Posted on 05/04/2009 6:00:08 AM PDT by xsmommy
Sometimes, they might be trying to do you a favor by not singing out loud. That was always true in my dad’s case. He would also lean over, head on one hand, during the sermon, appearing deep in thoughtful prayer - until he snored.
with the culling of the faithful this country has undergone there is less of that at mass. ie snoring. LOL
I do get annoyed with those that stand there and view the mass as if it is a production, not a communal prayer service....how can you stand there and not say the Lord’s Prayer? we have books to read it if you need to....I memorized the words to the whole mass long ago....they are the same at every mass and I have been going for too many years to count.
at daily mass, it is much different......we are there to PRAY and we all fully participate. ;^)
That’s the one nice thing about my parish, that we do have a good amount of actual participation in the peoples’ part of the Mass. Even in the songs, if they aren’t too crappy.
I swear I look at the copyright, and if it’s been written since I graduated college, you know the song is going to be banal and me-centric.
Now, during the special First Communion Mass last week, it was like a morgue in there, with no one singing or doing much of anything.
where we usually sit in mass it is good participation, it’s front and center.....the one year old twins are often there.....now that brings up another sore point. do you leave them home, or do you bring them? one day the deacon was on the altar during the consecration and giving them the eagle eye....I even had one lady turn to me and instead of shaking my hand exclaim “can’t you keep them quiet!”....I stammered that I was trying to do just that.
with the recent renovation, there was still NO “crying room” added. and we are too broke at this point to wish to build one.
one of the twins is my husband’s God daughter. so we have a vested interest in their Catholic upbringing.
It seems too many people forget the Jesus wanted the little children to come to Him.
Of course, if an outright tantrum breaks out, you should excuse yourself to calm the little one down.
But people who think children have no place at Mass are as mystifying to me as those who think children don’t belong at a wedding reception.
Sure it can, and is done daily. there are many chapels across the world where only the priest is present to say the Mass. the ONLY thing necessary for a Mass is the priest, he is the only essential. there is absolutely NO need for community; it is so 1960s to think it's about community. the objective of the Mass is to worship God, not to glad-hand or sing kumbaya or even to say the responses aloud/sing. Don't you remember the pre-Vatican 2 Mass? you are a bit older than I am, so you should remember it, if i do. have you ever been to a tridentine Latin Mass present day? It is a beautiful, solemn, worshipful experience and you can pretend that you are alone there with God. I don't begrudge the happy slaps their kumbaya masses, i just prefer the more solemn Masses. The person sitting next to you not singing or participating may just be there worshipping in his/her own way. I tell you I do not participate at the Happy Slap masses, so you would be annoyed by me, also.
http://petrusmag.com/petrus_article_detail.php?item_id=53
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal in ~211 states, “Mass should not be celebrated without a server or the participation of at least one of the faithful except for some legitimate and personal cause.”
So ordinarily at least one person should be present when a priest celebrates Mass. The law itself, however, recognized there can be a just and reasonable cause for a priest to celebrate alone. And whether or not there is someone else present, the Mass would be valid.
The way I read that is that the Mass is not intended to be private. It is meant to be the celebration of the community.
XS, do you mean at a NO Mass you get so irked you won’t sing the crappy songs, or that you won’t participate in the ordinary parts of the Mass?
No, I haven’t. We don’t have any licit ones in our diocese. I wouldn’t be opposed to it, but I also wouldn’t feel all superior if I did go. That’s the attitude I get from most TLM proponents.
We have used Latin in some of our Masses, e.g. singing the Sanctus and Agnue Dei in Latin during Lent. Or processing out of Holy Thursday Mass to Tantum Ergo. So I don’t eschew Latin, I actually think it could be used to unify.
But I also don’t think it’s some great offense to God if the priest faces the people, or speaks in English.
Now, I have never been subject to the extremes that followed the introduction of the NO, so I don’t equate the NO to a lack of reverance or to heresy.
Latin=good is a simplification.
i say the responses to myself and pray silently. I have to draw a distinction between St James, our parish, and OLGC where we sometimes go if xsboy has a game or we have some other conflict, bc they have the Sunday 5:30 pm Mass [folk]. St. James i do participate because the priest mostly chants the Mass and we do have a lot of latin, the agnus dei, the kyrie eleison [greek]. Basically I am turning into my dad who NEVER had any use for the folk mass, but then he was raised Greek Catholic, so you know he was loving him some foreign type stuff!
i don’t remotely feel superior, i just prefer it. We are lucky that there are several licit Latin masses in our diocese. i have told you before, it’s how one was raised. i can see that your attitudes derive from this being all you have ever known. Doesn’t make you any less devout, i am in no way saying it does. it is a mindset. and my father never did recover from the Vat2 changes, he used his own old pre Vat 2 missal til the day he died, when he went to Mass and read it at home when he couldn’t get there.
But then we have Hobbes and Neocaveman, who are younger and were not around for the PreVat2 masses, but still prefer them and that’s where they attend. I am glad that Pope Benedict has been so open to the Latin Mass and all that used to be.
I know you don’t feel superior, but a lot of the “literature” (for lack of a better word) that you find on Latin Mass sites feels smug to me, and like they have to put down the NO MAss.
That said, if I was in an area that had no reverence and lots of serious abuses, I might very well be seeking out such a Mass.
As it is, our bishop isn’t budging and unless Pope Benedict does something stronger on the subject, it’s not going to happen here.
Looks like she’s in need of some objurgation (or maybe a rabies shot?).
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2244176/posts
Right...
Priest....Facing East giving the mass...Like Jesus did on Calvary...
You..Having 90 pct of the hour to contemplate.The examination of conscience should not be limited to the 2 minutes when you are next in line and the 5 minutes post confessional....
I don’t knock the Am Cath’s, without having attended there. St.Phil’s would be an almost acceptable alternative, but would not do the same justice towards trying to save a soul.
St.Thomas (rolling piano music throughout),St.Agnes(begging for Money nakedly),or St. Aloysius (rode out a young very pro life preist) would not.
IMHO...It’s a simple question...Do you Commune to get closer to GOD?
Then Silent contemplation gets you far closer than the happy handshake...
You are correct on that point Dave....Alot of the LM people are...’Holier than thou’
Trust me, you don’t know the meaning of that phrase, until your TLM chapel underwent a fight between SSPX, a Lay Board, and several traditional priests.
A+++ i think the liquid soap is what put her over the edge ; )
my head is throbbing from the stress of the game ; ) but don’t worry i don’t have the swines; you do!
The only private mass, with only the priest, that I ever heard of was a priest in prison. He consecrated the host daily in secret. I am vaguely thinking that Padre Pio was at one time forbidden to offer mass publicly, so was given a dispensation to say mass privately. I believe the problem was he would to into ecstasy during mass and it could take hours for him to complete one mass. I might be wrong about who the priest was, but I do recall reading about it.
Another pet peeve - the little old lady praying the rosary instead of participating in mass. Granted, it is far more unusual than in years past, but what an insult to the Lord. I say the rosary, but the mass is the ultimate prayer, why bother to go if you intend to say the rosary? It's like saying to Jesus "move aside, I wish to speak to your mother". It always has irked me to see that.
As for the Latin masses, I like to know what the heck I am saying......pardon me for not wishing to learn Latin to be able to pray aloud during mass. While I respect the right to offer mass in Latin (it is the official language of the church), I wish to understand what is being said. They might as well be speaking in tongues during a Latin mass, as I am clueless.
A simpler question is "Does worship of God necessitate one be oblivious, even indifferent, to those around you?"
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