Is it best to either pray after receiving communion or sing?

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CatholicZ09

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Okay, so my church sings a communion hymn and after communion I swallow the Eucharist and start singing whatever the rest of the congregation is singing. Is it better just to kneel and pray or is it better to sing, because singing is praying twice? I find a short amount of people singing after communion, so I don’t know what to do.
 
CatholicZ09 said:
Okay, so my church sings a communion hymn and after communion I swallow the Eucharist and start singing whatever the rest of the congregation is singing. Is it better just to kneel and pray or is it better to sing, because singing is praying twice? I find a short amount of people singing after communion, so I don’t know what to do.
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I’ll be honest with you. If I like the hymn (Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, Alleluia, Sing to Jesus, Draw us in the Spirit’s Tether, Shepherd of Souls, At that First Eucharist), I’ll belt it out. But, if it is something banal from Spririt and Song (Bread of Life, et al), I will pass and pray silently. At our parish, the music stops once the last person receives, which can be a blessing, especially since all we sing is the OCP stuff, which is pretty bad.

Silence is not bad. Sometimes we do need to have silence during the Mass. We do not need to fill up every instance of the Mass with noise. Silence helps God get a word in edgewse.
 
A good hymn is just a prayer set to music, so I think singing is fine. But so is not singing - many people find they want to pray more privately at that moment. It is a very personal moment so what works best for the individual is fine, as long as it isn’t disruptive to others.

I also have noticed that many people do not sing the communion hymns - while people are still receiving I guess they can’t really sing, and perhaps others are shy to join in with so few others. So at my church it is mostly the choir that sings the hymn as the parishioners file up, and then they sing a motet. It might actually make more sense to do it the other way around, since then more could sing the hymn if they wanted to…
 
CatholicZ09 said:
Okay, so my church sings a communion hymn and after communion I swallow the Eucharist and start singing whatever the rest of the congregation is singing. Is it better just to kneel and pray or is it better to sing, because singing is praying twice? I find a short amount of people singing after communion, so I don’t know what to do.
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Both
 
Bluegoat said:
So at my church it is mostly the choir that sings the hymn as the parishioners file up, and then they sing a motet. It might actually make more sense to do it the other way around, since then more could sing the hymn if they wanted to…
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If you read the GIRM it’s clear that the Communion hymn may be sung by the choir alone while the post-Communion hymn is to be sung by whole community, so your observation is correct.
 
CatholicZ09 said:
Okay, so my church sings a communion hymn and after communion I swallow the Eucharist and start singing whatever the rest of the congregation is singing. Is it better just to kneel and pray or is it better to sing, because singing is praying twice? I find a short amount of people singing after communion, so I don’t know what to do.
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It’s your own prayer time, so do whichever you feel is best. If I like the song and it’s appropriate, I’ll sing it. Otherwise I just pray until Communion is over.
 
CatholicZ09 said:
Okay, so my church sings a communion hymn and after communion I swallow the Eucharist and start singing whatever the rest of the congregation is singing. Is it better just to kneel and pray or is it better to sing, because singing is praying twice? I find a short amount of people singing after communion, so I don’t know what to do.
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If you’re a member of the choir you probably ought to sing. 😃 (Some parishes have the choir receive communion before singing.)

If you are not part of music ministry then you can choose to sing or pray in silence.
 
Phemie said:
If you read the GIRM it’s clear that the Communion hymn may be sung by the choir alone while the post-Communion hymn is to be sung by whole community, so your observation is correct.
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I’m a high Church Anglican, so the GIRM doesn’t apply to me. But I wonder, is a motet the equivalent of a hymn, or something different?

I do notice the choir sings the communion hymn sitting, and rather quietly - since the people pass between them to go up to receive they can’t really belt it out, and some may prefer to kneel I think as long as the sacrament is still on the altar. Whereas for the motet they stand and sing out. So I suspect that may be part of the reasoning for the order.
 
As neither is wrong and neither is required, you should take a deep breath and let the Holy Spirit guide your actions.
 
I’m in the crowd of “if I like the song, I sing”. I kneel until the blessed sacrament is returned to the tabernacle and the doors are closed.
 
I prefer to pray rather than sing during Communion. I have a hard time concentrating on prayer, though, while everyone is singing, so it can be difficult.
 
You should pray. If you can do that better by singing, then sing. If better silently, then pray silently.
 
CatholicZ09 said:
Okay, so my church sings a communion hymn and after communion I swallow the Eucharist and start singing whatever the rest of the congregation is singing. Is it better just to kneel and pray or is it better to sing, because singing is praying twice? I find a short amount of people singing after communion, so I don’t know what to do.
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You have just received the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. Think about the magnitude of the miracle that has just happened… Let us keep the focus on this most important moment and not divert our attention elsewhere. In prayer we meet Christ to thank Him. We just received God! We kneel in humbleness and thanksgiving. Also, our prayer is most powerful immediately after receiving Holy Communion. If our prayers are most powerful right after Holy Communion why do anything else besides pray?
 
"To sing once is to pray twice" (Qui cantat, bis orat) – St. Augustine.

Do the math… 👍
 
SimpleTruth said:
You have just received the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. Think about the magnitude of the miracle that has just happened… Let us keep the focus on this most important moment and not divert our attention elsewhere. In prayer we meet Christ to thank Him. We just received God! We kneel in humbleness and thanksgiving. Also, our prayer is most powerful immediately after receiving Holy Communion. If our prayers are most powerful right after Holy Communion why do anything else besides pray?
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I am not entirely certain that the mind of the Church agrees with your directions here.
 
Along these lines, I find it hard to serve an an EM when a really good song is being sung. Sometimes it is a battle not to sing along instead of saying “Blood of Christ”.:cool:
 
dconklin said:
Along these lines, I find it hard to serve an an EM when a really good song is being sung. Sometimes it is a battle not to sing along instead of saying “Blood of Christ”.:cool:
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Maybe they need to come up with a way to chant it! Do RCs just say “Blood of Christ” these days? Since I don’t take communion in RC churches, I don’t get to hear what they are saying.
 
In the Byzantine church I visit we sign during communion and chant immediately after communion. I personally have to make a conscience effort to swallow every bit of the Blessed Sacrament (I’m not about to swallow without chewing) or I could expel bits of the Blessed Sacrament by grievous mistake.

“We have seen the true light…!”
 
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