Before anybody leaps into action, please note that there is a question at the end of this post and not a pronouncement.
Was reading the overview of the season in the liturgy planner, and thinking of some advice I heard recently from a noted liturgist - particularly thinking about the passage in the overview which says that the Gathering hymn doesn't have to be tied to the theme/content of the Gospel. Now I know that that's perfectly correct in the light of the rubrics concerning the same - however I wonder if it's completely in accord with the mind of the Council Fathers.
One of the stated aims of Sacrosanctum Concilium was that the liturgical reform should 'unlock the treasures of sacred scripture' and the Entrance/Communion Antiphons are - usually - from scripture. Does that not suggest that, where possible, we should use a hymn which addresses the same text?
Don't get me wrong, I don't often do that (have been putting our first Mass of term to bed and am cheerfully replacing "Let us celebrate with joyful hearts the birth of the Virgin Mary, of whom was born the sun of justice, Christ our Lord" with "Sing it in the Valleys (Boy-oh)" on the grounds that Sing it in the Valleys will draw our students into the celebration and will encourage their active participation during the rest of the Mass) - but should we not at least have it in mind that Antiphons and Alleluia verses are there for a reason?
Antiphons and Hymns
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presbyter
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Reginald, I'm not quite sure what you are asking (but I probably need a cup of coffee).
121............The texts intended to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine; indeed they should be drawn chiefly from holy scripture and from liturgical sources
That's the Constitution's instruction to Composers.
The Entrance Antiphons for Sundays of Ordinary Time (and repeated on the ferial Weekdays of Ordinary Time) follow a one year cycle (Graduale) and any close thematic connection with the three-year Lectionary cycle is coincidental. Taking a Sunday at Random -
27th Sunday of the Year
Entrance antiphon - "theme" - Lord of creation, Lord of all.
Gospel - Year A - Parable of the tenants of the vineyard
Year B - Instruction on Marriage
Year C - Faith - Parable of the duty of the servant
Would the Antiphon (and an accompanying Psalm) be appropriate to sing on each of these Sundays? Of course it would and so would a strophic hymn text based upon it. As the Constitution states, the best texts are scriptural (and if not literally so, based upon) and as for 'liturgical sources', they are often scriptural too or Patristic texts based on scripture. Thus the treasury of sacred scripture is indeed unlocked.
But I think we have to remember that although the Sunday Lectionary in Ordinary Time uses the Old Testament typologically with reference to the Gospel, that principle neither applies to the Second Reading nor the Entrance Antiphon.
If your question is "Is it a good thing to sing the Entrance Antiphon (and Psalm) because it is scriptural or based on scripture?" - yes.
If your question is "Is it a good thing to sing the Entrance Antiphon (and Psalm) because it always has a particular resonance with a Gospel 'theme'?" - no. That particular resonance is not there in Ordinary Time.
But there is a clash between GIRM and its instructions on our songs and the following section of Dies Domini, which mentions singing.
40. In considering the Sunday Eucharist more than thirty years after the Council, we need to assess how well the word of God is being proclaimed and how effectively the People of God have grown in knowledge and love of Sacred Scripture.(65) There are two aspects of this ? that of celebration and that of personal appropriation ? and they are very closely related. At the level of celebration, the fact that the Council made it possible to proclaim the word of God in the language of the community taking part in the celebration must awaken a new sense of responsibility towards the word, allowing "the distinctive character of the sacred text" to shine forth "even in the mode of reading or singing".(66) At the level of personal appropriation, the hearing of the word of God proclaimed must be well prepared in the souls of the faithful by an apt knowledge of Scripture and, where pastorally possible, by special initiatives designed to deepen understanding of the biblical readings, particularly those used on Sundays and holy days. If Christian individuals and families are not regularly drawing new life from the reading of the sacred text in a spirit of prayer and docility to the Church's interpretation,(67) then it is difficult for the liturgical proclamation of the word of God alone to produce the fruit we might expect. This is the value of initiatives in parish communities which bring together during the week those who take part in the Eucharist ? priest, ministers and faithful(68) ? in order to prepare the Sunday liturgy, reflecting beforehand upon the word of God which will be proclaimed. The objective sought here is that the entire celebration ? praying, singing, listening, and not just the preaching ? should express in some way the theme of the Sunday liturgy, so that all those taking part may be penetrated more powerfully by it. Clearly, much depends on those who exercise the ministry of the word. It is their duty to prepare the reflection on the word of the Lord by prayer and study of the sacred text, so that they may then express its contents faithfully and apply them to people's concerns and to their daily lives.
Regarding song, that sounds a relatively easy discipline to adopt in the obviously thematic Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter seasons but what of Ordinary Time? As the author of the "Overview" states, "there is no particular over-arching seasonal peg in this time upon which to hang songs".
Given the quotation from Dies Domini above, if the ideal is perhaps to become shared preparation of the homily (and perhaps choosing appropriate thematic songs after its preparation) I suggest this is utterly impractical and somewhat going-over-the-top in a quest for (mono)thematic "relevance" in any set of Lectionary readings . The Word proclaimed is multi-themed.
I have just finished my Sunday homily (it's Friday lunch time). Am I now to telephone my organist at her work and tell her to prepare songs about marriage? "But Father, it's Jesus telling us to eat his flesh and drink his blood this Sunday." Yes it is, but I do happen to be mentioning Christian marriage in the homily.
Should I now be holding weekly 'staff meetings' of lay ministers and other representatives of the faithful (Monday evenings?) to pray about and prepare the next Sunday Mass?
That's broadened your questions Reginald, sorry.
121............The texts intended to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine; indeed they should be drawn chiefly from holy scripture and from liturgical sources
That's the Constitution's instruction to Composers.
The Entrance Antiphons for Sundays of Ordinary Time (and repeated on the ferial Weekdays of Ordinary Time) follow a one year cycle (Graduale) and any close thematic connection with the three-year Lectionary cycle is coincidental. Taking a Sunday at Random -
27th Sunday of the Year
Entrance antiphon - "theme" - Lord of creation, Lord of all.
Gospel - Year A - Parable of the tenants of the vineyard
Year B - Instruction on Marriage
Year C - Faith - Parable of the duty of the servant
Would the Antiphon (and an accompanying Psalm) be appropriate to sing on each of these Sundays? Of course it would and so would a strophic hymn text based upon it. As the Constitution states, the best texts are scriptural (and if not literally so, based upon) and as for 'liturgical sources', they are often scriptural too or Patristic texts based on scripture. Thus the treasury of sacred scripture is indeed unlocked.
But I think we have to remember that although the Sunday Lectionary in Ordinary Time uses the Old Testament typologically with reference to the Gospel, that principle neither applies to the Second Reading nor the Entrance Antiphon.
If your question is "Is it a good thing to sing the Entrance Antiphon (and Psalm) because it is scriptural or based on scripture?" - yes.
If your question is "Is it a good thing to sing the Entrance Antiphon (and Psalm) because it always has a particular resonance with a Gospel 'theme'?" - no. That particular resonance is not there in Ordinary Time.
But there is a clash between GIRM and its instructions on our songs and the following section of Dies Domini, which mentions singing.
40. In considering the Sunday Eucharist more than thirty years after the Council, we need to assess how well the word of God is being proclaimed and how effectively the People of God have grown in knowledge and love of Sacred Scripture.(65) There are two aspects of this ? that of celebration and that of personal appropriation ? and they are very closely related. At the level of celebration, the fact that the Council made it possible to proclaim the word of God in the language of the community taking part in the celebration must awaken a new sense of responsibility towards the word, allowing "the distinctive character of the sacred text" to shine forth "even in the mode of reading or singing".(66) At the level of personal appropriation, the hearing of the word of God proclaimed must be well prepared in the souls of the faithful by an apt knowledge of Scripture and, where pastorally possible, by special initiatives designed to deepen understanding of the biblical readings, particularly those used on Sundays and holy days. If Christian individuals and families are not regularly drawing new life from the reading of the sacred text in a spirit of prayer and docility to the Church's interpretation,(67) then it is difficult for the liturgical proclamation of the word of God alone to produce the fruit we might expect. This is the value of initiatives in parish communities which bring together during the week those who take part in the Eucharist ? priest, ministers and faithful(68) ? in order to prepare the Sunday liturgy, reflecting beforehand upon the word of God which will be proclaimed. The objective sought here is that the entire celebration ? praying, singing, listening, and not just the preaching ? should express in some way the theme of the Sunday liturgy, so that all those taking part may be penetrated more powerfully by it. Clearly, much depends on those who exercise the ministry of the word. It is their duty to prepare the reflection on the word of the Lord by prayer and study of the sacred text, so that they may then express its contents faithfully and apply them to people's concerns and to their daily lives.
Regarding song, that sounds a relatively easy discipline to adopt in the obviously thematic Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter seasons but what of Ordinary Time? As the author of the "Overview" states, "there is no particular over-arching seasonal peg in this time upon which to hang songs".
Given the quotation from Dies Domini above, if the ideal is perhaps to become shared preparation of the homily (and perhaps choosing appropriate thematic songs after its preparation) I suggest this is utterly impractical and somewhat going-over-the-top in a quest for (mono)thematic "relevance" in any set of Lectionary readings . The Word proclaimed is multi-themed.
I have just finished my Sunday homily (it's Friday lunch time). Am I now to telephone my organist at her work and tell her to prepare songs about marriage? "But Father, it's Jesus telling us to eat his flesh and drink his blood this Sunday." Yes it is, but I do happen to be mentioning Christian marriage in the homily.
Should I now be holding weekly 'staff meetings' of lay ministers and other representatives of the faithful (Monday evenings?) to pray about and prepare the next Sunday Mass?
That's broadened your questions Reginald, sorry.
OK. So in Ordinary Time there's no hard and fast connection - but presumably there is for particular feasts and seasons?
I suppose that the root of my question is whether or not we, as ministers of music, should be trying to include all the scriptural passages possible into the Mass. Do we short change our congregations by choosing 3 hymns that all reflect the text of the Gospel, rather than offering the varied scriptural diet that exists in the Missal (Ouch! My head's starting to hurt!)
I like the idea of my PP submitting his homily for discussion by the non-existent Parish liturgy committee. We could seriously reduce the life-expectancy of organists by keeping them in the dark until 5 minutes before and then expecting them to sight-read whatever the committee comes up with! Yes - this week you thought you were on safe ground practising O bread of Heaven, but no, today's guest hymn is One in Body, Heart and Mind!
I suppose that the root of my question is whether or not we, as ministers of music, should be trying to include all the scriptural passages possible into the Mass. Do we short change our congregations by choosing 3 hymns that all reflect the text of the Gospel, rather than offering the varied scriptural diet that exists in the Missal (Ouch! My head's starting to hurt!)
I like the idea of my PP submitting his homily for discussion by the non-existent Parish liturgy committee. We could seriously reduce the life-expectancy of organists by keeping them in the dark until 5 minutes before and then expecting them to sight-read whatever the committee comes up with! Yes - this week you thought you were on safe ground practising O bread of Heaven, but no, today's guest hymn is One in Body, Heart and Mind!
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organist
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Antiphons and hymns
Weekly meetings? I don;t recall anything in the Bible about being on endless committees??? An overview meeting for a season well before the time would be really good. And a reflection together on the readings would also be wonderful. I work closely with my vicar and we enjoy our coffee mornings together when we moan about the hymnbook! Emails help too.
I well recall a visiting priest being so taken by the beauty of the Mass that he cheerfully announced after communion "We will now sing Soul of my Saviour". My cry to the choir was what's "What's the number"!
And priests who change things 5 minutes before Mass deserve to lose their musicians! We all have telephones!
I well recall a visiting priest being so taken by the beauty of the Mass that he cheerfully announced after communion "We will now sing Soul of my Saviour". My cry to the choir was what's "What's the number"!
And priests who change things 5 minutes before Mass deserve to lose their musicians! We all have telephones!