Liturgical Rites

[admin]

Apart from the first two titles these are all types of texts rather than individual texts.

• Veni Creator Spiritus Come, O Creator Spirit blest
• Litany of Saints
• Song of Farewell
• Acclamation for Baptised
• A Sprinkling Song
• Song of Blessing
• Dismissal for Catechumens

Examples

Litany of Saints
At the end of the preface we join with the saints and angels to sing the praise of God. We are not alone; we celebrate with those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. In the Litany of Saints we are calling for the saints to join us in our prayer. The litany is used at the Easter Vigil, Ordinations and the Dedication of a Church. It would be a good way to begin a celebration of All Saints; it is also recommended for the 1st Sunday of Lent — the saints to join and support our Lenten journey.

On All Saints it would be important to name Saints who have meaning to the parish community: the patronal saint of the parish, local/diocesan saints, saints from the different cultures that make up the parish. There is a structure to the order of saints within the litany which should be respected. New Testament Saints; Martyrs; Doctors of the Church ; Men Saints; Women Saints.

The sung litany is a common musical form but in recent years some composers have written a longer sung response with the saints read over musical accompaniment.

Missal
Geoffrey Steel
James Walsh
Bernadette Farrell

[sidvicius]

There is a logic to the order of saints.....Men Saints; Women Saints.

Why is that logical? Couldn't they just be alphabetical at this point? Would a female martyr be named only after all the male martyrs?

[Martin Foster]

There is a logic to the order of saints.....Men Saints; Women Saints.

Why is that logical? Couldn't they just be alphabetical at this point? Would a female martyr be named only after all the male martyrs?

Perhaps 'structure' would be a better word.

Martin

[contrabordun]

Yes, but (what I imagine to be) the thought behind sid's comment still applies, unless the person who drafted the litany deliberately chose an illogical structure.

The structure we impose on the world around us reveals the way we view it, and without getting at all wound up about the fact that Men Saints precede Women (which one could reasonably do, as there does seem some hierarchy implied by the the ordering of NT Saints, Martyrs, Doctors; Ordinary Joes), one can be curious as to why the distinction is there at all..

[Merseysider]

And perhaps women should be more highly honoured.
After all, they were able to go out doing saintly and heroic things and still get home in time to darn socks and have the tea on. Miraculous.
(Don't start me on our Church's attitude to women – I'll explode!)

[sidvicius]

You see my point. Help - is there a litanist in the house??

[Chrysostom]

Most people don't realise that in fact the Litany of Saints is supposed to run in chronological order of saints. You can see all kinds of howlers in orders of service for ordinations, for example.[/b]

[presbyter]

Does that mean Joachim and Anne come before Mary?

[FrGareth]

I'd like to pick on another of the liturgical rites mentioned - the Acclamation for the Baptised. I presume this means the optional acclamation immediately following baptism, but perhaps we can widen this to a particular group of congregational responses?

As a newly ordained priest (May 2007) I have discovered how weak the congregational response can be to infrequent proclamations, such as the "This is our faith" which follows the question-and-answer form of the creed at an infant baptism or a confirmation. (And don't get me started on threefold Amens after solemn blessings...!)

Perhaps there is an opportunity here, as part of a core repertoire, to develop a unified set of verses, with a common acclamation. The starting point could be the acclamation at the receiving of the bread and the wine before the Eucharistic Prayer - which will ensure it is known for Mass and hence familiar - where the response is "Blessed be God for ever, amen"

Other opportunities for this response would be:

(i) people's response to the question-and-answer form of the Creed (baptisms and confirmations)
(ii) acclamation after baptism
(iii) blessing of oil for the sick during the Rite of Anointing - the form here is "Blessed be God who heals us in Christ" which fits the same rhythm as "Blessed be God for ever, amen"
(iv) As the conclusion of the "Do you find him to be worthy?" dialogue at the ordination of a priest or deacon
(v) reception of the oils on Maundy Thursday http://www.usccb.org/liturgy/holyoils.shtml
(vi) an alternative “suitable acclamation of praise” for Children’s Eucharistic Prayer III.
... have I forgotten any other suitable rites?

My inspiration for this has been Aniceto Nazareth's "Blest are you Lord, God of all creation", familiar to many parishes as a simple preparation-of-the-gifts hymn, but better led by the celebrant as cantor with the people responding in the appropriate way. Most congregations which know it will be able to provide an enthusiastic and emphatic response:

"Blessed be God, Blessed be God, Blessed be God for ever, amen...
Blessed be God, Blessed be God, Blessed be God for ever, amen."

I've experimented, successfully, with adapting the creedal proclamation to the same tune to elicit the same response, with some success, though I am open to tweaks on the exact wording:

Cantor (or celebrant)
We now profess, by the words we've spoken
In Jesus Christ is the truth God's given:
This is our faith. This is our faith. This is the faith of the Church!
ALL
"Blessed be God, Blessed be God, Blessed be God for ever, amen...
Blessed be God, Blessed be God, Blessed be God for ever, amen."

The new GIRM http://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Resources/GIRM/Documents/GIRM.pdf (April 2005 edition for England & Wales) approves the practice of singing during the preparation of the gifts: no. 74 says that singing may always accompany this rite, even when there is no procession, following the norms of no. 48, which prefers a responsorial form to a straight-through setting.

Nazareth's tune will not easily be adapted to the new wording http://www.usccb.org/liturgy/missalformation/OrdoMissaeWhiteBook.pdf

Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you:
fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.
Blessed be God for ever.

Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
for through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you:
fruit of the vine and work of human hands it will become our spiritual drink
Blessed be God for ever.

Nevertheless, perhaps there is an opportunity here to develop a chant in the same style to fit the new Missal text AND other liturgical occasions?

FrGareth

[gwyn]

And don't get me started on threefold Amens after solemn blessings...!

Sing 'em. That'll sort it.

Croeso Tad Gareth.

[FrGareth]

And don't get me started on threefold Amens after solemn blessings...!

Sing 'em. That'll sort it.

I thought so too... until I tried it.

Hopefully repetition will be the mother of confidence.

Pob hwyl, Gwyn.

FrGareth

[Mithras]

The new GIRM http://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Resources/GIRM/Documents/GIRM.pdf (April 2005 edition for England & Wales) approves the practice of singing during the preparation of the gifts: no. 74 says that singing may always accompany this rite, even when there is no procession, following the norms of no. 48, which prefers a responsorial form to a straight-through setting.

FrGareth

I have always thought that though singing is approved during the preparation of the gifts, the priest's offering may be done silently during that, and that if this is so the accompanying song/hymn need not directly refer to the offertory action but may be a commentary on the theme of the Mass. In any event, the priest singing the offertory prayers to the hymn you cite means that he deviates from the text in the Missal albeit slightly, and the congregational response is similarly adjusted.

Over to you Gareth1`

Mithras

[mcb]

The starting point could be the acclamation at the receiving of the bread and the wine before the Eucharistic Prayer - which will ensure it is known for Mass and hence familiar - where the response is "Blessed be God for ever, amen"

The English and Welsh bishops are against this one, at least, the author(s) of the published draft of The Roman Missal: The Order of Mass — A Guide for Composers is/are. It says

It is not recommended that the Missal texts for the preparation of Gifts (Blessed are you...) are set by composers. Any setting should not detract from settings of the Eucharistic Prayer.

I'm curious to know the reasoning behind this opinion.

[Gabriel]

I suspect it may initially be a possible over reaction to the aforementioned piece in 1990s where, for some, it seemed the peak of liturgical sophistication to sing this setting with the instrumental verses accompanying the procession and then the presider singing verses... as often as not the Sanctus would then be said.

There is a question of balance. I personally would have similar reservations about Joncas' 'We come to your feast'. It seems to me it need to be quite a large scale celebration where it would sit comfortably. (The best experience was Summer School a couple of years back - but it was also taken a quite good (fast) speed).

More seriously this is, I think, the only text for the assembly where the Missale Romanum does not provide any music, which I think is significant. I presume this is because the rite presumes that if there is singing these words are not audible and are therefore never sung.

[Southern Comfort]

The starting point could be the acclamation at the receiving of the bread and the wine before the Eucharistic Prayer - which will ensure it is known for Mass and hence familiar - where the response is "Blessed be God for ever, amen"

The English and Welsh bishops are against this one, at least, the author(s) of the published draft of The Roman Missal: The Order of Mass — A Guide for Composers is/are. It says

It is not recommended that the Missal texts for the preparation of Gifts (Blessed are you...) are set by composers. Any setting should not detract from settings of the Eucharistic Prayer.

I'm curious to know the reasoning behind this opinion.

The reason is quite simply this, I think: settings like Aniceto Nazareth's perpetuate the "Offertory" misunderstanding among the people: "Thanks to your goodness this bread/wine we offer". No, we don't. The offering comes later in the Eucharistic Prayer. What we do here is present the gifts, not offer them. You'd have thought that Aniceto, a priest, would have known this, but then again, perhaps not.

If composers were to set the actual words of the Berakah prayers in the current Missal, that might be better ─ "Through your goodness we have this bread/wine to offer" which can imply that we're not actually offering it at this point ─ but probably even this can still mislead congregations who have not been properly formed.

The Guide for Composers decided to take the safe option and discourage setting it altogether. Having said that, the revised Marriage Rite which Rome has yet to approve (if it ever does) contains an acclamation after the exchange of consent which is in Berakah format, starting with "Blessed are you" and ending with "Blessed be God for ever". The Anglicans already have such a text in their rite, which Paul Inwood adapted for a Wedding Acclamation which OCP publishes as an octavo.