Gregorian Chant:

Back to Basics in the Roman Rite (Part 2)

III

So how does the Church bring Gregorian chant back into her liturgies? How do we re-Catholicize two generations of clergy and laity influenced by secular music that has become part of their spiritual fabric? It is a monumental task for any organization to change its culture and value systems. The changes in the 1960s and 1970s occurred with such velocity that in many cases little or no thought was given to the implications of the liturgical adjustments. It was an era in which musical and liturgical aberrations would find fertile ground in the formation of future priests and bishops.

Today, many of our clergy, liturgists, and musicians are ignorant of the Church's teachings, directives, and even her sacred traditions. Cultural and other external influences have had a devastating effect on the liturgies and music of the Church. Pope John Paul II has urgently appealed that the liturgical norms for the celebration of the Eucharist be observed with great fidelity (Ecclesia de Eucharistia Chapter 5). The author is not advocating a return to an all-Latin Mass — that would be regressing — but rather a back-to-basics approach focusing on improving the liturgies and music in the Church.

Given the desire of so many to hear Gregorian chant, perhaps now is the time for its gradual re-introduction into the liturgies. Obviously, pastoral judgment governs the use and function of every element of liturgical celebration. If one were to take into account the various teachings and directives of the Church with respect to the use of chant, sacred music, and Latin, it is possible to suggest a formula (a baseline) that would further enable the liturgical reforms hoped for in the Second Vatican Council:

• Conserve and gradually restore sacred chant and polyphony as recommended in the Holy See's documents on sacred music (Vatican II's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy and also the General Instruction on the Roman Missal), so that the faithful may once again take a more active part in the sacred mysteries;
   
• Restore chant to the parts of the Ordinary of the Mass (i.e. the Kyrie, the Credo, the Sanctus, and the Agnus Dei), because it has always been looked upon as the supreme model of church music and reflective of the universal nature of the Church;
   
• Re-introduce sacred music and liturgical pedagogy in Catholic seminaries and other religious institutions in accordance with the directives from the Holy See;
   
• Restore use of the Kyriale, Graduale Romanum, Psalter, and the Liber cantualis (simple chants can easily be used by the congregation);
   
• Restore sung Vespers in our principal churches, such as cathedrals or basilicas, as directed in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No.100, and in accordance with the General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours;
   
• Provide a means for clergy, musicians, and liturgists (via workshops, correspondance courses, etc.) to be properly trained in sacred music, liturgy (Redemptionis Sacramentum), tradition, and the Roman Rite;
   
• Standardize the music of the Order of the Mass to "maintain the universal dimension of the Roman Rite among the people." "And to take steps so that the faithful may also be able to say or sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them" (Sacrosanctum concilium, No.54);

Liturgy and music in the Catholic Church are in need of reform. However, for the reform to be successful, it must begin with the clergy and, most especially, during seminary formation. The clergy, liturgists, and musicians have a special obligation to follow the Roman Rite and at the same time uphold the standards of quality and sacred tradition. Music used for sacred rites must have sanctity as its point of reference and should be devoid of any political agenda.

The Church with its special obligations toward sacred chant, that splendid music of the medieval Church, must manifest them whenever the occasion is presented. Chant is from the beyond — it is not of this world, because it allows us to transcend our thoughts in prayer and speak to God. Chant is a form of sacred art that stems from the pure spiritual, theological, and biblical inspiration that emanates from the heart.

Gregorian chant never left the Church — we left it. Fortunately, many of these sublime pieces are once again being sung during the Liturgy of the Hours and at Mass.

Sacred chant seems to have been misplaced. But we can distinguish the sacred from the unacceptable and, with proper disposition, return Gregorian chant to its proper place in the liturgies of the Church.

Copyright © 2005, The American Guild of Organists.
Reprinted by permission of The American Organist Magazine.

John C. Piunno is a freelance writer living in Washington DC.