Lenten Mass Setting

[TruthfulReign]

What are you using for a Lenten Mass setting, or what is your favorite Lenten Mass setting?

 

[bpbasilphx]

The Liber Usualis/Kyriale has a setting called Missa Penetentialis for this time.

It might even be in Jubilate Deo, a collection of basic chant for congregational use.

 

[benedictgal]

GIA has a beautiful Kyrie setting written by David Hurd. In fact, he transposed that same Kyriale setting to “Praise and honor to you, O Lord Jesus Christ.” The versicles that match this setting are beautiful and very solemn.

At my old parish in Austin, we would use the Jubilate Deo settings during Lent and Advent.

One very important thing to remember is that there is a prohibition against instrumental solos during the Mass. Furthermore, the instruments should be at a minimum and used only to sustain the singing of the faithful.

 

[TruthfulReign]

I am familiar with the Kyrie set to “Praise and honor to You” It’s very beautiful. I believe that is the one we chanted last year. I’ll have to look up the Jubilante Deo

I am aware of the absence of instumental solo’s the LIFETEEN Liturgy guide states:

“As we enter this season of Lent, it is important to remember
that the Church asks to do several things different from the
rest of the liturgical year as we celebrate this season and
look forward to the joy of Easter. Of course, we do not sing
the Alleluia or the Gloria throughout the entire season (The
Gloria is only used on certain Solemnities). The GIRM
also states that musical instruments are only to be used to
support the singing of the assembly (#346). This means that
there should not be any instrumental music used during
the season. A common practice in some churches is to
empty the baptismal and holy water fonts to symbolize the
fact that we are in the desert. The Congregation on Divine
Worship has stated that the removal of holy water from
fonts is not permitted, so the water should remain in our
fonts throughout the season. There are several reasons for
this, one being that the fasting and abstinence that we are to
practice during the season does not apply to the Sacraments
or sacramentals of the Church.”

 

[JKirkLVNV]

One very important thing to remember is that there is a prohibition against instrumental solos during the Mass. Furthermore, the instruments should be at a minimum and used only to sustain the singing of the faithful.

Is this only for Lent? Or all of the liturgical year? Goodness, our organist plays while the schola goes to Holy Communion. Also, we sing the communion antiphons (they’ve been set to music by our director, a very competent composer) and these each include an interlude for piano and cello…AND we started doing these to get AWAY from the absolute dreck that’s typically available for Communion songs.

 

[TruthfulReign]

This is only durring Lent where it is prohibited. However if you read the GIRM there are parts of the Mass where there needs to be silence.

 

[grandeorgue]

I will be using either the Jubilate Deo Mass or the Heritage Mass by OCP. That’s probably the only Mass by OCP that doesn’t get on my nerves…

I’ll be doing using the Praise and Honor to the tune of “WONDROUS LOVE” by Stephen Pishner published by GIA Publications.

 

[iblessem]

HERE ARE SOME THINGS WE ARE DOING IN OUR SMALL TOWN PARISH:
The selections below the directives are for our youth mass using Spirit & Song OCP. Our adult choir uses CPC and Spanish Mass have other selections as appropriate, but we are all following the same directives…
I love the silent entrance, followed by the kyrie Eleison while the priest and procession kneel…such a wonderful reverent and beautiful beginning.

Thanks to Bob Hurd, he came by several years ago and gave us a day long inservice and since then we have made it a tradition here. He also has one entrance with liturgical dancers carrying smoke in bowls, and while some loved it, people complained about the smoke. Silence is good.

May God Bless You All…

Dear Ensemble Leaders, et al,

LENT BEGINS on February, 17, 2010 (Ash Wednesday) and goes through the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday (April 1). I’m writing this to you now (because I will be going on vacation Friday of this week for a couple of weeks) to remind you of general norms of the Catholic Church and particular norms for our parishes (which are to be followed at ALL Masses during Lent). New liturgy planning books are in the practice room.

General norms of the Church
• No Gloria during Lent
• No Alleluia during Lent–Please use one of the Lenten gospel acclamations (e.g., “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ…” or “Honor y gloria a ti…”)
• As noted in the Ordo (our diocesan liturgical guide): …musical instruments may be played only to give necessary support to the singing. “It would be advisable for those preparing liturgical celebrations to attend to the purpose rather than the strict letter of this law and determine whether certain instrumental pieces may in the local situation indeed foster the spirit of the Lenten season.”
Norms for our parish
• In keeping with our tradition of the past few years, and in consultation with Fr. Pat, there will be a SILENT ENTRANCE.
• I know some of the groups practice prior to Mass. PLEASE during the Lenten season finish ALL practice 10 minutes prior to the Mass.
• NO PRELUDES during Lent. This is applicable for ALLMasses. It defeats the purpose of ending practice early and having a silent entrance if there is a musical prelude before Mass. Many people are “uncomfortable” with silence, but they will never get “comfortable” with it if they are never in situations where there is silence. Other people are very comfortable with silence and actually find preludes disruptive to their silent prayer/meditation prior to Mass.
• In keeping with this idea of silence, once you’ve finished practicing go to the practice room if you need or want to talk. Again, it is being considerate and courteous to those who are praying in the congregation not to be disturbed by chatting going on in the choir area prior to the Mass.
Thanks for your understandning and cooperation in these simple but significant contributions to our Lenten liturgies.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact me before Friday of this week. After that you will have to wait until Feb 24.

The Third Millennium Singers
6:30 PM SUNDAY NIGHT….2010 YEAR C
Liturgical Music for Lent, 2010 YEAR C

This Lenten Season we will begin mass with a silent procession. We will wait until the celebrant and procession kneel before the altar and then sing SS #3 Penitential Rite for weeks 1- 5-Palm Sunday.

The beginning of our YOUTH Masses will be as follows:
• Prior to the beginning of Mass we need to have 15 minutes of silence and quiet time for prayer … so no practicing or loud talking in the choir area. [Go to practice room if you need to talk or practice a part]
• I should inform/remind the congregation that all will be invited to kneel for the Opening Rites of the Mass—including the Opening Prayer
• I will announce:
“Today is the _# Sunday of Lent. Please kneel silently for our entrance procession and the opening rites.” (Congregation kneels)
• The entrance procession comes from the bastismal font and the celebrant kneels in front of the altar.
• As the celebrant and the procession kneel before the altar we lead the congregation in SS #3 kyrie
• The Gloria is omitted.
• After the Kyrie the procession goes to the altar and the opening prayer is said (with congregation still kneeling).

• Mass proceeds as usual. Minimum accompaniment….no instrumental solos.

• Please note the Alleluia is not sung or spoken during the Lenten Season. Please use the gospel acclamation SS #6 Praise and Honor [Hurd]
• We will use the original Hurd Mass [Beautiful One] for Lent or latin chant. We will practice both and decide which soon.

THIRD MILLENNIUM YOUTH GROUP SINGERS

1ST SUNDAY OF LENT 2/21/2010 YEAR C
Prelude: NONE
Gathering: KNEEL IN SILENCE….SS #3 Kyrie
Gloria: OMIT
RESP.PSALM: RESP/ACCLAIM
GOSPEL ACCL: SS #6 PRAISE AND HONOR
Preparation: SS #195 ON EAGLES WINGS
Mass … BOB HURD MASS [BEAUTIFUL ONE] OR LATIN CHANT
LAMB OF GOD: SS #18 [HURD]
Communion: SS #101 BEYOND THE DAYS
Recessional: SS # 102 BY THE WAKING OF OUR HEARTS

2ND SUNDAY LENT 2/28/2010 YEAR C
Gathering: KNEEL IN SILENCE….SS #3 KYRIE
Gloria:OMIT
RESP. PSALM: RESP. & ACCLAIM
GOSPEL ACCL: SS #6 PRAISE AND HONOR
Preparation: SS # 119 I WILL CHOOSE CHRIST
Mass … BOB HURD MASS [BEAUTIFUL ONE] OR LATIN CHANT
LAMB OF GOD: SS #18 [HURD]
Communion: SS# 61 THE LORD IS MY LIGHT & SS #122 IN THIS PLACE
Recessional: SS #117 HOW CAN I KEEP FROM SINGING

3RD SUNDAY OF LENT 3/7/2010 YEAR
Gathering: KNEEL IN SILENCE…SS #3 KYRIE
Gloria: OMIT
RESP.PSALM: RESP. & ACCLAIM
PREPARATION: SS #122 IN THIS PLACE
Mass … BOB HURD MASS [BEAUTIFUL ONE] OR LATIN CHANT
LAMB OF GOD: SS #18 HURD
Communion: SS #180 HERE I AM & SS #101 BEYOND THE DAYS
Recessional: SS #177 FLY LIKE A BIRD

I SAVE MY MUSIC SELECTIONS FROM YEAR TO YEAR ON COMPUTER SO AS THINGS CHANGE I CAN UPDATE THEM WITHOUT HAVING TO RETYPE THEM.

HOPE THIS HELPS

 

[benedictgal]

Actually, kneeling during the penitential rite is ilicit. Unfortunately, when well-meaning folks come and give seminars, they tend to introduce liturgical innovations that are contrary to what the norms in the Church are. The posture for the penitential Rite is to stand.

Please note what Redemptionis Sacramentum says:

[11.] **The Mystery of the Eucharist “is too great for anyone to permit himself to treat it according to his own whim, so that its sacredness and its universal ordering would be obscured”.27 **On the contrary, anyone who acts thus by giving free rein to his own inclinations, even if he is a Priest, injures the substantial unity of the Roman Rite, which ought to be vigorously preserved,28 and becomes responsible for actions that are in no way consistent with the hunger and thirst for the living God that is experienced by the people today. Nor do such actions serve authentic pastoral care or proper liturgical renewal; instead, they deprive Christ’s faithful of their patrimony and their heritage. For arbitrary actions are not conducive to true renewal,29 but are detrimental to the right of Christ’s faithful to a liturgical celebration that is an expression of the Church’s life in accordance with her tradition and discipline. In the end, they introduce elements of distortion and disharmony into the very celebration of the Eucharist, which is oriented in its own lofty way and by its very nature to signifying and wondrously bringing about the communion of divine life and the unity of the People of God.30 The result is uncertainty in matters of doctrine, perplexity and scandal on the part of the People of God, and, almost as a necessary consequence, vigorous opposition, all of which greatly confuse and sadden many of Christ’s faithful in this age of ours when Christian life is often particularly difficult on account of the inroads of “secularization” as well.31

Liturgical “dance” is also not allowed. Unless you are in a missionary territory where dance is indigenous to the culture of the natives, this kind of activity should not be done in the Western world.

Please note what the CDWDS stated back in 1975:

The dance has never been made an integral part of the official worship of the Latin Church.

Thus, what you are engaging in, as well-meaning as it may sound, is ilicit and should not be done.

 

[benedictgal]

Regarding the posture for the Penitential Rite through the Collect (inclusive of the Entrance), the GIRM states that:

1. The faithful should stand from the beginning of the Entrance chant, or while the priest approaches the altar, until the end of the Collect

The individual who made this suggestion to your parish at your in-service is not an official with the Church, neither does he have the right to invent a practice and suggest it to others.

 

[donr]

Doesn’t “or while the priest approaches the alter” give the priest the authority to kneel on the stairs prior to approaching the alter.

I don’t have a legal degree but I know where you place commas and usage of the words “and” & “or” makes a huge difference.

 

[Phemie]

Doesn’t “or while the priest approaches the alter” give the priest the authority to kneel on the stairs prior to approaching the alter.

I don’t have a legal degree but I know where you place commas and usage of the words “and” & “or” makes a huge difference.

Actually, that is to make the distinction between the time when there is an Entrance Chant and when there isn’t. They have a procession and that IS the priest approaching the altar. You stand for that.

I have to admit that we tried the silent processional and recessional and there was nothing silent about either. Funny how people think they’re free to talk when there is no music or singing at that time.

 

[benedictgal]

Doesn’t “or while the priest approaches the alter” give the priest the authority to kneel on the stairs prior to approaching the alter.

I don’t have a legal degree but I know where you place commas and usage of the words “and” & “or” makes a huge difference.

Standing is the posture proper to the introductory rites. Thus, whoever, is recommending that parishses kneel during the Penitential Rite is going beyond the bounds of what the GIRM states and is inserting his own idiosyncracies here. This is moving into dangerous territory because this violates what the Constitution on Sacred Liturgy states that no one, on his own authority has the right to alter the Mass.

 

[donr]

I agree with what you all have stated.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[TruthfulReign]

I’ve got a question about what I’m being asked to do at my parish.

musical instruments may be played only to give necessary support to the singing. "It would be advisable for those preparing liturgical celebrations to attend to the purpose rather than the strict letter of this law and determine whether certain instrumental pieces may in the local situation indeed foster the spirit of the Lenten season.

Is this permissable? Does it fall within the Lenton purpose or should I mention something, or let it be?

Read below:

"Sunday in Lent, the mass will go as follows…When mass is ready to begin, Fr.will say, from the back, “Good morning/evening”, and

will proceed to invite the assembly to turn to their neighbors and introduce themselves and answer a question that will change from week to week…after a two or three minutes of conversation,

an instrumentalist will begin to play the chords/music to “Be Still”(music also in your mail slot) and the assembly should quiet down.

Then the refrain to “Be Still” is sung by the choir one time.

Then the music is played without singing, and one person confidently speaks the words of Jesus into the mic so that it comes out above the music.

Then the choir sings the refrain to “Be Still” again and so on until the entrance procession is finished.

If you run out of words, just play the refrain instrumentally and then sing the refrain every other time…

This willl take place every Sunday in Lent…"

 

[benedictgal]

I’ve got a question about what I’m being asked to do at my parish.

Is this permissable? Does it fall within the Lenton purpose or should I mention something, or let it be?

Read below:

"Sunday in Lent, the mass will go as follows…When mass is ready to begin, Fr.will say, from the back, “Good morning/evening”, and

will proceed to invite the assembly to turn to their neighbors and introduce themselves and answer a question that will change from week to week…after a two or three minutes of conversation,

an instrumentalist will begin to play the chords/music to “Be Still”(music also in your mail slot) and the assembly should quiet down.

Then the refrain to “Be Still” is sung by the choir one time.

Then the music is played without singing, and one person confidently speaks the words of Jesus into the mic so that it comes out above the music.

Then the choir sings the refrain to “Be Still” again and so on until the entrance procession is finished.

If you run out of words, just play the refrain instrumentally and then sing the refrain every other time…

This willl take place every Sunday in Lent…"

Actually, this is not licit. Unfortunately, Lent and Holy Week are hotbeds of experimentation. This is sad.

This is what Paschale Solemnitatis states:

1. “In Lent, the altar should not be decorated with flowers, and musical instruments may be played only to give necessary support to the singing.” [20] This is in order that the penitential character of the season be preserved.

…19. The chants to be sung in celebrations, especially of the Eucharist, and also at devotional exercises should be in harmony with the spirit of the season and the liturgical texts.

…23. The first Sunday of Lent marks the beginning of the annual lenten observance. [25] In the Mass of this Sunday, there should be some distinctive elements that underline this important moment (e.g., the entrance procession with litanies of the saints).

From Musicam Sacram:

1. The playing of these same instruments as solos is not permitted in Advent, Lent, during the Sacred Triduum and in the Offices and Masses of the Dead.

That sounds like what you are doing. According to the documents, this should not be done. The penitential nature of Lent needs to be respected.

Furthermore, the Mass does not begin with “Good morning” nor does it begin with meaningless conversation. We are there to converse with God and He with us. To do so introduces a secular element into the Mass that does not belong there. It also totally misses the veritical dimension of the Mass and places undue emphasis on the horizontal. Instead, the Mass begins with the priest saying “In the name of the Father…”. We need to use the greetings and texts of the Church and not invent and insert our own rituals.

 

[TruthfulReign]

Ok, that is what I was thinking. I will bring this up with the music leaders and pastor.

 

[benedictgal]

This is a rather lengthy quote from Redemptionis Sacramentum, but, it augments what I had posted in my previous reply:

[4.] "Certainly the liturgical reform inaugurated by the Council has greatly contributed to a more conscious, active and fruitful participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar on the part of the faithful."10 Even so, “shadows are not lacking”.11 In this regard it is not possible to be silent about the abuses, even quite grave ones, against the nature of the Liturgy and the Sacraments as well as the tradition and the authority of the Church, which in our day not infrequently plague liturgical celebrations in one ecclesial environment or another. In some places the perpetration of liturgical abuses has become almost habitual, a fact which obviously cannot be allowed and must cease.

[5.] The observance of the norms published by the authority of the Church requires conformity of thought and of word, of external action and of the application of the heart. A merely external observation of norms would obviously be contrary to the nature of the Sacred Liturgy, in which Christ Himself wishes to gather His Church, so that together with Himself she will be “one body and one spirit”.12 For this reason, external action must be illuminated by faith and charity, which unite us with Christ and with one another and engender love for the poor and the abandoned. **The liturgical words and rites, moreover, are a faithful expression, matured over the centuries, of the understanding of Christ, and they teach us to think as He Himself does;13 by conforming our minds to these words, we raise our hearts to the Lord. **All that is said in this Instruction is directed toward such a conformity of our own understanding with that of Christ, as expressed in the words and the rites of the Liturgy.

[6.] For abuses “contribute to the obscuring of the Catholic faith and doctrine concerning this wonderful sacrament”.14 Thus, **they also hinder the faithful from “re-living in a certain way the experience of the two disciples of Emmaus: ‘and their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him’”.**15 For in the presence of God’s power and divinity16 and the splendor of His goodness, made manifest especially in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, it is fitting that all the faithful should have and put into practice that power of acknowledging God’s majesty that they have received through the saving Passion of the Only-Begotten Son.17

[7.] Not infrequently, abuses are rooted in a false understanding of liberty. Yet God has not granted us in Christ an illusory liberty by which we may do what we wish, but a liberty by which we may do that which is fitting and right.18 This is true not only of precepts coming directly from God, but also of laws promulgated by the Church, with appropriate regard for the nature of each norm. For this reason, all should conform to the ordinances set forth by legitimate ecclesiastical authority.

[8.] It is therefore to be noted with great sadness that “ecumenical initiatives which are well-intentioned, nevertheless indulge at times in Eucharistic practices contrary to the discipline by which the Church expresses her faith”. Yet the Eucharist “is too great a gift to tolerate ambiguity or depreciation”. It is therefore necessary that some things be corrected or more clearly delineated so that in this respect as well “the Eucharist will continue to shine forth in all its radiant mystery”.19

[9.] Finally, abuses are often based on ignorance, in that they involve a rejection of those elements whose deeper meaning is not understood and whose antiquity is not recognized. For “the liturgical prayers, orations and songs are pervaded by the inspiration and impulse” of the Sacred Scriptures themselves, “and it is from these that the actions and signs receive their meaning”.20 As for the visible signs “which the Sacred Liturgy uses in order to signify the invisible divine realities, they have been chosen by Christ or by the Church”.21 Finally, the structures and forms of the sacred celebrations according to each of the Rites of both East and West are in harmony with the practice of the universal Church also as regards practices received universally from apostolic and unbroken tradition,22 which it is the Church’s task to transmit faithfully and carefully to future generations. All these things are wisely safeguarded and protected by the liturgical norms.

Inasmuch as this does not specifically spell things out, such innovations were never envisioned by the Church or else they would have been included in the GIRM and in the other authoritative documents of the Holy See that govern liturgy. As Pope Benedict XVI has said on numerous occasions, the Mass is not something that we “cobble up” for ourselves. We need to receive the norms and rubrics with humility and not try to change things around based on our own idiosyncracies.