Introit before mass?

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What is a introit exactly? I was at the Shrine of our Lady of Good Help for mass today and the Cantor chanted a psalm before mass officially began while the priest was using incense around the altar.

Mind you this was a high Novus Ordo mass with a number of the responses in latin. Just wanted to know if chanting a psalm before the opening sign if the cross was usual at a high NO Mass.
 
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MiserereMei25 said:
What is a introit exactly? I was at the Shrine of our Lady of Good Help for mass today and the Cantor chanted a psalm before mass officially began while the priest was using incense around the altar.

Mind you this was a high Novus Ordo mass with a number of the responses in latin.
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The Introit would also be known as the Invitory in the OF. It’s also known as the prayers before the altar, which the priest recites before entering the sanctuary.
 
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Fauken said:
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MiserereMei25:
What is a introit exactly? I was at the Shrine of our Lady of Good Help for mass today and the Cantor chanted a psalm before mass officially began while the priest was using incense around the altar.

Mind you this was a high Novus Ordo mass with a number of the responses in latin.
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The Introit would also be known as the Invitory in the OF. It’s also known as the prayers before the altar, which the priest recites before entering the sanctuary.
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It is neither of these. The Invitatory begins the Liturgy of the Hours, and the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar are completely suppressed in the Ordinary Form Mass.
 
MiserereMei25 said:
What is a introit exactly? I was at the Shrine of our Lady of Good Help for mass today and the Cantor chanted a psalm before mass officially began while the priest was using incense around the altar.

Mind you this was a high Novus Ordo mass with a number of the responses in latin. Just wanted to know if chanting a psalm before the opening sign if the cross was usual at a high NO Mass.
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If I find myself serving music at Mass, I always take the opportunity to chant the Introit (and the Offertory, and the Communion) because the common four-hymn sandwich has improverished the celebration of the Mass. And I take it from the Gradual, complete with verse and Glory Be to the Father. When was the last time anyone heard the Glory Be at Mass?

The Introit is the opening antiphon and Psalm verse that accompanies the entrance procession. It is also the perfect chant to say if there is incensation, in which case, a processional hymn can accompany the entrance, and the Introit the incensation. The Offertory can be chanted right after the people sit down for the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and the Communion can be chanted just as the priest receives. And to keep the people’s comfort levels, you can still sing the familiar hymns afterwards.
 
The introit in the OF is the Entrance Antiphon which usually should be recited when there is no music. When music it is not required to be said but technically it could be before the sign of the cross if the priest chooses too. It’s the same for the Communion Antiphon which should be said right after the priest consumed the precious blood. However I have seen some priests do it following everyone receiving.
It should be noted in the EF these are not options. The introit is said following the judica me psalm 42 and confetior, and the communion verse is said after the the communion is finished and the chalice is cleaned etc.( not sure what that is actually called if their is a name for it, following communion when the priest is cleansing the cup and patent etc.
Many of the Entrance Antiphons and Communion Antiphons are taken from the Extraordinary Form Introit and Communion propers, even sometimes the same week. It makes sense. The OF however did away with the Offertory Verse, which I have mixed feelings about.
 
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Fauken said:
The Introit would also be known as the Invitory in the OF.
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To piggy back off of what porthos11 said, the Invitatory is the opening psalm of Matins and never changes (while its antiphon does). It’s always Psalm 94 and it’s split up into five parts with the antiphon interspersed. The Introit is the first variable part of the Mass (optional in the O.F.) and it changes daily. It consists of an antiphon, versicle (not necessarily, though usually, a psalm), Glory Be, and repetition of the antiphon.
It’s also known as the prayers before the altar, which the priest recites before entering the sanctuary.
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The Introit occurs after the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar. You’re confusing it for Psalm 42, the “Judica Me” which is said right before the Confiteor.
 
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Some excerpts from the General Instruction of the Roman Missal:

“ 43. The faithful should stand from the beginning of the Entrance Chant, or while the Priest approaches the altar, until the end of the Collect;”

So if there is singing before the Entrance Chant that people are not meant to stand for, then I think that is making things confusing for the congregation.

“The Entrance

47. When the people are gathered, and as the Priest enters with the Deacon and ministers, the Entrance Chant begins. Its purpose is to open the celebration, foster the unity of those who have been gathered, introduce their thoughts to the mystery of the liturgical time or festivity, and accompany the procession of the Priest and ministers.

48. This chant is sung alternately by the choir and the people or similarly by a cantor and the people, or entirely by the people, or by the choir alone. It is possible to use the antiphon with its Psalm from the Graduale Romanum or the Graduale Simplex , or another chant that is suited to the sacred action, the day, or the time of year,55 and whose text has been approved by the Conference of Bishops.

If there is no singing at the Entrance, the antiphon given in the Missal is recited either by the faithful, or by some of them, or by a reader; otherwise, it is recited by the Priest himself, who may even adapt it as an introductory explanation ( cf. no. 31 ).”

I am quoting from the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, as printed in the Roman Missal used in Australia. In the USA I think there are more options about what is sung.

[Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal , © 2010 International Committee on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.]
 
As others have posted above, the Introit (Entrance Chant) is the “default” presumed by the Missal for how Mass begins, but it’s often replaced by a hymn (as a legitimate option). Often in my experience until recently, in Masses with no music, it was omitted entirely, but that’s not really appropriate. Fortunately, that seems to be ‘getting fixed’ around here.

I thought showing you an example might help. Oddly enough though, I went to iBreviary and the USCCB site for today’s Mass and couldn’t locate the Introit! In my hard-copy Missal, however, it’s printed; and a note for Ordinary Time weekdays, like the Collect, it is either repeated from Sunday or “borrowed” from other options within the Missal. Here’s my Missal:
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
Yes! That’s exactly what it was! Thank you. I honestly wish this would be done at every mass because the words were such a beautiful reminder of who our God is.
 
That’s a wonderful missal by Our Sunday Visitor. I love how they incorporated Latin into it.
 
MiserereMei25 said:
Yes! That’s exactly what it was! Thank you. I honestly wish this would be done at every mass because the words were such a beautiful reminder of who our God is.
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Strictly speaking, that’s the Entrance Antiphon from the Missal, and is generally used for spoken Masses. The first source for the Introit is the Roman Gradual, and that comes with verses, and ends with the Glory Be. The second less preferred source is the Simple Gradual. The Missal, pictured here, comes as the third option. The “other suitable song”, which is what most people experience, is the least preferred.

However, because of that fourth option, I can easily take any suitable translation of the Gradual (e.g. Simple English Propers) and use that for Mass, with no further worries about whether the translation is “official”.

The Gradual also contains the Offertory and Communion antiphons.
 
Theprodigalson84j said:
The introit in the OF is the Entrance Antiphon which usually should be recited when there is no music. When music it is not required to be said but technically it could be before the sign of the cross if the priest chooses too.
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The Introit is music when Gregorian chant is used, as still happens in many places in the OF, including the abbey where I attend Mass every Wednesday and Sunday. The appropriate Introit to use is in the Graduale Romanum, 1974 edition. Usually the vernacular un-sung introit is a translation of the one in the Graduale, which is in Latin.
AlbertDerGrosse said:
To piggy back off of what porthos11 said, the Invitatory is the opening psalm of Matins and never changes (while its antiphon does). It’s always Psalm 94 and it’s split up into five parts with the antiphon interspersed.
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Actually, psalms 23, 99 and 66 may also licitly be used as invitatory psalm, in the Liturgy of the Hours. I use 94 on Sundays, feasts and solemnities, and 66 on weekdays, because in the monastic tradition, Ps. 66 was the first psalm at Lauds every day, chanted in directum. It was always followed by psalm 50. So Ps. 66 would be particularly appropriate on Fridays if Lauds was the first office of the day, as juxtaposing psalms 66 and 50 is an ancient liturgical tradition that goes back to the Rule of St. Benedict, i.e. 1500+ years!

There are also post-Conciliar variants to the Monastic Office. The schema used at the abbey I’m attached to as oblate, uses a different invitatory psalm every day: 94 on Sundays, feasts and solemnities, 28 on Monday, 66 on Tuesday, 45 on Wednesday, 23 on Thursday, 8 on Friday and 80 on Saturday.
porthos11 said:
The Gradual also contains the Offertory and Communion antiphons.
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It also contains the Gradual (which licitly can replace the responsorial psalm in the OF), the Alleluia with its verse, the tract for use in Lent in lieu of the alleluia, sequences where they still apply (e.g. Corpus Christi, Easter, Pentecost), the Ordinary including Credo, and various tones for responses, the Lord’s Prayer, etc. It’s what our abbey uses for the entirety to Mass with the exception of the Lord’s Prayer which is chanted in French. What is not in the Gradual, is chanted in French plainchant.

Also the Good Friday liturgy is in there, in Latin and Greek.
 
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Sorry, I should’ve specified I was talking about the pre-conciliar Invitatory and Introit, as a response to Fauken who had already mentioned the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar (which don’t exist in the post-conciliar Mass).
 
Midwest Theological Seminary (not OSV), but thanks all the same. This has been a wonderful investment.
 
My apologies. I own it myself just got mixed up with who made it. Yes it was long time wait that the OF has a missal like in the EF. I love it. I bought a case cover for it and everything it’s so worth it.
 
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