"My Lord and my God!"

[Quasar]

At my current parish and at my last parish, there was one guy in the congregation who would shout "my Lord and my God!" during the consecration.  It's audible to the entire congregation.  What's with that?  It seems like anything that distracts from what's going on at the moment of consecration would not be kosher, but I'm open to being educated.  Does your parish have that guy, too?  

[Fr. Antony Maria OSB]

I remember being taught when I was about to receive my First Holy Communion that after the priest consecrates the Body and Blood, in the quiet moment when he genuflects, you should pray to yourself, "My Lord and my God! Lord Jesus Christ!" in imitation of St. Thomas the Apostle. That's the only memory I have of that, and I haven't heard it talked about since then, but I pray that each time I go to Mass.

As to people who say that out loud, or do other things that can be distracting during Mass, my immediate thought is a story from the Desert Fathers. I don't remember it verbatim, but the gist of it is this: as sinful, fallen human beings, we are all like jagged rocks. Since we live in community, it is like all of these jagged rocks are tossed pellmell into a bag together, and then that bag is shaken. Those rocks jab and poke each other like there's no tomorrow, and that hurts! Bits and pieces of rock go flying everywhere! But eventually, over a long period of time, those jagged edges on all of the rocks smooth the other jagged edges, until all of the rocks in the bag are smooth. This is what it means to live in community. There will be people who annoy us, but the challenge that we are all given is to embrace those people with love, as much as we can.

And I say that all pious sounding, but please don't take it that way: it's something that I struggle with, as well (my abbey church has people who do things similar to what you described: all parishes probably have at least one). Is it annoying? Yes. But it is also an opportunity of wonderful grace, if only we recognize it as such. Thank you for that reminder, Quasar.

Edited August 31, 2016 by Br. Antony Maria OSB

[Archaeology cat]

I say it under my breath, just loud enough for my children to hear, but haven't heard others say it aloud like that. As Br Antony Maria OSB (yay, Benedictines!) said, we strive to see those who annoy us with love. I'm far from perfect in this. 

[Amppax]

I'm wondering how old this gentleman is. There was a man at our parish who did something similar, except he said everything during the mass, very audibly! (including the priest's words). It was very distracting, particularly because he would do so using the old translation. However, this man was probably his eighties, and seemed to simply be a little bit confused. 

[Papist]

No. But when I was a kid there was this guy that would blurt out "Praise the Lord" during the homily. At times, it was noticeable the priest was not pleased.

[Quasar]

2 hours ago, Br. Antony Maria OSB said:

my immediate thought is a story from the Desert Fathers. I don't remember it verbatim, but the gist of it is this: as sinful, fallen human beings, we are all like jagged rocks. Since we live in community, it is like all of these jagged rocks are tossed pellmell into a bag together, and then that bag is shaken. Those rocks jab and poke each other like there's no tomorrow, and that hurts! Bits and pieces of rock go flying everywhere! But eventually, over a long period of time, those jagged edges on all of the rocks smooth the other jagged edges, until all of the rocks in the bag are smooth. This is what it means to live in community. There will be people who annoy us, but the challenge that we are all given is to embrace those people with love, as much as we can.

This is a beautiful analogy, thanks for sharing!  With this particular outburst-prayer,  I've been able to find the humor in it, but finding other people annoying at mass is something I struggle with. I'll remember your story next time. 

1 hour ago, Amppax said:

I'm wondering how old this gentleman is. There was a man at our parish who did something similar, except he said everything during the mass, very audibly! (including the priest's words). It was very distracting, particularly because he would do so using the old translation. However, this man was probably his eighties, and seemed to simply be a little bit confused. 

50s

[CatherineM]

My husband has a friend with schizophrenia who does stuff like that. He can't help it. 

[Anomaly]

I was wondering who "that guy" Quasar meant.  The guy who is annoyingly loud, or the guy who annoyingly turns and glares?

[Quasar]

1 hour ago, Anomaly said:

I was wondering who "that guy" Quasar meant.  The guy who is annoyingly loud, or the guy who annoyingly turns and glares?

The first guy.  The second guy would be the deacon!  (Although I think he's mainly startled)

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

Saying "Praise the Lord" or something similar out loud during the homily/sermon is a common practice in certain Protestant congregations.

When the man in the congregation says it, why don't you pretend (in case it's true) that the man is a convert from Protestantism, and for him, saying, "My Lord and my God" is his positive involvement in the Mass, and perhaps is such an ingrained habit that he isn't even aware he's doing it. 

At least the man isn't swearing or taking the Lord's name in vain. 

[NadaTeTurbe]

A few weeks ago, we had a man (who has, I think, some mental illness) who shouted "Oh, this is Jesus !" during the elevation. It was very cute and a nice reminder. 

[Quasar]

I think it's amusing that this should be a thing in two parishes states apart, and that both times, it's just one person!  I shared the story to find out why some people do this.  It does come across as odd if you don't know the origin of the practice.   There are some things that I really do get bugged about,  but this isn't one of them.    Thanks to all who offered spiritual counsel, but I think there was a slight misunderstanding of the tone of my post.  

40 minutes ago, NadaTeTurbe said:

A few weeks ago, we had a man (who has, I think, some mental illness) who shouted "Oh, this is Jesus !" during the elevation. It was very cute and a nice reminder. 

That's pretty adorable.

[Quasar]

I reread my post and I think I sound more perturbed than I meant to.  My bad.

Edited August 31, 2016 by Quasar

[DominicanHeart]

It's funny we have an older gentleman at my Parish who does it too, very loudly. And he also says "Oh most Precious Blood of Jesus have mercy!" For the chalice. It became a part of us when he was at Mass but only recently now that we have a new Pastor someone told him to stop. That's a shame. We all got used to it.