MERGED: Applauding after Mass Poll / Why?

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In our parish, we have 9 masses every Sunday, and in all those masses, there is clapping right after when the people answer ‘Thanks be to God’ (in reply to ‘Go forth, the mass is ended’ or something similar).

I’m in the Philippines and this is automatic - at least in the capital region. There’s nobody telling the people to clap, we just do - right after the ‘thanks be to God’. And I’m quite sure the people are NOT applauding the choir. I think it’s just an applause for the celebration of the mass.

This was not the practice when I was very young, but my kids grew up with this as ‘standard’ practice here.
 
People applaud after our Mass, even though they have been asked to stop. I’ve also noticed that the applause can be more or less depending on who has done the singing. I always wonder how that makes the person feel who gets very little applause. It reminds me of how we tend to judge by human standards and not God’s standards. Just one of the many reasons why I think it’s a bad idea.
 
I don’t like it, but sadly it’s just one on the things we have to put up with these days, along with noise, chatter, and children running around the church as if its the local playground. And if you don’t like it you’re just a miserable, stuck-in-the-mud, who doesn’t value ‘community’, or at least that’s how you’re made to feel.
 
Brendan_64 said:
I don’t like it, but sadly it’s just one on the things we have to put up with these days, along with noise, chatter, and children running around the church as if its the local playground. And if you don’t like it you’re just a miserable, stuck-in-the-mud, who doesn’t value ‘community’, or at least that’s how you’re made to feel.
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Yes, this is exactly how I feel. It was my birthday last month and my family and I ended up attending Mass at a neighboring parish where at the beginning of the month they call up everyone who has a birthday during that month so that everyone can sing Happy Birthday to them. They do this during announcements near the end of Mass.

Anyways, my brothers and sisters were all ticked at me because I didn’t go up. I just reminded them that Christ is the focus of the Mass and I don’t want to be putting myself in the spotlight.
 
Why would you clap after Mass, anyway? Like a poster said above, it’s the Mass, where we worship the Lord, not some play or form of entertainment.
 
The only time there was an applause after the Mass in my parish was after announcing an expansion to the Catholic school.

I don’t feel comfortable with the idea of applauding to a choir or something. It sets the wrong tone for worship & service:
 
CruceSignati said:
Yes, this is exactly how I feel. It was my birthday last month and my family and I ended up attending Mass at a neighboring parish where at the beginning of the month they call up everyone who has a birthday during that month so that everyone can sing Happy Birthday to them. They do this during announcements near the end of Mass.
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That sounds dreadful. Why, oh why do some priests feel the need to do such things? I dread to think what’s going to happen to our masses should the CDW have its disciplinary role lessened. It will be seen as a green light by some clergy to ‘innovate’.
TK421 said:
The only time there was an applause after the Mass in my parish was after announcing an expansion to the Catholic school.
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Spontaneous applause for something along those lines is fair enough. We clapped at the Sunday Mass after one of our parishioners was ordained as a deacon. But applauding the choir, or singing Happy Birthday is treating the Mass as some sort of community gathering in the a community hall.
 
Brendan_64 said:
That sounds dreadful. Why, oh why do some priests feel the need to do such things? I dread to think what’s going to happen to our masses should the CDW have its disciplinary role lessened. It will be seen as a green light by some clergy to ‘innovate’.
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The three ladies who “run” the parish must have come up with it. Their last priest allowed it for all 15 years he was there and the latest two priests working their seem to be ok with it as well. 😦

On the plus side, a friend and I went to a Traditional Mass last month. I never knew that such reverence existed. It was the most awe-inspiring, prayerful Mass I have ever been to.
 
At our church the singing lasts well after the priest has left the church. The 10 to 20 percent of us left in the pews, applaud the efforts of our choir.
 
I’m undecided, but am really concerned with those who think this is among the biggest crisises of faith the world faces today,
🤷
 
I don’t have a problem with it. In my parish it’s done after the homily and after mass is concluded. Sometimes after the choir finishes. It’s never been a distraction. So applaud all you want to.
 
If you don’t approve of applauding after Mass, you’d really hate it when they applaud after a sermon. In about one in three Masses, people applaud the priests sermon! I can’t do it, sorry Father.
 
eamonnroma said:
I am totally against it. applauding at the end of the Mass seems as if we are glad it is over…
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That’s funny!

We sometimes applaud and I believe it’s for the choir since it follows the Mass, the priest has left and all we are doing is singing. That being said, I can’t say I think this is a positive. Particularly when it’s sometimes not done…not sure if a comment on the choice of liturgical music or the ability of the Cantor or choir director. I would prefer if the priest would say, applauding some kind of special announcement or such might be fine but don’t applaud after the Mass so we’d have guidance.

We used to have a version of the Gloria where our former priest and choir would clap. That was always sort of unnerving and a little too casual for me. I realize that praise is a good thing but it just seemed sort of irreverant.

Lisa
 
Applauding at the end of Mass isn’t the usual thing at my parish, but it does happen once in a while. The last time, we clapped for a new junior reader who did a very good job.
 
Thank you everyone for your comments. I had assumed this was a “repeat” thread of an old theme and appreciate the link to the older one which bolstered some of my inner thoughts.

I find it incredibly sad these days that with all their other problems, the Church is so divided even as it pertains to the greatest prayer on earth where, unwittingly, some are made uncomfortable. The Lord alone reads the motivation behind actions and for my self, I pray to always be protected from religious titillation.

This thread is done but In closing, here is a short opinion piece which closely echoes my thoughts: (Emphasis added mine)
In the midst of the applause, our Holy Father’s words spin sadly around in my head, **thus causing me grief **and making for conflicted claps. The hands that clap at Mass these days are distracted and bewildered hands that would find a sublime joy if only they might be permitted to simply fold themselves in prayer to our God on that one special hour of the week devoted to Him. This is an ongoing struggle in my life that revisits itself often on Sunday. But please don’t clap for me. Instead, I ask “you my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.”
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catholicexchange.com/hold-the-applause-confessions-of-a-conflicted-clapper
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Neofight said:
I’m undecided, but am really concerned with those who think this is among the biggest crisises of faith the world faces today,
🤷
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I don’t think anyone thinks this is a major crisis, but people are entitled to have an opinion on it.

Although I’ve heard the “I’m surprised people think this is among the biggest crisis of faith today” line used before by people who want to silence any criticism of ‘innovations’ carried out to the Liturgy.

So we cannot express an opinion about anything unless the matter in question is a major crisis of faith?
 
Ru4Wheel said:
If you don’t approve of applauding after Mass, you’d really hate it when they applaud after a sermon. In about one in three Masses, people applaud the priests sermon! I can’t do it, sorry Father.
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I don’t think we should applaud the priest’s sermon either, but why if we don’t applaud the priest, the lector, the ushers, or those that bring the gifts to the alter, do we feel the need to applaud the cantor or choir? I appreciate the effort they put into the mass, but no more than I appreciate everyone else who puts effort into the mass. Certainly not more than the priest.
 
10gr8kids said:
I don’t think we should applaud the priest’s sermon either, but why if we don’t applaud the priest, the lector, the ushers, or those that bring the gifts to the alter, do we feel the need to applaud the cantor or choir? I appreciate the effort they put into the mass, but no more than I appreciate everyone else who puts effort into the mass. Certainly not more than the priest.
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People should not expect praise for anything they do as part of the Mass, ever People should not be clapped, publicly thanked, or even publicly acknowledged (not even for the flower arranging). Whatever is done is done as part of the Liturgy, and the Liturgy is not done for the congregation, but for God. If you think someone has done something particularly well, or you want to encourage a new and nervous reader, then tell them one to one. We ought not to be patting each other on the back at Mass.
 
"Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment. " (Spirit of the Liturgy p. 198)
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Words from our Pope Emeritus (written as Cardinal Ratzinger)

I cringe when I am at a parish where there is applause routinely for the musicians or choir. We don’t do that at our parish. Occasionally, we have visitors who will start clapping at the end of Mass but it dies down quickly.

We do clap at certain announcements such as a 50th wedding anniversary or reaching the goal for the capital improvement drive or when Father recognizes the team effort put forth by a group of individuals getting the decorations and music prepared for Easter or Christmas. But this is always in the context of the announcements and not at the end of Mass.
 
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