MERGED: If I don't sing, have I failed to participate in the Mass?/Singing at Mass

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SecretaryMonday

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Sometimes the music looks too difficult to attempt a cappella, other times it may be a song that I hate. If I don’t sing the hymns selected, have I failed to participate fully in the Mass?
 
No, you have not failed to participate. Active participation can be through the act of singing or speaking or simply by listening. We all actively participate in the Liturgy of the Word when the lector is reading. The same is applied to sung parts of the Liturgy.
 
I say that if you are conscious enough to be thinking the song is hard or that you don’t like it then you are mentally engaged enough to be “participating”.

That said…

I’m a choir member and sometimes I have to sing songs I dislike because it’s my “job”.
And sometimes when I’m visiting other parishes there will be a song I don’t know. I don’t read music well but I usually try to muddle my way through by looking at the notes (if provided) and trying to listen to the other people. And I sing very quietly.
 
I believe some people add to the mass by subtracting their voices. Me included. 😛
 
SecretaryMonday said:
Sometimes the music looks too difficult to attempt a cappella, other times it may be a song that I hate. If I don’t sing the hymns selected, have I failed to participate fully in the Mass?
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If you aren’t singing because you don’t know the song, but you are reading or listening to the text, or praying, that’s participating. If you are willfully refusing to participate because you don’t like the song, that might be an issue of pride that needs addressing.
 
pollynova said:
I believe some people add to the mass by subtracting their voices. Me included. 😛
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You sound like my Dad. He actually loved the idea of singing, just could carry a tune, Nevertheless, always managed to sing O Tannenbaum each Christmas somewhere. We encouraged the bathroom!

That being said, to respond to the OP, no you do not have to sing to participate in Mass. I love to sing and sometimes run into a new hymn that is difficult, so I hum my way through a few verses while reading the words and trying to follow the notes.

I do think it might be useful to read the hymn that is being sung. Usually they are selected based upon some connection to the days celebration, often the readings. Hymns are constructed leading to a complete theological or spiritual thought (which is why we sometimes sing all the verses). Kind of depends upon your Pastor/music director and/or liturgist as to how well that is done,
 
I’m not the best singer in the world, but I participate because it keeps me focused and active. If I don’t sing, my mind tends to wander. Plus, I don’t believe the Lord cares if one can’t carry a tune.
 
SecretaryMonday said:
Sometimes the music looks too difficult to attempt a cappella, other times it may be a song that I hate. If I don’t sing the hymns selected, have I failed to participate fully in the Mass?
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My two cents.:twocents:

To actively participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass requires that you focus closely upon the Mass itself and what is happening on the altar and to do so prayerfully. To sing is not an absolute requirement. In years gone by some could actively participate via the Rosary as it helped them to remain close to God and concentrate upon what was happening on the altar.

There are times when I find the music to be a distraction from my participation. (Such as a communion hymn that interferes with my concentration.)

I have more cents but I don’t want to begin to ramble …
 
SecretaryMonday said:
Sometimes the music looks too difficult to attempt a cappella, other times it may be a song that I hate. If I don’t sing the hymns selected, have I failed to participate fully in the Mass?
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no. John Paul II said this about participating at Mass:

Yet active participation does not preclude the active passivity of silence, stillness and listening: indeed, it demands it. Worshippers are not passive, for instance, when listening to the readings or the homily, or following the prayers of the celebrant, and the chants and music of the liturgy. These are experiences of silence and stillness, but they are in their own way profoundly active. In a culture which neither favors nor fosters meditative quiet, the art of interior listening is learned only with difficulty. Here we see how the liturgy, though it must always be properly inculturated, must also be counter-cultural.
 
I never sing at mass. I’m usually focusing on the lyrics and usually “meditating” on what’s happening. I also tend to pray also. Concentration and contemplation is participation… I think :o
 
SecretaryMonday said:
Sometimes the music looks too difficult to attempt a cappella, other times it may be a song that I hate. If I don’t sing the hymns selected, have I failed to participate fully in the Mass?
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From the Catechism of Pope St.Pius X:
The Way to Assist at Mass

15 Q. What is required in order to assist at Holy Mass well and profitably?
A. To assist at Holy Mass well and profitably two things are necessary: (1) Modesty of person and (2) Devotion of heart.

16 Q. In what does modesty of person consist?
A. Modesty of person consists especially in being modestly dressed, in observing silence and recollection and, as far as possible, in remaining kneeling, except during the time of the two Gospels which are heard standing.

17 Q. In hearing Holy Mass which is the best way to practise true devotion?
A. In hearing Holy Mass the best way to practise true devotion is the following: (1) From the very beginning to unite our intention with that of the priest, offering the Holy Sacrifice to God for the ends for which it was instituted. (2) To accompany the priest in each prayer and action of the Sacrifice. (3) To meditate on the passion and death of Jesus Christ And to heartily detest our sins, which have been the cause of them. (4) To go to Communion, or at least to make a spiritual Communion while the priest communicates.

18 Q. What is spiritual Communion?
A. Spiritual Communion is a great desire to be united sacramentally with Jesus Christ. saying, for example: “My Lord Jesus Christ, I desire with my whole heart to be united with Thee now and forever;” and then make the same acts that are to be made before and after sacramental Communion.

19 Q. Does the recitation of the Rosary or other prayers during Mass prevent us from hearing it with profit?
A. The recitation of the Rosary and other prayers during Mass does not prevent us from hearing it with profit, provided we try As far as possible to follow the parts of the Holy Sacrifice.

20 Q. Is it advisable to pray for others while assisting at Mass?
A. Yes it is advisable to pray for others while assisting at Mass; nay more, the time of Holy Mass is the most suitable of all times to pray for the living and the dead.

21 Q. What should we do after Mass?
A. After Mass we should give God thanks for having allowed us to assist at this great Sacrifice, and we should ask pardon for All the faults we may have committed while assisting at it.
 
Allegra said:
If you aren’t singing because you don’t know the song, but you are reading or listening to the text, or praying, that’s participating. If you are willfully refusing to participate because you don’t like the song, that might be an issue of pride that needs addressing.
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I could only see it as being pride if it distracts from the sacrifice. If you choose not to sing because you don’t like the song, I don’t see the problem with that as long as you are staying focused on the sacrifice.
 
Thanks, everyone, for your responses, particularly for the references to the catechism and encyclicals (which I probably could have consulted if I did my own homework. :p)

Allegra: I would not be a bit surprised if it was pride that was interfering.
ChurchSoldier said:
Just curious, why did this question come up?
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I found an examination of conscience that asked if I fully and actively participated when I attended Mass, and I thought, “Well, sometimes I don’t sing…”
 
pollynova said:
I believe some people add to the mass by subtracting their voices. Me included. 😛
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I find that a disappointing point of view. The commandment tells us to “make a joyful noise” - it doesn’t say anything about singing on key. I don’t think anyone should ever be discouraged from singing at Mass just because they can’t hold a tune.
 
pollynova said:
I believe some people add to the mass by subtracting their voices. Me included. 😛
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This morning, I attended the Divine Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite for our All Souls Saturday. It was a small crowd; even our cantor was absent. It was just me and a couple of my children, my dad, another elderly gentleman, and the priest. Sadly, I get my singing abilities from my dad. The Byzantine Divine Liturgy is entirely sung, acapella. Ouch. I asked my Dad afterward if he thought that God even recognized what was coming form the pews as singing. Still, we sang. What else could we do. And we prayed with our singing.

There is a famous quote by St. Augustine: “He who sings, prays twice.” Fr. Z has pointed out that the Latin actually says, “He who sings well prays twice”. Of course, it is more nuanced than any out of context quote can get across:
Qui enim cantat laudem, non solum laudat, sed etiam hilariter laudat; qui cantat laudem, non solum cantat, sed et amat eum quem cantat. In laude confitentis est praedicatio, in cantico amantis affectio
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…For he who sings praise, does not only praise, but also praises joyfully; he who sings praise, not only sings, but also loves Him whom he is singing about/to/for. There is a praise-filled public proclamation (praedicatio
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) in the praise of someone who is confessing/acknowledging (God), in the song of the lover (there is) love.
This is a very interesting passage. Augustine is saying that when the praise is of God, then something happens to the song of the praiser/love that makes it more than just any kind of song. The object of the song/love in a way becomes the subject. Something happens so that the song itself becomes Love in its manifestation of love of the one who truly is Love itself.
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