIVING") That is also true. Jesus said He came so people could life more abundantly and fully. He also told us in Scripture that our JOYmaybe complete. If we believe in all of these, why then do people seem to be so unhappy, sad, down, despairing, cold, distant, stone faced, unfriendly, hard, and these are people coming out of Mass. Maybe because people nitpick, are too legalistic, waiting for any liturgical abuse so , they run to tell Father and/or the Bishop, maybe a little self-righteous, holier-than-thou, etc. You get my point. Try instead to look at the Mass with a heart open to the Holy Spirit and pray for the Spirit to come. But be careful if you do that, you just might find yourself clapping, singing, smiling, joyful, shaking hands or hugging people during the sign of peace, or maybe even reaching across the center aisle to the other side of the church to hold hands during the Our Father, or maybe really learn what the Mass truly means.
My answer to clapping is this::clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

Excuse me? …and you think I’m attacking YOU???
(I bolded some of the above), and underlined it, so you could see what you were saying about devout Catholics who have never left the Church and who know what the Mass is about.

 

[anon52328184]

maybe each of us approach the mass in our own way. i prefer to be reverent as i see it as a sacred sacrament. some people might be worried about someone, having financial problems,
have a problem they are working through, maybe they are sad about something. so they maybe are prayerful, thoughtful, pensive and asking Jesus for help. others might be more joyful as they are thankful for an answer to a prayer. i don’t think we should be judging the way someone looks. a homeless man came to mass one day and you could tell by his clothes he had been laying in the dirt. his hair looked like it had not been washed in many days. however, i thought to myself, he is the one person Jesus would be most happy to see at the altar. he went up and received Holy Communion. i don’t know if he was Catholic or not. i know in the evangelical churches there is a lot of clapping and singing, but i prefer a more low key mass i guess.
i enjoy the songs we sing, but i don’t think we need to clap at the end of the mass as though we had given a performance and we are clapping for ourselves.

 

[Sarabande]

Yuck! I would never like such a display. I betcha those musicians feel the same way…

As a musician and a cantor who has worked with many musicians throughout my diocese, I can safely say that most of us do not like it when we are applauded after mass. (We don’t mind it after a performance in a secular venue because it is expected in a concert hall or recital hall, but not after a mass.)

That’s not to say that we are upset and angry at the people who are applauding. On the contrary, we realize that those people mean well when they do it and are showing their appreciation, but they just don’t know that it is inappropriate.

It’s not a “performance” for us. For some, it is our prayer to God. An organist friend of mine who is an excellent musician has told me that after he finished playing a postlude, he is so involved with the music as a composition AND as a prayer that when there is applause after he is finished, it almost jolts him off of his bench. It breaks his prayer.

The other problem, too, is that it sometimes gives a “bad name” to musicians when people applaud at mass. Some “lay people”, meaning those who aren’t musicians whether a lay person or a religious, start assuming that musicians are just performers and when they do play a beautiful or technically masterful piece of sacred or absolute music so well, it is assumed that they are just showing off and putting on a show. Believe me, for many good musicians in church ministry, that is not the case, but the applause furthers these people’s misconception. There are some who are there all for their ego, but most of the ones I know are there for their faith and for God.

 

[anon52328184]

and to clarify my post. i am not one of the musicians, but when i hear the congregation clapping, i feel like we are applauding ourselves, the congregation, for the way we performed the Mass and, to me, THAT is very inappropriate.

interesting to hear from the cantor and musician’s point of view also. i agree with their post 100%.

 

[Gwyn]

This is done at our parish and I always thought it was for the choir who sang soooo well.

 

[b_justb]

I’ve seen a few of these types of threads on CAF and usually see from the musicians that they prefer the faithful do not clap (actually I can’t recall any musician on here that said otherwise). Have you all (musicians) thought about having a message put in the bulletin about it? Or at my parish they read some announcements about 5 minutes before Mass begins (reminders like: silence cell phones, respect the silent reverence of prayer, no open communion, stuff like that) maybe there can be a quick but polite reminder that applause after Mass is inappropriate and please refrain. Or is this over stepping the line to request this kind of thing?

 

[anon52328184]

that is a really good idea to ask people not to clap at the same time they are reminding everyone to turn off cellphones.

 

[Sarabande]

I’ve seen a few of these types of threads on CAF and usually see from the musicians that they prefer the faithful do not clap (actually I can’t recall any musician on here that said otherwise). Have you all (musicians) thought about having a message put in the bulletin about it? Or at my parish they read some announcements about 5 minutes before Mass begins (reminders like: silence cell phones, respect the silent reverence of prayer, no open communion, stuff like that) maybe there can be a quick but polite reminder that applause after Mass is inappropriate and please refrain. Or is this over stepping the line to request this kind of thing?

There have been a couple of parishes where I’ve cantored which had a request in the bulletin for no applause. It was nicely put, but I can’t remember the exact wording. Unfortunately, all it takes is for one person to begin the applause and it’s like when people hear another person clap, they think they need to clap as well. But I think a message in the bulletin is still helpful.

Where I usually cantor, it is a cathedral and I think something like that would be very good since a good number of the congregation are visitors. Most people aren’t used to hearing an incredible organ and organist, so I think it catches visitors off-guard. I’ll bring it up to the music director because he doesn’t like applause either. But it’s really up to the pastor.

One of the strangest experiences I ever had as a musician in a church was after chanting the psalm, someone started to clap, like applauding me. I was chanting - not even singing a hymn or anything like that - just a simple chant with most of the words on one or two notes and then a very simple melody for the response. It was one of those things that jolted me (my first experience with that) out of prayer and was very awkward. I think everyone felt awkward. You could feel it. I don’t know who did it and I definitely was not angry with the person. I remember that the words were very beautiful and prayerful for that psalm, so maybe the person was touched by the words and then with the added chanting, it leant a little more to what the person was feeling? I don’t know, but I’ve never seen anyone applaud chant before and it was the first time I ever heard applause for a piece of music during the mass itself after it was completed.

P.S. I have a feeling that the person who did applaud was either not Catholic and just visiting, was a new Catholic, could have been a child, an older person or maybe someone who was mentally challenged, as I do not believe an average person who goes to mass regularly - even someone who actually likes to applaud during or after mass - would applaud someone after the psalm, especially the kind of psalms we do which are mostly just simple chants and response melodies.

 

[Jenny_Z]

I really like to pray and reflect after receiving Communion, and the clapping and talking and laughing after Mass is over is really distracting. I’m all for socializing, I just wish people would be considerate and take it outside.

 

[anon52328184]

i feel the same way jenny. i am still in a state of reverence and appreciate the silence for reflection on the mass and the Holy Communion. i guess some people feel differently, but they should respect the other people there.

 

[at_peace]

I really like to pray and reflect after receiving Communion, and the clapping and talking and laughing after Mass is over is really distracting. I’m all for socializing, I just wish people would be considerate and take it outside.

Yep, Mass is all about you, your personal needs and preferences.

 

[at_peace]

i feel the same way jenny. i am still in a state of reverence and appreciate the silence for reflection on the mass and the Holy Communion. i guess some people feel differently, but they should respect the other people there.

Maybe you should respect the need that others have to greet their neighbor and be friendly. Maybe respect them by bringing earplugs…

 

[Jenny_Z]

Yep, Mass is all about you, your personal needs and preferences.

That’s not very charitable of you.

 

[at_peace]

That’s not very charitable of you.

You don’t sound very charitable to call people inconsiderate for talking after Mass. You actually sound self centered and fussy.