Liturgical Music:
The Ideal, The Innovation, The Future

(cont.)

C) The FUTURE

The future lies not with the extremists on either side of the liturgical spectrum — not with those who disdain Vatican II and see the Mass of Paul VI as a perversion, and not with those who disdain Latin and see no place for it in Roman Rite liturgy. No, it's the faithful moderates who are now leading the liturgical "renewal of the renewal." Moderates, because they steer a middle course between the extremes; faithful because they look to the Church for guidance. "What would the Church want of us?"

What are some specifics of this "middle course" (the via media)?

1. Can the choir (or schola) sing a Gregorian chant Introit to begin Mass?
   Yes, as long there are competent singers.
    
2. Can the people sing hymns?
   Yes, of course. They can sing many hymns, strong hymns, reflective hymns, American hymns, lively hymns, as long as they don't see hymn singing as ubiquitously mandatory.
    
3. Can the people sing an Introit?
   Yes, with great appropriateness. An English Introit text sung to a simple formula, alternating with psalm verses sung by a cantor or choir — my, that's exactly what the Rite calls for!
    
4. Can we do all of these?
   Absolutely — at different times, at different Masses, by different groups, all these Entrance Rites should be used. The via media would never stick to just one.
    
5. Do we have to sing Latin?
   Actually — yes. We don't need to sing Latin all the time, but we (the people, not just the choir) must know the Latin text and chant music for our parts of the Mass:

   a. Kyrie [in Greek, really]

   b. Gloria

   c. Credo

   d. Sanctus / Benedictus

   e. Pater noster [Our Father]

   f. Agnus Dei

    
6. What's that Mass called the "Extraordinary Form"? Isn't that just for mal-content extremists?
   No, Pope Benedict, in July 2007, issued a document that removed any barriers from the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass of 1962, what he called the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. There are now two forms of the Roman Rite Mass, each equally valid, licit and commendable.
    
7. If the Extraordinary Form is always in Latin, can't people that like Latin just go there? Why do we need any Latin in an Ordinary Form Mass?
   To be technically correct, there are two forms of the Mass, the Ordinary Form [or Mass of Paul VI 1970] and the Extraordinary Form [or Mass of Bl. John XXIII 1962 or Traditional Latin Mass]. The "official" version of each of these Masses is in Latin. The EF must be celebrated in Latin [that's the way the Missale Romanum 1962 is structured] and the OF may be celebrated in Latin [that's the way you hear it from the Vatican at big Masses, like Christmas Midnight Mass and during the Easter Triduum]. In fact, any priest in any parish anywhere in the world can celebrate an OF Mass in Latin. The OF may also be celebrated in the vernacular, for example in English or in Spanish, as we usually do. There is no reason not to use some Latin during an OF Mass, particularly given the mandate that we the people need to know our part in Latin.
    
8. Shouldn't we be singing modern music — American music?
   Yes. As long as the style of the music is sacred we have a duty to support newly-written church music. The documents encourage the use of legitimate contemporary music. This can never be used exclusively — how then would we "preserve the treasury of sacred music" from past eras, or learn the chant that we need to know? But we do need to use fresh, modern music that flows from the traditions of our Faith. In fact, at Saint James Church there are several composers and a Catholic publishing company within our parish borders — music from these and other contemporary sources winds up on our Liturgy Sheets quite often.
    
9. Can the schola alone sing a Latin chant Gradual as the Responsorial Psalm?
   Let's look at this from three perspectives. 1) The liturgical judgment says, absolutely yes. The GIRM reads, "In the Dioceses of the United States of America, instead of the psalm assigned in the Lectionary, there may be sung the Gradual from the Graduale Romanum" [#61]. 2) The musical judgment says, absolutely yes. "The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services" [SC-VII116]. And now 3) the pastoral judgment — is this "pastorally" good for the people? One can argue that it indeed is good, given the overwhelming innate "goodness" within the liturgical and musical judgments — the people should hear this patrimony of the Church and be edified by its appropriate beauty. The argument that this should not happen on a regular basis has immense validity, too, since the GIRM has a preference for the psalm from the Lectionary, which directly amplifies the First Reading. If 99.8% of the parish Masses use a Responsorial Psalm from the Lectionary, though, it's hard to argue that a schola singing a Latin Gradual once a year is pastorally insensitive.
    
10. How can we make decisions about the appropriateness of music for liturgy?
    That's a tough question; someone with experience and ecclesiological and theological training is best equipped to answer. The logic runs like this. Remember the Ideal that we discussed at length? The farther a "musical choice" strays from the ideal, the less appropriate it is for liturgy. If we spend too much time too far away from the ideal, we risk separating ourselves from the Universal Church, liturgically speaking. The last thing we want is to create some sort of "American Catholic Church."
     
11. How many Mass settings "should" we know as a congregation?
    That's up to the musical/liturgical staff. The documents offer no specifics here, other than saying that at least one of these settings must be in Latin. It's our policy at Saint James to use a different set of Mass responses for each liturgical season: Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. This not only ties the season together musically, but also gives us melodies that will "speak" the season to us. The simple Latin chant Mass will mean: Lent. The festive Renaissance Alleluia says: Eastertide! Since Ordinary Time comes in big chunks (apart for the short spell after Christmas and before Lent), we break that into smaller spans, singing two Mass settings during the three months of summer, and two others during the three months of autumn. That gives us nine different Mass settings, a good number that allows for variety and seasonal specificity, without being more than we can comfortably know.
     
12. Can we sing at Communion time, while walking in procession (without a worship aid) and still have time for personal reflections and prayer?
    Yes. The rubrics expect music to cover the entire Communion procession — and we do form a procession as we walk to Communion. A choir or schola could sing the Communion Antiphon or another piece. The cantor could start an Antiphon/Psalm selection with the congregation. The organ could offer something at the beginning of Communion, to allow people to receive and return to their pews (and Liturgy Sheets) for the text. One very effective option is to use a consistent antiphon for several weeks, one that the congregation can easily memorize. Then, walking or waiting, all can participate in a Communion chant.
     
13. Can we have an organ recessional at the end of Mass?
    Yes, there's nothing in any document that requires (or even mentions) a "Sending Forth" Song.

Pope Benedict XVI is a prime example of the "faithful moderate." He writes:

In the course of the Synod, there was frequent insistence on the need to avoid any antithesis between the ars celebrandi, the art of proper celebration, and the full, active and fruitful participation of all the faithful. The primary way to foster the participation of the People of God in the sacred rite is the proper celebration of the rite itself. The ars celebrandi is the best way to ensure their actuosa participatio. The ars celebrandi is the fruit of faithful adherence to the liturgical norms in all their richness; indeed, for two thousand years this way of celebrating has sustained the faith life of all believers, called to take part in the celebration as the People of God, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (cf. 1 Pet 2:4-5, 9) [SC-Ben 38].

More on actuoso participation:

The Second Vatican Council rightly emphasized the active, full and fruitful participation of the entire People of God in the Eucharistic celebration. Certainly, the renewal carried out in these past decades has made considerable progress towards fulfilling the wishes of the Council Fathers. Yet we must not overlook the fact that some misunderstanding has occasionally arisen concerning the precise meaning of this participation. It should be made clear that the word "participation" does not refer to mere external activity during the celebration. In fact, the active participation called for by the Council must be understood in more substantial terms, on the basis of a greater awareness of the mystery being celebrated and its relationship to daily life. The conciliar Constitution Sacrosanctum concilium encouraged the faithful to take part in the Eucharistic liturgy not "as strangers or silent spectators," but as participants "in the sacred action, conscious of what they are doing, actively and devoutly." This exhortation has lost none of its force [SC-Ben 52].

He demonstrates Respect for Liturgical Books and the Richness of Signs:

Emphasizing the importance of the ars celebrandi also leads to an appreciation of the value of the liturgical norms. The ars celebrandi should foster a sense of the sacred and the use of outward signs which help to cultivate this sense, such as, for example, the harmony of the rite, the liturgical vestments, the furnishings and the sacred space. The Eucharistic celebration is enhanced when priests and liturgical leaders are committed to making known the current liturgical texts and norms, making available the great riches found in the General Instruction on the Roman Missal and the Order of Readings for Mass. Perhaps we take it for granted that our ecclesial communities already know and appreciate these resources, but this is not always the case. These texts contain riches which have preserved and expressed the faith and experience of the People of God over its two-thousand-year history. Equally important for a correct ars celebrandi is an attentiveness to the various kinds of language that the liturgy employs: words and music, gestures and silence, movement, the liturgical colors of the vestments. By its very nature the liturgy operates on different levels of communication which enable it to engage the whole human person. The simplicity of its gestures and the sobriety of its orderly sequence of signs communicate and inspire more than any contrived and inappropriate additions. Attentiveness and fidelity to the specific structure of the rite express both a recognition of the nature of Eucharist as a gift and, on the part of the minister, a docile openness to receiving this ineffable gift [SC-Ben 40].

Specifically on Liturgical Song he writes:

In the ars celebrandi, liturgical song has a pre-eminent place. 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." 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. 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. 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 as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy [SC-Ben 42].

The future, which is in our hands, holds immense potential for liturgical growth and development. Liturgy is never static — it constantly progresses, never rupturing with the past and always aimed toward the future.

Ten Things I'm Hoping to See

1. A Church of "faithful moderates," where everyone looks to the documents for guidance, putting Church norms above personal opinion.
2. A mutual enrichment of the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Mass; even a possible "merger."
3. A calendar that eliminates the grossly misunderstood term, "Ordinary Time." We used to say "Sundays after Epiphany" and "Sundays after Pentecost." Most liturgical Protestant denominations still do. We lost ecumenical ground with the newly-corrected English translation of the Liturgy; Protestants still use what was common to all of us for decades. Without losing anything of our "Catholicity" we could share at least some nomenclature of the liturgical calendar.
4. Catholic churches building pipe organs again.
5. New church buildings that look like churches — Amen … this is already happening in a big way!
6. More acceptance of Latin Gregorian chant as our true musical roots. It's hard to argue with factual history!
7. Good seminary training: liturgically (let's teach both forms, OF & EF) and musically (let's teach and use the reality of the documents).
8. Proper respect for Propers! We need to embrace singing the Mass and not just singing at Mass.
9. An informed laity that loves its musical traditions and relishes its rightful place in liturgical worship.
10. Reasonable people as leaders of liturgy and music. People who are not only tolerant, but informed and articulate about the place of liturgy and music in the Church.

A.M.D.G.
Gary D. Penkala
Pastoral Associate for Liturgy and Music
Church of Saint James the Greater
Charles Town WV