We are very fortunate here at St Catherine's to have the talents of gifted and dedicated musician to lift the standard of the liturgy up towards something approaching what we believe the Church asks us to aspire to. That is to say, not just the "hymn sandwich" and with some awareness that church music has a little longer and richer history than the last 50 years. Not to mention the Church's ACTUAL directives on music in church, pointing us to chant, latin, the use of the organ and the summoning up of an atmosphere of silence and reverence during the liturgy.
Thus at the main (OF) Sunday Mass with music...
We enter to the Introit chanted in Latin.
The Psalm is often chanted responsorially with the congregation.
Kyrie / Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus are always a setting of one of the traditional chants set by the Church.
Offertory and Communion chants in Latin from the Missal.
Very often the Pater noster and following is sung.
And yes, we have two or three suitable, seasonal hymns.
And no, Mass isn't very long to fit all that in, because there are no accretions to the liturgy which are not mentioned in the Missal - such as the sending out of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion or the receiving of extraordinary gifts by reams of children at the Offertory, or the gathering of "little church" processions, nor the insertion of "extra" homilies by Father at eh start or end of Mass (or anywhere else).
This week saw the 50th anniversary of the Instruction Musicam Sacram (promulgated March 5, 1967). To mark this occasion, a Declaration “CANTATE DOMINO CANTICUM NOVUM”, was signed by over 200 musicians, pastors, and scholars from around the world, has been published in six languages (English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German). This declaration argues for the continued relevance and importance of traditional sacred music and critiques the numerous serious deviations from it that have plagued the Catholic Church for the past half-century.
I've placed the whole text below and it makes some excellent points.
Vatican Radio also reports this week that Pope Francis received the participants in a major international conference on sacred music, a half-century after the promulgation of the Conciliar document, Musicam sacram.
Over 400 people taking part in the gathering organised by the Congregation for Catholic Education and the Pontifical Council for Culture around the theme: "Music and the Church: cult and culture fifty years after Musicam sacram", met in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace to hear the Holy Father.
Notable are Pope Francis’ remarks of perhaps, unintended consequences of poor implementation of Vatican II:
“Certainly,” said Pope Francis, “the encounter with modernity and the introduction of [vernacular] tongues into the Liturgy stirred up many problems: of musical languages, forms and genres.”
The Holy father went on to say, “Sometimes a certain mediocrity, superficiality and banality have prevailed, to the detriment of the beauty and intensity of liturgical celebrations.”
Myriad reasons contribute to our culture of mediocrity in the liturgy: an acceptance of superficial comfort food as status quo. As such, Pope Francis goes on to urge renewal of our traditions with an emphasis on “quality”.
The Pope encouraged the various actors in the field of liturgical music – from composers, conductors, musicians and choristers, to liturgical animators – to do their best to contribute to the renewal of sacred music and liturgical chant, especially as far as the quality of sacred music is concerned.
He goes on further to emphasize the urgent need for musical education especially in seminaries:
“To facilitate this process,” Pope Francis said, “we need to promote proper musical education, especially for those who are preparing to become priests – in dialogue with the musical trends of our time, with the demands of the different cultural areas, and with an ecumenical attitude.”
God deserves our best. God’s people deserve our best! Pope Francis is calling for music education and for a greater attention to quality.
St Cecilia, pray for us.
“CANTATE DOMINO CANTICUM NOVUM”
A Statement
on the Current Situation of Sacred Music
We, the undersigned—musicians, pastors, teachers, scholars, and lovers of sacred music—humbly offer
to the Catholic community around the world this statement, expressing our great love for the Church’s
treasury of sacred music and our deep concerns about its current plight.
Introduction
Cantate Domino canticum novum, cantate Domino omnis terra (Psalm 96): this singing to God’s glory
has resonated for the whole history of Christianity, from the very beginning to the present day. Sacred
Scripture and Sacred Tradition alike bear witness to a great love for the beauty and power of music in the
worship of Almighty God. The treasury of sacred music has always been cherished in the Catholic
Church by her saints, theologians, popes, and laypeople.
Such love and practice of music is witnessed to throughout Christian literature and in the many
documents that the Popes have devoted to sacred music, from John XXII’s Docta Sanctorum Patrum
(1324) and Benedict XIV’s Annus Qui (1749) down to Saint Pius X’s Motu Proprio Tra le Sollecitudini
(1903), Pius XII’s Musicae Sacrae Disciplina (1955), Saint John Paul II’s Chirograph on Sacred Music
(2003), and so on. This vast amount of documentation impels us to take with utter seriousness the
importance and the role of music in the liturgy. This importance is related to the deep connection between
the liturgy and its music, a connection that goes two ways: a good liturgy allows for splendid music, but a
low standard of liturgical music also tremendously affects the liturgy. Nor can the ecumenical importance
of music be forgotten, when we know that other Christian traditions—such as Anglicans, Lutherans, and
the Eastern Orthodox—have high esteem for the importance and dignity of sacred music, as witnessed by
their own jealously-guarded “treasuries.”
We are observing an important milestone, the fiftieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Instruction
on Music in the Liturgy, Musicam Sacram, on March 5, 1967, under the pontificate of Blessed Paul VI.
Re-reading the document today, we cannot avoid thinking of the via dolorosa of sacred music in the
decades following Sacrosanctum Concilium. Indeed, what was happening in some factions of the Church
at that time (1967) was not at all in line with Sacrosantum Concilium or with Musicam Sacram. Certain
ideas that were never present in the Council’s documents were forced into practice, sometimes with a lack
of vigilance from clergy and ecclesiastical hierarchy. In some countries the treasury of sacred music that
the Council asked to be preserved was not only not preserved, but even opposed. And this quite against
the Council, which clearly stated:
The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than
that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as sacred song united to the
words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy. Holy Scripture, indeed, has
bestowed praise upon sacred song, and the same may be said of the fathers of the Church and of
the Roman pontiffs who in recent times, led by St. Pius X, have explained more precisely the
ministerial function supplied by sacred music in the service of the Lord. Therefore sacred music
is to be considered the more holy in proportion as it is more closely connected with the liturgical
action, whether it adds delight to prayer, fosters unity of minds, or confers greater solemnity upon
2
the sacred rites. But the Church approves of all forms of true art having the needed qualities, and
admits them into divine worship. (SC 112)
The Current Situation.
In light of the mind of the Church so frequently expressed, we cannot avoid being concerned about the
current situation of sacred music, which is nothing short of desperate, with abuses in the area of sacred
music now almost the norm rather than the exception. We shall summarize here some of the elements that
contribute to the present deplorable situation of sacred music and of the liturgy.
1. There has been a loss of understanding of the “musical shape of the liturgy,” that is, that music is an
inherent part of the very essence of liturgy as public, formal, solemn worship of God. We are not merely
to sing at Mass, but to sing the Mass. Hence, as Musicam Sacram itself reminded us, the priest’s parts
should be chanted to the tones given in the Missal, with the people making the responses; the singing of
the Ordinary of the Mass in Gregorian chant or music inspired by it should be encouraged; and the
Propers of the Mass, too, should be given the pride of place that befits their historical prominence, their
liturgical function, and their theological depth. Similar points apply to the singing of the Divine Office. It
is an exhibition of the vice of “liturgical sloth” to refuse to sing the liturgy, to use “utility music” rather
than sacred music, to refuse to educate oneself or others about the Church’s tradition and wishes, and to
put little or no effort and resources into the building up of a sacred music program.
2. This loss of liturgical and theological understanding goes hand-in-hand with an embrace of secularism.
The secularism of popular musical styles has contributed to a desacralization of the liturgy, while the
secularism of profit-based commercialism has reinforced the imposition of mediocre collections of music
upon parishes. It has encouraged an anthropocentrism in the liturgy that undermines its very nature. In
vast sectors of the Church nowadays there is an incorrect relationship with culture, which can be seen as a
“web of connections.” With the actual situation of our liturgical music (and of the liturgy itself, because
the two are intertwined), we have broken this web of connection with our past and tried to connect with a
future that has no meaning without its past. Today, the Church is not actively using her cultural riches to
evangelize, but is mostly used by a prevalent secular culture, born in opposition to Christianity, which
destabilizes the sense of adoration that is at the heart of the Christian faith.
Pope Francis, in his homily for the feast of Corpus Christi on June 4, 2015, has spoken of “the Church’s
amazement at this reality [of the Most Holy Eucharist]. . . An astonishment which always feeds
contemplation, adoration, and memory.” In many of our Churches around the world, where is this sense
of contemplation, this adoration, this astonishment for the mystery of the Eucharist? It is lost because we
are living a sort of spiritual Alzheimer’s, a disease that is taking our spiritual, theological, artistic, musical
and cultural memories away from us. It has been said that we need to bring the culture of every people
into the liturgy. This may be right if correctly understood, but not in the sense that the liturgy (and the
music) becomes the place where we have to exalt a secular culture. It is the place where the culture, every
culture, is brought to another level and purified.
3. There are groups in the Church that push for a “renewal” that does not reflect Church teaching but
rather serves their own agenda, worldview, and interests. These groups have members in key leadership
positions from which they put into practice their plans, their idea of culture, and the way we have to deal
with contemporary issues. In some countries powerful lobbies have contributed to the de facto
replacement of liturgical repertoires faithful to the directives of Vatican II with low-quality repertoires.
Thus, we end up with repertoires of new liturgical music of very low standards as regards both the text
3
and the music. This is understandable when we reflect that nothing of lasting worth can come from a lack
of training and expertise, especially when people neglect the wise precepts of Church tradition:
On these grounds Gregorian Chant has always been regarded as the supreme model for sacred
music, so that 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. (St. Pius X, Motu Proprio Tra le Sollecitudini)
Today this “supreme model” is often discarded, if not despised. The entire Magisterium of the Church has
reminded us of the importance of adhering to this important model, not as way of limiting creativity but
as a foundation on which inspiration can flourish. If we desire that people look for Jesus, we need to
prepare the house with the best that the Church can offer. We will not invite people to our house, the
Church, to give them a by-product of music and art, when they can find a much better pop music style
outside the Church. Liturgy is a limen, a threshold that allows us to step from our daily existence to the
worship of the angels: Et ídeo cum Angelis et Archángelis, cum Thronis et Dominatiónibus, cumque omni
milítia cæléstis exércitus, hymnum glóriæ tuæ cánimus, sine fine dicéntes...
4. This disdain for Gregorian chant and traditional repertoires is one sign of a much bigger problem, that
of disdain for Tradition. Sacrosanctum Concilium teaches that the musical and artistic heritage of the
Church should be respected and cherished, because it is the embodiment of centuries of worship and
prayer, and an expression of the highest peak of human creativity and spirituality. There was a time when
the Church did not run after the latest fashion, but was the maker and arbiter of culture. The lack of
commitment to tradition has put the Church and her liturgy on an uncertain and meandering path. The
attempted separation of the teaching of Vatican II from previous Church teachings is a dead end, and the
only way forward is the hermeneutic of continuity endorsed by Pope Benedict XVI. Recovering the unity,
integrity, and harmony of Catholic teaching is the condition for restoring both the liturgy and its music to
a noble condition. As Pope Francis taught us in his first encyclical: “Self-knowledge is only possible
when we share in a greater memory” (Lumen Fidei 38).
5. Another cause of the decadence of sacred music is clericalism, the abuse of clerical position and status.
Clergy who are often poorly educated in the great tradition of sacred music continue to make decisions
about personnel and policies that contravene the authentic spirit of the liturgy and the renewal of sacred
music repeatedly called for in our times. Often they contradict Vatican II teachings in the name of a
supposed “spirit of the Council.” Moreover, especially in countries of ancient Christian heritage, members
of the clergy have access to positions that are not available to laity, when there are lay musicians fully
capable of offering an equal or superior professional service to the Church.
6. We also see the problem of inadequate (at times, unjust) remuneration of lay musicians. The
importance of sacred music in the Catholic liturgy requires that at least some members of the Church in
every place be well-educated, well-equipped, and dedicated to serve the People of God in this capacity. Is
it not true that we should give to God our best? No one would be surprised or disturbed knowing that
doctors need a salary to survive, no one would accept medical treatment from untrained volunteers;
priests have their salaries, because they cannot live if they do not eat, and if they do not eat, they will not
be able to prepare themselves in theological sciences or to say the Mass with dignity. If we pay florists and cooks who help at parishes, why does it seem so strange that those performing musical activities for
the Church would have a right to fair compensation?
Positive Proposals.
It may seem that what we have said is pessimistic, but we maintain the hope that there is a way out of this
winter. The following proposals are offered in spiritu humilitatis, with the intention of restoring the
dignity of the liturgy and of its music in the Church.
1. As musicians, pastors, scholars, and Catholics who love Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony, so
frequently praised and recommended by the Magisterium, we ask for a re-affirmation of this heritage
alongside modern sacred compositions in Latin or vernacular languages that take their inspiration from
this great tradition; and we ask for concrete steps to promote it everywhere, in every church across the
globe, so that all Catholics can sing the praises of God with one voice, one mind and heart, one common
culture that transcends all their differences. We also ask for a re-affirmation of the unique importance of
the pipe organ for the sacred liturgy, because of its singular capacity to elevate hearts to the Lord and its
perfect suitability for supporting the singing of choirs and congregations.
2. It is necessary that the education to good taste in music and liturgy start with children. Often educators
without musical training believe that children cannot appreciate the beauty of true art. This is far from the
truth. Using a pedagogy that will help them approach the beauty of the liturgy, children will be formed in
a way that will fortify their strength, because they will be offered nourishing spiritual bread and not the
apparently tasty but unhealthy food of industrial origin (as when “Masses for children” feature popinspired
music). We notice through personal experience that when children are exposed to these
repertoires they come to appreciate them and develop a deeper connection with the Church.
3. If children are to appreciate the beauty of music and art, if they are to understand the importance of the
liturgy as fons et culmen of the life of the Church, we must have a strong laity who will follow the
Magisterium. We need to give space to well-trained laity in areas that have to do with art and with music.
To be able to serve as a competent liturgical musician or educator requires years of study. This
“professional” status must be recognized, respected, and promoted in practical ways. In connection with
this point, we sincerely hope that the Church will continue to work against obvious and subtle forms of
clericalism, so that laity can make their full contribution in areas where ordination is not a requirement.
4. Higher standards for musical repertoire and skill should be insisted on for cathedrals and basilicas.
Bishops in every diocese should hire at least a professional music director and/or an organist who would
follow clear directions on how to foster excellent liturgical music in that cathedral or basilica and who
would offer a shining example of combining works of the great tradition with appropriate new
compositions. We think that a sound principle for this is contained in Sacrosanctum Concilium 23: “There
must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them; and care
must be taken that any new forms adopted should in some way grow organically from forms already
existing” (SC 23).
5. We suggest that in every basilica and cathedral there be the encouragement of a weekly Mass
celebrated in Latin (in either Form of the Roman Rite) so as to maintain the link we have with our
liturgical, cultural, artistic, and theological heritage. The fact that many young people today are rediscovering the beauty of Latin in the liturgy is surely a sign of the times, and prompts us to bury the
battles of the past and seek a more “catholic” approach that draws upon all the centuries of Catholic
worship. With the easy availability of books, booklets, and online resources, it will not be difficult to
facilitate the active participation of those who wish to attend liturgies in Latin. Moreover, each parish
should be encouraged to have one fully-sung Mass each Sunday.
6. Liturgical and musical training of clergy should be a priority for the Bishops. Clergy have a
responsibility to learn and practice their liturgical melodies, since, according to Musicam Sacram and
other documents, they should be able to chant the prayers of the liturgy, not merely say the words. In
seminaries and at the university, they should come to be familiar with and appreciate the great tradition of
sacred music in the Church, in harmony with the Magisterium, and following the sound principle of
Matthew 13:52: “Every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a
household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”
7. In the past, Catholic publishers played a great role in spreading good examples of sacred music, old and
new. Today, the same publishers, even if they belong to dioceses or religious institutions, often spread
music that is not right for the liturgy, following only commercial considerations. Many faithful Catholics
think that what mainstream publishers offer is in line with the doctrine of the Catholic Church regarding
liturgy and music, when it is frequently not so. Catholic publishers should have as their first aim that of
educating the faithful in the sane Catholic doctrine and good liturgical practices, not that of making
money.
8. The formation of liturgists is also fundamental. Just as musicians need to understand the essentials of
liturgical history and theology, so too must liturgists be educated in Gregorian chant, polyphony, and the
entire musical tradition of the Church, so that they may discern between what is good and what is bad.
Conclusion.
Pope Francis, in his encyclical Lumen Fidei, has reminded us of the way faith binds together past and
future:
As a response to a word which preceded it, Abraham’s faith would always be an act of
remembrance. Yet this remembrance is not fixed on past events but, as the memory of a promise,
it becomes capable of opening up the future, shedding light on the path to be taken. We see how
faith, as remembrance of the future, memoria futuri, is thus closely bound up with hope. (LF 9)
This remembrance, this memory, this treasure that is our Catholic tradition is not something of the past
alone. It is still a vital force in the present, and will always be a gift of beauty to future generations. “Sing
praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy,
O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Is 12:5–6).
