Singing the proper antiphons, not "something else:"
Participate in the Mass, not "something else."
The propers and chants of the Mass have been overlooked for quite some time. These official parts of the Mass have been replaced with hymns and pop songs.
Imagine that! The largest portion of our sung participation may not even be the content of the Mass at all. Most of out singing is not the Mass but rather "something else."
"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried." G.K. Chesterton
The same could be said for it's music- the propers and antiphons
The Mass will present itself more fully and inspire our prayer if we do not regularly omit its prescribed texts and musical forms. To "fully participate" we need to be sure that we "fully" present the Mass - not something else. Our Goal is to present the Mass more completely and authentically through chant and the proper texts while inspiring an lively and deeper participation.
If we just examine the recent documents since Vatican Council II, or the General Instruction in the Missal,(GIRM), and the recenet document from the U. S. Catholic Bishops - "Sing to the Lord"- 2007 (cited below) we will find strong and continued support for the "principio locus"- the "first place" for chanted Latin propers and ordinaries at Mass.
Participate in the Mass, not "something else."
The propers and chants of the Mass have been overlooked for quite some time. These official parts of the Mass have been replaced with hymns and pop songs.
Imagine that! The largest portion of our sung participation may not even be the content of the Mass at all. Most of out singing is not the Mass but rather "something else."
"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried." G.K. Chesterton
The same could be said for it's music- the propers and antiphons
The Mass will present itself more fully and inspire our prayer if we do not regularly omit its prescribed texts and musical forms. To "fully participate" we need to be sure that we "fully" present the Mass - not something else. Our Goal is to present the Mass more completely and authentically through chant and the proper texts while inspiring an lively and deeper participation.
If we just examine the recent documents since Vatican Council II, or the General Instruction in the Missal,(GIRM), and the recenet document from the U. S. Catholic Bishops - "Sing to the Lord"- 2007 (cited below) we will find strong and continued support for the "principio locus"- the "first place" for chanted Latin propers and ordinaries at Mass.
The Latin entrance, offertory, gradual (psalm) communion chants, and The Latin ordinaries are currently the prescribed music for the Mass. When these are omitted they are replaced by hymns and popular songs. The church preserved these "proper" texts in Latin and recently chant composers have carefully transcribed these chants to effectively mirror the lively rhetoric of English.
If we examine just the last century we will find the Church making an enormous scholarly effort to restore chant at all levels: in scholrship and performance, and for all skill levels. The current Graduale Romanum is the fruit of the council and remains the primary source for the for the music of the Mass. Pope Benedict XVI wrote the following prior to his election to the papacy, in
which he outlined the detrimental effects of rock music: (Pop music) is aimed at the phenomenon of the masses, is industrially produced, and ultimately has to be described as a cult of the banal. Rock, on the other hand, is the expression of elemental passions, and at rock festivals it assumes a cultic character, a form of worship, in fact, in opposition to Christian worship. People are, so to speak, released from themselves by the experience of being part of a crowd, and by the emotional shock of rhythm, noise, and special lighting effects. However, in the ecstasy of having all their defenses torn down, the participants sink, as it were, beneath the elemental force of the universe. The music of the Holy Spirit’s sober inebriation seems to have little chance when self has become a prison, the mind is a shackle, and breaking out from both appears as a true promise of redemption that can be tasted at least for a few moments. 11 |
LINKS:
DAILY READINGS of the MASS
THE LITURGY OF THE HOURS THE REVISED GRAIL PSALM Simple English Propers Chabanal Psalms Gradual with neumes (Latin and German) St. Menrad Pslam Tones chant Stm Meinrad Tones (organ) Monastic tones St. Meinrad Music Downloads Fr. Kelly Propers with texts from the Roman Missal Entrance Chants Communion Chants Meinrad psalm tone sheet 1 Proper Chants and Psalms by Fr. Samuel Webber NEWS ARTICLES WHAT ARE THE PROPERS? The Renaissance of the Mass Propers MUSIC AND THE PRIESTLY LIFE Rebuilding Catholic Culture: Church Music and the Fad of ‘Folk’ Style Oriented Toward Gregorian Chant How the Church Built Western Music By Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. * Gregorian Chant will Save the World National Catholic Register Benedictine Abbot Michael Zielinski was nominated by Pope Benedict XVI Nov. 24 to lead a new office on liturgical arts at the Congregation for Divine Worship. Singing the Mass: We Cannot Say that One Song Is as Good as Another by Susan Benofy Active participation by Mark Langly of the Cleveland Lyceum |
“SING TO THE LORD” USCCB” ________
In 2007 the U.S. Catholic Bishops Issued the guide entitled “Sing to the Lord,”concerning music, reinforcing the continuous and repeated statements of every Pope since Pius X,. The following quotes which are from this document present a renewed vision of how chant relates to the liturgy in our time: Here is an example of a beautiful piece of Church teaching that is completely contradicted by later statements in the document: ACTIVE PARTICIPATION______________ 12. Participation in the Sacred Liturgy must be “internal, in the sense that by it the faithful join their mind to what they pronounce or hear, and cooperate with heavenly grace.” Even when listening to the various prayers and readings of the Liturgy or to the singing of the choir, the assembly continues to participate actively as they “unite themselves interiorly to what the ministers or choir sing, so that by listening to them they may raise their minds to God.” “In a culture which neither favors nor fosters meditative quiet, the art of interior listening is learned only with difficulty. Here we see how the liturgy, though it must always be properly inculturated, must also be counter-cultural.” GREGORIAN CHANT TODAY_________
72. “The Church recognizes Gregorian chant as being specially suited to the Roman Liturgy. Therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services.”68 It then immediately shows us how chant bears its Church's marks, being: One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic. "…Gregorian chant is uniquely the Church’s own (One) music. Chant is a living connection with our forebears in the faith (Apostolic), the traditional music of the Roman rite, a sign of communion (One)with the universal Church, a bond of unity across cultures(Catholic), a means for diverse communities to participate together in song, and a summons to contemplative (Holy )participation in the Liturgy. " |
This renewed vision places Gregorian Chant in a context of being the fulfillment of the call for “full active participation in the liturgy” rather than an obstacle to such participation. Further sections of the document then indicate the specific uses for Gregorian Chant in the liturgy with the assembly:
LATIN____________________________ 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.” 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. 75. 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 Pope John Paul II ________________
said “active participation does not preclude the active passivity of silence, stillness and listening: indeed, it demands it. Worshippers are not passive, for instance, when listening to the readings or the homily, or following the prayers of the celebrant, and the chants and music of the liturgy. These are experiences of silence and stillness, but they are in their own way profoundly active. “The use of the vernacular has certainly opened up the treasures of the liturgy to all who take part, but this does not mean that the Latin language, and especially the chants which are so superbly adapted to the genius of the Roman Rite, should be wholly abandoned. If subconscious experience is ignored in worship, an affective and devotional vacuum is created and the liturgy can become not only too verbal but also too cerebral.” [4] [4] in Ad Limina Address of Pope John Paul II to Bishops of the United States 7- November 1998 |
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What are the "propers?"
The Mass contains several sung antiphons which change from day to day. Like the responsorial psalm, the entrance and communion rites have antiphons too. THese prescribed antiphons are already set to musicin the "Graduales." For years we have overlooked these chants replacing them with hymns and songs. Yet the directives found in the missal regarding music refer to prescribed antiphons in 4 of the five options,and only one allows "something else."[-alius altus aptus, the appropriate hymn] . Here is what the Missal 2011 says: "The Entrance 47. When the people are gathered, and as the Priest enters with the Deacon and ministers, the Entrance Chant begins. Its purpose is to open the celebration, foster the unity of those who have been gathered, introduce their thoughts to the mystery of the liturgical time or festivity, and accompany the procession of the Priest and ministers. 48. This chant is sung alternately by the choir and the people or similarly by a cantor and the people, or entirely by the people, or by the choir alone. In the Dioceses of the United States of America, there are four options for the Entrance Chant: _(1) the antiphon from the Missal or the antiphon with its Psalm from the Graduale Romanum, as set to music there or in another setting; (2) the antiphon and Psalm of the Graduale Simplex for the liturgical time; (3) a chant from another collection of Psalms and antiphons, approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop, including Psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms; (4) another liturgical chant that is suited to the sacred action, the day, or the time of year, similarly approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop. (5)If there is no singing at the Entrance, the antiphon given in the Missal is recited either by the faithful, or by some of them, or by a reader; otherwise, it is recited by the Priest himself, who may even adapt it as an introductory explanation (cf. no. 31). |
What are the "propers?" continued______
by Susan Benofy CatholicCulture.org "Abandoning the traditional music and texts of the Mass was clearly not the intention of the Council, whose Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium (1963), decreed that "the treasury of sacred music is to be preserved and fostered with great care" (SC 114). This principle was further clarified in 1969 by the Consilium (the group of bishops and experts set up by Pope Paul VI to implement the Constitution on the Liturgy), who responded to an inquiry on whether the permission for singing vernacular hymns at a low Mass — given in the instruction De musica sacra et sacra liturgia of September 3, 1958 — was still in effect. (Before the Council the hymns sung at low Mass did not replace the prescribed Mass texts, but were an addition to them, and were considered only an "indirect" form of participation.)" The Consilium's response was very clear That rule (cited above in option 4)[permitting vernacular hymns] has been superseded. What must be sung is the Mass, its Ordinary and Proper, not "something", no matter how consistent, that is imposed on the Mass. Because the liturgical service is one, it has only one countenance, one motif, one voice, the voice of the Church. To continue to replace the texts of the Mass being celebrated with motets that are reverent and devout, yet out of keeping with the Mass of the day amounts to continuing an unacceptable ambiguity: it is to cheat the people. Liturgical song involves not mere melody, but words, text, thought and the sentiments that the poetry and music contain. Thus texts must be those of the Mass, not others, and singing means singing the Mass not just singing during Mass. Oxford dissertation by Fr. Mark Kirby that Bugnini's Consilium itself had been asked a very clear question on the role of propers". http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7939&CFID=95682134&CFTOKEN=82441197 |
“Have you ever seen a fellow fail at the high jump because he had not gone far enough back for his run? That is Modern Thought. It is so confident of where it is going to that it does not know where it comes from.” Chesterton (ILN, July 11, 1914)
"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." — Pope Benedict XVI Sacramentum caritatis
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“Be on your guard lest anyone, eager for revolutionary changes, writes against the use of Latin in the Liturgy.”
“Be on your guard lest anyone, eager for revolutionary changes, writes against the use of Latin in the Liturgy.”
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This is what the Lord says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ Jeremiah 6:16
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ Jeremiah 6:16