Communion song

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dcharlesworth

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I was taught that in theory the most prefect prayer you could make was to properly take part in the mass. This leads me to a question.

When receiving communion, what is the proper way of taking part. At my parish we are asked to join in the singing of the communion hymn, however a lot of people do not, and pray instead. Is there a right and a wrong here? Do you sing until you receive communion? Then pray afterward?

Thanks for the help.
 
I have never understood this desire that people sing before and after they receive Communion. Nobody gets to participate in the whole song - it’s like an uncoordinated relay race. Everybody will get interrupted at some point. What is the point of having the congregation sing a song when it is guaranteed that every one of them will be interrupted during their singing? And do we really want to have people dealing with the trivia of finding their places in the hymnal the minute they return from Communion?

It makes so much more sense to have the choir or schola sing (before or after they receive, so they are not interrupted), and/or have the organist play something softly.
 
I see what you mean. However in the interest of doing our best, it is hard to know what the right thing is!

Whether it is interrupted individually or not, the show does go on. And if it is to give glory to God, I find value in striving to do the right thing.
 
Sometimes there isn’t a choir to sing and I think the idea is to avoid 15 minutes of listening to people bang their kneelers as the get in and out of pews. Ideally the organist would just play something. In our parish we do have a communion hymn. Since my family usually sits close to the front, I can only sing a bit of the first verse before we go up for communion. I always want to have my after communion thanksgiving, so I do that first. Then depending on how long communion is taking, I will sing the end of the hymn. I have more of a problem with using a hymnal while kneeling and I don’t like to sit until the chalice has been purified and the tabernacle closed, so if it a hymn I don’t know, I often won’t sign at all.
 
Like it or not, awkward or not, the Church has asked us, because she finds it extremely important, that we join in singing together during and throughout the reception of Communion.

From the GIRM:

*86. While the priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion chant is begun. Its purpose is to express the communicants’ union in spirit by means of the unity of their voices, to show joy of heart, and to highlight more clearly the “communitarian” nature of the procession to receive Communion. The singing is continued for as long as the Sacrament is being administered to the faithful.74 If, however, there is to be a hymn after Communion, the Communion chant should be ended in a timely manner.

Care should be taken that singers, too, can receive Communion with ease.
  1. In the dioceses of the United States of America there are four options for the Communion chant: (1) the antiphon from the Roman Missal or the Psalm from the Roman Gradual as set to music there or in another musical setting; (2) the seasonal antiphon and Psalm of the Simple Gradual; (3) a song from another collection of psalms and antiphons, approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop, including psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms; (4) a suitable liturgical song chosen in accordance with no. 86 above. This is sung either by the choir alone or by the choir or cantor with the people.
If there is no singing, however, the Communion antiphon found in the Missal may be recited either by the faithful, or by some of them, or by a lector. Otherwise the priest himself says it after he has received Communion and before he distributes Communion to the faithful.
  1. When the distribution of Communion is finished, as circumstances suggest, the priest and faithful spend some time praying privately. If desired, a psalm or other canticle of praise or a hymn may also be sung by the entire congregation.*
 
agapewolf said:
Like it or not, awkward or not, the Church has asked us, because she finds it extremely important, that we join in singing together during and throughout the reception of Communion.

From the GIRM:

*86. While the priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion chant is begun. Its purpose is to express the communicants’ union in spirit by means of the unity of their voices, to show joy of heart, and to highlight more clearly the “communitarian” nature of the procession to receive Communion. The singing is continued for as long as the Sacrament is being administered to the faithful.74 If, however, there is to be a hymn after Communion, the Communion chant should be ended in a timely manner.

Care should be taken that singers, too, can receive Communion with ease.
  1. In the dioceses of the United States of America there are four options for the Communion chant: (1) the antiphon from the Roman Missal or the Psalm from the Roman Gradual as set to music there or in another musical setting; (2) the seasonal antiphon and Psalm of the Simple Gradual; (3) a song from another collection of psalms and antiphons, approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop, including psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms; (4) a suitable liturgical song chosen in accordance with no. 86 above. This is sung either by the choir alone or by the choir or cantor with the people.
If there is no singing, however, the Communion antiphon found in the Missal may be recited either by the faithful, or by some of them, or by a lector. Otherwise the priest himself says it after he has received Communion and before he distributes Communion to the faithful.
  1. When the distribution of Communion is finished, as circumstances suggest, the priest and faithful spend some time praying privately. If desired, a psalm or other canticle of praise or a hymn may also be sung by the entire congregation.*
Click to expand...
Please forgive me, as I am only a recent convert. But I am wondering what the GIRM is? I am acutally from Canada as well. This seems to make sense to me, but is it possible that the rules are in fact different depending on where you are?

Thanks for your insight.
 
dcharlesworth said:
Please forgive me, as I am only a recent convert. But I am wondering what the GIRM is? I am acutally from Canada as well. This seems to make sense to me, but is it possible that the rules are in fact different depending on where you are?

Thanks for your insight.
Click to expand...
General Instruction of the Roman Missal - Guides what ought to be done at Mass
 
agapewolf said:
Like it or not, awkward or not, the Church has asked us, because she finds it extremely important, that we join in singing together during and throughout the reception of Communion.

From the GIRM:

*86. While the priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion chant is begun. Its purpose is to express the communicants’ union in spirit by means of the unity of their voices, to show joy of heart, and to highlight more clearly the “communitarian” nature of the procession to receive Communion. The singing is continued for as long as the Sacrament is being administered to the faithful.74 If, however, there is to be a hymn after Communion, the Communion chant should be ended in a timely manner.

Care should be taken that singers, too, can receive Communion with ease.
  1. In the dioceses of the United States of America there are four options for the Communion chant: (1) the antiphon from the Roman Missal or the Psalm from the Roman Gradual as set to music there or in another musical setting; (2) the seasonal antiphon and Psalm of the Simple Gradual; (3) a song from another collection of psalms and antiphons, approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop, including psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms; (4) a suitable liturgical song chosen in accordance with no. 86 above. This is sung either by the choir alone or by the choir or cantor with the people.
If there is no singing, however, the Communion antiphon found in the Missal may be recited either by the faithful, or by some of them, or by a lector. Otherwise the priest himself says it after he has received Communion and before he distributes Communion to the faithful.
  1. When the distribution of Communion is finished, as circumstances suggest, the priest and faithful spend some time praying privately. If desired, a psalm or other canticle of praise or a hymn may also be sung by the entire congregation.*
Click to expand...
Yes, and notice the phrase “sung either by the choir alone or by the choir or cantor with the people”. So it doesn’t have to be congregational singing at this point. In fact, the two most preferred types of song ((1) the antiphon from the Roman Missal or the Psalm from the Roman Gradual as set to music there or in another musical setting; (2) the seasonal antiphon and Psalm of the Simple Gradual) would always be sung by a choir or schola, never by the congregation.
 
dcharlesworth said:
So I can assume that this is an official piece of literature? And approved by the Vatican?
Click to expand...
Very much so…🙂

If you go to vatican website select the language of your choice and type in Roman Missal (or Missale Romanum) in the search engine it will pop up for you.👍
 
VociMike said:
Yes, and notice the phrase “sung either by the choir alone or by the choir or cantor with the people”. So it doesn’t have to be congregational singing at this point. In fact, the two most preferred types of song ((1) the antiphon from the Roman Missal or the Psalm from the Roman Gradual as set to music there or in another musical setting; (2) the seasonal antiphon and Psalm of the Simple Gradual) would always be sung by a choir or schola, never by the congregation.
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Yet read #86 again,
  1. While the priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion chant is begun.** Its purpose is to express the communicants’ union in spirit by means of the unity of their voices, to show joy of heart, and to highlight more clearly the “communitarian” nature of the procession to receive Communion. The singing is continued for as long as the Sacrament is being administered to the faithful.**74 If, however, there is to be a hymn after Communion, the Communion chant should be ended in a timely manner.
 
agapewolf said:
Yet read #86 again,
  1. While the priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion chant is begun.** Its purpose is to express the communicants’ union in spirit by means of the unity of their voices, to show joy of heart, and to highlight more clearly the “communitarian” nature of the procession to receive Communion. The singing is continued for as long as the Sacrament is being administered to the faithful.**74 If, however, there is to be a hymn after Communion, the Communion chant should be ended in a timely manner.
Click to expand...
And the choir or schola does represent the congregation whenever it sings. You seem to think that what you quoted requires everybody to sing, not understanding the proper and accepted representative function of the choir or schola.

From an article by then-Cardinal Ratzinger:

A recent author has stressed an important aspect of the question by speaking of highly developed forms which are not lacking in the liturgy as a feast of God, but which cannot be filled by the congregation as a whole. He reminds us that “the choir, in other words, is not related to a listening congregation as it is to a concert audience which allows something to be performed for it. Rather the choir is itself part of the congregation and sings for it as legitimate delegate.” 18 The concept of “delegation” is one of the basic categories of all Christian faith, and it applies to all levels of faith-filled reality, and precisely for this reason is also essential in the liturgical assembly. 19

The insight that we are dealing here with delegation, in fact resolves the apparent conflict of opposites. The choir acts on behalf of the others and includes them in the purpose of its own action. Through the singing of the choir, everyone can be conducted into the great liturgy of the communion of saints and thus into that interior prayer which pulls our hearts on high and permits us to join with the heavenly Jerusalem in a manner far beyond all earthly expectations.
…
This joining in can take place in different ways, but it always has something to do with deputyship. The congregation gathered in one particular locality opens itself out to the Whole. It also represents those absent; it is united with those far away and those very near. And when in this congregation a choir exists, which can draw the congregation into the cosmic praise and into the wide open space of heaven and earth more strongly than the congregation’s own stammering is able to do, then precisely in that moment the delegated, representative function of the choir is especially appropriate and fitting.

Through the choir, a greater transparency toward the praise of angels is rendered possible and therefore a more profound interior participation in the singing, than would be possible in many places through one’s own crying and singing.

And I’ll just repeat that of all the music recommended for Communion, the most preferred music (as reinforced by its placement first in the list of recommendations) is the sung Communion Proper, which is always done by a choir or schola, never by the congregation.
 
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