Easter Vigil Readings

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A few questions about the Easter Vigil readings:
  1. Can full readings be skipped? (In other words, not just parts in brackets, but the entire reading?).
  2. Can a reading be broken up so that, near the end of every paragraph, the choir sings a refrain, part of which is a paraphrased version of the rest of the paragraph? (i.e., the choir sang the parts of the first reading that told what day of creation had been completed - plus a little extra commentary).
  3. Who decides how to present the Easter Vigil readings? (In other words, does the pastor inform the liturgy committee or does the liturgy committee inform the pastor?).
Thank you for any information you can give.

Happy Easter!
 
As for Easter Vigil readings, there are 7 OT readings given as options to read. Not all 7 must be read, however, at least 2 of them must be, and at least one of the readings must be the reading from Exodus (the crossing of the Red Sea). Generally, the pastor selects which readings to use, though he can deputize the task to someone else. The Epistle being from Paul’s letter to the Romans describing baptism - important due to the baptisms being performed during the Easter Vigil - along with the gospel (the only reading that ever changes for the Easter Vigil according to the A-B-C cycle) must be read.

As for how the readings are presented, the pastor (as always at a parish) is supposed to have the final call. But in many large parishes, he will often deputize the duty to someone else and go along with whatever that person (or committee) decides.

As for other stuff, it’s hard sometimes to know what is an abuse and what isn’t, but it seems like more minor abuses regularly creep in during the Easter Vigil than at any other Mass. The intent, of course, is not to commit an abuse (I don’t even think that most people who commit the abuses even realize they’re committing an abuse - they’re just trying to make the Vigil an even MORE joyous event for the people attending than it already is. Plus, with a Mass that often goes for 3 hours or longer - at night - they’re trying to keep people awake and engaged in the liturgy).
 
Thank you for your prompt and informed reply. Would I find the info about skipping readings in the GIRM or somewhere else?
powerofk said:
As for other stuff, it’s hard sometimes to know what is an abuse and what isn’t, but it seems like more minor abuses regularly creep in during the Easter Vigil than at any other Mass. The intent, of course, is not to commit an abuse (I don’t even think that most people who commit the abuses even realize they’re committing an abuse - they’re just trying to make the Vigil an even MORE joyous event for the people attending than it already is. Plus, with a Mass that often goes for 3 hours or longer - at night - they’re trying to keep people awake and engaged in the liturgy).
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Completely agree - especially about the good intentions: the people involved love the joy of Easter and want their brothers and sisters to feel that love, too.

But I hope you don’t mind if I describe the result because I see now that I’ve gotta get it off my chest, lol:
  1. The first reading took twice as long as needed because of the musical number - time that could have been used to present the rest of the readings.
  2. Music was played under the readings so that our emotions where manipulated according to the ebb and flow of sound instead of according to the words of scripture.
  3. Some solo performances (which were the majority of the music) were filled with American-Idol style emotion.
  4. A huge portion of what was sung was not available for the assembly to read along with, let alone sing - including parts where the cantor was waving us to sing even though we had no lyrics or music.
  5. Easily 80% of what the assembly was supposed to sing was new music with no notes given, despite the provision of a worship aid (which had only about one-third of our part printed, some of which was not what was actually sung).
Before I “grace” this thread with my probably half-baked conclusions, lol, I need to first confess what an egomaniac I am. Because I am an egomaniac, I spent the first decade after my conversion bouncing all over the sanctuary - cantor, lector, extraordinary minister. Because God is great, He blessed me with crippling anxiety for another decade so that I would be forced to sit in the pews and atone for what I dished out.

I am well aware that most sanctuary groupies (I swear, I say that with love - there’s no better place to want to be a groupie!) are not egomaniacs like me. But I am not alone. No, no, no, no, no.

Of course we must assume the best, but I also think that those of us with a little extra knowledge and experience need to find the courage to say when the emperor has no clothes. The big claim of our parish music ministry is that it will get the people singing and set the church on fire. The reality is that if someone designed a plan to prevent the people from singing, it could not possible work better than our current musical direction.

Again, thanks for your beautiful reply and for giving me an opportunity to voice my frustration a bit.

May the peace of Christ remain with you always!
 
Lisa_Lavadores said:
Thank you for your prompt and informed reply. Would I find the info about skipping readings in the GIRM or somewhere else?
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You can find pretty much all you need to know about the Triduum celebrations in the document “Paschales Solemnitatis – Circular Letter on the Preparation and Celebration of the Easter Feasts.”

#85 refers to the readings and says, in part:

(…)Where, however, pastoral conditions require that the number of readings be reduced, there should be at least three readings from the Old Testament, taken from the Law and the Prophets; the reading from Exodus chapter 14 with its canticle must never be omitted.
 
Thank you so much!

The level of knowledge in this forum always amazes me.
 
Lisa, at the Easter Vigil you will hear anywhere from 3 to 7 readings from the OT interspersed with Psalms, which often have their own musical settings, some of which you may not have heard. The first reading from the Book of Genesis is very long compared to the other readings–that is normal. Sometimes there are songs accompanying the readings. Much of what is sung is music only heard during the Vigil. How these readings and psalms are presented is up to the priest or whoever is in charge of it, and you will find that these special songs are not always in the standard hymnal. Yes, there is more drama during the vigil than we are used to. What you have questioned is perfectly fine. Pick up a missalette at church and you will note the options.

Also, there is nothing wrong with just sitting back and enjoying the singing if you do not know the music to some of it. It’s a blessing.

Yours actually sounds like a typical very lovely Easter Vigil.
 
CB_Catholic said:
Lisa, at the Easter Vigil you will hear anywhere from 3 to 7 readings from the OT interspersed with Psalms, which often have their own musical settings, some of which you may not have heard. The first reading from the Book of Genesis is very long compared to the other readings–that is normal. Sometimes there are songs accompanying the readings. Much of what is sung is music only heard during the Vigil. How these readings and psalms are presented is up to the priest or whoever is in charge of it, and you will find that these special songs are not always in the standard hymnal. Yes, there is more drama during the vigil than we are used to. What you have questioned is perfectly fine. Pick up a missalette at church and you will note the options.

Also, there is nothing wrong with just sitting back and enjoying the singing if you do not know the music to some of it. It’s a blessing.

Yours actually sounds like a typical very lovely Easter Vigil.
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Carolyn,

Thank you for your reply. I quoted it because I don’t want to forget any of your points. I’m sorry my reply is so late.

It looks like I may have expressed myself badly about a few things. I have no problem with omitting readings or extending readings if it is allowed. Now that I’ve learned what is allowed, I see the omission of readings was no problem at all.

I do not see that it is allowable to add a musical number to any reading after the Proclamation, unless it is one of the Psalms. When I mentioned that the 1st Reading was twice as long as it needed to be, I was fully aware that, even without music, it is very long. It was even twice as long as that. Again, I have no problem with the length of anything in the Mass as long as it’s allowed. I do not see that this was allowed.

I definitely looked all through the missalette during the Mass (I always do). All of us in my pew were frantically going back and forth between the missalette and the worship aid and none of us could figure out what was going on or what we were supposed to do.

I understand that there might be new music, but I don’t understand why time and expense was spent on a worship aid that did not have that music printed on it but had music printed on it that was never sung.

Here are two quotes from PASCHALIS SOLLEMNITATIS:
  1. “Since the purpose of sung texts is also to facilitate the participation of the faithful…” - in other words, the reason for the songs is to get the faithful to join in, not to exclude them.
  2. “In larger churches where the resources permit, a more ample use should be made of the Church’s musical heritage both ancient and modern, always ensuring that this does not impede the active participation of the faithful.” - in other words, the goal is to get the faithful to sing, not listen.
Btw, the chanting of the Proclamation by our deacon was inspiring - without any artificial drama added. And I really like your positive attitude about sitting back and enjoying. Please know that I worked hard to do my best. The fact that anyone should have to work hard to enjoy the Easter Vigil is a whole 'nother subject. However, I cannot agree that it was a blessing. What it was like for me was being pinned down on the floor with no escape - there’s nothing left to do but close your eyes and think of England.

In Christ,
Lisa
 
Lisa_Lavadores said:
Carolyn,

I understand that there might be new music, but I don’t understand why time and expense was spent on a worship aid that did not have that music printed on it but had music printed on it that was never sung.

Here are two quotes from PASCHALIS SOLLEMNITATIS:
  1. “Since the purpose of sung texts is also to facilitate the participation of the faithful…” - in other words, the reason for the songs is to get the faithful to join in, not to exclude them.
  2. “In larger churches where the resources permit, a more ample use should be made of the Church’s musical heritage both ancient and modern, always ensuring that this does not impede the active participation of the faithful.” - in other words, the goal is to get the faithful to sing, not listen.
In Christ,
Lisa
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We have to be careful here.

Per the GIRM, the only things that shouldn’t be sung by the choir alone are the dialogue if it’s sung, the Ordinary (Kyrie, Sanctus, etc) and the post Communion hymn, if one is sung. Of those, the post-Communion hymn is the one that is most often given over to a soloist or to the choir alone, in direct contradiction of the rubrics.

The Entrance Chant, the Gloria, Offertory Chant, Communion Chant are all validly sung by the choir alone. The Church has made no pronouncements (that I can find) on the Recessional, which is not part of the Mass anyway. In fact, if you consider the part in bold above, the Church’s musical heritage includes a lot of stuff suitable for those four moments that is not singable by your average congregation. Active participation includes “listening.”
 
Phemie, thank you so much for adding to my knowledge. This is the type of thing I need to know.

Obviously, I need to slowly and prayerfully read the entire GIRM, lol, if I’m going to make this an area that I speak about.

But I’d like to clarify where I’m coming from. I don’t know how often liturgists sit in the pews, but sitting there for the last decade has been an eye-opener. Almost no one sings. Ever. The main reasons are lack of lyrics provided, lack of notes provided, songs that are way too high for the average person to sing, songs full of musical gymnastics that the average person cannot do, long sustained notes that the average person cannot hold, and off-key, badly blended performances that make it impossible to find the melody. The strange theology that is sometimes presented in the lyrics is a different matter.

From the simply human point of view, it can be a penance. I turned to the guy next to me at the Vigil and asked, “Is it me or is this worship aid completely worthless?” He replied, “It’s not you.”

I will definitely shut up, lol, until I have a better idea what the heck I’m talking about. But I’m a-gonna learn and act.

One last thing - could you elaborate more on listening being active? I love listening. In fact, I have spent the entire last year focusing on doing it better. And yes, doing that has been a very active task. But I don’t think the word is always used in an active sense - especially since I’ve heard the term “active listening” (which seems to imply that not all listening is active). Like I said - I want to learn, and I really appreciate the willingness of people to teach me.

Thanks,
Lisa
 
The term used in Sacrosanctum Concilium is “actuosa participio.” This was translated as “active participation” in English but “active” is not the proper translation of “actuosa” and it has led to this idea that if the congregation doesn’t sing everything they are not actively participating.

Pope Benedict, in his Apostolic Exhortation “SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS” explains it much better than I can.

Actuosa participatio
*** Authentic participation***
52. The Second Vatican Council rightly emphasized the active, full and fruitful participation of the entire People of God in the eucharistic celebration (155). Certainly, the renewal carried out in these past decades has made considerable progress towards fulfilling the wishes of the Council Fathers. Yet we must not overlook the fact that some misunderstanding has occasionally arisen concerning the precise meaning of this participation. It should be made clear that the word “participation” does not refer to mere external activity during the celebration. In fact, the active participation called for by the Council must be understood in more substantial terms, on the basis of a greater awareness of the mystery being celebrated and its relationship to daily life. The conciliar Constitution* Sacrosanctum Concilium *encouraged the faithful to take part in the eucharistic liturgy not “as strangers or silent spectators,” but as participants “in the sacred action, conscious of what they are doing, actively and devoutly” (156). This exhortation has lost none of its force. The Council went on to say that the faithful “should be instructed by God’s word, and nourished at the table of the Lord’s Body. They should give thanks to God. Offering the immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest but also together with him, they should learn to make an offering of themselves. Through Christ, the Mediator, they should be drawn day by day into ever more perfect union with God and each other” (157).
 
Thank you so very much. And I appreciate the sentiment that a papal explanation is, hands down, the best way to go!
 
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