In The Hidden Power of Silence in the Mass: A Guide for Encountering Christ in the Liturgy, Benedictine Father Boniface Hicks develops a spirituality of liturgical silence. The book, in fact, could be described as a mystagogy of silence in the Mass.
Hicks’s timely work prescribes a remedy for the frenetic pace and stunted interiority characteristic of contemporary American culture. He shows how a rediscovery of the importance of liturgical silence can renew the actuosa participatio of the faithful and the ars celebrandi of the priest.
Pattern of Silence
While silence is only one liturgical sign among many, Hicks argues for its privileged importance for shaping the liturgical experience. Moments of exterior silence are directed towards a personal, interior silence. Silence complements the words and gestures of the Mass, creating space for the faithful to attune to those signs and encounter God. Hicks explains, “The better we understand the rationale behind these ritual gestures of liturgical silence, the better we will be able to correspond with them and so be transformed by the Word in our liturgical worship” (6).
Liturgical silence, for Hicks, is no monolithic reality. He takes the General Instruction of the Roman Missal as his point of departure: “Sacred silence also, as part of the celebration, is to be observed at the designated times. Its nature, however, depends on the moment it occurs in the different parts of the celebration” (45). Hicks identifies five types of silence, which build upon each other. Quoted directly from his book, these different silences are as follows:
- ascetical silence, a preparation, making room to receive
- mystical silence, an encounter that happens through listening
- sacrificial silence, the self-gift that forms the response to the encounter
- contemplative silence, adoration and communion
- eternal silence, a timeless savoring of the communion. (4)
Hicks sees this fivefold pattern of silence repeated throughout salvation history and in the Mass. He uses the same pattern to structure his book: “Prior to Mass and the Introductory Rites, the participant is encouraged to foster an ascetical silence to prepare space for encountering the Word (chapter 2). Then, in a mystical silence, the participant encounters the voice of God in the Liturgy of the Word (chapter 3). This invites a response of self-offering in a sacrificial silence (chapter 4). Following the self-offering, the Word becomes incarnate in the participant and really present on the altar and is adored and received in contemplative silence (chapter 5). Finally, the participant remains in a timeless or eternal silence to savor the divine presence (chapter 6)” (6).
Multi-disciplinary Approach
Hicks takes a somewhat unconventional approach to the treatment of liturgical silence. In his exploration of the silent elements of the Mass, he draws into conversation various—often surprising—sources. He stays close to the liturgical texts and rubrics, but then he brings in insights from the Fathers of the Church, recent magisterial documents, and the writings of popes, saints, theologians, psychologists, educators, literary authors—and even a gardener! He also includes insights from his personal prayer.
Hicks focuses primarily on the Mass—in particular, the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Nevertheless, he also culls insights from other liturgies of both the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms, and from some of the Eastern Churches. He concludes each chapter with lessons drawn from the Blessed Mother—whom he calls “the supreme model of silence” (7)—and from St. Benedict.
While the book contains much information about the liturgy, Hicks’s primary aim is practical: guiding the reader to a deeper encounter with Jesus in the liturgy. In each chapter, he provides concrete recommendations for engaging liturgical silence more deeply. He also includes reflection questions to encourage fuller engagement with the material.
Culture, Prayer, and Silence
Before beginning his sequential tour of the Mass, Hicks discusses the modern attitude towards silence. He writes, “Silence can make us feel out of control, as we may face our uncontrollable restlessness or our guilty consciences when we enter into silence. Entering into silence can feel like a stripping away of comforts in a way that confronts us with reality” (11). He suggests that individuals often defend against the vulnerability of silence through “our flurry of words and frenetic activity” (13).
The liturgy is meant to enable an encounter with reality that is not scary, but healing. Hicks writes, “The silence that is prescribed in the liturgy should be viewed in this positive way as creating places of hiddenness that make us secure enough to be vulnerable, like little children, and open to the loving embrace that our Father extends to us” (15).
Hicks quotes various liturgical documents, rubrics, and popes to show how liturgical silence is an integral part of active participation. For example, he quotes from a 1988 address John Paul II delivered to US bishops: “Yet active participation does not preclude the active passivity of silence, stillness and listening: indeed, it demands it.” More recently, he enlists Pope Francis’s thoughts on silence: “Among the ritual acts that belong to the whole assembly, silence occupies a place of absolute importance” (Desiderio Desideravi, 52).
Throughout the book, Hicks looks to the rubrics and prayers prescribed for the priest to shed light on the participation of the faithful in the corresponding parts of Mass. His description of the secret prayers of the priest is emblematic of his overall approach: “Both priest and laypeople benefit from some mystagogical reflection on these prayers—first, reflection on the importance of reciting prescribed yet unheard prayers and then specific reflections on the words, gestures, and context of the Mass for each of the prayers” (25).
Making Space for Mystery
Hicks describes the ascetical silence that precedes and prepares for the celebration of the Mass. It entails an emptying in order to make room. He explains, “We can call this initial silence of preparation an ascetical silence, in which we set aside other things—certainly we should set aside bad things but even good things as well—in order to make space for the mysteries we are about to receive” (38). Hicks offers practical recommendations for reducing distractions, and he presents several images for helping to calm the mind, make room for God, and foster vulnerability for worship. He draws on both his rich monastic tradition and on a contemporary work like James Clear’s popular self-help book Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones to illustrate the path to developing a habit—and even a culture—of silence.
Hicks’s third chapter on mystical silence is his most synthetic and ambitious. A closer look at this chapter will illustrate his creative and resourceful approach to liturgical silence.
Hicks describes the Liturgy of the Word as a time for “the silence of listening” (62) that leads to encounter with the living Word of God. He discusses the differences between the use of Scripture in the Liturgy of the Word of the Ordinary Form and in the Mass of the Catechumens of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. He shows how wonder and awe, as described by Sofia Cavalletti (the developer of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd), open the soul to mystery and help it linger upon the Word of God. In his discussion of wonder, Hicks draws in the writings of psychologist Conrad Baars, the lives of St. Anthony of the Desert and St. Francis of Assisi, and interventions of both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.
Hicks next reflects on the priest’s silent prayers during the Liturgy of the Word as “an indication of the texture of the silence the liturgy provides for us to enter into” and as “a guide for the entire congregation on how to pray in the silence” (77). He introduces the practice of lectio divina alongside insights from the liturgical historian Father Josef Jungmann and John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. Finally, Hicks meditates on the relationship between silence and suffering and what it means to suffer the silence of God. He writes, “What is God doing in this silence? Although we do not know the details, we can be sure that it is always creative, always bringing forth something new, deeper, more loving. Sometimes it is drawing out some poison of abandonment from our hearts or pressing into our fears of finitude” (87).
By wrangling this seemingly disparate group of sources, Hicks depicts an attractive and challenging ideal of what participation in the Liturgy of the Word can look like.
Sacrificial Silence
Meditation on the Word of God calls for a response: “a silent self-offering” (99). Hicks proposes the priest’s preparation of the altar as “a template for the self-offering of the faithful that is meant to take place together with his actions at the altar” (101). He examines in turn the silent witness of candles and cut flowers, the unveiling of the chalice, the mingling of water and wine, the burning of incense, the secret prayers of the priest, the washing of hands, and, finally, the Eucharistic Prayer.
He continues to approach each element in surprising and inventive ways. For example, he describes the process of making incense, which involves repeatedly wounding certain types of trees and harvesting the resulting sap. The incense—representing the wounds of the faithful—is transformed when heaped onto burning charcoal—which represents God’s consuming love. Hicks writes, “The transformation of our wounds into worship is at the heart of the Mass and is captured in a beautiful ritual symbol in the silent gesture of offering incense” (117).
In the fifth chapter, Hicks reflects on the words and gestures of the Communion Rite. At the consecration, the priest elevates the Host and the Chalice, and the faithful are confronted with the Real Presence of God—the “mysterium tremendum et fascinans” (138). In the faithful’s encounter with their Eucharistic Lord, Hicks writes, “We are terrified by Someone powerful beyond our imaginings and yet also fascinated by Someone who loves us beyond our hopes” (139). From adoration, the faithful move to intimate communion in the reception of the Blessed Sacrament. Hicks presents the priest’s silent prayers of the Communion Rite as a model for the faithful’s reception of Communion and accompanying “silence of transcendence” (158).
Finally, Hicks reflects on silence during the purification of vessels, concluding rites, and prayer of thanksgiving after Mass. After receiving Holy Communion, the faithful have the opportunity to savor their intimate union with Jesus. Hicks writes, “We are not only enjoying His presence in Holy Communion, but in the sacred silence we are also letting Him enjoy our presence and the home He has made in our hearts. We allow for silence in order to let Him love us, simply for who we are” (175). Hicks points to Mary as the model for how to guard and treasure the encounter with Jesus in the silence after Communion.
A Martialed Mystagogy
In The Hidden Power of Silence in the Mass, Hicks beautifully martials liturgical, theological, spiritual, and human insights to present a mystagogy of liturgical silence. He couples these insights with practical recommendations for growing in the habit of silence and developing a spirituality of liturgical silence. The very format of the book—with its personal insights, practical recommendations, and reflection questions—invites the reader to the type of engaged participation Hicks hopes to foster in the liturgy.
The variety of voices Hicks introduces into the conversation about silence makes each chapter fresh and broadly accessible. That variety, however, can leave the book feeling a little uneven at times—for example, as it moves from a discussion of suffering to an extended reflection on cultivating flowers for the altar. A few of those voices are introduced without a lot of explanation, thus potentially distracting from those which are more fully integrated.
While this book may prove a bit daunting for the novice of the spiritual and liturgical life, it will greatly aid those with an established prayer life to renew and deepen their liturgical participation. It will also benefit priests and seminarians, challenging them to revitalize their celebration of the Mass with a greater appreciation of the role of silence.
