Speaking in Church
            QUESTION from Maria on January 28, 2004

I am more of a Traditional Catholic, but I'm not so traditional that I reject Vatican II. I attend Mass daily, if I'm able to make it. Being Traditional, I tend to be more sensitive to how people behave before the Blessed Sacrament. I thought I had read that among the changes to the Mass is a statement reiterating the fact that we are to maintain silence in church out of respect for the Blessed Sacrament, exceptions being prayer, necessary conversation (for example instructions from the usher or choir director), and singing (which is prayer). I like to give all the graces I've earned from each Mass to the Blessed Mother, so that she can decide how to apply these Graces to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I do LOTS of Plenary Indulgences for this reason. I know only one is applicable for oneself per day, but I also read that if you give your indulgences to others within the Mystical Body of Christ, that each one counts as Plenary, or at the very least a big partial. I've also read that these prayers need to be recited ALOUD and within a church. In particular the prayers pertaining to the Pope. Now, I do about 7 Plenary level prayers per day and about 15 Partials per day. The Plenarys require 7 OF, 7 HM, and 7 GB's for the intention of the Pope, plus recieving Sacramental Communion. I do arrive ten minutes early, but I spend that time saying the proper prayers BEFORE Mass. I can't arrive earlier than that because they say the Rosary before Mass, and I can't pray when I hear others loudly praying. (I whisper inaudibly when I pray) Before Mass, I try to get in all the OF, HM, and GB's, since I need to say the actual Plenaried prayers AFTER Communion. HA! Which leads me to my point. Forgive the length. After Mass, I remain kneeled to finish all these Plenary prayers. Now, when they first changed the Mass, we had about 2 minutes of complete silence to pray just after having recieved Communion. I liked it. BUT a lot of people didn't, and instead of tolerating 2 minutes of silence, about 1/5 of our Parish walked right out the door just after recieving Communion, before Mass was technically over. To remedy this, we now play TWO communion songs instead of one, and now people stay for the entertainment. I really can't concentrate on my prayers with the second Communion song playing, so I wait. During Daily Mass we don't have the songs, but the 2 minutes of silence now lasts about 20 seconds. And after Mass, including Daily Mass, You hear this giant ROAR of voices, people around you yacking away, etc... They act as if they're at a picnic! It is extremely distracting. It's not like I can just hang out for long, either. During Daily Mass, they flip the lights out practically at the moment the Priest leaves the Sacristry. I got told by the janitor, five minutes after Mass, that I am welcome to pray in the Adoration Chapel. (Which I interpreted as, "Please leave." (Of course, I can't pray plenaries in the Adoration Chapel because the Chapel is reserved for silent prayer only!) During Sunday Mass, I have fifteen minutes to pray after Mass before Spanish Mass begins, if it weren't for the deafining racket! (The noise is far worse on Sundays). And we can't just pop in the regular church any old time to pray vocal prayer, because we've had problems in the past with vandals. They keep the place locked for much of the time, excepting Reconcilliation. I am under the impression that unnecessary conversation while in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament is at the very least a venial sin. I also thought I'd read that the new changes in the Mass explicitly state that silence is to be maintained at all times (appropriate conversation and song excepted). Can you please give me a link that gives this information, if it exists, so that I can forward it to our Parish office? Thank you so much. Sorry for the length!