Reverential Silence 

   “a time to be silent, and a time to speak.” (Eccl 3: 7) 

   As a Benedictine Oblate, I cherish the silence, the solitude of spending time with my Lord.  Sadly, silence is difficult to find these days.  And even worse, silence is getting harder and harder to find even in the Sanctuary of the Church.

   The Sanctuary is intended to be a place of reference before the Lord.  It is not a place to greet friends and discuss the week’s events; the place for these conversations is before or after entering the Sanctuary, which is intended for silent prayer to prepare oneself for the celebration of the Mass.  To do otherwise is to misuse time better spent in communion with God and is quite likely disrupting the prayers of those who are using the time as it is intended.

   The same principle applies to the times after the consecration and reception of Holy Communion.  It is at that point that we are closest to our Lord, He is physically within us under the guise of unleavened bread that has undergone the miracle of transubstantiation and is now the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our risen Savior.  It is a time for contemplation of the great miracle and to give thanks to Jesus for giving Himself to such unworthy sinners.

   I would even go as far as to suggest that during the consecration, the distribution of the Eucharist and until the final prayers there should be total silence, not even music.  If one insists on music it should be quiet and subdued.  The intention should be to edify and promote a reverent, prayer atmosphere, never loud or disruptive to the prayers of those in communion with the Lord.

   I may be in the minority in my desires for such silence at Mass, but I don’t think so.  It is in silence that we are best able to commune with our Lord and to hear as He speaks to our hearts and souls.  If we wish to be in communication with God, if we wish to hear Him, we must remember that silence is the language of God.