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The last several years have seen a renewed discussion of the direction of Catholic liturgical music brought about by the promulgation of several significant documents on the subject, both from the Holy See and from our own US Conference of Catholic Bishops. The former has spoken in numerous speeches and addresses to various groups of clergy and laity of a need to consider seriously the call of the Second Vatican Council as regards liturgical music. Of particular concern to the Holy See is the “manifest abandonment” of traditional Catholic liturgical music in favor of secularized and pop-music influenced selections now widely used in place of the designated liturgical texts in some places. These concerns have been addressed directly to the various Bishop’s Conferences worldwide for consideration and action. The position of the Holy See and the response of the Bishop’s Conference have been put forth in two separate documents promulgated this past year.
The Holy See expressed this liturgical vision in the 2007 Post-Synodal Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis. This encyclical letter addresses a wide range of liturgical subjects, including liturgical music. Although liturgical music and it’s integration in the liturgy is touched upon throughout the document, it is succinctly addressed in the following passage:
42. In the ars celebrandi, liturgical song has a pre-eminent place. (126) Saint Augustine rightly says in a famous sermon that "the new man sings a new song. Singing is an expression of joy and, if we consider the matter, an expression of love" (127). The People of God assembled for the liturgy sings the praises of God. In the course of her two-thousand-year history, the Church has created, and still creates, music and songs which represent a rich patrimony of faith and love. This heritage must not be lost. Certainly as far as the liturgy is concerned, we cannot say that one song is as good as another. Generic improvisation or the introduction of musical genres which fail to respect the meaning of the liturgy should be avoided. As an element of the liturgy, song should be well integrated into the overall celebration (128). Consequently everything – texts, music, execution – ought to correspond to the meaning of the mystery being celebrated, the structure of the rite and the liturgical seasons (129). Finally, while respecting various styles and different and highly praiseworthy traditions, I desire, in accordance with the request advanced by the Synod Fathers, that Gregorian chant be suitably esteemed and employed (130) as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy (131).
This Post-Synodal Exhortation called for action to be taken by the various Bishop’s conferences in accordance with these desires. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops responded with a new set of guidelines for music in the liturgy, Sing To The Lord: Music in Divine Worship. These guidelines replace any previous guidelines issued by the Bishop’s conference, expanding upon the actual legislation set out in binding liturgical documents such as Musicam Sacram and Sacrosanctum Concilium. As a Director of Music in a Catholic parish, it becomes my responsibility to carefully consider these norms as they relate to our liturgical practice and make steps towards their eventual implementation in careful consultation with the Bishop, our Pastor and the Diocesan Director of Liturgy.
Sing To The Lord: Music in Divine Worship covers a wide range of topics related to liturgical music as well as some very specific guidelines for Priests, Organists, Cantors and Psalmists as well as choirs and instrumentalists. The document also contains some general principles and core directives, the most critical of which are given below and highlighted:
27. So that the holy people may sing with one voice, the music must be within its members’ capability. Some congregations are able to learn more quickly and will desire more variety. Others will be more comfortable with a stable number of songs so that they can be at ease when they sing. Familiarity with a stable repertoire of liturgical songs rich in theological content can deepen the faith of the community through repetition and memorization.
61. The use of the vernacular is the norm in most liturgical celebrations in the dioceses of the United States “for the sake of a better comprehension of the mystery being celebrated.”59 However, care should be taken to foster the role of Latin in the Liturgy, particularly in liturgical song. Pastors should ensure “that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them.”60 They should be able to sing these parts of the Mass proper to them, at least according to the simpler melodies.
74. The Second Vatican Council directed that the faithful be able to sing parts of the Ordinary of the Mass together in Latin.70 In many worshiping communities in the United States, fulfilling this directive will mean introducing Latin chant to worshipers who perhaps have not sung it before. While prudence, pastoral sensitivity, and reasonable time for progress are encouraged to achieve this end, every effort in this regard is laudable and highly encouraged.
Each worshiping community in the United States, including all age groups and all ethnic groups, should, at a minimum, learn Kyrie XVI, Sanctus XVIII, and Agnus Dei XVIII, all of which are typically included in congregational worship aids. More difficult chants, such as Gloria VIII and settings of the Credo and Pater Noster, might be learned after the easier chants have been mastered.71
115. Singing by the gathered assembly and ministers is important at all celebrations. Not every part that can be sung should necessarily be sung at every celebration; rather “preference should be given to those [parts] that are of greater importance.”89
a. Dialogues and Acclamations
Among the parts to be sung, preference should be given “especially to those to be sung by the priest or the deacon or the lector, with the people responding, or by the priest and people together.”90 This includes dialogues such as God, come to my assistance. Lord make haste to help me in the Office, or The Lord be with you. And also with you in the Mass. The dialogues of the Liturgy are fundamental because they “are not simply outward signs of communal celebration but foster and bring about communion between priest and people.”91 By their nature, they are short and uncomplicated and easily invite active participation by the entire assembly. Every effort should therefore be made to introduce or strengthen as a normative practice the singing of the dialogues between the priest, deacon, or lector and the people. Even the priest with very limited singing ability is capable of chanting "The Lord be with you" on a single pitch.
b. Antiphons and Psalms
The psalms are poems of praise that are meant, whenever possible, to be sung.92 The Psalter is the basic songbook of the Liturgy. Tertullian witnesses to this when he says that in the assemblies of the Christians, “the Scriptures are read, the psalms are sung, sermons are preached.”93 Psalms have a prominent place in every Office of the Liturgy of the Hours.94 The Responsorial Psalm in the Liturgy of the Word of the Mass and of other rites “holds great liturgical and pastoral importance, because it fosters meditation on the word of God.”95 The Entrance and Communion chants with their psalm verses serve to accompany the two most important processions of the Mass: the entrance procession, by which the Mass begins, and the Communion procession, by which the faithful approach the altar to receive Holy Communion. Participation in song on the part of the assembly is commended during both of these important processions, as the People of God gather at the beginning of Mass and as the faithful approach the holy altar to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord.
117. Proper antiphons from the liturgical books are to be esteemed and used especially because they are the very voice of God speaking to us in the Scriptures. Here, “the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them. And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigor, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life.”96 The Christian faithful are to be led to an ever deeper appreciation of the psalms as the voice of Christ and the voice of his Church at prayer.97
Sacred Silence
118. Music arises out of silence and returns to silence. God is revealed both in the beauty of song and in the power of silence. The Sacred Liturgy has its rhythm of texts, actions, songs, and silence. Silence in the Liturgy allows the community to reflect on what it has heard and experienced, and to open its heart to the mystery celebrated. Ministers and pastoral musicians should take care that the rites unfold with the proper ebb and flow of sound and silence.98 The importance of silence in the Liturgy cannot be overemphasized.
_____________
The basic concepts behind these directives can be summarized as follows:
1. The establishment of a “stable repertoire” of liturgical music that is familiar and readily singable by a particular assembly.
2. The restoration of the practice of singing the Ordinary of Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) in Latin.
3. The restoration of the singing of the Mass dialogues between the Priest and the assembly as a normative part of the liturgy.
4. The restoration of the use of the indicated Proper texts for the Entrance Antiphon, The Responsorial Psalm and the Communion Antiphon. This may include plainchant-based settings in the vernacular, or on occasion the use of the Gregorian settings in Latin.
5. The restoration of solemnity and sacred disposition, particularly in the selection of appropriate musical styles, liturgical postures and the meaningful integration of silence in the liturgy.
_____________
These principles were echoed in the Directory for Music and the Liturgy which the USCCB Committee on Divine Worship submitted to the Holy See for approval in November of 2006. Although this document has not received approval at this point, it is assumed to be held up because it did not go far enough in this direction, indicating that a final version would follow these principles at a minimum, and could well contain more explicit directives or actual legislation.
Another important consideration is the new translation of the Roman Missal, currently projected to be introduced for parish use by December of 2011. The effective introduction of the new Missal translation will require a new way of looking at liturgical texts in the Mass, just as introducing the new music guidelines will require a new way of looking at liturgical music, significantly different from the paradigm that has been followed in recent years. Pope Benedict has urged all who are responsible for preparing liturgy to begin with a thorough reading of Sacrosanctum Concilium and Musicam Sacram. In light of this, and to begin undertaking a responsible preparation, I am considering the following three-year outline to guide the development of the Sacred Music program at Incarnation Church.
_____________
For the 2009 – 2010 Liturgical Year:
At the 7:00PM Saturday, 7:00AM Sunday and 12:30PM Sunday Cantor Masses:
· The hymnody for the Processional and Offertory will be drawn primarily from a limited repertoire of well-known and approved hymns, or hymn texts set to the same hymn tunes with the addition during Lent and on feast Days of the Entrance Antiphon with psalm-verses before Mass. (1 & 4)
· The Communion hymn will be selected from a repertoire of 6 well-known communion hymns with the addition of the Communion Antiphon with the psalm verse once a month. (1 & 4)
. The recessional Hymn, when used, will be drawn from a limited repertoire of well-known and approved hymns. The instrumental (organ) recessional will be encouraged as an option(5)
· The Kyrie will be selected from Mass XVI or Mass XVIII (or) the Lord Have Mercy from the Sacramentary setting with the appropriate invocation. (2)
· The Psalm Response will be the setting from Respond & Acclaim with verses set to the indicated Psalm-Tone. (4)
· During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, a new chant-based setting of the Sanctus will be introduced, and preference will be given to the 3rd and 4th forms of the Memorial Acclamation (III. When we eat this bread… / IV. Lord by your cross…) using plainchant settings, and to the simple intoned response for the AMEN. (3 & 5)
· The Our Father will be sung in the standard plainchant setting from the Sacramentary on occasion. (3 & 5)
For the 2010-2011 Liturgical Year: (pending the introduction of the new translation of the Missal)
At the 7:00PM Saturday, 7:00AM Sunday and 12:30PM Sunday Cantor Masses:
· The hymnody for the Processional and Offertory will be drawn primarily from a limited repertoire of well-known and approved hymns, or hymn texts set to the same hymn tunes with the addition twice each month of the Entrance Antiphon with psalm-verses. (1 & 4)
· The Communion hymn will be selected from a repertoire of 2 well-known communion hymns plus six Communion Antiphons with the psalm verses for their particular Sunday. These will be rotated in a six-week cycle. (1 & 4)
· The instrumental (organ) recessional will be the norm. A Recessional Hymn will be used on major Feast Days. (5)
· The Kyrie will be selected from Mass XVI , Mass XVIII, (or) the Lord Have Mercy from the Sacramentary setting with the appropriate invocation. (2)
· When required, the Gloria will be introduced in an antiphonal plainchant-based setting. (new translation) (2)
· The Psalm Response will be the Response with verses from the Lectionary set to the appropriate Psalm-Tone in it’s entirety. (4)
· During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, preference will be given to the 3rd and 4th forms of the Memorial Acclamation (III. When we eat this bread… / IV. Lord by your cross…) or the texts from the new translation will be used in plainchant settings, with the simple intoned response for the AMEN. (3 & 5)
_____________
The above outline assumes that the new translation of the Missal will be implemented in November of 2011 and will require new settings of the Gloria, Sanctus and Memorial Acclamations to be introduced
Within this time period, discussions will be undertaken with the Pastor and Priests concerning the introduction of Latin settings of the Mass Ordinary and increased use of sung responses by the Priests. Decisions on these issues will be reserved to the Pastor or via directives from the Bishop or Holy See.
The Holy See expressed this liturgical vision in the 2007 Post-Synodal Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis. This encyclical letter addresses a wide range of liturgical subjects, including liturgical music. Although liturgical music and it’s integration in the liturgy is touched upon throughout the document, it is succinctly addressed in the following passage:
42. In the ars celebrandi, liturgical song has a pre-eminent place. (126) Saint Augustine rightly says in a famous sermon that "the new man sings a new song. Singing is an expression of joy and, if we consider the matter, an expression of love" (127). The People of God assembled for the liturgy sings the praises of God. In the course of her two-thousand-year history, the Church has created, and still creates, music and songs which represent a rich patrimony of faith and love. This heritage must not be lost. Certainly as far as the liturgy is concerned, we cannot say that one song is as good as another. Generic improvisation or the introduction of musical genres which fail to respect the meaning of the liturgy should be avoided. As an element of the liturgy, song should be well integrated into the overall celebration (128). Consequently everything – texts, music, execution – ought to correspond to the meaning of the mystery being celebrated, the structure of the rite and the liturgical seasons (129). Finally, while respecting various styles and different and highly praiseworthy traditions, I desire, in accordance with the request advanced by the Synod Fathers, that Gregorian chant be suitably esteemed and employed (130) as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy (131).
This Post-Synodal Exhortation called for action to be taken by the various Bishop’s conferences in accordance with these desires. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops responded with a new set of guidelines for music in the liturgy, Sing To The Lord: Music in Divine Worship. These guidelines replace any previous guidelines issued by the Bishop’s conference, expanding upon the actual legislation set out in binding liturgical documents such as Musicam Sacram and Sacrosanctum Concilium. As a Director of Music in a Catholic parish, it becomes my responsibility to carefully consider these norms as they relate to our liturgical practice and make steps towards their eventual implementation in careful consultation with the Bishop, our Pastor and the Diocesan Director of Liturgy.
Sing To The Lord: Music in Divine Worship covers a wide range of topics related to liturgical music as well as some very specific guidelines for Priests, Organists, Cantors and Psalmists as well as choirs and instrumentalists. The document also contains some general principles and core directives, the most critical of which are given below and highlighted:
27. So that the holy people may sing with one voice, the music must be within its members’ capability. Some congregations are able to learn more quickly and will desire more variety. Others will be more comfortable with a stable number of songs so that they can be at ease when they sing. Familiarity with a stable repertoire of liturgical songs rich in theological content can deepen the faith of the community through repetition and memorization.
61. The use of the vernacular is the norm in most liturgical celebrations in the dioceses of the United States “for the sake of a better comprehension of the mystery being celebrated.”59 However, care should be taken to foster the role of Latin in the Liturgy, particularly in liturgical song. Pastors should ensure “that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them.”60 They should be able to sing these parts of the Mass proper to them, at least according to the simpler melodies.
74. The Second Vatican Council directed that the faithful be able to sing parts of the Ordinary of the Mass together in Latin.70 In many worshiping communities in the United States, fulfilling this directive will mean introducing Latin chant to worshipers who perhaps have not sung it before. While prudence, pastoral sensitivity, and reasonable time for progress are encouraged to achieve this end, every effort in this regard is laudable and highly encouraged.
Each worshiping community in the United States, including all age groups and all ethnic groups, should, at a minimum, learn Kyrie XVI, Sanctus XVIII, and Agnus Dei XVIII, all of which are typically included in congregational worship aids. More difficult chants, such as Gloria VIII and settings of the Credo and Pater Noster, might be learned after the easier chants have been mastered.71
115. Singing by the gathered assembly and ministers is important at all celebrations. Not every part that can be sung should necessarily be sung at every celebration; rather “preference should be given to those [parts] that are of greater importance.”89
a. Dialogues and Acclamations
Among the parts to be sung, preference should be given “especially to those to be sung by the priest or the deacon or the lector, with the people responding, or by the priest and people together.”90 This includes dialogues such as God, come to my assistance. Lord make haste to help me in the Office, or The Lord be with you. And also with you in the Mass. The dialogues of the Liturgy are fundamental because they “are not simply outward signs of communal celebration but foster and bring about communion between priest and people.”91 By their nature, they are short and uncomplicated and easily invite active participation by the entire assembly. Every effort should therefore be made to introduce or strengthen as a normative practice the singing of the dialogues between the priest, deacon, or lector and the people. Even the priest with very limited singing ability is capable of chanting "The Lord be with you" on a single pitch.
b. Antiphons and Psalms
The psalms are poems of praise that are meant, whenever possible, to be sung.92 The Psalter is the basic songbook of the Liturgy. Tertullian witnesses to this when he says that in the assemblies of the Christians, “the Scriptures are read, the psalms are sung, sermons are preached.”93 Psalms have a prominent place in every Office of the Liturgy of the Hours.94 The Responsorial Psalm in the Liturgy of the Word of the Mass and of other rites “holds great liturgical and pastoral importance, because it fosters meditation on the word of God.”95 The Entrance and Communion chants with their psalm verses serve to accompany the two most important processions of the Mass: the entrance procession, by which the Mass begins, and the Communion procession, by which the faithful approach the altar to receive Holy Communion. Participation in song on the part of the assembly is commended during both of these important processions, as the People of God gather at the beginning of Mass and as the faithful approach the holy altar to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord.
117. Proper antiphons from the liturgical books are to be esteemed and used especially because they are the very voice of God speaking to us in the Scriptures. Here, “the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them. And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigor, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life.”96 The Christian faithful are to be led to an ever deeper appreciation of the psalms as the voice of Christ and the voice of his Church at prayer.97
Sacred Silence
118. Music arises out of silence and returns to silence. God is revealed both in the beauty of song and in the power of silence. The Sacred Liturgy has its rhythm of texts, actions, songs, and silence. Silence in the Liturgy allows the community to reflect on what it has heard and experienced, and to open its heart to the mystery celebrated. Ministers and pastoral musicians should take care that the rites unfold with the proper ebb and flow of sound and silence.98 The importance of silence in the Liturgy cannot be overemphasized.
_____________
The basic concepts behind these directives can be summarized as follows:
1. The establishment of a “stable repertoire” of liturgical music that is familiar and readily singable by a particular assembly.
2. The restoration of the practice of singing the Ordinary of Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) in Latin.
3. The restoration of the singing of the Mass dialogues between the Priest and the assembly as a normative part of the liturgy.
4. The restoration of the use of the indicated Proper texts for the Entrance Antiphon, The Responsorial Psalm and the Communion Antiphon. This may include plainchant-based settings in the vernacular, or on occasion the use of the Gregorian settings in Latin.
5. The restoration of solemnity and sacred disposition, particularly in the selection of appropriate musical styles, liturgical postures and the meaningful integration of silence in the liturgy.
_____________
These principles were echoed in the Directory for Music and the Liturgy which the USCCB Committee on Divine Worship submitted to the Holy See for approval in November of 2006. Although this document has not received approval at this point, it is assumed to be held up because it did not go far enough in this direction, indicating that a final version would follow these principles at a minimum, and could well contain more explicit directives or actual legislation.
Another important consideration is the new translation of the Roman Missal, currently projected to be introduced for parish use by December of 2011. The effective introduction of the new Missal translation will require a new way of looking at liturgical texts in the Mass, just as introducing the new music guidelines will require a new way of looking at liturgical music, significantly different from the paradigm that has been followed in recent years. Pope Benedict has urged all who are responsible for preparing liturgy to begin with a thorough reading of Sacrosanctum Concilium and Musicam Sacram. In light of this, and to begin undertaking a responsible preparation, I am considering the following three-year outline to guide the development of the Sacred Music program at Incarnation Church.
_____________
For the 2009 – 2010 Liturgical Year:
At the 7:00PM Saturday, 7:00AM Sunday and 12:30PM Sunday Cantor Masses:
· The hymnody for the Processional and Offertory will be drawn primarily from a limited repertoire of well-known and approved hymns, or hymn texts set to the same hymn tunes with the addition during Lent and on feast Days of the Entrance Antiphon with psalm-verses before Mass. (1 & 4)
· The Communion hymn will be selected from a repertoire of 6 well-known communion hymns with the addition of the Communion Antiphon with the psalm verse once a month. (1 & 4)
. The recessional Hymn, when used, will be drawn from a limited repertoire of well-known and approved hymns. The instrumental (organ) recessional will be encouraged as an option(5)
· The Kyrie will be selected from Mass XVI or Mass XVIII (or) the Lord Have Mercy from the Sacramentary setting with the appropriate invocation. (2)
· The Psalm Response will be the setting from Respond & Acclaim with verses set to the indicated Psalm-Tone. (4)
· During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, a new chant-based setting of the Sanctus will be introduced, and preference will be given to the 3rd and 4th forms of the Memorial Acclamation (III. When we eat this bread… / IV. Lord by your cross…) using plainchant settings, and to the simple intoned response for the AMEN. (3 & 5)
· The Our Father will be sung in the standard plainchant setting from the Sacramentary on occasion. (3 & 5)
For the 2010-2011 Liturgical Year: (pending the introduction of the new translation of the Missal)
At the 7:00PM Saturday, 7:00AM Sunday and 12:30PM Sunday Cantor Masses:
· The hymnody for the Processional and Offertory will be drawn primarily from a limited repertoire of well-known and approved hymns, or hymn texts set to the same hymn tunes with the addition twice each month of the Entrance Antiphon with psalm-verses. (1 & 4)
· The Communion hymn will be selected from a repertoire of 2 well-known communion hymns plus six Communion Antiphons with the psalm verses for their particular Sunday. These will be rotated in a six-week cycle. (1 & 4)
· The instrumental (organ) recessional will be the norm. A Recessional Hymn will be used on major Feast Days. (5)
· The Kyrie will be selected from Mass XVI , Mass XVIII, (or) the Lord Have Mercy from the Sacramentary setting with the appropriate invocation. (2)
· When required, the Gloria will be introduced in an antiphonal plainchant-based setting. (new translation) (2)
· The Psalm Response will be the Response with verses from the Lectionary set to the appropriate Psalm-Tone in it’s entirety. (4)
· During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, preference will be given to the 3rd and 4th forms of the Memorial Acclamation (III. When we eat this bread… / IV. Lord by your cross…) or the texts from the new translation will be used in plainchant settings, with the simple intoned response for the AMEN. (3 & 5)
_____________
The above outline assumes that the new translation of the Missal will be implemented in November of 2011 and will require new settings of the Gloria, Sanctus and Memorial Acclamations to be introduced
Within this time period, discussions will be undertaken with the Pastor and Priests concerning the introduction of Latin settings of the Mass Ordinary and increased use of sung responses by the Priests. Decisions on these issues will be reserved to the Pastor or via directives from the Bishop or Holy See.
UPDATE: The USCCB has released the Ordinary settings from the music project associated with the new Missal translation (The ICEL Kyriale). It is NOT clear if these will be the EXCLUSIVE English language settings of these texts... in several places the commentary accompanying the pre-release texts from the USCCB seem to indicate an increased and widespread use of the Latin language Gregorian settings in addition to the settings provided with the Missal.
Our Pastor, Fr. Bernie, has asked me to work out an implementation plan to begin using the Gregorian (Latin) Sanctus /Agnus Dei and eventually Gloria for at least some of our Sunday Masses. He is already doing so at the daily Masses and is ready to carry that effort over to the weekend Masses. More on this as the project develops.
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