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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Silence in the Liturgy

Fr. David Friel · June 18, 2017

ECENT MONTHS have refocused our attention on the role of silence in the liturgy. This is a very good thing, inasmuch as silence is easily overlooked. Although an essential component of the liturgy, silence is unpretentious and self-effacing, drawing our attention to God rather than to itself.

Much of the reason that silence has taken center stage in liturgical discussions of late has to do with the April 2017 publication of The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise, a new book by Robert Cardinal Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Adding still greater visibility to the topic is the May 2017 afterword published by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, which praises Cardinal Sarah’s book for its spirituality and profundity.

It is in this context that I would like to share a few thoughts on silence from three sources: then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Msgr. Guido Marini, and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM).

N HIS landmark book on divine worship, The Spirit of the Liturgy, Cardinal Ratzinger addresses silence in his section on “The Body and the Liturgy.” By this placement, he emphasizes the naturality of silence and its peculiar value in the fundamentally incarnational worldview of a Christian. Therein, Ratzinger writes:

We are realizing more and more clearly that silence is part of the liturgy. We respond, by singing and praying, to the God Who addresses us, but the greater mystery, surpassing all words, summons us to silence. It must, of course, be a silence with content, not just the absence of speech and action. We should expect the liturgy to give us a positive stillness that will restore us. . . . Silence cannot be simply “made,” organized as if it were one activity among many. 1

Later, as pope, Benedict XVI delivered a thoughtful address to a group of Brazilian bishops participating in an ad limina visit, in which he observes: “The main, fundamental attitude of the Christian faithful who take part in the liturgical celebration is not action but listening, opening themselves, receiving.” 2 Of course, this listening—this “fundamental attitude of the Christian faithful”—demands the cultivation and practical habit of silence.

AST WEEK, I featured a book I recently read by Msgr. Guido Marini, the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations. The papal master of ceremonies offers several meaningful thoughts on silence throughout this work.

First, Marini speaks about silence as it is called for by the GIRM and by Sacrosanctum Concilium:

The silence requested . . . is not to be considered along the lines of a mere pause between one moment of celebration and another that follows. Rather, it is to be considered a true and proper ritual moment, complementary to the proclamation of the Word, to vocal prayer, to song, to gesture, and so on. 3

This is an important insight, as it reminds us that liturgical silence is not merely a seam. It is a ritual moment in and of itself, which, to use the word of Ratzinger, carries “content.”

Msgr. Marini also gives a beautiful reflection on the spirituality of the silence that surrounds attentiveness to the canon at Mass:

Liturgical silence is truly sacred because it is the spiritual place to realize the adherence of our whole life to the life of the Lord; it is the space of the prolonged “amen” of the heart surrendering to the love of God and embracing that love as a new criterion of our own existence. Is this not perhaps the stupendous significance of the “amen” that concludes the doxology at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, in which we vocalize what for such a long time we have been repeating in the silence of our hearts rapt in prayer? 4

For Msgr. Marini, silence is essential for all who would participate fruitfully in divine worship. “Moments of silence,” he observes, “are as much an integral part of the ars celebrandi (art of celebrating) of the ministers as is participatio actuosa (active participation) on the part of the faithful.” 5

HEN THE GIRM speaks directly about silence (paragraph 45), it notes that the moments of silence envisioned within the liturgy are not all identical. They serve, rather, a variety of purposes, such that the “nature” of the silence changes according to the context. Four specific purposes are mentioned:

1. In the sacristy before Mass, for example, the spirit of silence is ordered toward the devout disposition of all who will participate in the liturgy.

2. In the Penitential Act and in the period after Oremus, the silence serves to help worshippers recollect themselves.

3. Following each reading and after the homily, the period of silence is designed to facilitate the meditation of the faithful upon the Word of God.

4. In the post-Communion, a period of silence encourages the communicants to prayer and praise.

Thus, not all moments of silence are created equal. Within the liturgy, they serve different purposes and warrant different lengths. But they cannot be ignored without damage to the corporate act of worship.

C.S. Lewis describes noise as the music of hell. Silence, then, ought to find a happy home in the sacred liturgy.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy, trans. John Saward (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000), 209.

2   Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Bishops of the North II Region of the Episcopal Conference of Brazil, 15 April 2010.

3   Guido Marini, Liturgical Reflections of a Papal Master of Ceremonies, trans. Nicholas I. Gregoris (Pine Beach, NJ: Newman House Press, 2011), 31.

4   Marini, 32.

5   Marini, 87.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: General Instruction Roman Missal, Msgr Guido Marini, Pope Benedict XVI, Robert Cardinal Sarah Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 27th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 5 October 2025, which is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the spectacular feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin. Readers will want to check out the ENTRANCE CHANT posted there, which has a haunting melody (in the DEUTERUS MODE) and extremely powerful text.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Kids’ Choir Sings Thomas Aquinas
    Last Sunday, a children’s choir I’m teaching sang with us for the very first time at Sunday Mass. Females from our main choir sang along with them. If you’re curious to hear how they sounded, you can listen to a ‘live’ recording. That’s an English version of TANTUM ERGO by Saint Thomas Aquinas. That haunting melody is called GAUFESTRE and was employed for this 2-Voice Arrangement of a special hymn for 9 November (“Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome”) which replaces a Sunday this year.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Reminder” — Month of September (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Did they simplify these hymn harmonies?
    Choirs love to sing the famous & splendid tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1952, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. In other words, their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1952 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. I really like the groovy Germanic INTRODUCTION they added.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

The Latin language, “far from being held in little regard, is certainly worthy of being vigorously defended.”

— Pope Saint Paul VI (15 August 1966)

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