Q. I have noticed that when the choir does a piece of music differently or performs a song especially well, someone inevitably starts to applaud and the rest of the congregation follows suit. I think that this detracts from the mood that the music has just created and interferes with the solemnity of the Mass. Is it just me, or should applause be reserved for musical performances outside of Mass? (Lilburn, Ga.)
A. The church has no specific “rules” for or against applause at Mass, so we are left to reason for ourselves according to what comports with the purpose and spirit of the liturgy. Fundamentally, I agree with your observation. Music during Mass, whether sung by the choir or by the congregation, is not a performance. It is meant to glorify God and sanctify the faithful. It is a form of prayer and should draw those present into deeper contact with the Lord.
All of which inclines me in the direction of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later to become Pope Benedict XVI), who in the year 2000 wrote in “The Spirit of the Liturgy” that “whenever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of the liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment.”
There are moments in certain liturgical celebrations when applause is welcomed, although not explicitly called for. For example, in the ordination of a priest, there is a point at which the congregation is invited to give its approval to the candidate “according to local custom,” which in the United States usually results in applause.
Apart from such instances, it seems inappropriate during Mass to break the flow of the liturgy and spirit of prayer by clapping. Having said that, we are properly grateful to musicians and singers for adding beauty and reverence to the celebration of the Mass. Perhaps that gratitude could best be expressed once the closing hymn is completed — either by applause or by taking the time to compliment members of the choir personally.
Lamp for Blessed Sacrament
Q. Some years ago, I was driving my car in an unfamiliar area and felt a desire to stop in a church and pray. I came across a huge barn of a building with no sign on the outside, and I wondered whether it might be “one of ours” (i.e., a Catholic church).
I entered and saw a red candle lighted, to the right of the altar, and I knew that I was “home.” In more recent years, though, some of the Catholic churches I visit have no red light, and the Blessed Sacrament is locked away in a chapel. Perhaps this is just a quirk of my home diocese, but I can’t help wondering: Why are we hiding God? (Orange, Calif.)
A. The “sanctuary lamp,” to which you refer, is actually required in a Catholic church whenever the Blessed Sacrament is reserved. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (the GIRM, the church’s liturgical “rule book”) says in No. 316 that “near the tabernacle a special lamp, fueled by oil or wax, should shine permanently to indicate the presence of Christ and honor it.”
Note that it need not be red, though certainly that is the traditional color. As for your concern with the Eucharist’s being “locked away in a chapel,” you should know that the GIRM does provide an option (in No. 315) so that the Blessed Sacrament may be reserved “either in the sanctuary, apart from the altar of celebration” or “even in some chapel suitable for the private adoration and prayer of the faithful.” That chapel, though, must be “organically connected to the church and readily noticeable by the Christian faithful.”
I am assuming that you have not seen the Eucharist literally “locked away,” since that would preclude the chance for adoration. In our parish, we have a separate eucharistic chapel. It can accommodate six to eight people, who may kneel or sit in quiet meditation before the Blessed Sacrament.
Just outside this chapel, visible as one enters the main body of the church, is a (red) sanctuary lamp that is kept lighted throughout the day and night. Far from “hiding God,” I believe this small but prayerful place honors the presence of Jesus in a special way and beckons people to visit.
Priest at non-Catholic wedding
Q. I am getting married in Cancun, Mexico, and the pastor of my Christian church here in Pennsylvania is coming to marry us. (We will actually get married civilly at the courthouse here at home before we travel to Mexico, in order to be sure that the wedding will be recognized in the U.S.)
My brother-in-law is a Catholic priest here in Pennsylvania, and I have invited him to be present (not officiate) at our wedding on the beach in Cancun. He says that he is not allowed to attend since it is not a Catholic wedding in a church and that he can only come to the dinner afterward at the resort restaurant. Is that true? (Everyone I talk to says that this can’t possibly be a rule for Catholic priests.) (Pennsylvania)
A. I take it from your question that you are not a Catholic, since your church would seem by its name to be a nondenominational Christian one. I do not know whether your husband-to-be is Catholic, and my answer hinges on whether he is.
If he is not, I don’t see why your brother-in-law should feel that he cannot attend the wedding. If, however, the man you are marrying is a Catholic, his responsibility is either to be married by a Catholic priest in a Catholic church or to receive the necessary permissions for the marriage to be performed by someone other than a priest and in a setting other than a Catholic church.
My guess is that the groom is in fact a Catholic and has not received the needed permissions — in which case I can understand your brother-in-law’s reluctance to attend.
Especially as a priest, he is required to avoid giving scandal, and he has evidently decided that his presence at the wedding would create the misimpression that the ceremony was approved by the Catholic Church.
I would guess, further, that he has made the judgment that for the sake of family harmony — and with the hope that later you might decide to have your marriage “blessed” by the Catholic Church — it would better that he be present at the reception.
Corpus Christi