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Views from the Choir Loft

What Do We Think Of Cell Phones At Mass?

Jeff Ostrowski · October 28, 2013

NE REASON SO MANY Catholics are flocking to the Extraordinary Form is that many (not all) Ordinary Form parishes suffer from a “lack of the sacred.” I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time explaining what I mean, since so many authors have written about this over the years, but in general I refer to a certain “informality” (inappropriate clothing, clapping at Mass, etc.) which for some reason doesn’t tend to occur at EF Masses. By the way, you will want to read what Paul VI wrote about “desacralization” of Mass. It won’t be long until people begin eating at Church, since we’ve already seen pretty much everything else one can imagine.

However, I’ve noticed a certain tendency at EF Masses which causes me concern. It has to do with a phenomenon you can see in picture above: recording Masses (especially by means of inferior cameras like cell phones) and posting them online.

ON THE ONE HAND, I can see arguments in favor of using cell phones at Mass (see image above). The desire to keep a remembrance of a beautiful occasion is fully understandable. However, isn’t it distracting to see people pulling out their iPhones? Even during the Recessional, aren’t we supposed to be praying? Presumably, we’ve just received the Sanctissimum: is it not uncouth to pull out an electronic device?

Besides, we have a duty to present the Holy Mass in the best light possible, right? Do we really want to show people Masses recorded poorly, not in focus, with only one camera angle? Again, I think we need to do whatever we can to promote the Mass, but aren’t such efforts ultimately self-defeating if not done well? The longer I live, the more I become against filming the Mass, except under very carefully chosen circumstances. After all, I think my daughter is the most beautiful little girl in the entire world, but even she can look bad if the photographer or camera is inferior.

We did include Mass pictures in the Campion Hymnal, but we spent months planning for this, so those pictures (in my opinion) are “worthy” of the Mass.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Extraordinary Form 1962 Missal, Latin Mass Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The introduction of the vernacular will certainly be a great sacrifice for those who know the beauty, the power and the expressive sacrality of Latin. We are parting with the speech of the Christian centuries; we are becoming like profane intruders in the literary preserve of sacred utterance. We will lose a great part of that stupendous and incomparable artistic and spiritual thing, the Gregorian chant. We have reason indeed for regret […] We are giving up something of priceless worth.”

— Pope Paul VI

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