Dagupan, Philippines, Feb 24, 2020 / 16:41 pm
In a pastoral letter anticipating the beginning of Lent on Wednesday, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan has asked that the faithful not clap in church, either during or after Mass.
"The season of Lent has a somber purple color. It has a sober and calm aura. The altar decors are restrained. The musical instruments are subdued. We fast from pleasure and restrain our appetite," the archbishop wrote in his pastoral letter.
"Let us add more abstinence to this sober season," he exhorted. "Let us abstain from applause in Church. May this abstinence from clapping flow over into the other days of the year. That in all things, God alone and Him only may be glorified!"
Archbishop Villegas noted that Ash Wednesday is "a good occasion to reflect on the value and importance of sobriety, silence and self-restraint in the pursuit of holiness of life."