Lector style critique

[Catholic_Wife]

Would that be a priest, deacon or lay person?

Lay person, like at many parishes.

Also, we use the same workbook that SonCatcher does.

They’re *told *

to do that?
Yes. And what is wrong with looking up a couple of times during the reading at pauses? It’s not like we’re told we have to look someone in the eye or stare them down. And I guess I should have put “high school play-like intonation” in quotes, since it almost seemed to me that the OP would think that any intonation would be considered “high school play-like”. :doh2:

 

[milimac]

Yes. And what is wrong with looking up a couple of times during the reading at pauses? It’s not like we’re told we have to look someone in the eye or stare them down. And I guess I should have put “high school play-like intonation” in quotes, since it almost seemed to me that the OP would think that any intonation would be considered “high school play-like”. :doh2:

I’m not sure why you got the impression that I think any intonation is inappropriate. I said “there’s a fine line between proclaiming St. Paul’s letter and taking on an acting role”. It is indeed a fine line, perhaps even a blurry line, depending on the tastes of the people in the congregation. I think you do need to look out into the congregation to communicate that this reading is for you. That’s why I also think you need to look at the lectionary from time to time to communicate that this is from St. Paul, or Jeremiah, etc. The lector should be the vehicle for the message, and not mistake himself as the source.

 

[brotherjoe]

IMO these are very good replies on the whole. I have been a lector (reader) for over 20 years so I don’t mind responding as one. Thw Word of God is addressed to the mind, the will and, yes, the heart. Of course it would be absured to read the geneologies in Matthew with “feeling” that is simply not in the text, but to read Genesis I or Isaiah 53 without conveying the emotion proper to the message is equally absurd. Some congregants are not comfortable with emotional expression and that is ok, but that is internal to them, not to be used to govern the proclamation of the Word.

I once gave a training to lectors and I used the image of wedding vows. On our wedding day, we (hopefully) convey all the love we can when pronouncing our vows, but not in a manner to detract from the dignity and solemnity of the occasion. The Word of God is a love letter to us from Him. It’s hardly inappropriate for the congregants to feel that love when they hear the Scriptures. Thanks.

 

[corsair]

Since I’ve been going to the FSSP parish I don’t have this problem anymore.

 

[Catholic1954]

The last thing a lector should do is take the focus from proclaiming The Word and put on themselves. It’s all a matter of training. My diocese has a two day lector training course (complete with video feedback) and most parishes require their lectors to attend it before they start and refresher every few years is encouraged. I don’t like looking up, because it disconnects me from the book. The drama queens need to be trained or just taken off the schedule. Give your pastor a call and complain; they can’t see what is going on from the altar

 

[zalzankavol]

I can deal with them looking at the text and not looking up. I can deal with them reading too slow. What I cannot excuse is mispronouncing or stumbling on multiple words, indicating its the first time they’ve seen the text.

 

[cajun2core]

Every one I’ve met was a lay person. BTW - this is the workbook I’ve always been given (various parishes) - it has notes on intonation, emphasis and pauses.

I don’t think it’s necessarily inappropriate to have a dynamic range so long as you don’t end up … Sounding … Like … CaptainKirk.

LOL

 

[zalzankavol]

LOL

One of my parishes had a lector who sounded EXACTLY like the narrator of the Ten Commandments…he was amazing to listen to. Perfect lector.

 

[zab]

Our local NO parish has a couple of women that tend to “dramatize” the readings with voice inflections. Most of the men tend not to do this sort of thing.

Our parish has one man who is quite dramatic when he reads. Other than that, the rest of our lectors read quite well, both the men and the women.

 

[Newbie2]

I don’t think it’s necessarily inappropriate to have a dynamic range so long as you don’t end up … Sounding … Like … CaptainKirk.

“The word…of…The Lord”

We used to have a lector that sounded a little like that.

 

[stephraim]

“The word…of…The Lord”

We used to have a lector that sounded a little like that.

Same here.

We’re about to start training readers to chant the lessons. We’ll see how it goes.

 

[brotherjoe]

The last thing a lector should do is take the focus from proclaiming The Word and put on themselves.

That - in my opinion - is exactly the “holy grail” of true proclamation. To allow God to speak fully and undiluted through you the lector while at the same time leaving zero room for “oh, look at me.” When I am complimented on my reading “style” I try to redirect the attention to the substance of the passage if it can be done gracefully.

Ultimately the congregation will get what they choose out of the Liturgy. It’s simply our job to help them receive the most.

 

[LosCampanas]

I sort of agree with you. At the Sunday Mass at Notre Dame University, one celebrant would often say “A proclamation from the Holy Gospel as recorded in John” on TV and that finally stopped. At my own parish a history professor liked to say stuff like “A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Church in Thessalonia.” That stopped too.

 

[Biblioassistant]

Hoo boy does this resonate with me!! I have been a lector since 1978 and all that time I have followed a couple of simple rules:

It’s not about me.

Speak clearly so the people can hear.

All this stuff about the subtle differences between proclaiming and acclaiming go right over my head. I read the texts before the Mass, make sure I can pronounce all the words and then I try to turn invisible. It’s all about the Word, and I am not a bit important. Readers who are Overly Dramatic!!! get on my nerves.

 

[NewEnglandPriest]

I find all the decorations like dramatic pauses and the presumptuous eye-contact and the self-conscious high-school-play-like intonation incredibly annoying and distracting.

For starters, eye contact is basic to all public speaking. Simply having ones head straight down at the text the entire time is highly unusual.

As to your second point, its a gray area. While we don’t want to hear a Shakespearean actor’s rendition of the Scriptures, no one wants to hear the Ben Stein from Ferris Buehler proclaim a reading either.

But the lector, a woman, and I don’t mean to be sexist but it’s always a woman who does this sort of thing,

I don’t think you’re being sexist, you’re just stating your experience. However, in my experience I’ve seen an equal amount of strange overacting from both men and women.

 

[hazcompat]

United States Edition RNAB 2011 Year A

Workbook for Lectors,Gospel Readers,and Proclaimers of the Word.

Mary A Ehle, PhD

and Margaret Nutting Ralph, PhD

Liturgy Training Publications

ISBN 978-1-56854-883-8
WL11

peace

 

[jeanannemarie]

I have not been a lector for eight years, but when I was, we were given a sort of workbook each year that had the readings for that year. That workbook contained information on how to lector. It was very clear on the expectation of appropriate lectoring. I remember that it I was instructed by the workbook to present the reading reverently, not adding anything to attract attention, as in reading in a dramatic style… The book advised to practice the reading well ahead of time so as to know the pronunciations and have time to learn how to say a word correctly if you didn’t know it . No hand gestures, no theatrical delivery; it was very clear on how it was to be done. So, yes, there are rules.