SIlence before Mass

[paramedicgirl]

OK, hopefully I won’t be crucified for this. First I love our Lady’s Rosary. But have you ever tried to pray before the Tabernacle before Mass, trying to speak to Jesus and those old ladies are praying as loud as can be and you cannot hear yourself think? That was my point. So I do not want to offend anyone, it’s just my thought.

At my church, the Rosary must be finished 15 minutes before the Mass so that people who want to pray quietly before the Tabernacle get a chance to have some solitude in prayer. Of course, all this takes place in the side chapel, which has glass doors leading out to the main church, where the social atmosphere is comparable to a dull roar.

 

[robin_hood]

Talking before and after Mass drives me nuts when I am trying to pray.I have often considered placing large amounts of cotton wool in my ear with huge amount sticking out from my ear thus peacefull silence and getting the message across.Although I should imagine thet somebody will poke me when I am deep in prayer and enquire about my earache.

 

[Apryl]

Talking before and after Mass drives me nuts when I am trying to pray.I have often considered placing large amounts of cotton wool in my ear with huge amount sticking out from my ear thus peacefull silence and getting the message across.Although I should imagine thet somebody will poke me when I am deep in prayer and enquire about my earache.

I am not kidding when I tell you this:

At my church, I started doing the Rosary before mass just as a personal thing.

I wiould sit in the pew, and just pray. Quietly. Like any one lese praying. But I had my beads, and usually, I was kneeling.

People would come over and tap me on the shoulder. ‘Hi! How you doing?’… (Um… I’m PRAY-ing!)

My problem came when the choir would come in. They would talk and chatter. They are on the Gospel side, and I would be on the Epistle side. There was enough noise to be a huge distraction. The Glare Eye was not enough to quiet them.

I started to wear ear plugs.

Then, with others joining me, it moved to the Communion Rail. Then the choir would ‘need’ to rehearse before mass. I would ask them to wait until I finished my prayers.

This has been a huge problem between Me versus the Choir.

I still continue to lead the Rosary before mass. The choir, usually, keeps their volume down.

But it has eome to me talking to them, the pastor, and others to try to get something done. With it being so many in the choir, it may be John on week one. Then Susie on Week two. Then Victor on week three. Each time, they would respond, ‘it wasn’t me’, or “I didn’t know”.

This is a huge problem for me. I get sick of complaining about it. But I refuse to stop. The reverance that is due to mass should be there, and my hope is that people praying before mass, be it the Rosary or private prayers, will help that to return.

 

[anniemart]

Alrighty Cat, in response to your quote #23 and to follow up on mine, #24, I have this to report…although I considered sending you a PM so as to let sleeping dogs lie but then I reconsidered…there may actually be some poster out there with the tiniest bit of interest in my reply.

After waiting 20 minutes for the pouring rain to let up, I decided to leave for church in order to get there at minimum, 30 minutes before mass started this morning. I entered the church SOAKING wet (not a dry spot on me and to tell the truth, the darkened shade of my dress was more appealing to my vanity ). I gave up trying to pat myself dry (forgot my umbrella) so I completed my prep duties for reading. I then went to the foyer and commenced opening the front door and greeting people as they entered.

I made a point to wish everyone a good morning in a friendly manner complete with smiles and a handshake. *I also made a point to keep my voice low but audible. *

Most of my fellow brothers and sisters ignored my handshake but did smile and/or respond in return. What was interesting is that those who entered loudly, became quiet after I spoke to them.

During this time, I couldn’t tell if it was quiet in the church before mass started because the silence was deafening. Seriously, it was a bit quieter than usual inside the church. Might have had something to do with the bad weather though. .

I remained greeting people until time for the procession. After mass ended I rushed to the foyer eager to build bridges (shoving children and slowpokes out of the way-----just kidding ). I opened the doors from the church into the foyer and wished people an even toned good bye and a good rest of the day. Nearly everyone responded!

I didn’t have the chance to chat with anyone in the parking lot…everyone was gone by the time I was done putting away the lectionary, mike, etc.

Next week, I’m going to ask the ministers that complete their prep duty early if they can join me in the foyer. Perhaps we can take turns greeting and invite a few that are not serving to join us.

By the way, I noticed a thread ealier that was discussing “greeters.” …wonder what their experiences are like??

Father, thank you for casting your gaze upon me…Jesus I Trust in You.

 

[Cat]

anniemart, what you’re doing sounds GREAT! Keep it up and let me know. Like I said, I think people are more considerate of each other when they are “friends” rather than just anonymous bodies.

In one of the Protestant churches that I attended, a woman carried a small notebook with her, and she would write down people’s names as she introduced herself and they introduced themselves. (She would ASK them if she could do this.)

She would include a short description of the person (blonde, tall, wears aviator glasses), and if possible, write one fact about them (works at IBM).

Then whenever she saw them again, she would greet them by name and ask them about “IBM.”

She was delightful, a real spark-plug. She would also do anything for anyone–clean, babysit, lots of prayer, cook food, etc. So her “love” wasn’t just limited to saying hi.

We have greeters in the parishes that I attend. Very nice, and very practical. A visitor can ask questions like, “Where’s the restroom?” and “Is there an offering envelope available?” etc.

 

[sphilomena]

Before Mass at my parish you can hear a pin drop it’s so quiet. About a month ago a couple came in and the guy was talking so loud, everyone turned to see what was going on, he abruptly closed his mouth (thank God).

You are very blessed!

 

[sphilomena]

Talking before and after Mass drives me nuts when I am trying to pray.I have often considered placing large amounts of cotton wool in my ear with huge amount sticking out from my ear thus peacefull silence and getting the message across.Although I should imagine thet somebody will poke me when I am deep in prayer and enquire about my earache.

 

[TinkerJoan]

We are also spiritual beings, not just human beings. What about love for the person sitting in a church who is trying to pray for a sick child, maybe even a dieing child? What about a person praying for the soul of another? Have you ever considered that their prayers might be a little more important than everyday “chat” in a church? What about the people who are in church to pour out their souls for the love of Christ in their prayers before mass? There are a limitless amount of places we people can go to “chat”. The church is different. There are many people sitting in those pews who want to pray and to have your prayers disturbed by everyday chat is disheartening. You can’t also disregard the fact that you are in the presence of Christ and therefore need to listen more than speak. If you really actually believed Christ was truly present you could do nothing else but listen. The everyday chat is done before, during and after mass, whether someone is trying to pray or not. This is not a wonderful human thing, it is a disregard for where you are and who you are, and who you are with. Do we humans have so little to pray for that we can’t put aside our time in church for it and instead “chat” not caring about the people who actually have something they need to pray for?

 

[CatholicZ09]

What we need to remember is we are in God’s house, not our house, not our friend’s house, or not a family member’s house. We need to be reverent and silent. The only times I have problems with people before Mass is at the Easter Vigil. A lot of people are really loud before Mass and it’s distracting and takes away the reverence. A regular Sunday Mass I have no problems.