Interesting experience at Mass :-/

[NewEnglandPriest]

This thread is an example of the practical reasons behind the call for sacred silence. The rosary group wants to do their devotion out loud. The divine chaplet group might want to do theirs out loud as well. The stations of the cross group might want to do theirs too. Another group might want to do Liturgy of the Hours. And so on and so on.

 

[Redwood]

Hello,

Cheers and encouragement to your prayerfulness before Mass. I pray to you may continue to grow in your spirituality.

I think you would be interested to view or participate in a thread I just started regarding reverence in the presence of our Lord:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=471295

 

[acadian]

Imagine you are having some serious problems in life and you go to Mass early to pray and seek God’s grace and guidance. As you try to pray there’s a group of people praying aloud a private devotion that they like and you can’t concentrate.

I have been in exactly that position. I don’t know if my problems were “serious”, but I wanted to spend some time talking them over with Jesus, and I had about an hour where I could do this. (Being a wife and mother, your time is often not your own.). There is an adoration chapel where I could have gone, but I remembered there was parish not too far away that had an evening Mass, and I figured that was the better choice - to spend some time in prayer, but also to receive Him.

I got there nice and early - at least 20 minutes before Mass, and already the Rosary was in full swing. I didn’t know; I don’t usually go there. I wanted to pray before Mass, but not the Rosary. Finally they reached the end of the Rosary,. and I thought there would be some blessed silence, but I was wrong. Then there were another 19 prayers tacked on to the end of the Rosary.

I really felt bad that I was so annoyed at the Rosary, so the next time I went to confession, I brought it up and asked if I was wrong. “Absolutely not!” my confessor told me. “And that is one reason why you will find silence before our Masses. If ‘they’ want to pray the Rosary, there is no reason why they can’t pray it silently.”

One of the many reasons why I love my priest. You can hear a pin drop before any Mass at our parish, and it is awesome. Rare, blessed silence!

Perhaps it would be better to start the Rosary when you arrive at church 40 minutes early, and then it would be done by the time most people start arriving for Mass. Just a thought.

 

[FrCorey]

I have been in exactly that position. I don’t know if my problems were “serious”, but I wanted to spend some time talking them over with Jesus, and I had about an hour where I could do this. (Being a wife and mother, your time is often not your own.). There is an adoration chapel where I could have gone, but I remembered there was parish not too far away that had an evening Mass, and I figured that was the better choice - to spend some time in prayer, but also to receive Him.

I got there nice and early - at least 20 minutes before Mass, and already the Rosary was in full swing. I didn’t know; I don’t usually go there. I wanted to pray before Mass, but not the Rosary. Finally they reached the end of the Rosary,. and I thought there would be some blessed silence, but I was wrong. Then there were another 19 prayers tacked on to the end of the Rosary.

I really felt bad that I was so annoyed at the Rosary, so the next time I went to confession, I brought it up and asked if I was wrong. “Absolutely not!” my confessor told me. “And that is one reason why you will find silence before our Masses. If ‘they’ want to pray the Rosary, there is no reason why they can’t pray it silently.”

One of the many reasons why I love my priest. You can hear a pin drop before any Mass at our parish, and it is awesome. Rare, blessed silence!

Perhaps it would be better to start the Rosary when you arrive at church 40 minutes early, and then it would be done by the time most people start arriving for Mass. Just a thought.

I love those times. when you can hear a mouse belch at 100 yards.

 

[CB_Catholic]

What if they were visiting for the first time? Or what if they didn’t know the “customs” of that particular parish?

To get technical about it, there is suppose to be “sacred silence” before and after Mass. It says so right in the GIRM. Granted, praying the rosary is a great thing, but to expect people to like it before Mass, when people are trying to prepare for Mass in their own ways, is irresponsible.

To the OP: if you want to pray the rosary as a group, perhaps you should push it back to 30 minutes before Mass. That way, you can pray as a group but not interrupt the people that are trying to prepare for Mass in their own ways. As already mentioned, some people like to pray the LOTH or even Stations before Mass. Expecting people to change that because you want to pray the rosary as a group is not fair.

This is actually a good workable idea, it’s what is done in my parish. For years and years it has been the custom to pray the Rosary at 3:30 pm before the 4:00 pm Mass on Sat. in my parish, which also is right after Confession. People sit where they like in the church as it is led from up front. It takes about 20 min., at which point any preparation that needs to be done for Mass begins–such as the musicians coming in and setting up their music, etc. Since it is a scheduled activity, people know about it, and if they come early, they expect it is being said. Some people like to go to Confession and stay for the Rosary and Mass. And the Rosary is not interrupted by any pre-Mass preparation, either. That time is reserved for the parish Rosary.