The role of stillness in meeting Christ in the Eucharist
More than one philosopher has observed that since men have two ears but only one mouth, we ought to listen twice as much as we speak. Similarly, while the Blessed Trinity may not have physical ears and a mouth as we do, Christianity is a relationship “with a God who speaks and listens.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini, 24) Before any speaking or listening occurs—be it from us to God or from God to us—there must be silence.
Any fruitful (or at least accurate) conversation must take place in relative silence. We can all attest to the frustration of talking to another person while a television is blaring, smartphones are scrolling or a room is filled with a deluge of other voices, which results in more confusion than actual conversation. True dialogue requires a blank canvas of silence from which to work. (Even a printed page such as this one needs to be blank so that words can appear clearly.) Silence is the necessary precondition by which we can successfully relate to another person—and especially if that other person is God.
Silence, Creation and the Sounds of Death
When the Father first said, “Let there be light,” He did so out of the silence, the void, the abyss. Silence sets the stage for all of creation, light and life. Made by the resounding Word of the Father, every creature is therefore “a word of God, since it proclaims God.” (St. Bonaventure, quoted in Verbum Domini, 8) Like the silence surrounding God’s cosmic creation, all creatures, rational and non-rational alike, speak in harmony and concord from the silent depths of their hearts, communicating back to the God who first brought them into existence through their moos, tweets, chirps and words.
Cardinal Robert Sarah, who wrote a 250-page book on silence, “The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise,” says that “God is silence, and the devil is noisy. From the beginning, Satan has sought to mask his lies beneath a deceptive, resonant agitation.” Man was meant to dialogue with the God who both speaks and listens. However, tempted by the Father of Lies, people have chosen to not listen, nor to speak the truth—literally, they are “disobedient.” As a result, harmony has turned to cacophony, consonance to dissonance and silence to “resonant agitation.”
But man, who was originally called forth from this holy silence into a being made in God’s image and likeness, has become a creature of constant chatter. During a visit to Carthusian monks—a significant part of whose life is spent in silence—Pope Benedict XVI noted that the noise of modern life has led to what he described as an “anthropological mutation.” He observed that, “Some people are no longer able to remain for long periods in silence and solitude.” Surely, each of us today has encountered a kind of “spiritual tinnitus,” that persistent ringing of the world that besets our hearts and suffocates our attempts to hear the Word of the Father.
The Silent Word
But God will not be deterred. From the seeming silence of an Egyptian Passover night to a quiet evening outside the little town of Bethlehem, God continues to act and speak even in silence. The prophet Elijah had a memorable encounter with the silent God on a mountaintop. Scripture describes it this way: “There was a strong and violent wind tearing the mountains and shattering rocks before the Lord—but the Lord was not in the wind; after the wind, there was an earthquake—but the Lord was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, there was a fire—but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, there was a light, gentle sound.” (1 Kgs 19:11-12)
Christ’s own life was marked by silence. We’ve already seen how His heavenly Father spoke from the silence, and His earthly foster-father, St. Joseph, likewise spoke loudly from a silent life. Jesus was born on a silent night and lived a quiet life in Nazareth. He began his transformative ministry with 40 days of solitude in the desert. During His passion, He—who is the Word—remained mostly silent in the face of interrogation by Annas, Caiaphas, Herod, Pilate, scoffers and the bad thief. Then, after He breathed His last, He fell silent again—as silent as the grave.
But in the still hours of the night, He rose. Nobody saw it; nobody heard it—only that silent night would “know the time and hour when Christ rose from the underworld.” (Easter Exsultet) And not unlike the silence out of which the first creation dawned, this new silence would spark and speak a new creation: Let there be a new light!
“Silence is essential in the life of the believer,” Pope Francis says. “Indeed, it lies at the beginning and end of Christ’s earthly existence. The Word, the Word of the Father, became ‘silence’ in the manger and on the cross, on the night of the Nativity and on the night of His Passion.”
Silence for a Eucharistic Encounter
If God appreciates silence and if Christ’s saving work was surrounded by moments of silence, then we too should also expect to encounter Him in the silence—especially in a eucharistic encounter. Silence, in fact, is an essential part of the Mass. The pre-Vatican II liturgy included many moments of silence, and the post-Vatican II liturgy also specifies periods of silence. The Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy states, “To promote active participation, all should observe a reverent silence at the proper times.” When are these proper times?
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal calls for silence often in the celebration of the Mass:
- “Even before the celebration itself, it is a praiseworthy practice for silence to be observed in the church, in the sacristy, in the vesting room, and in adjacent areas, so that all may dispose themselves to carry out the sacred celebration in a devout and fitting manner.”
- The penitential act calls for “a brief pause for silence.”
- After the priest “calls upon the people to pray” at the opening prayer, everybody “observes a brief silence so that they may become aware of being in God’s presence and may call to mind their intentions.”
- During the Liturgy of the Word, silence is to be observed “before the Liturgy of the Word itself begins, after the First and Second Reading, and lastly at the conclusion of the Homily.”
- “The Eucharistic Prayer requires that everybody listens to it with reverence and in silence.”
- After Communion, “sacred silence may now be observed for some time.”
Do you recognize these moments of silence during Mass? Pope Saint John Paul II writes, “the liturgy, with its different moments and symbols, cannot ignore silence.” (Spiritus et Sponsa, 13)
The Soundness of Silence
Had enough of the noise, chaos and sin? Consider finding peace in silence at eucharistic adoration. Pope Francis encourages this very thing: “We cannot know the Lord without this habit of worship, to worship in silence, adoration. Allow me to say this: Waste time in front of the Lord, in front of the mystery of Jesus Christ. Worship Him. There in silence, the silence of adoration.”
Few would argue that today’s world has too little noise and too much silence. God gives us a foretaste of heaven on earth in the goodness we experience in the world and in others, in the quiet moments of personal prayer, and in the Eucharist celebrated and adored. Silence is the “symbol of the world to come.” (CCC 2717) Be intentional about seeking silence, and there you will encounter God in His heavens.
By Christopher Carstens, Director of the Office for Sacred Worship
Published in the Spring 2025 issue of Catholic Life Magazine