Singing hymns at Mass

[Ophelia23]

The problem is time. On Sundays we have 10 Masses and they last for an hour without hymns. If we had hymns we could not have so many Masses. Our parish is 14,000 parishioners and we have an 80% Mass attendance so we need the 10 Masses to accommodate everyone.

Holy cow, that’s incredible!! What a thriving parish!

 

[dividus]

Generally here throughout the Philippines its a similar Mass attendance. Of course its a Catholic country and most people here are cradle Catholics.
People here live and breathe their faith daily. I have not gone through a day where Christ and Mary have not been in many conversations throughout the day and these are conversations not just with family but with friends and even strangers. Nobody feels awkward about discussing their faith here and nobody gets offended when its mentioned.
On Sundays many malls have Masses. Many of the office blocks in the business districts have chapels where workers on weekdays can have a quiet time to pray before starting work, or during a coffee break, at lunchtime or before they go home.
Catholics here are very devout. Sadly though many, if not most, seem to have been badly catechised. Even our priests at my local parish Church publicly mention from time to time that its strange seeing the Confession lines so short but the Communion lines so long.
I became a Catholic 21 years ago and it was after my RCIA classes when I went home to tell my wife about what had been discussed did I realise that although very devout my wife was ignorant about what the Church actually teaches. Over the years I have found that applies to almost all cradle Catholics I have met here.
I don’t know if the poor catechesis is the fault of the Church or the parents or both. I found it odd that as a convert I knew more about the Catholic faith than those born into it. I bought CCC’s for all my family and over the years have tried to help them by discussing the Church teachings. Anything I’m unsure of I talk to a priest and encourage them to do likewise.

Apologies to the OP for digressing. I’ll stop now

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No need to apologize, whichever direction the discussion takes is fine with me.It’s good to know that in some parts of the world, at least, there are such devout congregations.
I read a comment by an African churchman last year in which he said that he and his colleagues talk – only half-jokingly – about sending missionaries to Western Europe!

 

[HoosMommie]

As a newbie to Catholicism, my problem is that most of the hymns/songs are unfamiliar so singing along is often difficult. And sometimes the music is not easy to sing no matter how much I would like to. So I chime in when I can and hum or just follow the words at other times. I do love to sing. My husband couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket so he doesn’t even try, although he does look them all up in the missal/hymnal.