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ROBTEACH49
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| Joined: | Mon Jun 2nd, 2008 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 15 |
| First Name: | BOB | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | ARMENIAN ORTHODOX...NOW CATHOLIC |
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Posted: Wed Aug 13th, 2008 05:04 pm |
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Being a recent convert to the RCC my parish priest has asked me to be a lector at the 7am Sunday Mass...I am nervous! What does it involve and what am I getting into? What if I pronouce words wrong and make a fumble? Help!!!
Bob
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CajunRick
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Posted: Wed Aug 13th, 2008 08:41 pm |
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ROBTEACH49 wrote: Being a recent convert to the RCC my parish priest has asked me to be a lector at the 7am Sunday Mass...I am nervous! What does it involve and what am I getting into? What if I pronouce words wrong and make a fumble? Help!!!
So do you think if you pronounce the words wrong anyone will know?
Our parish has a lector's guide that includes pronunciations, historical background, and suggestions for points of emphasis and reading style that is available to every lector.
If I could offer advice to every lector, it would be:
- Sound confident. You are proclaiming the Word of God. There is no need for timidity.
- Breathe. Normal humans cannot read a typical sentence from St. Paul without two or three breaths.
- Learn to use the microphone and sound system to your advantage. Don't pop your "p's" and other plosive sounds, don't drop your chin into your chest, and don't talk directly into the microphone but a little above, below, or to the side. Learn what mic positions cause feedback and avoid them.
- Enunciate. Speak clearly.
- Slow down. If you don't think you're reading too slowly, you're reading too fast.
The last is the most common error, but failure to follow any or all of the above are common. If you don't know how to pronounce something, ask. If there's no one to ask, then pick a pronunciation and be confident. Or go down to a Catholic bookstore and buy a book of biblical pronunciations. They are cheap and readily available.
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dpillie
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| Joined: | Wed Nov 22nd, 2006 |
| Location: | Fort Wayne, Indiana USA |
| Posts: | 9 |
| First Name: | | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Roman Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Aug 13th, 2008 09:49 pm |
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I would pray on it - if you are comfortable, or could be comfortable talking in front of people and using a microphone you should seriously consider it. If you make a slip-up, it happens. Each priest or liturgist will have some way they'd like you to proceed. Ask them how you should handle it if it happens (it probably will).
The key to proclaiming the Word is to understand what you're going to be reading. Spend the week before getting comfortable with the text, understand how it connects with the other readings (many parishes provide you witha workbook that has brief commentaries on the readings along with a pronounciation guide for difficult words). In my idealized proclaimer ministry we would meet on a weekly basis, give those reading an opportunity to proclaim before the group, discuss the readings, then give it another go. Again, like I said, ideal world here.
Work hard to be sure you don't put yourself before God when proclaiming. To some degree, those who proclaim well get compliments and it is easy to think that you are doing a better job than others and that you might know better than others on how to proclaim the Word. Just remember to be faithful to God and let Him work through you when you proclaim, and it can be a very spiritually rewarding ministry.
YBIC,
Derek
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YBiC,
Derek Alexander Ambrose Pillie
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mg57
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | Connecticut USA |
| Posts: | 234 |
| First Name: | mg57 | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Infant Baptised Catholic |
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Posted: Thu Aug 14th, 2008 02:50 am |
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Congratulations Bob, I'm sure you'll make a good Lector ! I was a Lector at weekday Mass three days a week for about 7 years, and I was nervous in the beginning as well. In addition, I had to act as Altar Server and work the bells !
Along with the good advice from others here, I would also say, the larger the audience, the slower one should speak.
Secondly, prepare by reading through the readings several times out loud the night before. Arrive to the Church early enough to read through the readings at least once from the Lectionary. This will help your eyes to know on the page what you remember from practice the night before.
Thirdly, find out if there are any alternate readings for the day you are to serve. I've had a visiting or fill-in Priest Celebrant change the readings / Psalms to an option for that day I wasn't aware of just before Mass leaving me no time to prepare.
Fourthly, it's an Awesome experience and priviledge ! Enjoy serving !
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