Be Silent in Church

©2020 Victor R. Claveau, MJ

“The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him” (Habakkuk 2:15)

A Catholic Church is a holy temple, as the God-man is present in the tabernacle.

Silence is a significant part of any well-planned and prayerful liturgical celebration; whose chief end is to bring us to a closer union with God in order that we may receive from Him the supernatural goods that flow from Him. The physical stillness presumes the conscious effort to communicate with God. There are a number of times in the Mass when all should observe a reverent silence.

Typical instances are, during the Penitential Rite, whether at Mass or in the Liturgy of the Hours; after the celebrants invitation to pray, during which all may reflect on the needs of the community and on personal petitions; after Communion, which is a time of praise and gratitude; during the Liturgy of the Word, after the first and second readings and the homily, so that the Holy Spirit may speak to us in order that we might take the Word of God and respond to it in our hearts; during the Eucharistic Prayer; and when the celebrant  pronounces the prayer as the interpreter of God and the voice of the people.

Holy Mass, the greatest sacrament of the Church, is a mystery. The original meaning of the word mystery meant a closing of the mouth, the silence that follows an unparalleled moment.

Further, there should be silence before Mass begins and after the dismissal.

“Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).

It is important to understand that this silence is in not intended to reduce the faithful to spectators. Rather, its purpose is to interweave the people more deeply into the mystery of the Mass.

The new instruction on how to celebrate Mass, the 2002 General Instruction on the Roman Missal, (GIRM), §45 states: “Sacred silence should be observed at the designated times as part of the celebration. Its function depends on the time it occurs in each part of the celebration. Thus, at the penitential rite and again after the invitation to pray, all recollect themselves; at the conclusion of a reading or the homily, all meditate briefly on what has been heard; after communion, all praise God in silent prayer.”

Let there be silence in your soul. Do your best not to be distracted, or allow yourself to daydream. We must forget about ourselves and think only of Jesus in the Mass. He will take care of us as He is active in us. We just have to let Him act; to let Him change us into the person He desires us to be. If we want to become one with Him, we must join our heart with His, so that they will beat in unison, one for the other, and One in the other. He will love us and we will love Him; He will look at us and we will look at Him. In Him we will find are heart’s desires; in Him we will find a life of intimate union if only we remember to be still and know that He is God.