Do We Have to Sing Along During Mass?

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triumphguy said:
For which form of the mass?

In the ordinary form of the mass singing is a good way of participating.

In the liturgy the function of the Choir is the to lead the congregation, not perform.

Singing is prayer.
Singing is participation.

St Augustine says that “To sing once is to pray twice” (Qui cantat, bis orat)👍
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Stuff like Gather Us In is to prayer, as Spam is to health food.
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
Stuff like Gather Us In is to prayer, as Spam is to health food.
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“give us the courage to en-ter the soooong…!” 😃

It’s like whoever made this song stuck in an inside joke about how bad he/she knew the song was.
 
Bookcat said:
echo

😃
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When you sing the melody praises God, while the words also praise God.

On whether you need a good voice in order to sing.
There was an Abbott of a monastery, who found the singing of some of the monks to be deplorable. He therefore hired a professional choir to sing the office while the monks stayed silent. The Abbott was very proud of this choir and thought it improved the liturgy immensely.
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One day, in prayer God asked him why the monastery had ceased to worship Him.
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The Abbott fired the choir and had the monks sing again.
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This time he understood that the discordant voices of the good monks were more worshipful than the professional voices of the choir.
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A liturgy prof told me that one.
 
triumphguy said:
When you sing the melody praises God, while the words also praise God.
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So basically it’s the same exact same prayer, except somehow it’s twice as valuable to God because you’re using a different voice? :confused:
 
exoflare said:
“give us the courage to en-ter the soooong…!” 😃

It’s like whoever made this song stuck in an inside joke about how bad he/she knew the song was.
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I got a speeding ticket while listening to that song because I was trying to drive away from it as fast as I could,.

No, I seriously got a speeding ticket while listening to that song.
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
I got a speeding ticket while listening to that song because I was trying to drive away from it as fast as I could,.

No, I seriously got a speeding ticket while listening to that song.
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Geez, you could even hear it from inside your car? That’s some pretty loud church music! Perhaps this was during Lent and they saw the opportunity for some penitential value? :hmmm:
 
exoflare said:
“give us the courage to en-ter the soooong…!” 😃

It’s like whoever made this song stuck in an inside joke about how bad he/she knew the song was.
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Gather us in - the rich and the haughty,
gather us in - the proud and the strong.
Give us a heart so meek and so lowly,
give us the courage to enter the song.

😃

Give us the courage to not sing this sooooong…
 
exoflare said:
So basically it’s the same exact same prayer, except somehow it’s twice as valuable to God because you’re using a different voice? :confused:
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Not a different voice, singing - you know, notes, going up and down, melodically, rhythmically:p Music with voice. Singing!

And that’s confusing why?:confused:
 
exoflare said:
Geez, you could even hear it from inside your car? That’s some pretty loud church music! Perhaps this was during Lent and they saw the opportunity for some penitential value? :hmmm:
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It was Holy Thursday and I was listening to it in my car. I must have been trying to get in some last minute penance.
 
I’d rather hear 10 singers with poor voices singing joyfully, than 10 good singers singing correctly.

One of the most inspiring experiences I have at Mass is hearing someone who can’t sing, and knows they can’t sing, doing their best.

Such people also encourage the others who are uncertain to join in also. The uncertain ones are discouraged by hearing good singers, but are encouraged when they hear other stragglers giving it their best.

I love good music and traditional hymns, but I never hold back on account of not liking a modern or wishy-washy song, except when it is an irreverent song at communion time (eg. “The Rose”). To hold back is an insult to the people who have prepared the liturgy, and undermines the whole congregation.

But, no, you are not strictly obliged to sing at Mass.
Thanks, Georgias, for this from the GIRM. It’s very helpful.
Gorgias said:
Well, since we’re not trying to be cheerful, but just talk about ‘rules’, here’s what the GIRM (‘General Instruction on the Roman Missal’) says:

“96. Moreover, [the faithful] are to form one body, whether in hearing the Word of God, or in taking part in the prayers and in the singing, or above all by the common offering of the Sacrifice and by participating together at the Lord’s table. This unity is beautifully apparent from the gestures and bodily postures observed together by the faithful.”

So, I think that it’s fair to say that the GIRM envisions that the congregation will be praying and singing. However, that’s not to say that it mandates it, per se.
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exoflare said:
Right, different voice.

Where’s the supposed added value to the prayer coming from?
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Obviously you are either tone deaf, have no artistic temperament, or have an agenda about Church music.
 
I find music often speaks to me as the spoken word cannot. However, that means that no one sits in the pew in front of me twice.
:bigyikes:
:ouch:

I was once Subdeacon at a Mass where the celebrant came over to me and told me to mouth the words, because I was throwing the choir off-key.

Problem was that the choir was in a loft in the back of the nave, in front of the organ pipes. Now my voices carries, but…

You should certainly assist by giving the appropriate liturgical responses, whether said or sung. Singing hymns is desirable, but not mandatory. Som hymns are just to difficult.
 
Sometimes I hate it when they sing traditional Catholic hymns (the kind from the 1950s and early 1960s) at Mass. I have a terrible singing voice (I sound like a convention of angry bees,) and I can get away with just humming along a little with the more contemporary pieces. But those older, more traditional Catholic hymns make me want to sing, or at least take a swing at singing!

I’m sure my voice is a hairshirt to my immediate pew-mates when I try to belt out “Hail Holy Queen,” or “Holy, Holy, Holy.”
 
odile53 said:
Sometimes I hate it when they sing traditional Catholic hymns (the kind from the 1950s and early 1960s) at Mass. I have a terrible singing voice (I sound like a convention of angry bees,) and I can get away with just humming along a little with the more contemporary pieces. But those older, more traditional Catholic hymns make me want to sing, or at least take a swing at singing!

I’m** sure my voice is a hairshirt to my immediate pew-mates when I try to belt out “Hail Holy Queen,” or “Holy, Holy, Holy.”**
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Go for it, odile! Pleaaaaassse:thumbsup:!

The only voice that is a hairshirt to me is the one I can’t hear! 😃
 
By the way, just a brief technical note on men and singing.

My ex-wife was musically trained, and she told me that it is well known in musical circles that men, in general, have a lot more difficulty singing in tune than women. A man can often mentally “hear” the correct tune, but is unable to pitch his voice to it.

I was actually like that for many years, but somehow, at about age 50, it just came to me and I am now good enough to sing in the choir. Seriously! Maybe the reason it “came to me” was because for year after year I sang along as best I could. It was like having a weekly singing practice.
 
littlenothing said:
Oh Gather Us In makes me cringe! Is it a sin to make fun of a church song on the car ride home from Mass?
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My fervent hope is that God also makes fun of that hymn. But He is the God of perfect compassion, even for the composers of bad music.
 
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