Silence is golden

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Ewes

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I would like to know if its a sin to speak in church? I read once thats its a sacrilege. If it is , I want to know!
My family and I are absolutely fed up with the NOISE after Mass. :mad:
My husband and I always stay to pray and the racket is unbelievable. I recall not that long ago I had to resist shouting out, to the people around to “take it outside”… I wonder what Our good Lord would say to me if I would have done that :o

My husband very repectfully asked our parish priest to address this problem. He refused to say anything, and week after week, it gets worse.
We do attend a Latin Mass in our local city , when we do its a relief I’ll tell ya …oh the quiet and peace to pray and reflect is soooo wonderful. Unfortunately our schedule only allows us to go evrey two weeks and we really look forward to it too.
Praise be to God in the Highest
Amen
 
Guilty as charged! Though I could not agree more that silence is in order – especially after Mass and in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. I always make an act of thanksgiving after Mass, but for conversation afterward, there is no place else to go – even going to the narthex wouldn’t keep the noise out of the church. I’m one of those: ‘please don’t grope me during the sign of peace’ types - but after Mass I love to catch up with all the people I see only once a week, especially a couple of RCIA people who need a little extra personal attention, and an elderly widow who lives alone and doesn’t have much of a social life.

It’s a Catholic church. There is no coffee hour. If there were, I would be delighted to take the yak-yak over there . . .
 
I’m so glad my church has a fellowship hall. They have a coffee and donut time after each mass which is for chit chat…so there is no need to talk in the church proper.

dream wanderer
 
so there is no need to talk in the church proper.
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Actually there is never a need unless some emergency occurs.

If there is a desire, it would be best served at least in the vestibule or the parking lot outside the church proper.
 
We do attend a Latin Mass in our local city , when we do its a relief I’ll tell ya …oh the quiet and peace to pray and reflect is soooo wonderful.
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I think many of us who attend TLM would echo this - and I often wonder why it is so automatically so. No one stands up before Mass and says, don’t talk before, during or after Mass. We just don’t.
 
At the risk of romanticizing the past, I must say that I personally experienced a greater sense of reverence prior to the liturgical changes made pursuant to Vatican II. One of the aspects of the Mass that was emphasized by Sister Ann Walter in the first grade–and every teacher thereafter–and by my parents was that silence in church was a sign of reverence and respect for Our Lord, present in the Blessed Sacrament. I think it’s worthwhile to recall that in the Old Testament the Jewish high priest only was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies and only once a year. I realize that most people who talk in church are not being deliberately disrespectful but I believe they inadvertently contribute to the overall atmosphere of just another social gathering. Add such talking to the misplaced sign of peace, inappropriate attire, and insipid music, it’s no wonder that poll after poll show so many Catholics no longer believe in the Real Presence. If Catholics were truly aware that Jesus is really present in the tabernacle, would they then engage in idle conversation? How does the Church promote such awareness? By enforcing a sense of reverence through proper catechesis, dress codes, and SILENCE!
 
All I can say is “It is in silence that we can hear God.” I learned this from the monks. :gopray2:
 
I agree with the writer and those who responded. I have heard all the excuses as to why we should be abe to talk before and after Mass in the church, with all the modern means of communicating, there is no excuse. For the times that I have been guilty of interupting someones precious few minutes alone with the Lord, I ask forgiveness. I pray that the our priest will address this growing problem.
 
While I have no inclination to return to the old Mass, I do recall that there was no conversation before or after Mass in the main body of the church.

A remark that a Baptist friend of mine made at that time sticks with me. Discussing various churches, she remarked that “well, in a Catholic Church, at least you know you are in church.” referring to the overall spirit of reverence.

Sadly, I do not think she would make that remark today.
 
Unfortunately I am guilty also. The biggest problem for me is that I live out of town and when I see fellow Right to Lifers at mass I find that it is an easy place to touch base with them with out going through the email or phones. We do not stay long and try to keep it as low as possible. Unfortunately bringing a conversation outside of our Church could be kind of cold in the winter. I know these are just excuses and I do agree that it is important to have quiet before and after mass. For me I find that the time before mass is the time of silence since I like to prepare myself for receiving Him. I especially like it when the priest takes a long time of silence after communion. That is when I feel I can really pray and be thankful.

My:twocents:
Moe
 
It would be nice if you and your fellow RTL folks could make a plan to just go have coffee or breakfast someplace after Mass and then you could really get involved in some conversation while staying warm too. 😉
 
dream wanderer:
I’m so glad my church has a fellowship hall. They have a coffee and donut time after each mass which is for chit chat…so there is no need to talk in the church proper.

dream wanderer
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We have a hall but I find that most of the conversation goes on inside the church. I was raised all my life it was a venial sin to talk in church.
 
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Toni:
I was raised all my life it was a venial sin to talk in church.
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Hey! I’m the only one on this thread who actually 'fessed up to being guilty, guilty, guilty, while acknowledging that I would accept an alternative in a heartbeat (btw, whoever suggested chatting in the parking lot doesn’t live in the north!). As a Convert, I sometimes miss the nuances of venial sin. But it seems perfectly reasonable that talking in church would be one. Can you give me a citation? Maybe the old Baltimore Catechism?
 
Our church has a large vestibule, so there’s plenty of room for convrsation there, outside the main body of the church. Still, most folks don’t wait till they get to the vestibule!
 
I am more bothered by the talk that goes on BEFORE and DURING Mass…Parents talking about all different subjects to their school-age children: what’s for dinner, can I go over to Brian’s, when are we going shopping etc…
Husbands and wives chit-chatting, children over age 3 crawling all over the pews, snacks in church, kid’s getting up and down to go to the bathroom…Augh!
And then I feel guilty for having these feelings! 😦
 
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Carolyn:
I am more bothered by the talk that goes on BEFORE and DURING Mass…
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I got so frustrated a few weeks ago . . . 2 women behind us talking in normal (not hushed) voices about a sick cat. This was before Mass began. They went on and on. I was trying so hard to focus on my Rosary and it was tough! Talking in church after Mass is an issue at my parish as well. We have Sunday Masses in the church and in the school auditorium. The 2 crowds very seldom meet. The auditorium folks talk (not whisper) until Mass begins and start up again when Communion in being distributed. We try to avoid Masses there, which I don’t like because it’s all part of our parish, but it’s just so noisy. —KCT
 
I find talking before Mass more distracting as I am usually trying to pray and prepare myself for Mass. In fact, I enjoy arriving early to pray the Rosary.

I was raised not to talk at all in church as a sign of respect. (By the way, I don’t think this topic has anything to do with the Latin Mass or the New Mass.) However, I think our society now places a lot less emphasis on respect in general.

Our pastory has addressed this issue more than once. It helps for a couple weeks, then it’s back to talking after Mass. Having a social hall wouldn’t help because most people don’t want to make that commitment - they just want to chat for a few minutes. Living outside Philadelphia, doing that outdoors in the winter isn’t possible.

Sometimes I do have mixed feelings, though, because I feel that a bit of talking after Mass with fellow parisioners is a sign of brotherhood. However, with Masses fairly close together, people often forget that after one Mass is actually before the next one.

I left the Church for 17 years and converted to Judaism (that story is for another thread) but reconciled with the Church several years ago. One of the things I found most different about Judaism was that the sanctuary in a synagogue is often used as an auditorium and isn’t looked upon with the reverence that we look upon the Church. Before and after services in a synagogue there is full-blown conversation, walking around, etc., just as you would see in an auditorium or any other social place. Once the service starts, however, there is quiet and respect. Jews look upon the synagogue as a place to pray but not really a sacred place unto itself. That was very difficult for me to get used to. (And perhaps I never did since I’m back!)
 
Yes, the talking before, during, and after Mass is annoying. I have experienced two instances where it got really bad. On Good Friday (which I think is the most solemn day in the liturgical year), the priest made a point of telling everyone before we left that we must leave the church in complete silence. Of course when the time came to leave church, most people were heard chatting and laughing on the way out. They paid no attention to what the priest had told them. Another instance was just strange. Our parish priest, during the homily, starting out by congratulating the football team on their victory from the day before. After he said this a parishioner yelled out “Yeah!” quite loudly. I could not believe someone had the nerve to yell out right during the homily!!
 
Mercygate and moedom,
You would be doing the rest of the Church Militant a huge favor if you pleased tried to cut back on this. When us TLMers don’t have the opportunity to go to the Old Mass, it is at least comfoting to go to a somewhat ‘quiet’ Mass. BTW, about the cold weather, it does improve your circulation system!!
  • Joe
 
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deogratias:
I think many of us who attend TLM would echo this - and I often wonder why it is so automatically so. No one stands up before Mass and says, don’t talk before, during or after Mass. We just don’t.
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I am one who echoes this. This is an important inquiry / wonderment , and a truth that gets overlooked to many times. The answer is the key to the end of the abuses, and to the restoration of the Mass.
 
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