Too much chant?

At Southern Orders, Father Alan MacDonald muses about the amount of chant in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. I left a comment there which I reprint below.

The fundamental problem is the 1967 document, Musicam Sacram. This document, in its desire to remove the strictness of the Read, Sung and Solemn Masses, put forward the practice of "progressive solemnity." Sing what you can without regard to the previous structure. It encouraged that the whole Mass be sung but sanctioned that one could sing what one could manage.

The second problem and perhaps the worst of it was the permission to actually substitute the Sung Proper (Introit, Offertory and Communion) with a hymn.

Up to that point (and remember, this was not the manufactured (quoting Pope Emeritus Benedict) liturgy of Paul VI but the slimmed down "tridentine" rite; the Proper had to be said (in a Read Mass) or sung (chanted melismatically or in psalm tone or in polyphony). That wretched document and that one paragraph is where we can point to for the destruction of the chant and the propers.

It also admonished choirs who sang all the Propers without the people. The people have no business singing the Propers, that is the domain of the choir/schola; the people's part was the Ordinary.

Until we get over this idea that the people must sing everything we can never restore these liturgical sung texts.

In the EF Masses which I lead and conduct on a typical Sunday, the people sing the following:

Processional Hymn in English

Sprinkling Rite

Kyrie

Gloria

Credo

Agnus

Sanctus

Marian Antiphon

Recessional Hymn

Until that is revoked and the Propers (said or sung) in the Ordinary Form with the restored Offertory chant (now only permitted if sung) are mandated, we will not see a restoration of the sacred liturgy.

On a further note, it is incumbent upon every layman or laywoman working in the Extraordinary Form to follow the rubrics and norms and to humble themselves to them. If you are not able to man up to that then stop doing it. We don't need the errors of those who destroyed the liturgy in from 1964 to 1967 and then again in 1969 to creep in to the venerable rite. If you can't do the rite, right, then don't do it at all!

http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_instr_19670305_musicam-sacram_en.html

Children Smarter than Canadian Liturgical Experts, in other news, Man bites dog...

For once, I have nothing to say...

The combox is open for the Ontario Liturgical Conference, the National Council of Liturgical Music, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and just plain old dumb Canadian Catholics who find the above tooooooooo haaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd.

Aw, come on; you knew I couldn't really say "nothing!"

The Proper Movement

A number of the posts below refer to liturgical music, after all, it was the primary reason for this blog. Pope Benedict XVI, Blessed John Paul II, Dom Mark Kirby, OSB and links and references to other papal documents can all be found.

I'm a little aggressive about this because I'm frustrated at the wretched Mass settings foisted on over 500 people by the Chancery office in Toronto. It's probably not their fault, at least not directly they were, after all, following the lead of the "high priests of liturgy" at the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In the United States, Father Samuel Weber is undertaking a Propers project in St. Louis, as has Father Columba Kelly. Adam Bartlett at The Chant Cafe and those at the Church Music Association of America are ready to publish The Simple Propers. the Novus Ordo and 21st century answer to what Father Rossini undertook in the 1930's. Sing the Mass!

I'm quite open to saying that on this matter, Vox is ahead of the curve. For six years I've been working on integrating these into the liturgy as they are the primary texts of the Mass and they are intended to be sung. At my current position in Toronto on Saturdays for the Vigil Mass, I began by singing the Communion Antiphon right from the missalette to a Gregorian tone. This is sung as the Priest Communicates. I then added the Entrance before the Processional Hymn (though I would rather do it after if there was incense) and I've now added the Offertory with the Communion Antiphon now including the Psalm Verses. I use The Simple Propers.

To my delight, this was published on line today.

Father John-Mark Missio is a priest of the Archdiocese of Toronto. He is a published composer on CanticaNova and he is former Director of St. Michael's Choir School. He is now at The Liturgical Institute undertaking doctoral studies.

If you are a priest or a deacon or church musician or just care about the liturgy, take the time to read his essay.

Someday, he will return to Toronto.

After the experiences two week ago, it can't be soon enough!

The Proper Chants of the Entrance, Offertory and Communion Processions
Models of Liturgical Hymnody
An Essay Based on Musicam Sacram 32
Reverend John-Mark Missio, B.Math., B.Music, M.Div.
The Liturgical Institute
University of St. Mary of Lake
Mundelein

“The better the liturgy, the better the prayer, the better the Catholic.”

Vox was interviewed by Charlie Lewis. Here is the article which appeared in the National Post on Good Friday.

David Domet, another Toronto choirmaster who has worked with several parishes, said Catholics have been so disconnected from sacred music that they no longer understand the richness of their own tradition.

“Gregorian chant as we have it today is the closest thing we know to what Jesus would have sung and heard himself in the Temple in Jerusalem,” he said.

The appeal of Gregorian chant is undeniable. During a service, it adheres itself to the mass — moving with it hand in hand in perfect harmony.

Mr. Domet said what is truly amazing is that the music was memorized and passed along orally. It was only in the 10th century that a Benedictine monk, Guido d’Arezzo, put the form on paper using a system of square notes — the same notation that is used today.

“It’s the same man who came up with do-re-me-fa-so-la-ti. So the man responsible for writing down Gregorian chant is also inadvertently responsible for ‘Doe A Deer’ from The Sound of Music,” Mr. Domet said.

“The better the liturgy, the better the prayer, the better the Catholic.”

Jubilate Deo: in a "place of beauty"

Yesterday in the calendar for the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite it was the Second Sunday after Epiphany. In the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite it was the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (which does not mean ordinary as in "ordinary" but ordered or numbered time). Perhaps we could find a better way of describing it, after all, Sunday is anything but "ordinary."

The Offertory Antiphon or Proper for both Forms (yes, there is an Offertory Antiphon on the OF or Novus Ordo but the rubrics dictate that it is only sung so it does not appear in the Altar Missal or your paper missalette) is Jubilate Deo. It also comes up again in both Forms a few weeks after Easter or, of Easter, again depending on the EF or OF.

This is a great chant. It is my favourite in all the repertoire and a joy to sing.

I was afraid that after the loss of the FSSP last year and nowhere to hang my pitch pipe in the Extraordinary Form that I would go without singing it.

Alas, the good LORD who provides had other plans and at the same time as the little experiment north of Toronto came to an end after Christmas a new place for my work presented itself where Gregorian chant will have its "pride of place." It's a little longer drive than most people would do and two diocese's away from home 1:40 each way.

So if you asked me how far would I'd travel to sing this, now you know!

St. Joseph's Church-Mississauga to host Chant Workshop

Something wonderful is happening at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Streetsville (Mississauga) the large suburban city just west of Toronto. Before getting to the meat of this article on formation of a Schola and chant workshop with the renowned Father Samuel Weber, OSB, take a look at these two photos of the sanctuary. It is amazing what a little colour and stencil can do to soften the harshness of modern church design and to focus the eyes to the source and summit of our faith and life, the Eucharistic Presence and the Holy Mass.


Here is the Altar before the renovation.
d
St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Streetsville, (Mississauga) has announced a Chant workshop.

Fr. Samuel Weber, OSB will be hosting a workshop on Gregorian Chant on November 5th and 6th at St Joseph's Church in Mississauga. On November 5th, the agenda will focus on introducing Chant music to a choral ensemble or parish. The evening will cater to music directors and those with a choral background. Saturday's workshop will focus on an introduction to Chant and ways to incorporate Chant into our liturgies and Eucharistic celebrations. Father Weber is the Director of the Institute of Sacred Music for the Archdiocese of Saint Louis in Missouri, USA. The institute was begun by the former Archbishop of St. Louis His Grace, Raymond Burke and now Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura.

Father Weber work has been featured on many blogs and web sites including the New Liturgical Movement, The Chant Cafe, MusicaSacra and many more.

St. Joseph's Church is forming a Gregorian Schola and has posted this on their web page:

In 1963, as they ordered a “general restoration of the liturgy itself,” the bishops of the Second Vatican Council acknowledged one musical repertoire as “specially suited to the Roman Liturgy”: Gregorian Chant. There, they said, in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, “other things being equal, chant should have pride of place in liturgical services” (SC 116).

Gregorian Chant has a lot going for it: it gives primacy to the human voice in worship; it sets texts that are, for the most part, drawn from Scripture; it is music designed to accompany ritual action; it unites us to the worship carried out by generations of our ancestors; it is music that has only been used to worship God. We use the Gregorian chant because it fits the ritual well. But at other times, the ritual itself will suggest the use of other music.

Liturgy has always been affected by local cultures, and it draws on the unique strength of those cultures - as well as on the treasure of music inherited from previous generations. What we know as Gregorian Chant, in fact, is the product of many cultures: It is similar, in some respects, to chants of the synagogue, to ancient Greek Chant and hymnody, to some early music of the Eastern Church, and to secular and religious music of the Frankish Kingdom.

Chant is meant to serve the liturgy and the text. We are invited to rediscover this treasure of music and to be invited to meditate and pray with Sacred Scripture as it is set to music. Here at St. Joseph we have two opportunities to rediscover this important part of our Tradition. On November 5th and 6th we will be hosting Fr. Samuel Weber, OSB who will lead a workshop on Chant. He is renowned for his work of translating and adapting Chant for use in English.

We are also creating a Schola - a group of people- who are interested in learning and singing Chant. Under the Direction of Ana Maria Nunes they will meet on Wednesday evenings starting on October 6th 2010.

As an editorial comment: While it is wonderful to have Father Samuel Weber, OSB here, where is our own St. Michael's Choir School which pre-dates the St. Louis school by 70 years? Where is the liturgical leadership at the Choir School and Archdiocese of Toronto? Why is our Chancery office not mandating this wonderful initiative at St. Joseph's by all parishes in Toronto?

Why they are singing Gregorian chant

A priest in the Archdiocese of Vancouver, Father Lawrence Donnelly has a new blog; A Son of St. Philip.

In a recent post, Father Donnelly publishes a letter which he wrote to his parishioners, "Why We Are Singing Gregorian Chant" wherein he articulates clearly the mind of the Church and the desires of the Popes and the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council. This letter is with reference to the celebration there at St. Jude's Parish and Shrine, primarily for the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. One Sunday Mass is in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite integrated fully into the life of the parish and two are in the Ordinary Form in English with Gregorian chant with Solemn Vespers every Sunday afternoon:

"My motive for having you all learn to sing the chant is part of my priestly fidelity to lead you more deeply into the mind of the Church on sacred music and ultimately to enter into the true spirit of the Mass, which the chant, in its beauty, movement and text is geared to do. Admittedly it is a challenge for us all, but once we have a familiarity with this great treasure of the Church, we will find consolation and spiritual benefit."

It really is that easy.

Just do it!

The Restoration of Catholic Quebec

Shawn Tribe at the New Liturgical Movement has a post up about the second parish in Quebec to be provided to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

The church is Saint-Zéphirin-de-Stadacona and the first Mass will be on New Years Day.

God bless the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

Now that's two in Quebec and two in Ontario...wait, Ontario needs to be ahead in this...

On Sacred Music

Leaving the polemical combox behind, let us focus on something more sublime with my emphasis, courtesy of ZENIT:

SACRED MUSIC THAT SERVES THE WORD OF GOD

Father Samuel Weber on Sacred Music Institute

By Annamarie Adkins

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, JULY 4, 2008 (Zenit.org). Parish music directors -- and congregations -- in the Archdiocese of St. Louis soon will benefit from Archbishop Raymond Burke’s recent initiative: The Institute for Sacred Music.

Archbishop Burke, who has since been named to head the Apostolic Signature, the Church's supreme court, appointed Benedictine Father Samuel Weber as the first director of the new institute earlier this year.

Father Weber is a professor in the divinity school of Wake Forest University in North Carolina and also a monk of the St. Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana.

Q: Why did Archbishop Burke found the Institute for Sacred Music? What is its mission?

Father Weber: As Archbishop Burke explained, he established the institute to help him to cultivate more fully sacred music in the celebration of the complete Roman Rite.

The Institute will have many activities. First, it will form programs of sacred music, especially Gregorian chant, for parish musicians, musicians of other archdiocesan institutions and interested individuals.

Second, it will assist parishes with the singing of the Mass in English, for example, the entrance antiphon, the responsorial psalm and the Communion antiphon. Third, it hopes to foster the singing the Liturgy of the Hours.

A fourth activity of the institute is assisting parishes that wish to develop a "schola cantorum" for singing Gregorian chant; a fifth goal is aiding the full implementation of the English translation of the Roman Missal in the archdiocese.

Lastly, the institute aims to give particular assistance to the programs of sacred music at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis and at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary.

Q: Is there a difference between sacred music and religious music?

Father Weber: Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, we can make a distinction.

Sacred music, properly speaking, is music that is united to a sacred text -- especially psalms and other scriptural texts and texts of the Mass, such as the Introit, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, etc., and it includes certain traditional hymns that are -- or have been -- part of the official liturgical books.

The authority of the Church must confirm all the liturgical texts; these sacred words are not to be altered in setting them to music.

All sacred music is “religious music,” obviously. But religious music would encompass everything from classic hymns to contemporary songs with a religious theme in a wide variety of styles and varying quality. Not all religious music is suitable for sacred worship, certainly.

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of competent authority -- i.e., the bishop or the Holy See -- to determine the suitability of all religious music for sacred worship, even though parish musicians will usually choose the music for a parish Mass and other liturgical celebrations.

All Church musicians need to be able to make truly informed choices about appropriate music for use in the liturgy, based on authentic Church teaching. This is not always easy, nor is the choice simply a matter of taste.

Q: Many complain about popular or secular forms of music creeping into the liturgy, but this has been a perennial problem for the Church. What causes this recurring problem, and how have the great renaissances in sacred music such as those fostered by Palestrina and Pope St. Pius X turned the tide?

Father Weber: Yes, you could say that the concern about secular -- or frankly anti-Christian -- musical styles supplanting sacred music in worship is perennial -- though it may manifest itself differently in different cultures and historical periods.

For example, in early centuries, all music other than chanting was strictly forbidden by Church authorities, because use of musical instruments had strongly pagan associations.

In the 19th century, the style of opera had so greatly influenced Church music that Pope St. Pius X warned strongly against this “profane” music, and forbade composing music imitating operatic styles. He initiated the 20th Century Liturgical Movement by his 1903 document, “Tra le Sollecitudini.”

In particular he encouraged Gregorian chant, which he said in the third paragraph of the document, “has always been regarded as the supreme model for sacred music,” thus “it is fully legitimate to lay down the following rule: The more closely a composition for Church approaches in its movement, inspiration and savor the Gregorian form, the more sacred and liturgical it becomes; and the more out of harmony it is with that supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple.”

It was Pope Pius X, also, who coined the phrase “active participation” of the people. And he also said in paragraph five of the document that “modern music is also admitted to the Church, since it, too, furnishes compositions of such excellence, sobriety and gravity, that they are in no way unworthy of the liturgical functions.”

After the Second Vatican Council it was the pop and folk style music of the late 1960s and 1970s that dominated newly composed music for worship -- Catholic and Protestant. Despite the Constitution on the Liturgy’s emphasis on the “pride of place” for Gregorian chant in the liturgy, the council’s teaching was ignored, and chant virtually disappeared.

The reasons for this are many and complex. But one major element was plain confusion and misunderstanding. The liturgical reform following the Council was astoundingly rapid, and serious upheavals in the secular world of those times also affected the anti-authoritarian mood within the Church.

This was played out dramatically in the liturgy. Changes were made precipitously with too little consultation with the bishops.

During the papacy of Pope John Paul II, we began to see a sober reassessment of the post-conciliar liturgical changes, culminating in his last encyclical, “Ecclesia de Eucharistia.”

The present “renaissance” in liturgical music we are now seeing is in large part due to Pope Benedict XVI and his many scholarly works on the subject even before he became pope.

The historic heritage of sacred music, then, always serves as an indispensable teacher and model of what best serves the celebration of sacred worship, and leads worshipers to greater holiness.

Q: Why did the Second Vatican Council state that Gregorian chant should be given "pride of place" in the Church's liturgy?

Father Weber: The Second Vatican Council's constitution on the liturgy, "Sacrosanctum Concilium," as well as numerous statements of the Popes and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal [GIRM], teach us that Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony -- that is, sacred music sung in harmony -- such as compositions of Palestrina, are to enjoy "pride of place" in sacred worship.

This means that chant is not only to be in common use in the liturgy, but it is also to provide examples and inspirations for new compositions.

The reason for this is to assure a genuine organic development in the sacred music Catholics experience in worship -- in continuity with the Church's history, and transcending limitations of time and cultures.

Understanding and appreciating this universality in Catholic music for worship might be seen as one facet of the obedience of faith.

We need to remember, of course, that the Council teaches under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God is telling us both how he wants to be worshiped, and what best serves the religious needs of those gathered for sacred rites.

Before all else, worship is about God. It is the duty of the creature to know, love and serve the Creator, and to render to God the service of prayer, praise and thanksgiving that is his due.

Worship is about us, the creatures, only insofar as we desire with all our hearts to serve God as he tells us he wants to be served.

Historically, Gregorian chant is in direct, organic development with ancient cantilation -- chanting -- patterns of the psalms in temple and synagogue. This was the background and experience of the first Christians. So our chanting today is in direct relationship with theirs.

One can see, then, that when we sing the chant, we are truly "in connection" with our fathers and mothers in the faith.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph heard and sang many of these patterns of sacred chant in synagogue and temple worship. The apostles, the martyrs, the great saints whose witness continues to inspire us today, were all nourished on these traditions of sacred chanting.

Even the saints and blesseds of our own day -- Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, St. Pio of Pietrelcina, St. Gianna Beretta Molla, for example -- all sang, heard and knew the chant and the traditions of sacred music inspired by the chant.

They were formed in this "school of sacred music" that is the chant, and, to borrow a phrase from St. Athanasius, the "gymnasium of spiritual exercises" that is the Psalter -- the Psalms of David.

I think, too, of my grandparents and parents, so many beloved family members, teachers and friends, who have gone before us "marked with the sign of faith."

How they loved the sacred chants, and passed them on to me with piety, devotion and reverence. What an opportunity to participate in the Communion of Saints. What could be richer or more spiritually satisfying?

Gregorian chant serves the word of God. It has no other purpose than to draw us to the sacred text, especially the Psalms, and to enable us to treasure God's word ever more deeply in our hearts.

It is entirely free of anything that is contrary to the faith, free of purely human agendas or experiences that lead us away from God's will and plan for us. To use the language of our computer age: The chant is "safe and secure." No viruses can enter.

Q: Benedict XVI has given a number of speeches discussing the importance of preserving the Church's heritage of sacred music, and a number of documents have been issued by the Holy See calling the universal Church back to that grand tradition, yet little seems to have changed on the ground. Why is there resistance to what should be seen as a form of Vatican II's concept of "ressourcement," that is, return to the sources?

Father Weber: Perhaps it is not so much resistance as a lack of communication and ineffective teaching that stalled things.

Pope Benedict is tireless in his teaching -- even before he became Pope -- for example, "A New Song for the Lord." An accomplished musician himself, he fully understands the power of music on the human heart, thus the central role of music in the liturgy.

Clearly, part of our task is to help "get the word out." I think we can already see many positive results of the recent actions of the Holy See concerning the liturgy.

For one thing, there is a growing interest among Catholic people in reviving their immensely rich heritage of music and art, and a real desire for greater beauty, reverence and solemnity in worship.

But when there is actual resistance? In the end, I believe that this comes down to the perpetual struggle between good and evil. God is constantly giving us all the grace we need to know, love and serve him.

But we are tempted by the devil, and suffer under the effects of original sin, so we sometimes make choices that, sadly, draw us away from God our Creator, and even extinguish the fire of love in our hearts.

It is the duty of all the pastors -- that God in his love has given us -- to call people back to that which will bring us true peace and blessedness. With great wisdom, over the centuries the popes, the Councils, have understood the importance of sacred music, art, architecture and ritual in the spiritual formation of the human person.

As a result, they have never ceased to teach us about the care that must be exercised in cultivating all sacred arts that serve divine worship.

Now it is our job to receive this teaching and implement it in our lives for our spiritual good.

Q: The book "Why Catholics Can't Sing" highlighted the abysmal state of congregational singing present in most American parishes. Why do you think parishes will be able to handle Gregorian chant? Isn't that harder to sing?

Father Weber: The author, Thomas Day, suggested -- among other things -- that people don't sing because the music they often encounter at Mass is not really worth the effort. Silence is one response to music that is inappropriate -- whether from the standpoint of aesthetics or theology.

Another factor is the disappearance of choirs from parishes, since choirs can effectively lead and encourage congregational singing.

It's encouraging to know that many people who are discovering chant for the first time are so strongly attracted by its beauty and solemnity that they want to become a part of its revival.

Speaking from experience, I would agree that Gregorian chant may require a greater discipline, more attention and sacrifice of time and energy in order to "make it happen" in our parishes.

But difficulty is not a real impediment.

In our American society we greatly value sports. I'm a Green Bay Packers fan myself, rabid, actually. I'm really grateful to the Packers for all the hours they spend in practice and preparation for their games. All the sacrifices they make. It's worth it.

The payoff is really something awesome. We, the fans, would settle for no less. Doesn't this same expectation apply to the things of God? It really isn't that hard to understand, is it?

St. Augustine taught the people of Hippo: "Cantare amantis est." Singing is characteristic of a lover. If the supreme love is, as we believe, between Christ, the Bridegroom, and the Church, his Bride -- can any effort be spared to express this love in true beauty? Is any sacrifice too much?

We don't have to guess at the song. This tremendous Lover of ours tells us the song that he wants to hear from our lips and our hearts.

This is our Catholic faith. What more need be said? Let us begin!

More Discovery of Gregorian Chant and a little something on Donnie and Marie

In the appropriately named town of Bethlehem in Connecticut the Abbey of Regina Laudis can be found. These are Benedictine Nuns following the Divine Office as prescribed by St. Benedict. The Office begins at about 2:00 A.M. with the nuns rising to sing the Office of Matins. Yes, that is AM! Going back to bed, they rise early to sing Lauds followed between their daily chores by Prime, Terce, Sext and None. At some time in late afternoon before supper there would follow Vespers and then just a few hours later before bed, Compline.

In its compromise to the modern world, the Church’s Liturgical “periti” renamed and restructured the Divine Office in the early 1970’s as the “Liturgy of the Hours.” This much reduced form of the Divine Office includes the Morning Prayer (Lauds), Evening Prayer (Vespers) and Night Prayer (Compline).

In yesterday’s Hartford Courant, writer William Weir discovers the nuns and their office and the Divine sounds of the chant. More and more we can see the secular world taking notice of this beautiful tradition, in no small way due to the election of Benedict XVI. Prior to his election as Pope, Cardinal Ratzinger’s views on liturgy, polyphony and chant were well known. At some point very soon the Pope must respond to last years’ Synod on the Holy Eucharist. The report from the Commission was received by the Holy Father in June. Presumably, he has been using part of his time at Castel Gondalfo to ponder his response.

Whether by accident or design (and in these matters, there are no coincidences) a convergence of issues all related to the liturgy is near.

The Vox Clara Commission must soon complete its work on the ICEL translation of the Roman Missal for the English speaking world. A translation more literal from the Latin original and poetic will be the result.

While Bishop Fellay of the SSPX has said just recently that there has been no action on the reunification of the Society and that it may take “years,” Benedict has made church unity a major goal of his pontificate. Where else to start than with traditional Catholics?

Can we hope that the “Reform of the Reform” so often talked and written about is not that far away?

The Nuns of Regina Laudis know something about Gregorian Chant and its relationship to prayer, contemplation and worship. Now the readers of the Hartford Courant know, we can only hope (and pray) that soon the Catholic in the pew will find out what these Benedictines never forgot.

Gregorian chant signals return to tradition
By William Weir Hartford Courant

BETHLEHEM, Conn. – On a recent Monday at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Connecticut, about 35 nuns gather in a dim chapel to chant, as they do every day at noon. Making their way through Psalm 118, the nuns sit or stand; some face different directions, while others bow steeply. Throughout, their voices remain in unison.

Pope Benedict XVI would approve. After a concert of 16th- and 17th-century music recently, the pope said he would prefer to hear Gregorian chant and other traditional types of music play more of a role during Mass. That’s good news for the cloistered nuns at the Bethlehem abbey, which is known around the world for its devotion to Gregorian chant and is one of the few places where it is sung with such frequency and intensity. The nuns sing seven times a day; some interrupt their sleep to chant at 2 in the morning.

But the pope’s comments also raise certain questions: What is sacred music supposed to sound like? And what’s wrong with new music in church?

It’s a debate that has raged since 1963, when Vatican II reforms brought contemporary music to Catholic churches. Just as the Latin Mass almost immediately disappeared amid attempts to modernize, chants gave way to guitars and snappy folk tunes. The new music helped fill pews, but it left church conservatives and formally trained musicians reeling. How could the church that brought about Gregorian chant, polyphony and musical notation – all profound influences on Western music – be the same one leading sing-alongs of “Love Is Colored Like a Rainbow” and songs from hit musicals?

What, bemoaned the purists, had the folkies wrought?

Going to church, critics say, should not sound like shopping at the mall or driving your car. They charge that “liturgical pop” is spiritually bereft and demands nothing from the churchgoer. It’s friendly, pleasant and easy, they say. They mean that in a bad way. Understanding God is hard work, the argument goes, and similarly, music in church should challenge us. A sermon that says only what people want to hear would lack moral authority. The same goes for music.

“There’s a sense of mystery and religious atmosphere that seems to be lost in the new days,” says Scott Turkington, the choirmaster at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Stamford. “The fact is that the older music is better. Ask any serious musician, and he’ll agree with that.”

The chants sung at Regina Laudis are more than 1,000 years old. But Sister Elizabeth Evans says “old” doesn’t mean “irrelevant.”

Sister Elizabeth, 46, was a corporate securities attorney and law professor before she came to the abbey in 1997. Each of the nuns is assigned certain responsibilities; hers are music and dairy. Sitting in a small room behind a wooden screen (which symbolically separates the nun’s world from the visitor’s, although there’s enough space to shake hands), Sister Elizabeth remembers stumbling onto the sound of chant when she was 14. To her, it was anything but off-putting. She played it for her friends, who were equally taken. “And I mean, these were 14-year-old gum-chewing delinquents like myself,” she says.

To the untrained ear, the unaccompanied chant named after Pope Gregory the Great can sound emotionally muted, droning at times and otherworldly. That it’s sung in Latin doesn’t help.
But to Sister Elizabeth, it sounds more recognizably human than any other music, down to earth and in tune to the rhythms of life. It’s based on the Scriptures, after all, which are filled with human foibles.

She says chant is like blues legend Muddy Waters – a comparison that conjures the improbable image of nuns chanting “Baby, Please Don’t Go.” She explains that both have a certain earthiness and deal with the nitty-gritty of life.

What they chant depends on the time of the day (the morning lauds, for instance, often celebrate beginnings and creations; at noon, they chant the sext, which deals a lot with chasing down noonday demons). Subjects also change along with the seasons. Lately, they’ve sung about taking in harvests, filling storage houses and other day-to-day concerns.

So if chant is like Muddy Waters, what’s contemporary Christian music?

“Donny and Marie,” Sister Elizabeth says, laughing.

© 2006 Journal Gazette and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.http://www.fortwayne.com

Gregorian Chant in Parish Life

Sacerdos July-August 2005

Gregorian Chant in Parish Life
By Arlene Oost-Zinner and Jeffrey Tucker

Many observers expect the pontificate of Benedict XVI to promote excellence in sacred music. Doing so would be in continuity with John Paul II's homily of February 26, 2003, in which he reminded the world that music can assist in salvation.

Between heaven and earth a sort of channel of communication is established in which the action of the Lord and the song of praise of the faithful meet. And truly, we live in times that cry out for sacred spaces, places to preserve us from trouble where we might find songs that point our senses toward eternity.

The tradition of Latin chant in the Roman Rite, provides songs that meet that need for all ages, classes, races, and not just in our times but in all times. The chant, of late, has been revived in recordings and, to some extent, in popular culture. It remains largely unheard at parish liturgy where it most belongs. Yet the chant can again become familiar to nearly every Mass-going Catholic.

Chant is Catholic Music

Authoritative documents of the Church convey an unmistakable message concerning music at Mass: Gregorian chant holds pride of place in the Roman Rite.

It is the cantus firmus of the liturgical life of a Catholic. This is the message of the new General Instruction on the Roman Missal, which restates the message of Sacrosanctum Concilium (1963): "Gregorian chant holds pride of place because it is proper to the Roman Liturgy. Other types of sacred music, in particular polyphony, are in no way excluded, provided that they correspond to the spirit of the liturgical action and that they foster the participation of all the faithful."

This is also the message of Voluntatis Obsequens, the pastoral letter than was published in 1974 along with a book of chants, called Jubilate Deo. Pope Paul VI wanted these chants to serve as the minimal repertoire throughout the world: "Those who are trying to improve the quality of congregational singing cannot refuse to Gregorian chant the place which is due to it."

Again, we find the same emphasis in John Paul II's 2003 Chirograph on the Centenary of Pius X's Moto Proprio on Sacred Music: "Among the musical expressions that correspond best with the qualities demanded by the notion of sacred music, especially liturgical music, Gregorian chant has a special place." He adds that the chant is an element of unity in the Roman liturgy.

The Practical Fears

Does it really have a place in suburban parishes that have no prior experience with chant?
Perhaps it belongs only in Cathedrals or at Masses at the Vatican. Surely it can only serve to alienate people. This is the view of many pastors who lack experience with the chant, worry about pushing something new on their congregations, wonder whether the chant is outmoded in our time, and have doubts about the pastoral benefits offered by the difficult process of initiating a change in the parish music program.

Yet the Second Vatican Council restated a teaching that dates from the earliest statements by Popes and theologians on the place of music in worship. The musical tradition of the church is inestimable in value not only because it consists of beautiful compositions. Its pre-eminence subsists in this reality: as sacred melody united to words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn Liturgy.

Sacred music, said Sacrosanctum Concilium, is to be considered the more holy in proportion as it is more closely connected with the liturgical action. This is why the Council also became the first in the history of the faith to specifically name Gregorian chant and polyphony as having pride of place in the rite. There thus needs to be no bitter feud about contemporary versus traditional music at Mass. The chant tradition exists not as a time-bound statement about musical fashion but rather as timeless melodic means of community prayer. Since its foreshadowing in the Jewish tradition and its codification in the 5th and 6th centuries, it has existed alongside two other forms of music: religious music used outside of liturgy and purely profane music of both popular and serious styles. Chant encourages reverence, prayer, and an awareness of the transcendent purpose of liturgical action. Chant catechizes and serves an evangelistic purpose.

There is no group of parishioners for whom chant will not have an appeal, provide it is presented properly.

Where to Begin

Jubilite Deo was distributed 30 years ago by Pope Paul VI in response to trends that contradicted the original aim of the Council. The booklet remains an excellent basis for starting a parish on the proper path of integrating chant into its liturgy.

The settings are well chosen and can be learned by anyone. This booklet was distributed with the explicit call for this to be the basis of parish song so as to make it easier for Christians to achieve unity and spiritual harmony with their brothers and with the living tradition of the past. Hence it is that those who are trying to improve the quality of congregational singing cannot refuse Gregorian chant the place which is due it.

A next step after Jubilate is the Liber Cantualis, a wonderful book of essential chants from Solesmes for every parish. This includes 8 eight settings of the Mass, 40 popular chant hymns and psalms, four sequences, and other selections that can serve as the foundation for all Masses in any parish. These are the songs sung by the people.

The Gregorian Missal, also from Solesmes, is available in English, French, Italian, and Spanish. It includes Mass settings and propers that correspond with the Sundays and Feast Days. It follows the Graduale in assigning to Masses the Introits, Offertorio, Communio, Psalms, and other antiphons and includes many chants that had fallen into obscurity. In the readings, Latin is one side and the vernacular on the other. All propers are translated. The great merit of this book is that it fully seals the understanding that there is no strict separation between the text and the music in liturgy. They are wedded to each other in the whole history of the church.
With the revival of chant, many new publications offer selections, and this newfound popularity is all to the good. Some are particularly appealing because they are written in modern notation, which permits people who already read music to make a quick transition to the chant repertoire. And yet, the Solesmes books use medieval square notes for good reason: this notation is more authoritative, easier to sing in the long run, and causes the music to take more of a liturgical shape.

Introducing Chant

An overnight, wholesale reversal of decades of popular music would be both unfeasible and unwise. The melodies that have shaped people's liturgical sensibilities over the decades are also an integral part of people's lives. For this reason, progress should be counted in years, not weeks or months. Some favorite hymns of the parish, even the modern ones, will take on a more prayerful sense when sung without instruments. Reducing the music at Mass to the human voice alone will encourage more singing and provide for a more aesthetically appealing integration of the text of the liturgy with its sung prayer.

The choir should lead. Their voices should flow through the congregation, ideally from the rear or the balcony, so that the music created by the human voice becomes part of the liturgical action. Another aid in introducing chant would be to introduce a very simple Kyrie, intoned by the celebrant or cantor and answered by the people. A similarly simple vernacular Gloria can follow (our parish favors the effective and easy setting Kurt Poterack, found in the Adoremus Hymnal).

Parts of the Mass that previously had music might employ the use of sacred silence, a point urged by Pope John Paul II. If these steps are taken over a period of months and people come to appreciate the new solemnity, the introduction of chant hymns such as Ave Maria, Ubi Caritas, Jesu Dulcis, will go far more smoothly.

Once the ground is prepared, the quiet solemnity of chant will take root and grow, persuading people of its merit by the hearing and doing.

Actual Participation

Of course voices can be hired, if the money is there, but there are serious dangers associated with this approach, insofar as people do not see or hear people from the parish doing the singing.
The best approach is for the pastor to talk to people from the parish who might be willing to undertake a weekly practice in the chant. They need not come from existing choirs. It need only be two to five singers at the start. With the aid of recordings and practice, they can learn three or four chants in the course of a month or two. In time, more ambitious singers can receive formal instruction or use self-study materials on CD that are ever more available. The propers sung in Gregorian chant are the most difficult to learn. A lay group attempting them week-to-week can expect to spend an hour or two on each chant, at least at the outset. Enthusiasm, vigor, and beauty is what will draw people back to sacred music, whereas a dirge-like and duty-bound routine can only inspire a backlash.

Recordings can aid in gaining a sense of the style, none better than those done by the Solesmes Abbey. At this pace, it is remarkable what can be accomplished in two to four years. In time, the parish schola could be singing full communios and introits, and using motets by Vitoria and Palestrina for offertory.

Children and Chant

The children of the parish should not be neglected or overlooked. They can learn the chant alongside adult members of the parish; they might even prove to be the most enthusiastic for the chant.

In addition, a person in a position to organize a children's chant choir should do so. This can make a great impression on the parish community. To hear children sing at Mass is to remove the intimidation factor from the chant (if the children can do it, surely the adults can, too) and poignantly demonstrates that the Latin chant is not only about the past but about the future.

Examination of Conscience before Change

Pope John Paul II called for renewed interest in truly sacred music.

But in his general audience of February 6, 2003, he cautioned that this renewing conversion must begin on the level of the individual soul. "The Christian community must make an examination of conscience so that the beauty of music and song will return increasingly to the liturgy."

This is a call for humility above all else. The motivation must be love of liturgy and its source, love of sung prayer and its purpose, and a genuine desire to hear the people of God united in one voice in praise and thanksgiving. The Vatican and the Pope have been thoroughly consistent on the question of music but genuine change cannot be dictated from above. It must begin in the parish community.

It must come from the people and their pastors so that it can really take root in the life of Catholics again.

Arlene Oost-Zinner and Jeffrey Tucker are, respectively, president and director of the St. Cecilia Schola Cantorum in Auburn, Alabama.
contact@ceciliaschola.org