Music in the Mass

One of the targets of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan was to encourage the singing of the Mass, especially on Sundays. However, a question which is often asked is what do we mean exactly when we talk about a ’sung Mass’? This is a question I’ve been asked to respond to.

The liturgical commission of the diocese of Brisbane recently noted that, ‘When congregational singing became part of liturgical celebrations after Vatican II, there was a tendency to fall prey to the ‘4-hymn syndrome’. Whereas the General Instruction on the Roman Missal says that, ‘In choosing the parts to be sung, preference should be given to those to be sung by the priest with the congregation responding…’ (#19). Therefore, it is the acclamations and responses which should be given priority in our musical repertoires.

In practice, what does this mean? It means that for Mass to be a ’sung Mass’ we should be singing in praise of God in the Gloria, in welcoming the Gospel in the Gospel Acclamation, in joining in the angels’ song of praise in the Holy holy, in proclaiming our faith in the Memorial Acclamation and in our Amen to the Eucharistic Prayer. This means that we, as Catholics, gather together to sing THE Mass, rather than sing AT Mass. We don’t just sing in order to get us from one part of the Mass to another – we sing those very parts of the Mass. The second Vatican Council called for full and active participation on the part of all those who are gathered together for the Mass. Therefore, the music used for these parts of the Mass shouldn’t be over complicated. We should be lifting our heads and voices in song, not burying them in leaflets and books!

The Graduale gives chants for the Entrance, Offertory and Communion – but as Musicam Sacram points out (#32), there is a legitimate custom which substitutes these with hymns or songs – a custom we are well used to in England and Wales, and which is well utilised. There is nothing like a good rousing hymn to lift our spirits! But many of our parishes are blessed with good organists and choirs who can also contribute to the beauty of the Mass by playing and singing during these parts of the Mass. This doesn’t, though, make us merely spectators. Musicam Sacram states that our conscious and active participation has two dimensions – it must be, ‘… above all internal, in the sense that by it the faithful join their mind to what they pronounce or hear … [and] external also, that is, such as to show the internal participation by gestures and bodily attitudes, by the acclamations, responses and singing’ (#15). In this spirit, then, the text goes on to say that, ‘The faithful should also be taught to unite themselves interiorly to what the ministers or choir sing, so that by listening to them they may raise their minds to God’.

Before becoming a priest, I was the organist and choirmaster in my parish and was very careful to emphasise the prayerful aspect to the role of musician at Mass. We are all, priests, altar servers, welcomers, readers, singers, congregation, joined together in one act of prayer and praise. Before we sing, I pray with the Diocesan Choir, and include the words, ‘May we believe in our hearts what we sing with our lips and may what we sing with our lips glorify God’s holy name’. May this be true for all of us, up and down the diocese.

‘Address … one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart’ (Ephesians 5:19).

Fr Stephen Maughan