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Although scripture usually makes mention of vocal prayer and communal hymns when the people of God gather together for worship (e.g., Eph 5:19), there are also various allusions to silence being appropriate at certain times associated with prayer (e.g., Ps 4:5, 1 Sam 1:13, 1 Cor 14:15). Reference to silence during the liturgy is also explicitly mentioned in the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (no. 30), in the context of communal activities to foster active participation.
The
General Instruction of the Roman Missal
(GIRM) mentions several
locations where silence is
appropriate (no. 45), but also suggests that silence
plays at least three
different roles during the liturgy depending on when it is observed.
Silence
helps "recollection," particularly before the act of penitence
at the beginning of Mass and after
the
invitations ("Let us pray") to the major
presidential prayers.
Silence
helps "reflection and meditation," especially
after each of the scriptural readings or after
the
homily.
Silence
helps "personal prayer" to our God, especially after Communion.
The
Introduction to the Lectionary (no. 28) and the 2002 GIRM (no. 56) also
note that "any sort of haste
that
hinders recollection must be clearly avoided."
Thus, it is particularly appropriate to include
silence
during
the liturgy of the w
One
other appropriate place for silence in the course
of the Mass is during the general intercessions
("prayers of the faithful"). Although most often the
assembly joins in prayer for the announced
intention
by
an audible response (such as "Lord, hear our
prayer"), it is also permitted to respond by
prayerful
silence
(GIRM no. 71). In many places, this silent "response" is the way
the assembly participates in prayer during the solemn intercessions of
Good
Friday.
Quiet,
reflective time for true reflection and prayer is not the same as the
quiet necessary in a classroom to
enable
a teacher to speak and be heard. A period of
prayer-filled silence before a reading is not merely a
courtesy to the reader,
deacon, or priest who will
proclaim
God's word, enabling that word to be heard more easily. Periods of
liturgical silence are meant to
be
communal acts in which the
We live in a very "noisy" world. As a society, we
have become so accustomed to
(and even addicted to)
the blare of radios, televisions, CDs, horns, and cell phones that it is
very difficult for some people to become comfortable with silence and to
focus on personal thoughts and the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes the only place that silence is socially acceptable is in a place
of worship, when
individuals come early,
before a service begins, to be
alone with their God and to listen quietly to the
whispering of the Lord as
if in a gentle breeze (cf. 1
Kgs 19:12). Silence enables our loving God to speak to us, individually
and communally, in "words" of
love, words that speak to our hearts, words that invite
us
to draw nearer to him.
Multiple
sounds surround us and many voices cry out to us. Communal periods of
reverential silence help
to
center us at various times in the liturgy. These times of silence assist
our loving God in communicating his life and love to the people gathered
together in prayer.
IRM
Bulletin 9E • Office for Worship, Archdiocese of Los Angeles
©2002, Dennis C. Smolarski, SJ. Used with
permission.
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ord, so that "by the 