How to make mass in a hall sacred?

[jonnyws]

At the moment I attend a mass that is held in a university hall. No one kneels at any point during the mass, we have no statues or icons anywhere and no altar servers. The music is disjointed and a bit ‘happy clappy’ for my taste and all in all it has the feel of a social club rather than a mass.

My question is do you have any advice, ideas or suggestions on what I can do to try and encourage change and improvement.

 

[John_Lilburne]

Some ideas. Talk to the priest, offer to help.

Does he have a sacristan? Prepare things for Mass, find out what is available that could be used.

Volunteer to be an altar server.

Go to another church or to the local cathedral. (I went to google.com.au typed in “guildford catholic church” and was amazed by the level of detail provided through Google Maps on where the churches are.)

Faithfully follow the liturgical books. Unfortunately the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) is vague on when to kneel. According to the 2002 GIRM approved for England and Wales:

“43.The faithful should stand from the beginning of the Entrance chant, or while the priest approaches the altar, until the end of the Collect; for the Alleluia chant before the Gospel; while the Gospel itself is proclaimed; during the Profession of Faith and the Prayer of the Faithful; from the invitation, Orate, fratres (Pray, brethren), before the Prayer over the Offerings until the end of Mass, except at the places indicated below.
They should, however, sit while the readings before the Gospel and theresponsorial Psalm are proclaimed and for the Homily and while the Preparation of the Gifts at the Offertory is taking place; and, as circumstances allow, they may sit or kneel while the period of sacred silence after Communion is observed.
But they should kneel at the consecration, except when prevented on occasion by reasons of health, lack of space, the large number of people present, or some other good reason. Those who do not kneel ought to make a profound bow when the priest genuflects after the consecration.
Nevertheless, it is up to the Conference of Bishops to adapt the gestures and postures described in the Order of Mass to the culture and reasonable traditions of the people.
The Conference, however, must make sure that such adaptations correspond to the meaning and character of each part of the celebration. Where it is the practice for the people to remain after the Sanctusuntil the end of theEucharistic Prayer and before Communion when the priest says Ecce Agnus Dei (This is the Lamb of God), this practice is laudably retained.With a view to a uniformity in gestures and postures during one and the same celebration, the faithful should follow the directions which the deacon, lay minister, or priest gives according to whatever is indicated in the Missal.”

(The full GIRM is available at catholic-ew.org.uk/liturgy/Resources/Rites/RiteMissal.html ).

 

[drafdog]

For heaven’s sake are you attending Mass or going to a display of religious art??
You are to attend at Mass. The importance is the prayer, not the surroundings. Ambience is an aid but not a necessity. I’ve been in parishes where there was no church building and Mass was held in the gymnasium of a local school.
In times past the Irish held Mass in the hedgerows in order to avoid the repressions of the English invaders. It was illegal to celebrate the Mass at all.
Try praying and not complaining about the surroundings.

Matthew

 

[geezerbob]

I agree, dog. I’ve attended mass celebrated on the hood of a Jeep, a picnic table at a campground, in the local Shrine Temple before our church was built, and in a private home, with none of the usual trappings of Catholicism to be seen at any of them.

 

[Miserissima]

My question is do you have any advice, ideas or suggestions on what I can do to try and encourage change and improvement.

Are you asking for ideas regarding others to participate in setting a solemn, worshipful atmosphere? Let’s go point-by-point.

No one kneels at any point during the mass, we have no statues or icons anywhere and no altar servers.

Gather a few of your acquaintances and ask them to help provide the following next week (you do not have to bring it all, but you can take more responsibility in coordinating it):

• A little table to be set up outside of what is designated as the “sanctuary” area.
• A table cloth.
• One or two votives (or even tea lights).
• A small vase of flowers.
• A statue that doesn’t have to be very tall, such as an “Our Lady of Grace.” Perhaps you can ask your priest if there would be a larger parish that could donate or loan one. Or, ask him if he has a tasteful icon at the rectory that he could bring along just for Mass.

The music is disjointed and a bit ‘happy clappy’ for my taste and all in all it has the feel of a social club rather than a mass.

I would suggest that about 15 - 20 minutes before Mass, when the little shrine has been set up (or after), go up to the lectern and begin a rosary or a Divine Mercy Chaplet.

Do you have a cantor? Talk to him or her about what style you’d like. Are there instruments? I will offering to help you to find resources online regarding seasonal liturgical music and you can help to pick out the week’s selection. It helps if you go to the cantor/music director with it in hand, and politely ask if they would give it a try.

It sounds like you’re already trying to lead by example – good job!

[Edited because sometimes I can’t spell.]

 

[Brian_C]

Our parish is suffering from this same concern as we are holding mass in the parish activity center (read gym) while our building is renovated. It IS a tad harder to feel the sacredness of the mass in such surroundings but it’s caused me to focus much more on the words themselves and not the surroundings and other parishioners.

I am a little let down by the fact that the priest tells everyone they may sit instead of kneeling during the Eucharistic prayer… Only about 5-10 people in the whole room kneel.

 

[Windmill]

A little off topic, but maybe not. Here is a video of the transformation of a table-style altar to a style that is more consonant with Tradition. Maybe it will spur ideas for you.

Altar-ation

Enjoy.

 

[promethius95945]

At the moment I attend a mass that is held in a university hall. No one kneels at any point during the mass, we have no statues or icons anywhere and no altar servers. The music is disjointed and a bit ‘happy clappy’ for my taste and all in all it has the feel of a social club rather than a mass.

My question is do you have any advice, ideas or suggestions on what I can do to try and encourage change and improvement.

You don’t happen to go to school in the NorthWest do you? I have a sneaking suspicion that we have the same alma mater after reading about the lax mass practices at your school…

 

[Miserissima]

Altar-ation Enjoy.

:bowdown2: Windmill – that was amazing. And creative. And ingenious. Every time I will be in modern church building, you can bet that in my imagination I will transform the altar like that!

One question about the benches on the table: what’s under the benches? The dark rectangle box things…any idea? I couldn’t tell if they were patterned or not.

 

[jonnyws]

Thanks guys.

And for everyone who thinks i’m complaining rather than praying the point is people see it as a time to chat with friends rather than a place of worship, thats why I was asking for advice on how to change the atmosphere.

A mass needs to run smoothly and have a scence of reverence about it which is done not only by the way it’s celebrated but by the surroundings as well, therefore if I can change the surroundings people will change the way they participate.

 

[Miserissima]

Please let us know what you implement, and how it works out, okay? I’m all curious and will be praying for ya!