Unintelligable Lector

[BusterMartin]

I’m not sure what to do in this situation. Any suggestions? For our daily Mass, we periodically have a lector who is of a very elderly age (as is much of the congregation at said daily Mass). I’ve no problem with the lector’s age; however, the lector is incredibly difficult to understand due to mumbling, quiet speech, and slurring of words. At today’s Mass, I was almost completely unable to understand any of the reading. The responsorial psalm was easier since it was in the missal. The others I was with were of the same view and stated that the lector was nearly incomprehensible. You could even tell that Father, Deacon, and the altar server were concerned today based on their looks of concern and some whisperings between Father and Deacon. Should I address this situation with the priest or let it go as is and be happy someone is the lector? I do give the lector an A for effort - that’s more than I’m doing right now.

 

[SMHW]

I’m not sure how long this has been going on or how regularly it happens.

It seems as if your priest and your deacon are aware of the problem and are already concerned. I don’t know if their concern is for the fact that the readings cannot be understood or if they are more worried that the reader’s inability to speak clearly is an indication of of declining health.

In general I believe that it is important for the readings to be heard by those in attendance but that does not mean that pastoral concerns cannot sometimes be of greater importance. I say give your pastor a chance to address this with the reader himself. It is not easy for a pastor to tell someone they should not be volunteering.

If you feel it is warranted that you speak to the priest or deacon yourself then I suggest that you express your concerns in terms of the hleath and safety of the reader. His speech problems could be indicative of TIAs, dementia, arthrosclerosis, or other issues in which case it may not be SAFE for him to be walking to the ambo.

 

[thomas_jd]

I’m not sure what to do in this situation. Any suggestions? For our daily Mass, we periodically have a lector who is of a very elderly age (as is much of the congregation at said daily Mass). I’ve no problem with the lector’s age; however, the lector is incredibly difficult to understand due to mumbling, quiet speech, and slurring of words. At today’s Mass, I was almost completely unable to understand any of the reading. The responsorial psalm was easier since it was in the missal. The others I was with were of the same view and stated that the lector was nearly incomprehensible. You could even tell that Father, Deacon, and the altar server were concerned today based on their looks of concern and some whisperings between Father and Deacon. Should I address this situation with the priest or let it go as is and be happy someone is the lector? I do give the lector an A for effort - that’s more than I’m doing right now.

Buy a missal, leave the lector to the priest!

 

[Luna_Lovecraft]

Buy a missal, leave the lector to the priest!

+1

 

[TimothyH]

Unless it is a very small parish and the deacon or priest heads the ministry themselves, there will likeky be a lay person who is in charge of the readers. It might be more appropriate to bring up the subject with whomever is currently in charge of training the readers.

I wonder what the “leave the lector to the priest” comments are all about. There is nothing wrong with having readers proclaim God’s word (other than the Gospel), and it is allowed by the Church. In the parish to which I belong, there are dozens of readers, all willing to study and rehearse the readings, willing to put on a jacket and tie, and willing to get up in front of 900 people and proclaim God’s word.

-Tim-

 

[bmullins]

Buy a missal, leave the lector to the priest!

Exactly. If the Priest and the Deacon were already showing visible signs of concern, allow them to handle it themselves. That’s what they are there for. I always follow everything in the Missal anyway. It’s a sensitive situation and must be handled with care so as not to offend the lector and his family. Let the shepherd of your parish figure out a way to handle it that edifies and uplifts. If it’s handled wrong it can send people away. Many of the persons family might get offended that the Parish dared to stop their elderly, devout parent/cousin/friend from participating in God’s liturgy.

TimothyH- The comments are not saying to only let the priest do the lectoring, it is saying let the priest run his parish.

 

[juno24]

I wonder what the “leave the lector to the priest” comments are all about. There is nothing wrong with having readers proclaim God’s word (other than the Gospel), and it is allowed by the Church. In the parish to which I belong, there are dozens of readers, all willing to study and rehearse the readings, willing to put on a jacket and tie, and willing to get up in front of 900 people and proclaim God’s word.

-Tim-

Tim, I believe the sentiment behind the “leave the lector to the priest” was more along the lines of, “let the priest deal with this gentleman who is having problems reading”, and not, “there shouldn’t be lectors”.

 

[KevinAK]

Unless it is a very small parish and the deacon or priest heads the ministry themselves, there will likeky be a lay person who is in charge of the readers. It might be more appropriate to bring up the subject with whomever is currently in charge of training the readers.

I wonder what the “leave the lector to the priest” comments are all about. There is nothing wrong with having readers proclaim God’s word (other than the Gospel), and it is allowed by the Church. In the parish to which I belong, there are dozens of readers, all willing to study and rehearse the readings, willing to put on a jacket and tie, and willing to get up in front of 900 people and proclaim God’s word.

-Tim-

I believe that “leave the lector to the priest” means that the OP should allow the priest to address the situation since he seems to be aware of it.

 

[TimothyH]

I believe that “leave the lector to the priest” means that the OP should allow the priest to address the situation since he seems to be aware of it.

OK. I see that now. Thank you.

-Tim-

 

[BusterMartin]

Buy a missal, leave the lector to the priest!

And I agree with that…to an extent. I think the priest should run the show…and does far better than I ever could. However, I don’t think it hurts to bring something to someone’s attention on occasion…just in case he isn’t aware. No one’s perfect, and the priest might just need a heads-up. That’s all I’m wondering about. In this case (today specifically) I’m sure he knew how bad it was. Normally, I wasn’t sure. As for buying a missal, I’ll just stick with the seasonal missal provided by the Church (even though it doesn’t have daily readings).

 

[svid2]

Bring the readings with you: missal, internet on cell phone (mute it!), what-have-you.

Become a lector!

 

[april32010]

we are at mass to listen to the Word.not read it.

 

[puzzleannie]

I’mYou could even tell that Father, Deacon, and the altar server were concerned today based on their looks of concern and some whisperings between Father and Deacon. Should I address this situation with the priest

I hope the concern is based on the fact that this lovely elderly person may be exhibiting stroke or other serious symptoms, and yes I would certainly ask father if anyone is looking after her.

 

[ByzCathCantor]

we are at mass to listen to the Word.not read it.

We should be mindful that the tradition of readings in Liturgy was a necessity in the early Church, as (i) access to the Word was limited to the clergy and (ii) even if generally available, many of the faithful would not have been functionally literate enough to read them. From that evolved the tradition by extension that requires us to be attentive to the Word in the Liturgy, and this serves to call us to be active participants in worship. Listening is not a passive activity. I agree that the readings must be heard by the faithful and clearly articulated by the Lector.

The priest is aware, and will have to address this situation for the good of the congregation, without discouraging the Lector from further serving the Church. Hopefully, the Lector will be able to find another way to contribute in the recitation of the Mass. We pray in thanksgiving for the Lector’s faithful service.