Don't overlook the future


Most readers of this site will agree that church musicians need to understand the theory and theological rationale of the chant and music that is proper to the Roman Liturgy. But one group that is often overlooked is the children. Spending time and energy on their education both musically and liturgically is critical to the future face of the Church in America and throughout the world.

Pope Benedict XVI has stressed the importance of the Church’s not bending its will to a society steeped in relativism. Children raised in such a society fail to learn that good and evil are real, are not based solely on one’s perception, and that it is absolute truth that must guide us in our lives.

But Catholic liturgy offers a truth, beauty, and clarity otherwise unknown in today’s relativist surroundings. Its real drama has the unique ability to impart our children with an understanding of what is of real value.

Dietrich von Hildebrand writes:


… In the Liturgy we find embodied in a unique fashion the spirit of true response to value, this awareness that an adequate answer is due to value because it is such as it is. Not in the name of this or that aim, nor in order to improve sanctify ourselves but because “Thou alone art Holy.”

…. To be irradiated and affected by values, to affirm and give oneself up to all things that possess a value, and to be joyous over them – above all to love them – is to be wed to the world of values. Thereby we become transformed: the fullness of personal values blossoms in us. In the adoring love of the God who disclosed Himself in Christ we become like Christ. The life of Christ ontologically implanted in us by Baptism develops personality in us.


Children can participate in the struggles and triumphs as well. When they hear the sound of chant within the context of the Liturgy, even the youngest children understand, almost intuitively, that they are not in an ordinary place, and that mysterious and wonderful things are taking place around them. They will learn over time to take upon themselves the appropriate attitudes of reverence. In time, the reverence will become not a posture, but a part of their understanding of their world. Their character will be formed.

Hildebrand continues:


...The person formed by Liturgy will absorb in his flesh and blood the notion that he owes a suitable response to every value. He will rejoice in every exalted spectacle of nature, the beauty of the starlit sky, the majesty of the sea and mountains, the charm of life, […], the nobility of a profound truth, [and] the mysterious glow of a man’s purity.

(from Liturgy and Personality; Sophia Institute Press, Manchester, New Hampshire, 1993, pp. 59-66)


Elementary and middle school aged children can participate even more actively. Children between the ages of 8 and 12, and even teens, have a remarkable ability to absorb new ideas and attitudes, memorize texts and learn complicated systems of notation.

Why not spend time now teaching them what they need to know about music and its role in Catholic Liturgy. They can also learn practical lessons: how to master their own voices and work with other singers, how to navigate the rigors of the chant, and how, as up and coming church musicians, to approach the gift of the Mass with humility.

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The pontificate of Benedict XVI could be a turning point in the history of Church music, a period when the "examination of conscience" concerning music, called for by John Paul II, begins to yield fruit and truly sacred music again assumes pride of place in Catholic liturgy. The Pope has written eloquently on the topic, and already Papal liturgies are serving as a magnificent example to Catholic musicians around the world.

But are church musicians prepared to participate in a renaissance of chant and polyphony? Do they understand the theological rationale? It is going to require concentrated effort on the part of thousands of people to rediscover the beauty of what is left behind. In addition to prayer and catechesis, what church musicians need more than anything else is practical training in finding their way around the repertoire, navigating the liturgical year, acculturating themselves to the sound and feel of chant, as well reading neumes and the music editions published by Solesmes.

Fortunately, the Church Music Association of America offers the perfect opportunity: The 15^th Summer Music Colloquium: Liturgical Music and the Restoration of the Sacred, under the leadership of Rev. Robert A. Skeris, and featuring a remarkable faculty. It runs from June 21 to 26, 2005, and is held at Catholic University, Washington, DC. Services available to colloquium participants in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception will range from simple sung Mass in Latin and English to morning and evening prayer, from Benediction hymns to a parish high Mass (Missa Cantata) at the Franciscan Monastery of Mt. St. Sepulchre.

The cost, which includes room and board, as well as registration and materials, is $475. Day rates are also available. Find out more details here.

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Pope Benedict XVI on Sacred Music

The St. Cecilia Schola is very pleased to offer a selection of Pope Benedict XVI's writings on Sacred Music. As the papal liturgies have demonstrated thus far, this pontificate is likely to place a strong emphasis on reverence, decorum, and sound theology in liturgy, and work toward fufilling the hope of many generations that the magnficence of chant will again take pride of place in Catholic worship, not just at the Vatican but in every parish. In particulary, the Pope has addressed himself to many issues of ongoing controversy in Catholic music circles, such as: what is the place of popular music at Mass? Can the choir sing a polyphonic Sanctus and Agnus Dei? Does dancing belong at Mass? Does active participation diminish the role of choirs? What is the relationship between singing and instruments? All of these issues are addressed.

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Mass of the Inauguration of Pontificat of Pope Benedict XVI

In addition to that file above in HTML, this PDF in Italian includes the chant.

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The Coat of Arms of Benedict XVI
Cooperatores Veritas (explanation at Inside the Vatican)

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Habemus Papam
Benedictum XVI

Thus reads the headline of the Vatican website, and the Schola could not be more pleased. Aside from his theological contributions, Benedict XVI has written expansively and magnificently on sacred music, and is said to be an accomplished classical pianist. Here is the music from the first Mass of Pope Benedict XVI, April 20, 2005, as blogged by CantemusDomino.

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Gregorian Chant received vast amounts of new public attention due to the coverage of John Paul II's funeral. This article from the Los Angeles Times provides a brief overview of what chant is and its meaning for the Church.

Sacred Music Borne Aloft for Centuries

The prayerful Gregorian chants heard during the rites for John Paul II have marked Christian worship for more than a millennium.
By Chris Pasles, Times Staff Writer (April 9, 2005)

Apart from the tolling of church bells, the sound most associated this week with the death of Pope John Paul II has been the singing of Gregorian chant.

Millions heard it Monday, when the Polish-born pontiff's body was carried from the Apostolic Palace into St. Peter's Basilica, and again Friday throughout the open-air papal requiem Mass on the steps of the church, which began with a Vatican choir chanting in Latin the centuries-old "Grant Him Eternal Rest, O Lord" and closed with a hymn to the Virgin Mary, "Salve Regina."

Tradition has it that this music takes its name from the first Pope Gregory, "Gregory the Great," who presided over the Roman Catholic faithful at the end of the 6th century. But almost everyone hearing it is arrested by its haunting, otherworldly, timeless character.

According to Father John Schiavone, pastor of St. Gregory the Great Church in Whittier, that's because chant occupies a different sound world than most music.

"The music we're used to hearing is written in major or minor keys, with a strong sense of closure or cadence," he said, meaning that melodic lines come to a definite end.

Gregorian chant, by contrast, "is written in different kinds of scales, which don't have those strong cadences. The resolutions are much more subtle, and they leave us feeling a little loose-ended as far as our instincts about where music goes.

"That slight reorientation means that when people hear chant, they feel prayerful, mystical."

That was certainly the original intention.

"You could say Gregorian chant came about as a result of sung prayer or sung Scripture," said Frank Brownstead, director of music at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. "The beginnings of it would have been in resonant buildings where people could not hear speech. That style of singing caught on. It was a way to be heard before amplification."

Although some kind of chant is likely to have been used in church services from the beginning — as in Jewish services before that — what modern listeners recognize as Gregorian chant is generally regarded as a reworking of earlier forms that it supplanted over the course of the 8th to 11th centuries.

There was no established written notation for music, however, so it had to be learned aurally. Various methods of notation began to surface, but none was completely satisfactory. Some specified rhythms but not pitches. Others gave pitch notation but without rhythmic details. It took centuries to develop the modern system.

Tradition also has it that a tug of war developed over simple, direct styles of singing versus elaborate ones that extended syllables over a succession of notes, a practice known as melisma.

Periodic waves of reform attempted to restore simplicity.

"The simpler the chants, the older they are," Schiavone said. "The more ornate ones — the ones that have a lot of melismas — are later."

What most listeners today know as Gregorian chant derives from the Benedictine brothers of a monastery in the northern French town of Solesmes. In the 19th century, these friars went back to the earliest manuscripts they could find to create what they considered the most authentic versions.

No one knows for sure how these versions were sung. Scholars have always dissented from the Solesmes solutions, claiming that the singing was never so simple and never a single kind of thing.

To put an end to the squabbling, in the early 20th century Pope Pius X declared the "restored" Editions of Solesmes the approved Vatican versions of chant to be used by the Catholic Church. Those are what followers of this week's rites have heard. The music has been drawn from the Roman Gradual (Graduale Romanum), an equally official book containing words and music for the Mass.

"In the old days," Brownstead said, "people all over the world learned those chants. Europeans still know a lot of them. In this country we've kind of lost it, in terms of keeping up."

The reason is that during the Second Vatican Council, which ran from 1962 to 1965, the face of Catholicism was reshaped. Among other changes, there was a move away from Latin toward celebrating the liturgies in the languages of worshipers.

"For a while, chant diminished each decade," Brownstead said. "People associated Latin with the 'old church,' and they were interested in moving into the 'new church.' Now it's going in the other direction. I include some Latin chant in some services, and nobody complains."

In fact, ravishment of the ear would not run counter to devotion, according to Schiavone.

"The Catholic liturgy is something that involves all the senses," he said. "Prayer is not just verbal or intellectual, for instance. It is very physical — the placement of the hands, the bowing, the incense, even the exchange of the sign of peace shared at the end of the service. That's the way we express the mystery of the faith."

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Here is a fascinating post from Fr. Tucker on why English speakers sometimes say Holy Spirit and other times say Holy Ghost.

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Regarding the quality of music in many or most Catholic parishes, people often ask: when will the Vatican intervene? Well, art and music was a special interest to John Paul II. The problem is not a lack of intervention but a failure to follow through on what the Pope emphasized throughout his pontificate.

His most recent declaration of 2005 as the Year of the Eucharist included a special invitation to parishes and seminaries to place a greater emphasis on Gregorian chant. His magnificent Chirograph on Sacred Music made it clear that not all music belongs in liturgy but only that which is especially suited in precisely the terms laid out by St. Pius X. His Letter to Artists is a wonderful source of inspiration.

In tribute to John Paul II's guidance in renewing sacred music in parishes, here is the full text of his sermon on Psalm 150 from February 26, 2003, in which he calls for "an examination of conscience so that the beauty of music and song will return increasingly to the liturgy."

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Meditation on Psalm 150

Vatican City, 27/2/2003 - 08:17

1. Psalm 150, which we have just proclaimed, resounds for the second time in the liturgy of lauds: a festive hymn, an alleluia to the rhythm of music. It is the ideal seal to the whole Psalter, the book of praise, of song, of the liturgy of Israel.

The text is one of amazing simplicity and transparency. We must just allow ourselves to be drawn by the insistent call to praise the Lord: "Praise God ... give praise ... give praise!" At the beginning, God is presented in two fundamental aspects of his mystery. Without a doubt, he is transcendent, mysterious, beyond our horizon: His royal abode is the heavenly "sanctuary," his "mighty firmament," an inaccessible fortress to man. And yet, he is near to us: He is present in the "sanctuary" of Zion and acts in history through his "mighty deeds," which reveal and enable one to experience "his exceeding greatness!" (see verses 1-2).

2. Hence, 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. The liturgy unites the two sanctuaries, the earthly temple and the infinite heavens, God and man, time and eternity.

During the prayer we begin a kind of ascent toward the divine light and at the same time we experience a descent of God who adapts himself to our limitation to hear us and speak to us, to meet us and save us. The Psalmist immediately offers us aids for this prayerful meeting: recourse to musical instruments of the orchestra of the temple of Jerusalem, such as the trumpet, harp, lute, strings, pipe and cymbals. Moving in procession was also part of the Jerusalem rite (see Psalm 117[118]:27). The very same appeal echoes in Psalm 46:8: "play masterfully."

3. Hence, it is necessary, to constantly discover and live the beauty of prayer and of the liturgy. One must pray to God not only with theologically precise formulas, but also in a beautiful and dignified way.

In this connection, the Christian community must make an examination of conscience so that the beauty of music and song will return increasingly to the liturgy. It is necessary to purify worship of deformations, of careless forms of expression, of ill-prepared music and texts, which are not very suited to the grandeur of the act being celebrated.

Significant, in this connection, is the appeal of the Letter to the Ephesians to avoid intemperance and vulgarity, to leave room for the purity of liturgical hymns. "And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another [in] psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father" (Ephesians 5:18-20).

4. The Psalmist ends by inviting "everything living" (see Psalm 150: 5), literally "every breath," "everything that breathes," an expression that in Hebrew designates "every being that breathes," especially "every living man" (see Deuteronomy 20:16; Joshua 10:40; 11:11,14). Hence, in divine praise the human creature is involved with his voice and heart. With him are called ideally all living beings, all creatures in which there is a breath of life (see Genesis 7:22), so that they will raise their hymn of gratitude to the Creator for the gift of existence.

St. Francis follows this universal invitation with his thought-provoking "Canticle to Brother Sun," in which he invites to praise and bless the Lord for all creatures, reflection of his beauty and of his goodness (see Franciscan Sources, 263).

5. All the faithful should participate, in a special way, in this song, as the Letter to the Colossians suggests: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God" (3:16).

In this respect, St. Augustine, in his "Commentaries on the Psalms," sees symbolized in the musical instruments the saints who praise God: "You, saints, are the trumpet, the Psalter, the zither, the tympani, the choir, the strings and the organ, and the cymbals of joy that emit beautiful sounds, which play harmoniously. You are all these things. When hearing the Psalm, one must not think of things of little value, of transitory things, or of theatrical instruments." In reality, "every spirit that praises the Lord" is a voice of song to God ("Esposizioni sui Salmi" [Commentaries on the Psalms], IV, Rome, 1977, pp. 934-935).

The highest music, therefore, is the one that arises from our hearts. It is precisely this harmony that God wants to hear in our liturgies.

[Translation by ZENIT]

(At the end of the General Audience, the Holy Father gave this summary in English:)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Psalm 150 is festive hymn, a great "alleluia" sung to the Lord. Every living being is invited to join in the song of praise. All men and women are called upon to sing a hymn of gratitude to the Creator for the gift of their existence.

St. Augustine sees the various musical instruments as symbols representing saints: God's holy people ate the trumpets, the cymbals, the tympani, the strings, the flutes, all the instruments that produce a harmony of beautiful sounds. Every spirit that praises God is a voice raised in song; this is the music that is most pleasing to our Creator.

I extend special greetings to the Marist Brothers taking part in a renewal program in Rome, and to the participants in a Workshop for Pilgrimage Coordinators and Shrine Directors. I also thank the choirs for their praise of God in song. Upon all the English-speaking pilgrims, especially those from England, Ireland, Japan, and the United States of America, I invoke the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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