Reading before Mass starts?

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annoellyn

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It is okay in terms of Church etiquette to read before Mass - such as a devotional or book by a saint? I usually pray before Mass but for the last few months there have been three people who all pray the rosary out loud and I find it literally impossible to concentrate on prayer while they do that. Talking about daily Mass, by the way.

Sometimes I join in silently, but I just can’t get into it. I really don’t mind them doing it, just wondering if I’ll get dirty looks for reading in a Church.
 
annoellyn said:
It is okay in terms of Church etiquette to read before Mass - such as a devotional or book by a saint? I usually pray before Mass but for the last few months there have been three people who all pray the rosary out loud and I find it literally impossible to concentrate on prayer while they do that. Talking about daily Mass, by the way.

Sometimes I join in silently, but I just can’t get into it. I really don’t mind them doing it, just wondering if I’ll get dirty looks for reading in a Church.
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it’s absolutely fine and a good practice, reading the lives or writings of the saints before mass is especially good for getting your mind focused on God and heavenly things, prayer is important too of course, but if you’re having trouble with the rosary, you could also get books with meditations on the mysteries of the rosary, by which you will learn to recall those things while praying the rosary…it is very good to pray the rosary before mass, but whatever you want to do, pray or read, are both just fine, so no worries,
and if people give you dirty looks(though i’m sure they won’t) don’t let it bother you, instead pray for them because it would be wrong of them to do.

ok, hope this helps, take care.
 
Praying the Rosary is a good practice before Mass. It helps to focus your minds on God. Doing some Spiritual Reading is good as well.
 
Read the bulletin, before mass. Sometimes it has great coupons.
 
annoellyn said:
It is okay in terms of Church etiquette to read before Mass - such as a devotional or book by a saint? I usually pray before Mass but for the last few months there have been three people who all pray the rosary out loud and I find it literally impossible to concentrate on prayer while they do that. Talking about daily Mass, by the way.

Sometimes I join in silently, but I just can’t get into it. I really don’t mind them doing it, just wondering if I’ll get dirty looks for reading in a Church.
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Of course you can read a devotional book before Mass!

As to the people praying the rosary, out loud, I would suggest that they may be the ones infringing on etiquette. The rosary is a worthy devotion, but in this case it is impinging on other people.

A few questions here:
  • Is this a scheduled activity in the parish. eg “Rosary 7:10 AM, Mass 7:30 AM”, or is it something this group just started doing?
  • Do they keep saying it right until Mass starts, or do they stop 5 or 10 minutes before?
  • Do they say it in the middle of the Church, or to the side?
  • Do they say it loud, or in quiet voices?
Depending on the answers to these questions, I would suggest that you could ask your priest to intervene and: have them say it another time (or earlier); say it in another place (eg. a side chapel); and/or say it in quiet voices.
 
I think that is a really good idea, especially if you have a problem with thinking things such as “Is she really wearing that?” or “I don’t like him” as people walk into the church. Reading devotional books really sets the tone for Mass.
 
TraditonRules said:
Read the bulletin, before mass. Sometimes it has great coupons.
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LOL! Good one. Not too spiritually uplifting (and the typos annoy me), but with all the noise going on, people chatting, musicians assaulting our ears, etc, sometimes the bulletin is the only thing “light” enough to read.

But another good thing, if noise is a distraction, just sit and look at the Crucifix or the Statues of the Blessed Mother or Joseph. Our parish is fortunate not to have any ghastly “contemporary” or even “modern” statues. Beauty is soothing.
 
“Originally Posted by TraditonRules
Read the bulletin, before mass. Sometimes it has great coupons.”

Oh that gave me a good laugh this morning. Thanks

For those praying the Rosary outloud–I also find it annoying. I am trying to have a talk with God at that time and making myself ready to receive him. It makes it difficult to concentrate on my prayers for those I promised to pray for at Mass.

For me, the Rosary is a very personal prayer. I know some say that they can complete the Rosary in 10 or 15 minutes. It takes me a longer time and I don’t like to rush through it.

It seems those that say it out loud before Mass say it so fast I can barely make out the words and it then lacks feeling for me. I like to say it slowly, savor the words and really concentrate on the mysteries awhile.😉
 
annoellyn said:
It is okay in terms of Church etiquette to read before Mass - such as a devotional or book by a saint? I usually pray before Mass but for the last few months there have been three people who all pray the rosary out loud and I find it literally impossible to concentrate on prayer while they do that. Talking about daily Mass, by the way.

Sometimes I join in silently, but I just can’t get into it. I really don’t mind them doing it, just wondering if I’ll get dirty looks for reading in a Church.
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of course it is okay, but the best reading is the prayers before Mass in most missals and missalettes, and the Sunday readings especially the gospel. Still don’t see why you cannot join in the rosary with them, however.

and yes, do patronize the businesses who support your bulletin, they are usually fellow parishioners
 
I like to bring my Magnificat and say Morning Prayer before Mass on Sunday. Then I read the readings, if I have time, and the meditation. I need something structured as I distract too easily.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone!

I think the three people praying the rosary out loud just fell into doing it, since they aren’t even sitting together. They sit like three pews apart, mainly in the middle of the Church, not even looking at each other. And no, no attempt to be quiet. They finish like two minutes before Mass starts and than one of them leads us in our opening hymn (no choir at daily Mass).
 
annoellyn said:
Thanks for the replies everyone!

I think the three people praying the rosary out loud just fell into doing it, since they aren’t even sitting together. They sit like three pews apart, mainly in the middle of the Church, not even looking at each other. And no, no attempt to be quiet. They finish like two minutes before Mass starts and than one of them leads us in our opening hymn (no choir at daily Mass).
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Sorry, annoellyn, that I missed this helpful response to our comments.

There is nothing (I am aware of) which says they shouldn’t do this and I assume they are thinking that saying the rosary like this before Mass is a good thing which couldn’t do any harm, however I believe people attending any Mass have a right to 5 minutes silence to gather their own thoughts and say some private prayers. For instance, the daily rosary at our parish is scheduled to end 5 minutes before Mass, and, benediction at our Cathedral also finishes 10 minutes before Mass. Daily rosary at the Cathedral is after Mass, and in a side chapel.

We often hear complaints about too much chatter before Mass, and rightly so, but people saying the rosary out loud is also a distraction to others.

There are other “out loud” prayers which any group could start up. eg. the daily office, the Divine Mercy chaplet, or even a prayer fellowship. Nobody has a right to say these in church in other people’s quiet time, and I don’t think the rosary group is any different (but I doubt they would see it this way!). “Do unto others…”.

Sometimes things like this can go on for quite a while before anyone notices that there is a better way. As you are in RCIA you may not want to “rock the boat” yet, but just keep it in mind as something to mention to the parish priest at some time. He’ll probably thank you for bringing it to his attention and making an improvement in the running of the church.

This has actually brought something in my own parish to my attention. On Saturday mornings we say Morning Prayer at 9:00, and it finishes only seconds before the 9:15 Mass. It never occurred to us that this is not fair on others, but now I realise that it is, so I will arrange for us to start 5 minutes earlier, to finish by 9:10.

Thankyou for your question and follow up posts. Sometimes it takes a newcomer to help us see something we might never have noticed for ourselves 🙂

Very best wishes for your journey in Catholicism and for your life in your parish.

~ Edmundus
 
I bring a prayer book with me to church. It has a section for prayers before mass, prayers for before communion, prayers for after communion, and prayers for after mass.

Although I try to pray the Rosary every day, I know that I would be distracted if several people were praying the Rosary out loud before mass. I wouldn’t have a problem if they said it out loud after mass - in fact I would probably join in.

But I like when the church is quiet before the mass, so that I might contemplate and reflect upon the fact that I am going to be receiving Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that these days people will have full blown discussions in the church before the mass takes place.

When that happens I feel sad.
 
I usually go to mass at least a half hour before it starts and sometimes I read a spiritual book or write in my journal.
 
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