I don't sing.

[PhilotheaZ]

Thankful for the help and prayers. I will try to keep all my caf friends in prayer but the list is getting rather long!

You don’t have to list us all by name. Just pray for “all my CAF friends.” God knows who they are!

 

[notsmart]

You don’t have to list us all by name. Just pray for “all my CAF friends.” God knows who they are!

Whew. That helps. Its hard enough to pray for all the other things too and the new prayers I learned. My daughter can already say:

Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee

We are working on the rest…

She can also say Our Father, who “art” (she is thinking coloring here) in heaven (again, thinking there is coloring in heaven) “hallow” is thy name… So funny! (she is thinking halloween and candy here!!! Thy will be done, (she knows grandma just had her will done, so …LOL)
Maybe she thinks God is getting ready for his old age death!
Thy kingdom come (this makes her happy, she likes princesses and castles) Thy will be done…(urg, still thinking will and last testament here) on earth as it is in heaven

She can cross herself, and more than half the time, the correct way. She says in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit already while doing it.

 

[PhilotheaZ]

My daughter can already say:

Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee

We are working on the rest…

She can also say Our Father, who “art” (she is thinking coloring here) in heaven (again, thinking there is coloring in heaven) “hallow” is thy name… So funny! (she is thinking halloween and candy here!!! Thy will be done, (she knows grandma just had her will done, so …LOL)
Maybe she thinks God is getting ready for his old age death!
Thy kingdom come (this makes her happy, she likes princesses and castles) Thy will be done…(urg, still thinking will and last testament here) on earth as it is in heaven

She can cross herself, and more than half the time, the correct way. She says in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit already while doing it.

Beautiful!

 

[tjfitz]

My observation in my parish is that the men and boys don’t sing, period. I am one of them, and will only sing when something I like is being sung, like “Immaculate Mary”. I wish we’d hear “Oh, Lord, I am not worthy” at Communion because that is one of my favorites.

Mostly I groan and make a face when yet another long, drawn-out song begins and delays the Mass so the musicians can again be on-stage and the center of attention.

 

[ironband]

Mostly I groan and make a face when yet another long, drawn-out song begins and delays the Mass so the musicians can again be on-stage and the center of attention.

Wow. If that’s the way it feels, then I’d submit that your music ministers aren’t doing their job. They are supposed to be leading you in song, not be “on-stage and the center of attention.” In all the music ministry training I’ve had, the emphasis is on leading the people in song and staying out of the way - in most cases the song is the offering of the whole of the congregation to God.

There are some times when the music ministers will provide a song which is not sung along to by the congregation (usually post-communion) to draw folks to reflect, but these are used sparingly in my parish.

A music minister should never “perform.” One who does is missing the heart of worship. Music ministers need to be humble and understand their place, and know that Jesus is the sole focus of the Mass.

At the same time, I never view music as delaying the Mass. Most of us are there for so little time each week anyway. A few extra minutes for a post communion song while I reflect on the blessings I have received never really bothered me. Music is an integral part of the Mass…for me a Mass without any music just doesn’t seem right.

But maybe that’s just me.

 

[EasterJoy]

Wow. If that’s the way it feels, then I’d submit that your music ministers aren’t doing their job. They are supposed to be leading you in song, not be “on-stage and the center of attention.” In all the music ministry training I’ve had, the emphasis is on leading the people in song and staying out of the way - in most cases the song is the offering of the whole of the congregation to God.

There are some times when the music ministers will provide a song which is not sung along to by the congregation (usually post-communion) to draw folks to reflect, but these are used sparingly in my parish.

A music minister should never “perform.” One who does is missing the heart of worship. Music ministers need to be humble and understand their place, and know that Jesus is the sole focus of the Mass.

At the same time, I never view music as delaying the Mass. Most of us are there for so little time each week anyway. A few extra minutes for a post communion song while I reflect on the blessings I have received never really bothered me. Music is an integral part of the Mass…for me a Mass without any music just doesn’t seem right.

But maybe that’s just me.

No, it’s not just you. I feel the same way.

As for the music at Mass, it is like the food at a dinner party. If it is so extravagant or so poorly executed as to be distracting, it has strayed from its purpose. Likewise a woman who wears makeup that makes you think, “Wow, that’s some make-up” and not “What a lovely lady.” At a dinner party, the focus should be the social interaction. When dressing, the focus should be on a well-groomed and welcoming appearance that complements a loving heart. At Mass, the focus should be on God. Every detail should serve that end, including how we treat each other.

 

[Mintaka]

One more thing: participation is more a matter of the will to worship God with the Church, than of singing along, or reciting along, or anything of that nature. Thanks in part to bad translations of certain Vatican documents, and in part to problems that happened back in the old days, we Americans tend to think of participation as some kind of congregational lockstep. It’s not.

You even get people who don’t understand why we have a choir, and react with hostility if it should sing something that the rest of the people don’t know. Instead of joining their hearts and minds inwardly, and participating deeply through hearing, they think that something improper is going on.

If the Church had really wanted us to have “active participation”, the Church documents would have said “participatio activa”. Instead, they talk about “participatio actuosa”, which means something more like “inwardly active participation”.

Participatio actuosa starts in the heart and soul, and comes from the seal given to us by baptism. (No, I’m not kidding.) It is expressed through total silence and stillness as well as it is through vigorous movement and singing.

Which makes sense. Because if we say that any baptized Catholic, because he’s a mute person, a quiet person, or a person with a sore throat, is participating less than someone singing and reciting, we are taking a very functionalistic view of worship.

Which also leads to the idea that somehow a cantor like me does more for the parish than, say, a mother with three kids or an old lady who’s sick at home.

Pretty soon we’re saying that somebody with no job has no worth until he gets one, or that a woman who doesn’t have children or a rich career is nothing, or that a baby only has the right to live if adults want it, or that someone who can’t move or speak like most people isn’t really a person. Functionalism is a great curse on modern society.

Every Mass that we attend is attended also by the angels and saints, and by the Holy Trinity, too. We don’t see them; we don’t hear them. But surely, they are participating far more than we are! So no, it’s not all about what other people can see and hear us doing.

We are all part of the Body of Christ, and all of us can and do serve Him well if we just try a bit to co-operate with Him. Sing or don’t sing, as He leads you and gives you the ability to do it.

 

[notsmart]

I read what a certian Father Fessio said about “active participation” and I am further confused.

 

[Kevirish01]

Our pastor loves to have the Lord’s Prayer sung in a way which makes me cringe.

Goes something like: “Our Fa-ah-therrrrrrrr… – who art in hea-a-vennnnnn… Hallll-owed Be thy Na-a-ammme…”

All the while he encourages the congregation to use the “Orans” posture during the song (which I refuse to do).

It is awful. So I do not sing along with the congregation – I recite the prayer to myself.

It reminds me of a stupid Barney episode with all of the kids standing around a tree holding hands (ugh!).

While I can sing – and do like many hymns – I would rather not. I would rather assist at Holy Mass with more silence and reverence. That’s just me though – I know others love to sing, and good for them.

 

[The_Smiter]

I too have stopped using the orans position for my hands during the Lord’s Prayer. Through my study it is a position that is re=served for the ordained only. However, since it is not striclty forbidden, I try not to make a big issue of it.

With respect to singing and music at Mass, I believe that it all comes down to this - the proverbial pendulum is supposed to swing both ways - sometimes politics are left and then right; sometimes parents are strict and then lenient; sometimes Mass is modern and then it is… oh wait, I guess the problem is that the pendulum, in regard to Mass/Catholic faith/Religion in general has rarely (if ever) swung back the other way in the direction of a more “traditional” or more properly put - orthodox - time.

As stated before I do like to sing in general, but most of the nonsense at Mass that passes for sacred music , simply is not. I believe that the place for praise/worship music is in the parish hall for a coffee night where people can gather and mix while listening to more secularized versions of Catholic songs, such as are heard on Christian and Catholic pop CDs and radio. The thing that moves me to NOT sing is the lack of reverence of the music itself. I want to sing. But the processional song i for the procession - once the priest, deacon, lectors, and altar servers are in place and ready to participate in and celebrate Mass, it is not necessary to continue singing the song for five minutes just bvecause that is the version that is sung on the radio. Refrains of “Come on, everybody, clap your hands and sing!” made by the song group leader do little to encourage me to sing such theologically weak clap-trap. I am 44 years old and was raised with the guitar Masses of the 70s and liked them very much. But they were reverent and made traditional songs and hymns more accessible to people. Music should inspire worship. Not detract and divide duing it. I continu3e to attend the Mass with the new music at my church because my friends are there, I like our homilist, but mostly because the Eucharist is there and if the music is an obstacle that I have to overcome, then I will offer it up. But let’s avoid all kinds of legalism about what music is best and which songs are theologically strong or correct. Rather, why is there not a wide range of music and song that is offered at ALL Masses? Gregorian chant, contemporary, organ hymns, cultural choirs (we have an awesome Samoan Choir that sings at each of our Sunday Masses at least once per month)?

Our Church has a rich musical heritage and I just shudder to see it slide toward the lowest common denominator of musical stylings simply to “attract” people to Mass. We should embrace our musical heritage and use it, look to meaningful lyrics that are scriptually based, and incorporate appropriate and reverent contemporary music where it moves the Liturgy in a direction that enhances worship.

 

[Windmill]

I read what a certian Father Fessio said about “active participation” and I am further confused.

I like how Fr. Peter Stravinskas (long-time editor of the Catholic Answer) sums up the whole thing. He reminds people that the Latin is “participatio actuosa”, or actual participation. It is not “*participatio activa.” *We don’t have to be involved in some frenetic activity or be doing something all the time to really connect with God at Mass.

So what’s the difference between *actuosa *and activa?

He likens it to going to the opera. If you go and enjoy the plot, identify with the characters, have a real emotional and cathartic experience, then you have *actually *participated. However, you have not *actively *participated. To *actively *participate, you’d have to jump up on stage and sing an auria. At which point people would throw tomatoes at you because they didn’t pay big bucks to watch an amateur.

Active participation is primarily contemplation. If singing hinders or distracts your contemplation, feel free to not sing.

 

[tjfitz]

In an earlier post, I wrote that I never sing. Well, Sunday at Mass there was the usual: a young woman who has been singing for our parish at least since the late '70s was up at the side of the altar at an electronic piano and singing at every possible “singing moment”.

As usual, I kept my mouth shut and grumbled internally at every delay of the Mass.

Then at the end of Mass, she announced the recessional song would be “Holy God We Praise Thy Name”, which is one of my favorite songs, sacrad or profane, and I roared-out the song with the rest of the people in the pews, all of us suddenly enthusiastic.

 

[notsmart]

In an earlier post, I wrote that I never sing. Well, Sunday at Mass there was the usual: a young woman who has been singing for our parish at least since the late '70s was up at the side of the altar at an electronic piano and singing at every possible “singing moment”.

As usual, I kept my mouth shut and grumbled internally at every delay of the Mass.

Then at the end of Mass, she announced the recessional song would be “Holy God We Praise Thy Name”, which is one of my favorite songs, sacrad or profane, and I roared-out the song with the rest of the people in the pews, all of us suddenly enthusiastic.

I am glad you encouraged others to sing!

 

[SeekerJen]

Then at the end of Mass, she announced the recessional song would be “Holy God We Praise Thy Name”, which is one of my favorite songs, sacrad or profane, and I roared-out the song with the rest of the people in the pews, all of us suddenly enthusiastic.

From years of observation at my parish and others, I’m convinced that “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name” is one of the very best hymns for encouraging congregational singing. Everyone knows it, everyone belts it, and I’ve yet to meet someone who doesn’t like it.

 

[elgar]

LOL. Catholics are famous for not singing in Church. There’s even a book entitled, Why Catholics Can’t Sing.

Me, I LOVE to sing. Sang for decades in Episcopal Choirs. But when I was asked to join the choir in my Catholic parish, I demurred because 90% of what is sung at Mass is folky-feel-good junk written 30 years ago.

If you don’t want to sing, everybody will think you were BORN Catholic!

Amen brother/sister!

Whenever my wife and I–both trained musicians–attend Catholic Mass/weddings/funerals, we sing out like we do at our Episcopal church, that is unless the song is so trashy that it doesn’t deserve to be sung. We ALWAYS get funny looks or comments from people around us–comments like “you should be singing in the choir”. Perhaps the BIGGEST annoyance for me is the typical diva song leader who sings flat and can’t keep a beat to save her own life.

Where did this “song leader” idea come from anyway? A cantor is one thing and has a long tradition that goes back to the synagogue. I really think it has to do with the reluctance to find and pay for a competent organist to LEAD!

 

[pray4peace]

You don’t have to sing. You can read softly and follow along in the song book. Songs are prayers after all.

Blessings

 

[roedelbronn]

I am not particularly enamored of singing during the liturgy. I just would rather the priest spend more time on the homily. But I realize that is just me. I intellectually recognize the significance of singing - I just do not derive any spiritual benefit or feel emotionally emboldened by “singing just to sing.” When I was in Cathilic elementary school, we were all required to take singing and instrument lessons from Kindergarted through 8th grade - specifically to prepare us for our participation in The Mass. I loved it. I grew up with the “guitar” Mass and the transition from pre- to post Vatican II liturgy and actually embraced the “new” music we were singing. As I have matured, my appreciation for more sacred forms of music has increased, but I am not a “no change at any cost” person. I have been blessed with a good singing voice, but with some of the changes that have occurred at our parish recently, I am not only hesitant to sing, but am thinking of changing parishes. I love my homilist, but the liturgy should not aggravate me as I prepare to receive Eucharist. I will sing - but I refuse to clap. I am not going to “sway” with the beat. I am a drummer from way back. I can bang it out with the best of them. But I do not want to be exposed to drum solos as I approach the altar for communion.

I believe that there is a point at which lines are crossed and irreverent singing can occur. I see nothing wrong with intorducing new songs (theologically correct ones) at Mass and learning them. I try not to overpower others with my voice, but many feel that as long as they are singing, no one should care how bad, off key, or out of tune they are because it is for God. I do not siong with our choir because I know I am not that good.

Smiter, you make some good points regarding appropriateness of music. It’s easy these days for music ministers to stray from what is appropriate to a Catholic Mass. However, before you switch parishes, I must ask how extensively you have addressed these issues with the clergy and music ministry, and failing that, with someone in the Dioces staff. I hope you’re just not stewing internally and then just leaving in frustration without making an attempt to change things. I hope you’re not identifying a real problem in a parish and then just going someplace else without attempting to help fix that problem. That would be doing a grave disservice to all you leave behind if you truly believe there is a problem with those Masses. …and if you don’t believe that, then you shouldn’t be switching parishes. Don’t just give up and go your own way without trying to affect change from within - that’s sort of what Martin Luther did, and look how that turned out.

 

[MsMaria]

I personally believe that you don’t have to be a professional singer to enjoy yourself at Mass. God is watching over all of us and I believe in my heart, that He absolutely enjoys every voice within his home, singing Him praises. I am sure that He cherishes your voice just as He would mine! In His house, we all have the most beautiful voices and I love the songs and hymns

 

[Appleby]

Nope, not a problem at all. Some parishes are better than others when it comes to their music during mass but even then not everyone is a singer and you are not looked down if you cannot sing.

Almost nobody in our parish sings. The previous organist had a sense of humour and used to choose American Negro Spirituals and The Battle Hymn of the Republic for our Canadian Filipino congregation, which confused the daylights out of them. We are now singing the old Methodist/Baptist camp songs that most people seem to know.

I have had voice lessons and sing quite well, but I have what they call a Nice Little Voice, suitable only for singing in ensemble. Neverthless like the widow with her mite, I give God all I have.

My brother has had voice lessons but he is tone deaf; now he sings in a resonant baritone that never hits a note right even by accident. I think God would rather have him making a joyful noise than some pinch-nosed diva who could sing out but refuses.

 

[una_fides]

I’m not sure if you knew this, but the Mass of the Church for the vast majority of her history (i.e. over 1500 years) does not involve the congregation singing. I’m referring to the Traditional Latin Mass. It is so beautiful and quiet and meditative. It facilitates contemplation and a deep inner experience of God and what is taking place at Mass.

I’m not saying that singing is bad or distracting. It’s a good thing. But what I’m saying is that for some people who can’t sing, singing is a distraction to them and to those around them. If you don’t want to sing, you don’t have to. I believe that singing was introduced (after Vatican II) in order to imitate the Protestants and make people feel more comfortable and involved in Mass. However, in reality, one’s participation in Mass need not be vocal. What really matters is one’s inner participation. God judges the heart. I’m personally more of a fan of gregorian chant and quiet music that elevates the soul and mind to things outside this world. God speaks to us in silence, when we quiet our souls and let him take control.