It’s interesting a how things happen in clusters. What is that… synchronicity?
The other day a priest friend and I were having supper and the topic of microphones came up. I mentioned the thought of Marshal McLuhan on the impact of the amplified voice on liturgical rites. Microphones change a lot. They alter the knock-on effect of liturgy.
In any event, I told an anecdote about a certain bishop who left his clip on mic turned on when, during a Mass that was live on the internet, he simply had to visit the little prelates room. That gave new meaning to “live streaming”.
What is the synchronicity. I was looking for something else I had posted and, bam, there it was. The vesting prayer for the clip-on wireless mic.
As you know, there are beautiful prayers for putting on each of the vestments for Mass. Priests should be saying them if they don’t already. Since the dreadful clip-on mic is pretty much standard gear now, it ought to have a prayer too, right?
Concede, Domine, virtutem labiis meis et prudentiam ad Tuam proclamandam veritatem, ut per indigni servi Tui vocem, vox Tui tonitrui in rota contremat terram.
“Grant, Lord, good judgment in proclaiming your truth and strength to my lips, so that through the voice of your unworthy servant, a voice will shake the earth in the wheel of your thunder.”
Cf. Ezekiel 1:16 ff.
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Amplifica me, Domine.
It could be worse. In one of Neil Boyd’s short stories, Fr. Duddleswell accidentally leaves it on when he’s hearing confessions. So Mrs. Conroy’s admission of adultery is broadcast through the church.
How did the People of God ensure almost 2,000 years of Catholic Masses across the globe without sound systems? Very well, thank you.
I recall a celebrant at Exposition, Rosary & Benediction without any servers going to the sacristy to put on the cope. He was evidently having difficulty with fastening the cope and the live clip-on mic broadcast the sound of this struggle and an inappropriate word for excrement.
Greg: That’s a fear of mine, I try to avoid being very first in the line for confession for this reason…
I had a friend visit my parish and he took one of my Sunday Masses. I had an inner city parish that attracted…”all sorts.’ As he processed out at the end of Mass and met me in the vestibule he said, “You got a nutter in the first pew” to the edification of everyone.
Several decades before that, a rather famous Franciscan was giving us a course on classical rhetoric in Rome. He took a break and we all just chatted in the aula until we all heard some rather explosive sounds. A silence overcame us all – but not him. There was a collective realization of what was happening and immediately everyone began to chatter in loud voices to try to drown it all out. The masses lost that competition. Kind of unforgettable.
The Byzantine rite uses psalm verses for vesting; I suggest “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the universe.”
That is, if you must use microphones. I wish it were avoided.
I suppose that would work equally as well for a priest using the wireless over-the-ear Lavalier that I usually use. Or is the act of clipping essential to matter and form?
And for the blessing of Holy Hand Santizer?
@postcatholic
It depends on what rite you belong to
@Glaswegian
Oh! The sanitizer or alcohol that the server offers to the priest before distributing communion, because the hands might be “dirty”
@Fr. Reader
I’m not sure which I do, but I think it might be Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring.”
IIRC, the first “Naked Gun” movie had a scene that pointed out the issue quite vividly. Live mics are always a trap; when I was learning the ropes in the radio broadcast business, was cautioned/warned/enjoined that one should always consider the mic live even if the “On Air” light is off. Even an old pro like President Reagan was caught before one of his weekly radio broadcasts (ABC was the pool for that oopsie…)
Well, I did find it humorous in my younger days, but be assured my taste in cinema has matured over the years. I will admit, though, to enjoying a Three Stooges short from time to time.
How did the People of God ensure almost 2,000 years of Catholic Masses across the globe without sound systems? Very well, thank you.
Church acoustics aren’t what they used to be. Also, people need to learn how to project their voices and how to use a mic properly.