Off-topic: Chattiness in church
  • CatholicZ09
    Posts: 284
    One of the things I’ve noticed post-COVID is our parishioners have become increasingly chatty, particularly before Mass. I’m not talking about full speaking volume but more of loud, continuous whispering. I can understand saying a quick “hello” to someone as you enter church, but carrying on conversations when we should be preparing for Mass always has irked me.

    Is this an issue in anyone else’s parish? Has it been an issue for a while, has it developed over time, or was it a problem at one time and then went away?

    I know this is very “Get off my lawn!” cranky of me, but I just don’t know what happened to the reverence people used to have.


    Edit: Also, in a totally unrelated note, I wish our readers would learn the difference between prophecy and prophesy, as in this weekend’s first reading. People always say “prophe-cee” when they should be saying “prophe-sigh.”

    Okay, I’m done.
    Thanked by 1cesarfranck
  • tandrews
    Posts: 174
    I mention the prophecy/prophesy issue every choir practice before Palm Sunday. "The congregation may say it incorrectly, but YOU will say it correctly."

    I then make eye contact with the choir after that word is spoken during the Passion, and many of them smile, knowing that I'm paying attention.
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,079
    At my parish it's the long-time parishioner Baby Boomers who are chatty, but only before the Saturday evening anticipatory Mass. They're there for Baby Boomer social hour, not so much for Mass.

    My pastor gently reprimanded the congregation before Mass about a year ago. It improved after he told them to pray or sit quietly instead of talking so loudly that he could hear them from inside the confessional.

    Lately the chattiness has begun to reemerge, but not as bad as it used to be.

    I also notice chattiness before funerals begin. The "Great Unchurched and Lapsed" treat gathering before Mass as a social opportunity. Even when I play instrumental music to hush them before a funeral, it often doesn't work. They don't get the hint.
  • CatholicZ09
    Posts: 284
    Mark, I agree about instrumental music being a luck of the draw. I’ve seen it work really well, and other times it just makes it worse. It’s a risky move, especially with funerals where the “audience” is different every time.
    Thanked by 1cesarfranck
  • Marc Cerisier
    Posts: 536
    I conducted a little experiment once at a diocesan confirmation… I slowly crescendoed in the prelude over the course of 10–15 min. Nothing crazy, but if anything I didn’t want to hear them talk and they didn’t want to hear me play. As I lifted my hands—everyone was talking soooo loud. It kinda spooked them as there was a very quick pause. And then they all started again, but just a bit quieter.
    Thanked by 3DavidOLGC Elmar cesarfranck
  • trentonjconn
    Posts: 620
    When I was a teacher for the local diocese, nearly all of the Masses we attended at diocesan conferences, functions, etc. were preceeded by fifteen minutes of conversation so loud that it was nearly impossible to pray and prepare for Mass. It was a bit scandalizing, honestly.

    Conversely, I've never really had a problem with this before Mass in the parishes I've worked at, except for at weddings/funerals. Postlude, though, is a different story. It tends to get loudly and excitedly talked over, especially on days like Christmas and Easter when everyone is feeling chipper.
    Thanked by 1LauraKaz
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,086
    I don't want to be That Guy, but I've never seen this be a problem at the TLM, and the more Novus the Ordo is, the more talking I've heard. This suggests that it's a cultural thing, and probably best addressed by remedial catechesis from Father. Also, make sure that there IS a place to talk, because people want/need to talk to fellow Catholics.
    Thanked by 4tomjaw OMagnumMysterium LauraKaz hilluminar
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,308
    I have, in weird circumstances, but it was a TLM. All I can say is that yeah, a place to talk about profane or less immediately important things outside of the church is important, be it a vestibule, other rooms, or the hall.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    It has gotten worse over the years. Not only the chatter, but from my post in the organ loft, I could see the phones come out as soon as the sermon started. Prophecy/prophesy? I experienced everything from the high priest Anus to coveting your neighbors aiss each year and everything else in between.
    Thanked by 1cesarfranck
  • PaxMelodious
    Posts: 440
    Since Covid, some of the other places for chatting haven't come back. If there's no where else to talk, people have to make the best of what they've got.
    Thanked by 1cesarfranck
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,192
    Bulletin insert:
    Speaking about speaking:
          1. We speak to God before Mass.
          2. God speaks to us during Mass.
          3. We speak to each other after Mass.

    Thanked by 3tomjaw mmeladirectress ServiamScores
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,782
    The sense of the Sacred has been lost, Exodus 3, verse 5,6
    "Come not nigh hither, put off the shoes from thy feet; for the place, whereon thou standest, is holy ground. And he said: I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face: for he durst not look at God."


    If the building (architecture) and the Liturgy is all about our ourselves and not about God. If the liturgy is full of superfluous chat. If the Tabernacle is hidden, and ignored, what do we expect ? We as a Church have had a change in focus to a loving God, that accepts us as we are! But we have forgotten what love is, it involves sacrifice, putting ourselves last, it involves work.
    Thanked by 8OMagnumMysterium hilluminar Viola LauraKaz Anna_Bendiksen CHGiffen sdtalley3 cesarfranck
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,483
    One thing that reaaaaly bugs me. When I play a postlude after Mass, the don't listen, but rather shout above it to talk to each other. Philistines
    Thanked by 5trentonjconn DavidOLGC CharlesW tomjaw LauraKaz
  • DavidOLGCDavidOLGC
    Posts: 87
    ghmus7 July 24
    Posts: 1,475
    One thing that reaaaaly bugs me. When I play a postlude after Mass, the don't listen, but rather shout above it to talk to each other. Philistines


    Yes - it makes me wonder if postlude really means "music to clear the church with". :)
    Thanked by 1hilluminar
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    That's exactly what it functions as. People learned that from going to movie musicals over the course of the 20th century: Overture, Intermission, Exit Music.

    There is the old parody doggerel

    "If you're happy and you know it, fold your hands
    If you're happy and you know it, bow your head
    If you're happy and you know it, church is not the place to show it
    If you're happy and you know it, shut your mouth"
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen DavidOLGC
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,079
    Nobody has any obligation to stay in church and listen attentively to a postlude. "Go forth, the Mass is ended," means what it states.
    Thanked by 2DavidOLGC PaxMelodious
  • Elmar
    Posts: 505
    For some people, not listening to and shouting above the postlude seems to be the same thing. Others seem to think that active participation means that they have to sing along with the choir.
    There is some overlap between those two groups as well.
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,308
    They have an obligation to shut it, however.
    Thanked by 4trentonjconn a_f_hawkins tomjaw LauraKaz
  • trentonjconn
    Posts: 620
    Nobody has any obligation to stay in church and listen attentively to a postlude. "Go forth, the Mass is ended," means what it states.


    I couldn't care less whether they stay or go after the dismissal (well, in the EF they need to stick around for the blessing and last gospel after the dismissal). Though, it does seem a bit tacky to not stick around for the recessional hymn if there is one. But if they stay, they can at least maintain a reverent quietness while the postlude is played. And really, at any other time they're inside of a church (apart from singing and responding, obviously).
    Thanked by 4tomjaw Elmar DavidOLGC LauraKaz
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,467
    What do you call a musician whose audience gets up and walks out while he is playing?

    An organist.
    Thanked by 9trentonjconn tomjaw Liam Elmar sdtalley3 DavidOLGC CHGiffen LauraKaz CharlesW
  • GambaGamba
    Posts: 548
    Keeping the lights as low as possible for safe entry/exit, and raising them right at the bell/introit/hymn/welcome, whatever kicks things off, works wonderfully.

    Then the colours in the stained glass pop, the candles are actually visible, and it’s plainly a different, more subdued environment than direct sun or bright lights that fill most interior spaces today. That’s enough of a cue to speak softly, if at all.
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen LauraKaz Bri
  • Reval
    Posts: 186
    My old parish does that, and I kind of like it, yet it seems overly theatrical. It's also jarring since there's no dimmer, it snaps from 60% dark to 100% bright.
    I'd prefer to have the lights low the whole time, since no one sings and has to look at the hymnal anyway.
    Thanked by 1DavidOLGC
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,308
    Yeah. Changing the lights is too theatrical in a bad way.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    Maybe a large gong like on the Wanamaker would get their attention.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwso51n6BkY
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen trentonjconn
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