Silence in the Mass
Moved by Judith Martin's reflection, "Silence that Speaks to
the Soul" (Dec. 2016), the editor of The Eye-Witness blog warns that
even some traditional congregations have adopted the Novus Ordo's
"participation"-as-noise mentality — forgetting the purpose, value, and meditative balm of ...Silence
The golden silence, the filled silence,
of the Low Mass in the ancient Rite of the Latin Church is the silence
that infuses the soul with thoughts of higher things, and also with the
thought that we are one moment closer to that final meeting with Him
who gave us life. This silence is a precious thing. It is nourishment
to mind and soul; it directs us to meditate on the mysteries before
us. It is needed. It is a holy thing. Only half in jest did one famous
Catholic state that the only thing more beautiful than a well-sung
High Mass is the quiet silence of the Low Mass.
We hear the sotto voce murmuring
of the priest followed by the soft voices of the altar boys, and we
watch the precise and graceful movements with fascination and an inner
exaltation. We are participating, in a way far superior to the forced
participation of the mundane rite which was bequeathed to the Church in
1970 by men who either hated silence, or simply could not understand
its effect as a balm for the troubled.
But this sublime participation is being
corroded due to that New liturgy; the influence of which has crept into
celebrations of the Old. It is being eaten away by noise.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, those who begin
to say the traditional rite after nearly four decades of cacophony in
the new forms seem to think it necessary to adorn the Low Mass with
some kind of sound. They have forgotten the value of meditation during
Mass. Understandable, considering the liturgical shows to which they
have become accustomed. Perplexed by all this silence, they begin to
say the Mass prayers aloud. They bring in their organist and instruct
him to bang away at the keys continually, allowing only a brief and
welcome respite during the Elevation.
The Mass I attend here in Milwaukee is
cursed with this situation. A traditional order of priests given
custodianship of a local parish has introduced beautifully choreographed
rubrics and dreadful, deafening, non-stop organ music during Low Mass —
from before Mass begins, to the very end, when the last parishioner
rushes out the door. I would like to say that we suffer in silence.
Alas, that is not the case. But we suffer.
The latest brainwave is, to put it
charitably, a tenor singing a solo during the Last Gospel. Yes, during
the Last Gospel. (It strikes me as odd that a religious order,
especially one that dedicates itself to bringing back the beauty of the
traditional rites, can be so tone deaf.) Pleas to the priest have been
rebuffed. Even the fact that the poor tenor has a voice like a
strangled chicken has not moved the celebrant to rethink this strategy:
of wall-to-wall sound of one kind or another. The French priest who
initiated this idiotic idea has since moved on to another parish in
another country. Sadly, his successor has not seen fit to restore a
contemplative quiet to his Masses. I am told it is a French thing to
have the organ played incessantly during Low Mass. I do not believe it.
I have heard Low Masses in France.
A constant organ distracts the faithful; takes them out of the meditative frame of mind. Indeed, it takes them out of the mystery of
what is taking place before them. A silent film can benefit from a
thoughtfully composed music score; Low Mass does not need such
accompaniment. There are reasons why there are times when we must hear
nothing at Mass. A position paper by the Una Voce organisation explains:
The silence of the prayers is a
dramatic indication of the intimacy of the priestly task: they are
addressed to God alone. This is important to stress both for the
priest himself, and for the faithful who are to associate themselves
with him and follow his example of humility before God.
All of this goes by the boards when an
organ drones on (especially offensive when it is badly played), or when a
priest thinks he must entertain the crowds in some way, even by
audible prayer.
A sung High Mass is in another category
entirely. Accompanied by a skilled choir under an artistic conductor a
High Mass can be a foretaste of Heaven itself. Yet it, too, has long
stretches of that beneficial silence.
The Canon of the Mass is decreed by the
Church (particularly at Low Mass) to be in total silence. At High Mass
there is some brief overlap allowed between the singing and the
beginning of the Canon. In discussing the silence of the Canon during a
sung High Mass, the Una Voce paper explains that
The otherwise complete silence of
the Canon gives it a particular sacred atmosphere, and raises it, in
importance, above what goes before or comes after it. It recalls the
words of the prophet Habbakuk, used in a hymn of the Liturgy of St
James with a well-known English translation: "the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent before him." Again, the book of Wisdom:
"For while all things were in
quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her course, Thy
almighty word leapt down from heaven from thy royal throne, as a fierce
conqueror into the midst of the land of destruction."
This excellent summary from Una Voce reminds
us that the silence of these prayers "is a dramatic indication of the
intimacy of the priestly task: they are addressed to God alone."
Indeed. And those in the pew need a noiseless atmosphere to address
their prayers to God alone, but will never be able to do so if there is
to be a constant din in the church. And if the Canon is there to
remind us of the silence of Calvary, broken only by the Last Words, all
the more reason to maintain a hushed and beautiful ambience. St Robert
Bellarmine:
Again, when Christ hung upon the cross, as exemplar of all sacrifices, he made his oblation in silence.
Some well-intentioned priestly orders who
are dedicated to the ancient rite have forgotten, it seems, these kinds
of symbolic thoughts. They must be reminded that "silence communicates
the sacrality and importance of key moments in the liturgy with great
force, even to the people of our own day."
They need to understand that we are
bombarded with bad music and noise all day; from our stores and places
of business, in our television-infested homes, even in our streets as
cretins blare unspeakable/ugly "music" from their cars. We look for
solace in our churches and at our Masses. And if it be a Low Mass, we
desire only to contemplate, not be entertained.
Our priests need to rediscover the value of silence.
