To maintain a prayerful silence inside churches, a Catholic archbishop reminded churchgoers in his archdiocese to refrain from chewing gum, chatting and using cellular phones inside churches.Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas ordered his clergy to remind their parishioners about showing signs of respect inside the church.
“You must realize that for us churchmen, nothing is more necessary than meditation. We must meditate before, during and after everything we do. Would you like me to tell you how to give God more pleasing worship? Stay quiet with God. Do not spend your time in useless chatter," he said in a fraternal letter to priests in the archdiocese.
In a fraternal letter, Villegas told his priests to teach their parishioners again on the practice of genuflecting before the tabernacle, modesty in dressing and remind the faithful of the "discourtesy of chewing gum or using cell phones in the church."
Excerpts of the letter were posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site.
“The church and its surroundings must be kept clean, too, from trash candy wrappers, soiled missalettes and even stuck chewing gum on the church flooring," he added.
Also, Villegas took a dig on the use during Masses of secular love songs with religious lyrics.
He also advised the clergy to “refrain from the practice of having children or young people dance in the parish sanctuary" during Liturgical celebrations, at least until the Episcopal Commission on Liturgy approved the rules governing dancing within the Mass.
The prelate also reminded his clergy to celebrate the Mass with the dignity and solemnity it deserves.
Altar articles
Sacred vessels and other altar articles did not slip from the bishop’s notice, as he reminded his clergy to preserve the cleanliness of these items and to subject the containers regularly to “metal plating to maintain their luster befitting the divine worship."
“God deserves the best," he stressed.
He said the altar linens—corporal, purificator, and finger towels—should be used according to their specific purposes, and not to be interchanged.
“The corporal must be laid out on the altar only at the presentation of bread and wine and folded back after the purification of the vessels," Villegas said, stressing that “it must not be left on the altar."
He said that the purificator is used to wipe the chalice for droplets of water and wine during the preparation of the gifts and for purifying the Chalice, Paten and Ciborium after Communion, while the finger towel is used for drying the hands after washing.
The purificator must have an embroidered cross in the middle while that of the finger towel is normally in the corner.
Villegas reminded the priests to instruct their sacristans and altar servers to observe the proper use of the altar linens.
"The church must be the cleanest place in the community," he added.
Villegas also reminded his priests on the importance of animating seriously the liturgical singing in their parishes.
As a form of worship, singing together also promotes the spirit of unity and communion, he said.
“Please encourage the choirs to undertake their task as a ministry and not as a performance for public adulation," he said.
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