Ordinary form responses

[Merrick]

Are laity required to say the responses in the OF mass? I am not a good singer.

 

[Errham]

No. But not participating in Mass makes it sort of pointless for the Mass to be held communally.

 

[Joan_M]

Are laity required to say the responses in the OF mass? I am not a good singer.

What does not being a good singer have to do with saying the responses? If the Mass is not a sung Mass, the responses are said - and so, you can say them too.

If the Mass is a sung Mass and you cannot sing, simply either say the responses softly or silently, or “mentally sing” - in the silence of your mind, sing them - I have to do that lately as my singing seems to have gone.

If I am misunderstanding your question, I apologize.

 

[Brendan]

No. But not participating in Mass makes it sort of pointless for the Mass to be held communally.

That is quite true, but verbal responses are not what the Church means when it calls for 'active participation

I would recommend Pope Emeritus Benedict’s book "The Spirit of the Liturgy’. He describes quite well the various actia of the Mass, and what the laity and the presider are being asked to do.

what does it [active participation] mean? Unfortunately the word was very quickly misunderstood to mean something external, entailing a need for general activity, as if as many people as possible, as often as possible, should be visibly engaged in action…

This kind of participation in the very action of Christ, the High Priest, requires from us nothing less than an attitude of being totally absorbed in Him. Says the cardinal “the point is that, ultimately, the difference between the *actio Christi *and our own action is done away with. There is only one action, which is at the same time His and ours — ours because we have become ‘one body and one spirit ‘with Him”
Active participation, thus, is not a giving way to any activism but an integral and total assimilation into the person of Christ who is truly the High Priest of that eternal and uninterrupted celebration of the heavenly liturgy.

If making verbal responses aids a person in achieving that unity with the action of Christ, hen they should do so. If it hinders that, they should not.

But the verbal responses are secondary to the internal responses of unity to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ.

 

[Errham]

That is quite true, but verbal responses are not what the Church means when it calls for 'active participation

I would recommend Pope Emeritus Benedict’s book "The Spirit of the Liturgy’. He describes quite well the various actia of the Mass, and what the laity and the presider are being asked to do.

If making verbal responses aids a person in achieving that unity with the action of Christ, hen they should do so. If it hinders that, they should not.

But the verbal responses are secondary to the internal responses of unity to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ.

It goes deeper than that, though. Remember that the Mass is the service of the ENTIRE church - militant, suffering and triumphent. The Orthodox have a very beautiful belief on this part, that I believe is true in Catholicism too - That all the chanting at Mass is in imitation of the heavenly chants being constantly given by the Cherubim and Seraphim to God in heaven, and that when we chant during Mass, we’re literally chanting along with them, in unision with them and all the saints.

 

[Brendan]

It goes deeper than that, though. Remember that the Mass is the service of the ENTIRE church - militant, suffering and triumphent. The Orthodox have a very beautiful belief on this part, that I believe is true in Catholicism too - That all the chanting at Mass is in imitation of the heavenly chants being constantly given by the Cherubim and Seraphim to God in heaven, and that when we chant during Mass, we’re literally chanting along with them, in unision with them and all the saints.

I understand that, but the chant can certainly be interior. One thing to remember is that the Angelic hosts have no bodies. Their chant is all done through the spirit, of which humans participate in as well.

So I agree, in the sense that our participation, in best emulation of the angelic hosts, must be done as a spiritual action.

The best human voice in the world does not good if the interior dimension is lacking, while the greatest spiritual praise lacks for nothing if the person is verbally silent.

 

[HelenRose]

No. But not participating in Mass makes it sort of pointless for the Mass to be held communally.

One can say the words quietly. We participate by opening our hearts to God. It is not always necessary to open our mouths.

 

[ProVobis]

No. But not participating in Mass makes it sort of pointless for the Mass to be held communally.

Not really. One can as fully participate in a Mass said in a foreign tongue as one in English. One need only follow the actions of the priest and the tone of the Mass in these instances and be mindful of the Holy Sacrifice being made.

 

[Brendan]

Not really. One can as fully participate in a Mass said in a foreign tongue as one in English. One need only follow the actions of the priest and the tone of the Mass in these instances and be mindful of the Holy Sacrifice being made.

Exactly. I used to travel internationally for work, and went to Mass in countless countries. My opportunities for Mass in English was often non-existent.

But it was hardly pointless for me not to go to Mass, nor to say that I was not actively participating in the Mass.

 

[Merrick]

That is quite true, but verbal responses are not what the Church means when it calls for 'active participation

I would recommend Pope Emeritus Benedict’s book "The Spirit of the Liturgy’. He describes quite well the various actia of the Mass, and what the laity and the presider are being asked to do.

If making verbal responses aids a person in achieving that unity with the action of Christ, hen they should do so. If it hinders that, they should not.

But the verbal responses are secondary to the internal responses of unity to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ.

Well this is a great relief! It is much easier for me to pray during the mass if I’m not having to try to sing responses that I don’t know how to sing or grabbing the book all the time. I usually just say the prayers I have memorized and join my soul silently to the other prayers just like I would at the canon of the mass.