Kevin Hartley
Music and Liturgy 50.2 (July 2024)
The ministry of being a reader at Mass is important. You are called on to communicate, to proclaim the Scriptures to the congregation, and if the closing phrase The Word of the Lord is to mean anything it’s a ministry that has to be taken seriously. The title ‘reader’ is not really helpful. ‘Proclaimer’ might sound too grand but you are called on to announce the words of Scripture in a way that everyone in church can hear and understand. If people in the congregation wish to follow the readings in the Mass book, so be it, but they shouldn’t need to. It’s worth remembering that biblical texts weren’t originally intended to be mulled over in the quiet of one’s home: they were to be announced aloud to a largely illiterate audience.
It may be that your parish has an organised system of preparation and assistance for readers but many parishes don’t. One of the benefits of being one of an organised group is that you can compare notes on how things are going. Things like: Can you be heard at the back of church? Are you reading too quickly, making best use of the microphone? Public speaking doesn’t come naturally to most people and knowing you have a group for support is a great boost to confidence. It would be wonderful if the parish could make use of a professional voice coach. Perhaps there is a drama teacher in the parish; if so, they could be to be invited to help.
Some parishes provide commentaries on the Sunday readings. If you don’t have access to such aids, try to
spend some time with the reading during the week before, or at least make sure you arrive in church early and
spend some time studying the text you are to proclaim. You ought never have to be put in the situation when
you are called to read at the last moment unprepared. Preparation is vital.
First thing: offer a word of prayer for guidance to do this well.
If the congregation is to understand what you are announcing, you need to understand the passage you are going to read. So you need to be familiar with it, know the tricky bits, so you can articulate carefully. It’s very easy to tell if the reader understands the passage or is just mechanically reading the words.
By far the hardest thing is to manage your delivery and speak slower than you normally do. It’s horribly easy to let your tongue run away with you. If you ever hear children reading at Mass, you can immediately tell the difference between the confident youngster who knows how to pace the reading and the poor child who just wants to get it over as quickly as possible. It’s the same with us adults!
Don’t be in a hurry to start the reading. A moment of pause is needed to get everyone’s attention (and don’t
start by saying, ‘The First Reading is…’ —they all know what it is! All you need is ‘A reading from..’). You need
to make your voice fill the space so that the person at the back of church can hear and understand you. Microphones are a help but they can’t do the work for you. Clarity of diction is all-important and your lungs are the means by which you make your voice heard. So breathe deeply and evenly before you start and make use of full stops for more good breaths.
Acoustics in churches can be tricky. (I know of one church that a professional sound engineer said would make a good echo chamber.) Ensure the microphone is pointed towards your mouth, and don’t be afraid to adjust it if the last user was shorter/taller than you. But you should do your best to look over the microphone as much as possible, at the people you are addressing: if your nose is pointing at the book all the time you won’t be heard properly.
The Prayer of the Faithful. You are inviting people to pray about various intentions. You have spoken clearly and confidently. Now you need to give a significant pause, giving people time to pray before invoking Lord hear us. By significant I really mean a noticeable moment. I used to reckon ten seconds of silence, which in a full church can seem a long time. The congregation will soon get used to it and learn to use it. Silence is such a valuable commodity but we don’t make enough use of it at Mass.
You have offered your service to the congregation, and your ministry really helps to make our celebration of the Eucharist a significant event. Thank you!
Kevin Hartley has been writing the weekly Scripture commentaries in ‘Preparing the Liturgy’ since November
2009. This is his final contributions. As he lays down this task, he offers a reflection on the ministry of reading at Mass, intended to help everyone, clergy and laity alike, who are responsible for communicating the Scriptures in church using the spoken word.