“Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment. ” (Spirit of the Liturgy p. 198)
Fr. Zuhlsdorf quoted this back to an inquiry concerning applause at Church.
This is precisely right and it is a serious problem. I doubt that any choir that uses a loft does not face this applause problem. A choir that is singing in front of the people will tend to elicit the kind of judgment from people that is rendered in a concert setting. People will want to express their appreciation, forgetting that the purpose of the singing and performing is not entertainment but worship.
Another problem to applause - and this applies even for the applause sometimes given to visiting dignitaries and the like - is that it is an audible distraction from worship. It creates an unmistakably "earthly" sound that just does not belong in the liturgical environment.
Musicians are enormously flattered by applause and if our schola every did receive such a thing, I would likely be inwardly very pleased, while at the same time I would be certain that something had gone very wrong.
I would suggest one exception to this. A great organist will often play a long postlude following Mass. It is polite to stay and listen to this, and it is fine to applaud at the finish. This is long after Mass has ended and the liturgy has come to a close. Print this post
