This is indeed important. The General Instruction for the Roman Missal speaks about silence in the Liturgy, as do many other sources including Pope Benedict and Blessed John Paul II.
vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20031204_spiritus-et-sponsa_en.html vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/communications/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20120124_46th-world-communications-day_en.html vultus.stblogs.org/2012/03/a-benedictine-bishop-on-silenc.html
“Silence is God’s first language. Everything else is a poor translation.”
St John of the Cross.
“118. But, in order to hear the voice of God, one has to have silence in one’s soul and to keep silence.”
“888. Silence is so powerful a language that it reaches the throne of the living God. Silence is His language, though secret, yet living and powerful.”
St Faustina:
From the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy:
“ at proper times all should observe reverent silence.”
Based on the texts of the General Instructions on the Roman Missal and the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy we can see that there are some distinct times in the Mass where we are to experience silence:
The period of recollection provided in the penitential rite
The time provided for personal prayer after the invitation “let us Pray”
A pause at the conclusion of the Sunday readings or homily
after communion which is a most intimate time with Jesus.
There are also other times where sacred silence is the be held:
This silence should be sought while listening to the readings, the homily, or the proclamation of the Eucharistic and other priestly prayers.
These silences are not to be viewed in such a way that they take away from the communal aspect of the Mass:
*This helps quiet our imagination, our worries and our toils so as to join our hearts to the prayers and be fully attentive to whatever the Holy Spirit should inspire in us. Thus silence at Mass is an active, not a passive disposition. *
This form of interior silence does not impede, and indeed favors, full and active participation in those parts of the celebration where the community is united in acclamation and song, for each person is more fully aware of what he or she is doing.
Pope Benedict has also written extensively on the liturgy through his time as a Cardinal and since becoming Pope:
We are realizing more and more clearly that silence is part of the liturgy. We respond, by singing and praying, to the God who addresses us, but the greater mystery, surpassing all words, summons us to silence. It must, of course, be a silence with content, not just the absence of speech and action. We should expect the liturgy to give us a positive stillness that will restore us. Such stillness will not be just a pause, in which a thousand thoughts and desires assault us, but a time of recollection, giving us an inward peace, allowing us to draw breath and rediscover the one thing necessary, which we have forgotten. That is why silence cannot be simply “made”, organized as if it were one activity among many. It is no accident that on all sides people are seeking techniques of meditation, a spirituality for emptying the mind. One of man’s deepest needs is making its presence felt, a need that is manifestly not being met in our present form of the liturgy. For silence to be fruitful, as we have already said, it must not be just a pause in the action of the liturgy. No, it must be an integral part of the liturgical event.
Blessed John Paul II did as well:
:
Active participation certainly means that, in gesture, word, song and service, all the members of the community take part in an act of worship, which is anything but inert or passive. Yet active participation does not preclude the active passivity of silence, stillness and listening: indeed, it demands it. Worshipers are not passive, for instance, when listening to the readings or the homily, or following the prayers of the celebrant, and the chants and music of the liturgy. These are experiences of silence and stillness, but they are in their own way profoundly active
Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments:
*We also show our adoration and reverence towards the Holy Eucharist by silence in church, by becoming dress and postures at sacred celebrations, by joining other people in singing, giving responses, and gestures such as sitting, kneeling or standing, and by general care over whatever has to do with Eucharistic worship such as reading, discipline in church and tidiness in altar and sacristy equipment.
May I say a further word on the importance of silence in our churches and chapels. Movements of silence help us to prepare for the celebration of Mass. During Mass, a few minutes of silence help us to meditate on the lessons, the Gospel and the homily just heard. Silence after receiving Jesus Holy Communion is a time for personal prayer to Our Lord. At the end of Mass and at all other times in church, silence is a mark of reverence for God’s house and especially for Jesus present in the tabernacle.
Some church rectors have the habit of playing recorded soft music as a background in churches almost the whole day outside Mass. This is doubtless well-intentioned.
But it is a mistake. People enter churches to pray, not to be entertained. They are not tourists in a museum or music hall. They need silence in order to concentrate on the tabernacle, or even to reflect on the statues, sacred images which are ongoing catechesis, and the figures of the Way of the Cross.*
It is great. And thank you for offering more information.
attended by mostly older folks. Requests for pre-mass rosaries have been denied. They dance around the theology of the body without firm condemnation of birth control. NFP is on the fringes of awareness. RCIA is extremely lax. (my wife went trough it a couple of years ago…) The one TLM in the area (50 miles away) is well attended and vibrant.
