II. Clapping in Church
by ian ~ April 15th, 2008. Filed under: Liturgy.
You’ve heard it. You’ve probably done it. If you haven’t, your children have innocently followed the herd and started applauding during / after Mass. It’s embarrassing to admit that you hate it, especially when your discomfort at clapping gets you labeled as “anti-community”, “choir hater”, or worse, “not nice”.
If you aren’t Catholic and happen to wander into a typical parish you will probably be a little confused. You may assume that people go to church to worship God. You might also assume that everything that is done during a service has to do with worshiping God. You would then be very confused to see that Catholics like clapping for some really stupid stuff at Mass.
The hospitality ministry just made an announcement about the upcoming blood drive? Let’s all clap. Father said something about getting home before the football game? Let’s all clap.
The choir just finished the final hymn and you finally think that clapping makes sense because the rain-stick holding “musician” in the back couldn’t keep time with the out of tune piano which did a horrible job holding together the train wreck of an attempt at harmony from two people who would have been strangled with glee club bow ties back in high school had they auditioned and YOU ARE SO THANKFUL THAT IT’S OVER THAT IF YOU WEREN’T ALREADY STANDING, YOU WOULD GIVE THEM A STANDING OVATION FOR QUITTING. Then you realize that the congregation is clapping in appreciation of the choir and you almost brain yourself with a tambourine because these people either have musical taste worse than a bar on karaoke night or they are even greater fans of the affirmation mentality than Barney the dinosaur.
But what about those times when the choir, and it is almost always the choir, actually sings something that outside of church would deserve a standing ovation? Again, if you aren’t Catholic you probably would be asking yourself why people applaud how great a job they did worshiping God. And if you were to take the flautist’s flute and shove it through a guitar before stomping out of the church, I couldn’t really blame you. Clap-happy congregants don’t make any sense to me either.
The only one who has any business applauding is God and I have yet to hear that He has ever done so, at least not before the end when He might say, “Well done, ye good and faithful servant,” but I am pretty sure there is no documented time He said it to a liturgical kazoo player.
Loading ...
April 18th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Superb post! Although I don’t know if it’s any holier to sit or stand in the midst of the clappers and think “they shouldn’t be clapping during Mass!!” - which is what I often do.
I just wrote a post about something I read on the new Stuff Christians Like blog and put a note on the end wishing for a similarly witty Stuff Catholics Like. One Web search later and here I am - set to become an avid reader. Please post often, and, if you’d like our help, please list a way for us to send you our ideas!
April 19th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I looked for the “clappy hands” at the store you linked to and they didn’t have them. Where do you get them? Imagine how much color they would add to childrens’ masses, or maybe they ought to be handed out at churches and waved so that people couldn’t clap when the choir stops singing!
April 21st, 2008 at 9:57 pm
I hate to admit this, but public confession has its uses.
I sang with a choir that used kazoos.
It wasn’t in Mass–it was an ecumenical service. But still.
Does it help that I didn’t touch the kazoos themselves?
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:54 pm
And choirs are REAL clear that they don’t want to be clapped for, we are merely “praying twice” by singing. BUT if the same people would come to our concerts they could applaud us like crazy.
Confession: there are some times that the priest gives an awesome homily that is dead on - it is tough to NOT applaud their planning and effort.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Nice blog, Ian!
After reading this entry, I thought I would invite your readers to view my post entitled “Liturgical Upgrades” at http://www.cufblog.org/?p=288#more-288, where I give a top-ten list of minor liturgical concerns that I think should be corrected asap.
Number one of this top-ten list has everything to do with clapping at Church:
(1) Thanking the “little people.”
Many priests feel obliged to thank everyone who played any sort of role in the liturgy, from the servers, readers, and choir, to the whole congregation. I know one priest who always says “thank you” every time the faithful responds “and also with you.”
I agree people should be affirmed. Take the altar servers on an annual field trip; give the lay ministers a nice Christmas present; take the choir out for dinner. But such affirmations are more appropriate outside of the sacred liturgy, where there is no danger of taking away from the essentially Christ-centered nature of the Mass. . . .
Anyway, great blog. I think Catholics really like dark beers. At least I do, for what it’s worth.
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Great idea for a blog - I applaud you for developing it!
Clapping during Mass irritates me too - if they start doing the wave, then it’s time to find a new parish!
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:30 pm
AMEN! Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Worshipping God? Not us?
You mean there was actually a pious REASON that for centuries all of the choir lofts were built in the back of church, behind and above the congregation — heard and not seen — so everyone would focus on worshipping God?
I’m pretty sure you got that wrong.
My Catholic high school teacher told us it was the repressive, patriarchical, mysogynistic, celibate clergy trying to control the thoughts of the peasantry.
Or maybe it was the only place architects could put it.
Or as a storage area for felt banners?
I can’t remember now…
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Uh, if you think Protestants never applaud …
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:02 pm
I hate clapping in Mass. However, what I hate most of all is clapping during homilies.
This is sometimes regarded as a good thing. Even the very traditional minded Fr. Z seemed pleased that folks clapped during Pope Benedict’s Yankee Stadium Mass. However, it’s a serious problem for me, for one very important reason:
Clapping is a sign of approval. We listening to homilies have nothing to approve of.
It is not up to us to approve or to disapprove of a homily. It is up to us to listen to it, humbly learn from it, and try our best to follow it in our lives. If we clap for a homily, that gives the indication that our opinion matters. It doesn’t.
Of course, I am not ruling out a Catholic being pleased to hear a pro-life homily, sin mentioned, or any of the other things which don’t happen enough. I am also not ruling out a Catholic recognizing a heresy being preached.
The point is that heresy being preached is an extreme case, and that if we are pleased with the homily, that just means the priest is doing his job. We should listen and learn from him. Our opinion doesn’t matter.
Peace and God bless
May 4th, 2008 at 1:45 am
I’ve accepted clapping as “church noise”. I find myself doing it sometimes, others not. It’s much easier to clap for, say, the little boys’ choir at 5:15 than the 65 year old organist at 10:15. Once, I accidentally clapped for my 2nd grade son after he read two Prayers of the Faithful with no mistakes and I did not feel odd that I was the only one. But, of course, the comfort of making non-liturgical noise is always a matter of context at Mass ~ “clapping” falls into the general category of “church noise” … that includes sneezing and coughing, babies crying, toddlers asking loud questions during the silence after Eucharist, sick people sneezing and loudly blowing their noses, and cell phones. I do prefer church noise should never get “out of hand” and appreciate a good example being set by the celebrant!
May 4th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
“It is not fitting for the servant to be applauded in his master’s house.”
— Pope Pius X
*meanders on his way.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
It’s awkward when the priest starts the clapping…
May 5th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
I’m confused now. Is this “Stuff Catholics Like” or “Stuff Protestants Like”?
In the various churches I’ve been to, clapping always seems more prominent in Protestant churches…
May 5th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I am convinced that the priests of NA ought to take a GIRM refresher examination.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Maybe it’s regional. Here in Colorado clapping is very popular.
May 7th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Clapping in church is something Catholics should not like…great artice! Clapping is the tomb for any sort of focus on Christ during Holy Mass.
May 13th, 2008 at 6:10 am
That’s why I bring my guitar to church…so I don’t have to clap.
May 21st, 2008 at 5:33 pm
What infuriates me is that the “Contemporary Music Ensemble” (No I would not joke a bout a thing like this) Has the ability to play the most beautiful music, yet on a the really really big Holy Days when the pews are filled with Easter or Christmas Catholics, a third Communion Meditation is necessary, it is at this point that the CME inevitably plays some protestant tent revival drum pounding tune, that absolutely ruins any Communion Meditation that might have been going on in a few of us in the pews. The rest of the Easter/Christmas Catholics are applauding. And I sit there dumbfounded.
I say bring back all the Latin Prayers/ Latin Hymns and Gregorian Chant, and just watch all the protestants leave the pews. We may end up celebrating Mass in the basement of the local Middle School due to the hemorrhage , but, at least we would all be on the same page.
May 24th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
[...] What do Catholics like? According to this blog, Catholics like sex, babies, baptism, holy water, making saints, lay people… well, the list is still growing as more bloggers post new stuff. StuffCatholicsLike.com is group blog which takes “a light-hearted look at Catholic things in a way that can be educational to Catholics and non-Catholics alike.” I chanced upon the website while I was playing with my stumbleupon Firefox addon. To satisfy your curiosity, you should check out the following stuff: 1. Sex 2. Babies 3. Baptism 4. Holy Water 5. Making Saints 6. Non-Catholics Wearing Catholic Stuff 7. Clapping in Church [...]
May 25th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Q: Should Applause take place during Mass?
A: No, applause is not proper during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for any reason except at Ordination Masses. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a solemn occassion, and applause is not proper for the Mass, which is the Sacrifice of Calvary.
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (future Pope Benedict XVI): “Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment.”
Pope St. Pius X: “It is not fitting that the servant be applauded in His Masters House”.
Hab. 2:20: “But the Lord is in His holy temple, silence before Him, all the earth!”
Zeph. 1:7: “Silence in the presence of the Lord your God!”
http://acatholiclife.blogspot.com/2007/08/should-applause-take-place-during-mass.html
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:47 am
I stumbled upon this when I decided to use your plastic clapper image. Then I realized I was posting on the same topic and stopped to enjoy this delightful blog. I had to subscribe!
Great post, great blog. I linked to this article.