If all has gone according to plan, I will have preached about singing at Mass this weekend. To support that points I made, I am listing here some of the teachings and guidelines of the Church that I’m referring to when saying “The Church says we should sing at Mass.” Besides the fact that Christians have sung at Mass since ancient times (even Jesus and the Apostles sang at the Last Supper), there are more recent documents from the Church that tell us what to sing and when.
The Second Vatican Council published a document called Musicam Sacram (“On Sacred Music”) that gives a lot of guidelines. The most relevant passage is this:
“5. Liturgical worship is given a more noble form when it is celebrated in song, with the ministers of each degree fulfilling their ministry and the people participating in it. Indeed, through this form, prayer is expressed in a more attractive way, the mystery of the liturgy, with its hierarchical and community nature, is more openly shown, the unity of hearts is more profoundly achieved by the union of voices, minds are more easily raised to heavenly things by the beauty of the sacred rites, and the whole celebration more clearly prefigures that heavenly liturgy which is enacted in the holy city of Jerusalem. Pastors of souls will therefore do all they can to achieve this form of celebration.”
At one point (par. 28-30), the document also gives a list of priority of what should be sung. Some of the list was based on a slightly older form of the Mass, but the basic principles still apply. It gives three “degrees” and says “These degrees are so arranged that the first may be used even by itself, but the second and third, wholly or partially, may never be used without the first.” This guideline directly influences my choice of what to sing.
The “first degree” includes the greeting, the Lord Be With You at the Gospel, the preface, the Holy, Holy, Holy, the Our Father, the Doxology (“through him, with him, and in him…”), the Peace be with you, and the final dismissal from Mass. The “second degree” includes the Kyrie, Gloria, Lamb of God, the Creed, and the prayers of the faithful. The “third degree” includes the entrance and communion antiphons, the readings, and the offertory song.”
As you can see, we don’t sing everything listed and we don’t always do all of them in order, but we are pretty close to following the “first degree.” There’s also what the general instructions for the current form of the Mass say:
“40. Great importance should therefore be attached to the use of singing in the celebration of the Mass, with due consideration for the culture of peoples and abilities of each liturgical assembly. Although it is not always necessary (e.g., in weekday Masses) to sing all the texts that are in principle meant to be sung, every care should be taken that singing by the ministers and the people not be absent in celebrations that occur on Sundays and on Holydays of Obligation.
However, in the choosing of the parts actually to be sung, preference is to be given to those that are of greater importance and especially to those which are to be sung by the Priest or the Deacon or a reader, with the people replying, or by the Priest and people together.”
This is why there is more singing on Sundays than on weekdays (Saturday 4pm counts as a Sunday Mass). The point about abilities and culture are part of the reason we don’t try to sing the creed and why some of the “degrees” listed above are done a little out of order. This is also why, on more significant occasions (Christmas, Easter, Christ the King), I sing even more than usual.
The things list above show why I think being obedient as a priest requires me to sing, but the more important point is that I firmly believe as pastor that pushing the parish to sing at Mass helps us all to grow in holiness. By singing, we are adding an extra act of the will, an extra effort of love. Even if you disagree with the way in which I am trying to challenge us to grow, please acknowledge at least that I am sincerely trying to do what is good and that being challenged is a required part of practicing our faith. And even if you don’t sing, please at least say the response. Being silent would only be holding back from God, which I hope no one wants to do even if they are mad with me. I hope the homily and this article have helped and I pray that we continue to worship God more fully not just at Mass, but also in how we love and serve one another. God Bless you all!
-In Christ,
Fr. Albert