Clapping is not reverent at Mass

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0104

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Clapping during Mass is not acceptable unless there are people are coming into the Church by the way of baptism and confirmation. A clap welcomes the newly baptisted into the fullness of the body of Christ. But clapping for the choir or how much money the Nights of Columbus took in from a benefit is improper during mass. It can be discussed after Mass. The is not a luncheon or a concert we need to be reverent. We are going to Calvary and join in and unbloody sacrifice of our Lord.
 
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That is your opinion, and I’m sure many on the forum would agree as we have had this discussion before.

Obviously the pastors who are inviting people to applaud for the new class of First Communicants or for the awesome job done by the choir disagree with you.

It’s likely some people would also disagree with you on your suggestion that clapping is OK for baptism and confirmation. I don’t see any need to interrupt the Mass by applauding when a baby is baptized. A prayer of thanksgiving to God would be more appropriate in my mind.
 
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People who contribute their time and talent (should) do these things for the Glory of God and with humility, not expecting the applause that is so readily given in the secular world of individualism. A word of appreciation from the Pastor should suffice. All glory at Mass results from our Creator and is given back to Him from the Sacrifice of the Mass.
 
It’s up to the pastor, end of story. If you don’t like it, find a parish that doesn’t allow it, Good luck with that.
 
Clapping during the consecration would certainly wake a few people up who have zoned out at that point. Especially in churches that do not use the bells anymore.
 
I don’t know much about canon law but I agree with you. I sense a loss of the sacred when I hear applause during Mass.
 
Reverence doesn’t mean without feeling.

I have been known to get a bit teary eyed during Mass (those Baptisms, they get me right in the feels) others may express their joy with clapping.

Preference on these things is so culturally based and we live in such a diverse world it’s not safe to assume others are being irreverent when they may genuinely be expressing their heartfelt awe.
 
Most the Catholic Churchs of today have become more Protestant then Catholic. Instead of choirs and singing hymns we have a band with electric guitar and drums and half of the congregation doesn’t believe in the Eucharist as the real body and blood of Jesus
 
I will bet that what people believe has little to do with the music. Jesus and the Apostles didn’t have pipe organs either.
 
I feel clapping during Mass is inappropriate. In my parish we very rarely clap. I think the only time it is done is when altar servers are recognized for hours of service, which happens about 4-5 times a year.

In my last parish clapping went on all the time. We were expected to give the “choir” a standing ovation at the after Mass. There were times when they clapped after a homily. They have a new conservative pastor there now so hopefully some of that is changing.
 
Not a new problem, if it can be considered a problem at all. St. John Chrysostom’s homilies occasionally have comments of his in response to applause or shouts of approval from his listeners.

I don’t applaud, but when others do, I just put it into the “not my circus” file. I have my own shortcomings to be concerned about.

D
 
Me too, and I don’t like it either. I’m not sure whether or not that makes it “irreverent,” though, as some others have indicated when led by the pastor.
 
0104 said:
half of the congregation doesn’t believe in the Eucharist as the real body and blood of Jesus
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How do you know this?

But really, what should that matter to you if you believe that it is? How does that change your experience of receiving Our Lord? It doesn’t. You should stop focusing on others and focus on yourself alone.
 
The fourth Sunday of Lent, Saint John XXIII was once again among the crowd, at Ostia. (about 15 miles to the south-west of Rome.) Thousands of people were waiting for him along the street, in the piazza, in the church. They wanted to see him, to applaud him. They did not know that afterwards, he would rebuke them, in a good-natured way, in his simple, spontaneous, familiar way of speaking.

“I am very glad to have come here. But if I must express a wish, it is that in church you not shout out, that you not clap your hands, and that you not greet even the Pope, because ‘templum Dei, templum Dei.’ (‘The temple of God is the temple of God.’)
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  • letter to young woman from Saint Padre Pio on the proper way to hear mass
It is appropriate to applaud at concerts and plays, but not at mass. The mass is not a performance. Even laughing is considered irreverent. The House of God is a House of silence.
 
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Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict VI)
“Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment. Such attraction fades quickly - it cannot compete in the market of leisure pursuits, incorporating as it increasingly does various forms of religious titillation.”
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misstherese said:
The House of God is a House of silence.
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According to Psalm 100, it doesn’t have to be:

1
Shout joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;

2
serve the LORD with gladness;

come before him with joyful song.

3
*Know that the LORD is God,

he made us, we belong to him,

we are his people, the flock he shepherds.

4
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him, bless his name;

5
good indeed is the LORD,

His mercy endures forever,

his faithfulness lasts through every generation.
 
That’s not talking about the mass…so you’re saying we should start shouting at mass about how happy we are, interrupting the liturgy?

That verse doesn’t mean necessarily to “shout” even. It just means to be happy and rejoice in Him.

Also, applause during the mass is not praise given to God. It’s praise given to men.
 
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