𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 | 𝐌𝐬. 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐲 | 𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐓𝐮𝐮𝐬 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞

In last Friday’s Eucharistic Conference, Ms. Corrinne May underscored that Silence is an integral and essential part in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

She candidly shared that as a Church pianist for 12 years back in Los Angeles, she unknowingly encroached into the palpable silence with light instrumentals during Holy Mass.

Inspired subsequently by these works, “The Spirit of the Liturgy”, of both Servant of God Father Romano Guardini and Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, she understood the profound Gift and Beauty of Silence as the indispensable doorway to the Divine, drawing one’s soul into divine intimacy with Our Eucharistic Lord.

Cardinal Ratzinger notes on Silence in the Sacred Liturgy, “We are realising more and more clearly that silence is part of the liturgy. We respond, by singing and praying, to the God who addresses 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.”

Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenaeum comments on the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) #45:

“The specific periods of silence recommended in the GIRM encourage a general atmosphere of interior and exterior silence for all the participants at Mass. This silence should be sought while listening to the readings, the homily, or the proclamation of the Eucharistic and other priestly prayers. This helps quiet our imagination, our worries and our toils so as to join our hearts to the prayers and be fully attentive to whatever the Holy Spirit should inspire in us. Thus silence at Mass is an active, not a passive disposition.”

Ms. Corrinne May hopes for Catholic Christians to recognise the Beauty of Silence in Holy Mass, and to beseech the grace to love Our Eucharistic Lord with the heart of Our Blessed Mo