People have to learn to embrace silence

[Thomasbradley312]

Something that I have come to really enjoy the most about the EF of mass is the sacred silence.
Unfortunately it seems like in modern times people get uncomfortable in times of silence. To the point it is like there always has to be some music or something going on. I think it is unfortunately we feel like we can’t just be in silence.
Many times at communion the choir starts singing these songs, and I just don’t understand why? Why can’t we embrace sacred silence without always having noise?

 

[PetraG]

Just to clarify: Sacred music is not noise. Sacred music is prayer.
Both oral prayer–not only including but especially that which is sung–and sacred silence rightly belong to the single act of worship that is the Holy Mass:

To promote active participation, the people should be encouraged to take part by means of acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons, and songs, as well as by actions, gestures, and bodily attitudes. And at the proper times all should observe a reverent silence. --Sacrosanctum concilium, 30

As for music that is not prayerful, it does not belong in the Holy Mass at all.

This is from the GIRM in support of your point; the periods of silence at the appropriate times, though brief, are very important:

Silence

56. The Liturgy of the Word is to be celebrated in such a way as to favor meditation, and so any kind of haste such as hinders recollection is clearly to be avoided. In the course of it, brief periods of silence are also appropriate, accommodated to the assembled congregation; by means of these, under the action of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God may be grasped by the heart and a response through prayer may be prepared. It may be appropriate to observe such periods of silence, for example, before the Liturgy of the Word itself begins, after the First and Second Reading, and lastly at the conclusion of the Homily. [Missale Romanum, Ordo lectionum Missae, editio typica altera, 1981, no. 28].
–GIRM, 56

Note, however, that the GIRM does not single out the time of reception of Holy Communion as a time of sacred silence. Instead, a Communion Chant:

86. While the Priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion Chant is begun, its purpose being to express the spiritual union of the communicants by means of the unity of their voices, to show gladness of heart, and to bring out more clearly the “communitarian” character of the procession to receive the Eucharist. The singing is prolonged for as long as the Sacrament is being administered to the faithful.(boldface mine: PetraG) [Cf. Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship, Instruction, Inestimabile donum, April 3, 1980, no. 17: Acta Apostolicae Sedis 72 (1980), p. 338.] However, if there is to be a hymn after Communion, the Communion Chant should be ended in a timely manner.

Care should be taken that singers, too, can receive Communion with ease.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Sacred Silence isn’t about not having music during communion, but the silence within your being as you meditate on who you just received, i.e. Jesus Christ.

Also, it doesn’t take place at Mass alone, but when you pray interiorly in your own home.

Jim

 

[po18guy]

Primarily because we have “music directors” who, perhaps unconsciously, seek to justify their jobs by inserting music before, during and after the mass. Love it or hate it, we are a radio, TV, Hi-Fi, stereo, muzak, concert and MTV culture. Sound is the norm. Silence is embarrassing. It has come to indicate “technical difficulties” and apologies are offered for periods of silence.

I think this has little to do with the canard of EF versus OF, which I view as an artificial controversy. Lack of silence is a product of our culture of noise.You can celebrate an 19th century mass, but it is still populated with 21st century parishioners,

 

[PetraG]

Primarily because we have “music directors” who, perhaps unconsciously, seek to justify their jobs by inserting music before, during and after the mass. Love it or hate it, we are a radio, TV, Hi-Fi, stereo, muzak, concert and MTV culture. Sound is the norm. Silence is embarrassing. It has come to indicate “technical difficulties” and apologies are offered for periods of silence.

I think this has little to do with the canard of EF versus OF, which I view as an artificial controversy. Lack of silence is a product of our culture of noise.You can celebrate an 19th century mass, but it is still populated with 21st century parishioners,

Actually, this is not entirely fair to music directors. With regards to the OP’s point, the GIRM does call for music during Holy Communion. IMHO they sometimes go overboard in expressing “gladness” to the point of leaving behind a meditative character, but in their defense a song is called for in the rubrics.

 

[po18guy]

That section of the G.I.R.M. also being influenced to some degree by the surrounding culture.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

There are “quiet” OF Masses that are popular in the early morning and also with people who do not like a lot of sensory overload when they’re having Mass.

 

[PetraG]

That section of the G.I.R.M. also being influenced to some degree by the surrounding culture.

Yes, I can say I know Catholics who equate meditative music with being morose–to them, it is lifeless, like a person with no pulse. This makes it difficult to find a common ground with peers who are used to either silence or who have learned to appreciate chant-style music that doesn’t have a strong beat to it.

I also know people who literally have music or electronic talk going on in the background all of the time in their daily lives. They typically (but not always) have a great deal of difficulty concentrating without it, to the point that they do homework with music going and feel uncomfortable when they have to take an exam or wait in a quiet environment without it. (I don’t know if they even sleep with earbuds in or what.)

 

[Dave27360]

Why can’t we embrace sacred silence without always having noise?

That is a good question. There are multiple times during Ordinary Form Mass that there is sacred silence (pausing to examine our conscious, during the prayers, after the Priest or Deacon says his Homily). Separate from Mass I think the reason some people are afraid of silence is because it gives you the opportunity for God to speak to you through the Holy Spirit and you might not be comfortable with what you hear. What if I am asked to do something or challenged? We as a society are constantly in some type of noise.

 

[PetraG]

…Separate from Mass I think the reason some people are afraid of silence is because it gives you the opportunity for God to speak to you through the Holy Spirit and you might not be comfortable with what you hear. What if I am asked to do something or challenged? …

I wouldn’t say it is fair to claim that people uncomfortable with silence don’t want to hear from the Lord. Some probably don’t, but I wouldn’t say that is your typical Mass-goer. After all, if you’re OK with silence but don’t want to hear from God, you just use the silence in some other way.

Based just on those I talk to, I think it is more “I don’t hear anything.” There is a discomfort with waiting without prompt feedback that “something is happening” or a sense that “I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.” Sitting in silence feels like doing nothing, like an exercise in futility, because so much of our culture concentrates on using every minute in doing something and getting feedback that we’re “accomplishing” or “being productive.” It takes trust to sit in silence and believe that it is a good “investment of time,” if you will.

 

[Dave27360]

I wouldn’t say it is fair to claim that people uncomfortable with silence don’t want to hear from the Lord.

That is why I mentioned some people not all people.

 

[Dave27360]

I am in agreement with your second paragraph mentioned as to why some people are afraid of silence.

 

[JimG]

I would love to have a 15 minute period of silence in the church before Mass begins.

 

[goout]

Silence can be fostered though, by good disciplines at Mass. It’s not the music per se, or the type of music of course. It’s the desire to fill every second with something rather than entering into a time of quiet rest.
Our director is a great guy, but he will do that and it is really distracting.
Hymnn finishes a little early? He launches into “Surely the Presence…”

Just when silence was about to cover us.
It’s hard to find silence “in the world”. Mass could be one place for fostering holy silence.

 

[CelticWarlord]

Why can’t we embrace sacred silence

Back in the 1950’s my parents became very drawn to the Quaker community a short drive from the city where I still live. One of the intriguing aspects to the Quaker “meeting” is that it may be held entirely in silence and no one speaks unless they feel moved to do so.

I’ve never been to a Quaker meeting myself but the thing which most stood out for me at the first Mass I attended was the silence which I loved, having been used to overly enthusiastic congregations who can’t wait to shake a hand, slap a name tag on you, and invite you to lunch. Not for me, thanks. I was so grateful for this, and still am.

Father Meinrad, in the video below, talks about how Oblates, more so than other people in most circumstances, will have this awareness of silence as part of their natural personality. I like it quiet at all times.

 

[puppson]

At a recent Mass, a woman walking back from receiving spied a friend near me and sat next to her, chatting up her friend and then checking her cell phone text messages, screen glaring, while Communion was still underway.
I don’t recall ever seeing such behavior in an EF Mass, or even during a Protestant “Lord’s Supper.” Sad, but I can only keep silent and tune out. Just like in enduring the cacaphony after Mass.

Cell phones are a huge crutch against the spiritual discomfort of silence.

 

[puppson]

And after Mass too, please!

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Prayer is the time and place for fostering holy silence, so that it’s rooted in the soul and experienced where ever you are.

Mass is not the only place for experiencing Holy Silence.

Jim

 

[goout]

Yes that’s true.

 

[Dovekin]

Many times at communion the choir starts singing these songs, and I just don’t understand why? Why can’t we embrace sacred silence without always having noise?

For some, however, the experience of the Communion Procession is far more prosaic, analogous perhaps to standing in line in the supermarket or at the motor vehicle bureau. A perception such as this is a dreadfully inaccurate and impoverished understanding of what is a significant religious action. The Communion Procession is an action of the Body of Christ. At Christ’s invitation, extended by the priest acting in Christ’s person: “Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb,” the members of the community move forward to share in the sacred meal, to receive the Body and Blood of Christ which is the sign and the source of their unity. In fact, each time we move forward together to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord, we join the countless ranks of all the baptized who have gone before us, our loved ones, the canonized and uncanonized saints down through the ages, who at their time in history formed a part of this mighty stream of believers.

This action by Christ’s body, the Church assembled for the Eucharist, is manifested and supported by the Communion Chant, a hymn in praise of Christ sung by the united voices of those who believe in him and share his life. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal takes this hymn very seriously, mandating that it should begin at the Communion of the priest and extend until the last person has received Communion.

For some, however, the singing of this hymn is perceived as an intrusion on their own prayer, their private thanksgiving after Communion. In fact, however, this hymn is prayer, the corporate thanksgiving prayer of the members of Christ’s Body, united with one another. Over and over again the prayers of the liturgy and the norms of the General Instruction emphasize this fundamental concept of the unity of the baptized, stressing that when we come together to participate in the Eucharistic celebration we come, not as individuals, but as united members of Christ’s Body. In each of the Eucharistic Prayers, though the petition is worded in slightly different ways, God is asked to send his Holy Spirit to make us one body, one spirit in Christ; the General Instruction admonishes the faithful that “they are to form one body, whether in hearing the Word of God, or in taking part in the prayers and in the singing…” (no. 96). It describes one of the purposes of the opening song of the Mass as to “foster the unity of those who have been gathered” (no. 47), and says of the Communion Chant that “its purpose [is] to express the spiritual union of the communicants by means of the unity of their voices, to show gladness of heart, and to bring out more clearly the ‘communitarian’ character of the procession to receive the Eucharist” (no. 86).
USCCB The Reception of Holy Communion at Mass