Can We Get Catholics to Sing?

[TrueLight]

I am watching the royal wedding and I am amazed at how everyone sings the hymns. No matter how religious they are or not, it is in the Church of England culture to sing apparently.

Is there anyway to get hymns sung on a regular basis at masses? Or is that considered a Protestant thing?

I know Anglican Use masses exist. Does anyone attend a Roman Catholic Parish that sings?

 

[paperwight66]

Yes, I do. IMO, the best singing is at the Mass where the organ is used, as our organist belts out the hymns so loudly it quite removes any inhibition about singing. In other words, even I can sing without anyone hearing how awful my voice is, as the organ drowns it out and it’s a real pleasure for me to sing like anyone else.

The Mass which uses a folk Group has some success with the people singing, but quite often, the modern hymns are pitched too high for most people. It’s quite noticeable as well that some verses have tricky rhythms - the congregation happily joins in the (usually easier) choruses with gusto and a collective sigh of relief.

 

[Soldier_Of_God]

There’s lots of singing at our Church. Albeit, not everyone is singing but there are hymns being sung by the laity.

 

[nordskoven]

Singability. Modern hymns don’t have it. Generally the range is obscenely wide and pitched too high for most–that and the tunes are rendered in odd jumps and the rhythm is jerky. And there is no breath-space engineered in.

Plus our culture disdains singing with mockery of singers freely vented in the vein of “Don’t quit your day job” etc. Most don’t realize that the human voice has little in common with the electronically fattened voices heard in commercial song. Holy Angels, bring us to express ourselves fully in song all for God’s honor and glory. AMEN

 

[laszlo]

In my usual parish people sing the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, and the final hymn. In my territorial parish people sing from the hymnal. In Hungary I grown up that everyone sang vernaculat traditional Catholic hymns. This (Volk-Mass) was the tradition even before St Pius X.

I believe this needs only a priest who wants his fold to sing, a cantor an organ and may be a few years endurance.CAtholics are not different from protestant.

 

[kevin63392003]

I have found that, in my church, when traditional hymms are sung, the participation is much higher. Unfortunately, our choir director picks new songs every week that very few are familiar with and, consequently, very few sing. IMO, if we’d settle on a select group of songs - not new ones every week - people would be much more apt to participate.

 

[Barbkw]

I was in Scotland / Italy for a short time while in the Navy Reserves. As a group, we Americans would stay out late to take in the culture (and we all suffered from jet lag).

Men in Scotland, leaving the bars at night (plastered) would sing together in one loud voice as they bounced off each other down the street.

In Italy, we were in a pizza place and a number of military men came in from England. They all broke out in song, singing Hail to the Queen.

 

[Joan1969]

I am watching the royal wedding and I am amazed at how everyone sings the hymns. No matter how religious they are or not, it is in the Church of England culture to sing apparently.

Is there anyway to get hymns sung on a regular basis at masses? Or is that considered a Protestant thing?

I know Anglican Use masses exist. Does anyone attend a Roman Catholic Parish that sings?

For quite a while I was not singing in my own church, because they had the bad habit of only playing one or maybe two verses of the hymn, which I thought was an unacceptably poor presentation. Once, they even did “A Mighty Fortress is our God”, and only did verse one! That verse ends refering to the power of the devil. Then the hymn stopped ! I did not think highly of such carelessness with the classic music of the church, and gradually stopped in frustration.

It seems things have gotten at least a little better in the last year or two, and I will endeavor to sing if I can find the hymn, which is not always easy since there are three different sources for music to look through.

Just to point out my issues. I have been in choirs much of my life, and I love to sing.

God Bless,
Joan

 

[GloriousOrder]

I’d prefer a dark, quiet, mystical atmosphere where we can pray and not make as much noise as possible with our vocal cords. We seriously need to tone down on the hymns and emotionalism. Experience with God is a quiet inner movement of the will. It is never silent, but it is stoic, staid, and mysterious. We are entering into the abyss of light, beyond which there is and can be nothing. It should be approached by Gregorian Chant, in my opinion.

 

[StTommyMore]

I am watching the royal wedding and I am amazed at how everyone sings the hymns. No matter how religious they are or not, it is in the Church of England culture to sing apparently.

Is there anyway to get hymns sung on a regular basis at masses? Or is that considered a Protestant thing?

I know Anglican Use masses exist. Does anyone attend a Roman Catholic Parish that sings?

I attend Mass at three different locations: may university chapel, a local parish while at school, and my home parish during summer and breaks. The spirituality of all three are different. The University chapel has more contemporary worship, the local parish is much more traditional, and my home parish is somewhere in the middle. People sing at all of them. I find the idea that “Catholics don’t sing” to be a broad generalization that does not have a great deal of truth to it. In some parishes, perhaps it may be the case, but not where I have attended Mass on a regular basis.

 

[StTommyMore]

I’d prefer a dark, quiet, mystical atmosphere where we can pray and not make as much noise as possible with our vocal cords. We seriously need to tone down on the hymns and emotionalism. Experience with God is a quiet inner movement of the will. It is never silent, but it is stoic, staid, and mysterious. We are entering into the abyss of light, beyond which there is and can be nothing. It should be approached by Gregorian Chant, in my opinion.

You do realize that the Psalms are meant to be sung, do you not? And some are even joyful hymns of praise. We are to celebrate our faith, and that includes singing. At what is wrong with emotion? We are delivered from Hell by the Crucified and Risen One. Is that not something to get excited about?

 

[GloriousOrder]

You do realize that the Psalms are meant to be sung, do you not? And some are even joyful hymns of praise. We are to celebrate our faith, and that includes singing. At what is wrong with emotion? We are delivered from Hell by the Crucified and Risen One. Is that not something to get excited about?

I get very excited when I look at the crucifix during the Holy Mass, and speak to Him in the Tabernacle just a few feet away. The Holy of Holies has been translated across the whole world, and the Sanctuary of God is in every Catholic Church. This practically brings me to tears every time I’m at Mass, because it is so joyous. I make it a point, however, to interiorise the emotionalism and keep my actions rightly ordered. Sing outside Mass, but don’t confound the solemn, holy sacrifice with a popular concert for the proles, where we all sing along and feel happy.

The Psalms can be sung in Gregorian chant. I believe most Gregorian and Ambrosian music is of Psalms, actually, given the number of entrance antiphons and such.

 

[StTommyMore]

I get very excited when I look at the crucifix during the Holy Mass, and speak to Him in the Tabernacle just a few feet away. The Holy of Holies has been translated across the whole world, and the Sanctuary of God is in every Catholic Church. This practically brings me to tears every time I’m at Mass, because it is so joyous. I make it a point, however, to interiorise the emotionalism and keep my actions rightly ordered. Sing outside Mass, but don’t confound the solemn, holy sacrifice with a popular concert for the proles, where we all sing along and feel happy.

The Psalms can be sung in Gregorian chant. I believe most Gregorian and Ambrosian music is of Psalms, actually, given the number of entrance antiphons and such.

There is nothing wrong with letting emotions show, and letting your emotions show at mass is in no way improper! Mass is a “celebration” and I believe while personally present on this earth, our Lord laughed! I think you need to attend a Charismatic Mass just so you can be exposed to the breadth of worship that is in the Church. Now don’t get me wrong, I like the TLM as much as the next guy, but there is nothing wrong with singing praises to the Lord in the context of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In fact, I cannot for the life of me think of a better place to make a joyful noise!

 

[GloriousOrder]

Sorry my friend, but I just don’t agree. You’re coming from a Dionysian standpoint, and I am from an Apollonian. Our personalities are fundamentally divergent here! You go to your Charismatic service, and I’ll go to the Mass that places me in a greater sense of awe than anything else can. We must recognise our own individuality, and attend the right worship that is most proper to it. I myself find Charismatic services utterly offensive and blasphemous, but that’s my personality speaking. I want exterior quiet, and a joyful noise on the interior.

 

[ndeparis88]

I go to a Roman Catholic Church, and we have a man playing piano or it’s a Kurtzwell for all those Music people out there. Any way when he sings he sings pretty loud and it is around the same timbre as my voice, so it’s easy for me to sing a long. I am surprised how few people in the congregation do it. I mean it’s not the place where your voice is auditioned, you shouldn’t have any problems doing it. Music is a very transcendent thing and I think when you sing your paying more reverence to the Lord.

 

[PiousTemplar]

Singability. Modern hymns don’t have it. Generally the range is obscenely wide and pitched too high for most–that and the tunes are rendered in odd jumps and the rhythm is jerky. And there is no breath-space engineered in.

Plus our culture disdains singing with mockery of singers freely vented in the vein of “Don’t quit your day job” etc. Most don’t realize that the human voice has little in common with the electronically fattened voices heard in commercial song. Holy Angels, bring us to express ourselves fully in song all for God’s honor and glory. AMEN

I laughed sooooo hard. So unbelievebly true.

 

[adv1sor]

A short fictional story.

A Catholic woman invited her neighbor, who was a member of a Full Gospel Church, to attend Mass.

As the Priest finished his homily, the neighbor was so moved with emotion that she shouted out, “Praise the Lord!”

Her friend was panicky and quietly whispered to her, “Shh!, We’re Catholics. We don’t Praise the Lord!”

I believe that we are all called to participate fully in the Mass. While most of this is in the form of quiet contemplation, prayer, and being attentive and focused on what is going on and what is being said, shouldn’t it also mean singing loud and joyfully at the proper times?

Psalm 100?

 

[ndeparis88]

A short fictional story.



I believe that we are all called to participate fully in the Mass. While most of this is in the form of quiet contemplation, prayer, and being attentive and focused on what is going on and what is being said, shouldn’t it also mean singing loud and joyfully at the proper times?

Psalm 100?

I think so. I also think that for the youth it would make them appreciate other forms of Music, like gospel. It might even change their taste by giving them another way to express themselves. They sing out loud with their friends in the car, and everyone can hear you there.

 

[Havard]

I attend Mass at three different locations: may university chapel, a local parish while at school, and my home parish during summer and breaks. The spirituality of all three are different. The University chapel has more contemporary worship, the local parish is much more traditional, and my home parish is somewhere in the middle. People sing at all of them. I find the idea that “Catholics don’t sing” to be a broad generalization that does not have a great deal of truth to it. In some parishes, perhaps it may be the case, but not where I have attended Mass on a regular basis.

I’ve attended Masses in over a dozen states (on both coasts and in the middle) and in half a dozen other Western countries in the past decade. My experience has been that enthusiastic singing is definitely a rarity.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Singability. Modern hymns don’t have it. Generally the range is obscenely wide and pitched too high for most–that and the tunes are rendered in odd jumps and the rhythm is jerky. And there is no breath-space engineered in.

I agree that “modern” hymns are not very singable. Too high for male voices, for the most part; abrupt, inexplicable changes of melody or key. Absolutely not well designed to allow emphasis on the “singable vowels”.

But also, the “Modern” hymns aren’t all that “modern”. If you look at the copyright dates for most of the hymns in the hymnals, virtually all were written in the 1970s and early 1980s, mostly the former. They nearly all have that “faux folk song” sound to them. They’re a “period piece” now. But they keep playing them and expecting people to sing them. It’s like expecting people to get all excited over shag carpet and bell-bottom trousers.

In the parishes where I attend Mass, about the only time people really join in is when (unfortunately) some old protestant hymn is sung. They’re written to be sung by congregations, not by some folk group. Men can actually reach the notes, the melodies are simple and melodious and easily remembered. The vowel sounds can be emphasized and sustained, and usually in the right places. The people who composed them understood music. The “modern” (read circa 1975) St. Louis Jesuits and Marty Haugen, for example, undoubtedly understood the whangalang “liturgical tastes” of their time. But their time has passed. We’re now singing museum artifacts, and are expected to keep slogging through them. It’s no wonder people don’t like to do it.