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FACTUM EST SILENTIUM IN CAELO:

The Silence of Sound in the Heavenly Liturgy and the Sacred Liturgical Renewal

SACRUM QUOQUE SILENTIUM SUO TEMPORE SERVETUR.

Sacrosanctum Concilium, 30.

At the proper times all should observe a reverent silence.

SING THE MASS AT MASS

rather than

sing songs during Mass.

2013 Pastoral Letter Rejoice in the Lord Always Bishop Alexander K. Sample Diocese of Marquette, Michigan

Verbum Domini The Seven Penitential Psalms

BLESSED JOHN PAUL II

The Christian community must make an examination of conscience so that the beauty of music and song will return increasingly to the liturgy.
Centenary of Pius Xs document, 2003.

CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER IS HEARING THE WORD OF GOD[IT] IS SILENCE IN THIS SILENCE, UNBEARABLE TO THE OUTER MAN, THE FATHER SPEAKS TO US HIS INCARNATE WORD, WHO SUFFERED, DIED, AND ROSE; IN THIS SILENCE THE SPIRIT OF ADOPTION ENABLES US TO SHARE IN THE PRAYER OF JESUS.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 2716-7

THE SPIRIT OF THE LITURGY

If prayer in common, therefore, is to prove beneficial to the majority, it must be primarily directed by thought, and not by feeling. It is only when prayer is sustained by and steeped in clear and fruitful religious thought, that it can be of service to a corporate body, composed of distinct elements, all actuated by varying emotions.

Romano Guardini (1885-1968)

SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS

Active participation in the Eucharistic liturgy can hardly be expected if one approaches it superficially, without an examination of his or her life. This inner disposition can be fostered, for example, by recollection and silence for at least a few moments before the beginning of the liturgy.
Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 55

Gregorian Chant

The soul must learn to abandon, at least in prayer, the restlessness of purposeful activity; it must learn to waste time for the sake of God, and to be prepared for the sacred game with sayings and thoughts and gestures, without always immediately asking why? and wherefore?. It must learn not to be continually yearning to do something, to attack something, to accomplish something useful, but to play the divinely ordained game of the liturgy in liberty and beauty and holy joy before God.
- Guardini

Even before the celebration itself, it is commendable that silence be observed in the church, in the sacristy, in the vesting room, and in adjacent areas, so that all may dispose themselves to carry out the sacred action in a devout and fitting manner.
General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 2011 45

ENTRANCE, GOSPEL, OFFERTORY, COMMUNION, RECESSIONAL

PROCESSION

THE SPIRIT OF THE LITURGY

We are realizing more and more clearly that silence is part of the liturgy. We respond, by singing and praying, to the God who addressed 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.
Pope Benedict XVI, The Spirit of the Liturgy. Ignatius Press, 2000. p. 209

GENERAL INSTRUCTION OF THE ROMAN MISSAL

ON LITURGICAL SILENCE

78.
The Eucharistic Prayer requires that everybody listens to it with reverence and and in silence.

84.
The Priest prepares himself by a prayer, said quietly, so that he may fruitfully receive the Body and Blood of Christ. The faithful do the same, praying silently.

54.
The Priest calls upon the people to pray and everybody, together with the Priest, observes a brief silence so that they may become aware of being in Gods presence and may call to mind their intentions.

CHORAL MUSIC INVOKES INTERIOR SILENCE

SACRED POLYPHONY

PRESIDENTIAL PRAYERS
Collect Super Oblata Post-Communion

Vox Secreta / Vox Clara

TRUE LITURGY

True liturgy, the liturgy of the communion of saints, gives man once again his completeness. It instructs him once again in silence and in singing by opening for him the depths of the sea and by teaching him to fly the existence of the angels. By lifting up the heart; true liturgy allows the buried song to resound in man once again. Indeed, we could now actually say that true liturgy can be recognized by the fact that it liberates from everyday activity and restores to us both the depths and the heights: silence and singing. True liturgy is recognizable because it is cosmic and not limited to a group. True liturgy sings with the angels, and true liturgy is silent with the expectant depths of the universe. And thus true liturgy redeems the earth.
Church Music, 1985 Cardinal Ratzinger, Liturgy and

Q&A

Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette Dioceseofmarquette.org/sacredmusic