Truth, Fact, or Fiction? Cdl. Dolan’s take on the Mass

Cardinal Dolan recently published an article https://catholicreview.org/cardinal-dolan-are-sunday-masses-just-too-long/ on Catholic Review, discussing the results of the “listening sessions” that took place in NYC as a part of the “Synod on Synodality”.

While I will not address the rather unfortunate tone of the article, I do feel that it warrants a few remarks from a music director’s perspective.

“the largest majority replied that the top reasons people were no longer coming to Sunday Mass were — are you ready for this? — one, because they couldn’t understand the priest; two, their parish had been closed; and, three, Mass was too long!”

It is the final complaint that garnered all the attention from Cdl. Dolan.

St. Jose Maria Escriva famously quipped, “to those who say the Mass is too long, I say: your love is too short!” On the whole, I agree with the sentiment intended by the saint. That said, there’s no doubt that some liturgies are too long. We’ve all endured painfully-long, banal, liturgies. But toward the end of the article the cardinal seems to imply that 90 minute masses are normative.

The only masses I have EVER attended that go longer than 65 minutes are the Easter Vigil and a few special Missa Cantatas in the TLM. I find the 90 minute mass claim to be absurd — often our masses end in under an hour (this past Sunday being a great example) and that’s with full hymnody, propers, and a fully-sung ordinary (including the Creed!). The only time our masses flirt with exceeding one hour is if the homily runs long and there is a particularly large crowd so that communion takes unusually long. But even then, we’ve never gone more than 8 minutes past the hour. And this has been the experience I’ve had at every single parish I’ve ever attended or served.

Nevertheless, the meat of Cdl. Dolan’s criticisms lies in the following remarks:

The dismal stories the people shared with me reached litany length. Now, they tell me, Mass starts with music rehearsal, then an obligatory “greeting” to those around you. By then, we’re five minutes past when Mass was supposed to start. The celebrant will usually give a lengthy introduction; the “Gloria” can exhaust the angelic choir, to say nothing of an unending sung responsorial psalm. The prayers of the faithful can go on forever, with the final petition — for the deceased — added to on the spot as some are dropping dead in front of us. Then we sit and wait awhile for the collection and offertory procession. The “Lamb of God” can reach the length of a baseball game. Often, we add a “reflection” after communion, with subsequent announcements. Don’t forget the long list of “thank you’s” for all those who had a part in Mass. God forbid we would leave before all five verses of the closing hymn are sung . . . and I have not even mentioned the biggest culprit of all — the mammoth homily from priests and deacons who ignore Pope Francis’ admonition to keep homilies at 8 -10 minutes!

What he describes is a mass with a lot of ‘chaff’, all man-centered. Music rehearsals with the people should start before mass—if they happen at all—and even then they should be exceptional (such as before the first mass of a new liturgical season that includes the introduction of a new ordinary). It shouldn’t be a regular thing.

“Greetings” are inevitably some pitiable affair involving parishioners who are giving talks they shouldn’t be, or priests who are unwittingly attempting to aggrandize themselves and encourage a cult of personality, by making the Mass more about themselves even if they’d vociferously deny it. The only “greeting” should be the collect. “Introductions” are not necessary. Mass is formulaic and anyone who attends mass more than once a month should have a fairly crystalline understanding of what is going on.

But it is the claim that the “Lamb of God can reach the length of a baseball game”, that I find most puzzling of all. This is the second shortest part of the ordinary (textually speaking), second only to the Kyrie. In the Novus Ordo, the petition “Lamb of God…” only occurs three times. It’s over as soon as it has started. Even the Gregorian Agnus Dei’s that we sing (such as XVII during Advent) do not take much time at all. The singular exception might be if a Schola is singing a polyphonic setting, which is exceptionally rare in novus ordo parishes, and even then doesn’t take that long because there’s so little text to be sung! I’ll grant that the cardinal’s statements were intended in a hyperbolic way, but it is far to say he’s missed the mark here.

As we return to the “manly” things (reflections and “thank you’s”) we observe that we are once again making the liturgy about ourselves, rather than allowing the liturgy to just be, and speak for itself. Much like I loathe clapping for people in church, I loathe the “litany of thanks” that some prelates insist upon at the end of Mass. It is so unnecessary, and if people need to hear their name be praised in church, they are surely there for the wrong reasons—to say nothing of the fact that this always occurs mere moments after we’ve just been contemplating the Eucharistic Lord in our hearts during communion. And note how we are never exhorted to thank our Lord at the end of Mass for the phenomenal Mystery we’ve just received!

Lastly, as for leaving before the final hymn has concluded, I have a few thoughts:

Firstly, there is no reason you have to have a recessional hymn. You can launch directly into a postlude, for example. But this fact aside, imagine if a priest decided to just stop half-way through a collect. Or why not stop half-way through the canon? What’s the point? Why endure the whole thing?! It makes mass that much longer, after all!

The reason is simple: every part is necessary for the integrity of the whole. Poetry is destroyed when you stop a poem half way through. Fun fact: hymns are too. And the elephant in the room must be addressed: is it really that painful for you to stay in church another 90 seconds to praise God in song, as we are exhorted to do umpteen times in scripture? Is your love really that short? (This question presupposes the hymn is august and worth singing, of course. I fault no one for fleeing from the purgative din of “praise bands”.)

I’ll leave you with one departing thought, courtesy of an anecdote of my mother. She grew up in a small, rural town and has memories of the pre-conciliar Mass. Her austere, country priest would call out people who left Mass early by name. If he looked up, in the midst of distributing communion at the rail, and saw someone slinking out the door, he would call out, “where are you going, Mr. Smith?!” (I have every confidence that Mr. Smith—and everyone else—only needed to learn this lesson one time!) One can only fathom the weeping and gnashing of teeth that such an incident would incite these days; the priest would be pulled from his parish and never permitted to preach again by the end of the day. And yet, the beautiful, awful truth is that what this priest would do was an act of tremendous courage and mercy. He was calling out a grave abuse against the generosity of our Eucharistic Lord, and ensuring that no one would carry Our Lord away in contempt, but rather return to their pew and offer fervent prayers of sacrifice and thanksgiving. He showed those innocent country folk that Our Lord would not be mocked, and that God commanded and deserved the greatest respect!

So I will conclude by politely disagreeing with the dear Cardinal, and channel this saintly priest and exhort you to stay in your pew until the final hymn of praise has concluded. Our Lord asks so little of us; it’s the least we can do.