Music that does not divide

[japhy]

For one thing, she desires that the actual texts of the Mass be sung as the ideal (including the Propers as well as the Ordinary), rather than singing songs at Mass. The 4-hymn Mass is not the Catholic ideal and never has been, and we should move away from it (note I don’t say abandon it).

What’s peculiar is that “Music in Catholic Worship”, the mostly misguided document on Catholic music in the US from 1973, had this to say about the 4-hymn Mass:
52. Two patterns formerly served as the basis for creating and planning liturgy. One was “High Mass” with its five movements, sung Ordinary and fourfold sung Proper. The other was the four-hymn “Low Mass” format that grew out of the Instruction on Sacred Music of 1958. The four-hymn pattern developed in the context of a Latin Mass which could accommodate song in the vernacular only at certain points. It is now outdated, and the Mass has more than a dozen parts that may be sung, as well as numerous options for the celebrant. Each of these parts must be understood according to its proper nature and function.
And yet the four-hymn Mass became the “popular norm” again!

 

[brotherhrolf]

May I ask who the builder was, if you happen to know?

Reuters.

 

[brotherhrolf]

What’s peculiar is that “Music in Catholic Worship”, the mostly misguided document on Catholic music in the US from 1973, had this to say about the 4-hymn Mass:52. Two patterns formerly served as the basis for creating and planning liturgy. One was “High Mass” with its five movements, sung Ordinary and fourfold sung Proper. The other was the four-hymn “Low Mass” format that grew out of the Instruction on Sacred Music of 1958. The four-hymn pattern developed in the context of a Latin Mass which could accommodate song in the vernacular only at certain points. It is now outdated, and the Mass has more than a dozen parts that may be sung, as well as numerous options for the celebrant. Each of these parts must be understood according to its proper nature and function.And yet the four-hymn Mass became the “popular norm” again!

But we’re not singing anything that even remotely resembles what we sang in 1960. I haven’t heard Holy God We Praise Thy Name in years and years yet they used it at St. Pat’s for the HF. What happened to those oldies but goodies that everyone sang?

 

[DiZent]

But we’re not singing anything that even remotely resembles what we sang in 1960. I haven’t heard Holy God We Praise Thy Name in years and years yet they used it at St. Pat’s for the HF. What happened to those oldies but goodies that everyone sang?

Brotherhrolf,
They sang Holy God We Praise Thy Name at (that other Papal Mass we’re not supposed to mention). It was one of the preludes, sang in English and German. And Alleluia, Sing to Jesus was the recessional. We sing both at my parish - and the handbell choir plays a descant accompaniment.

 

[brotherhrolf]

I loved the handbell choirs! We use the handbells a lot on major feast days. My favorite is using them for the Gloria on Holy Saturday (or Holy Thursday for that matter). We use them on Easter Sunday morning as well.

 

[PaixGioiaAmor]

Reuters.

Thank you. We are contemplating an organ project currently.

 

[GemmaRose]

That’s quite the scathing indictment of people who worship God in the same manner as numerous saints of the past few centuries.
Saints don’t insist that their way is the only way. Heck, I’m really far from being a saint & I’ve never said my way is the only way. I have consistently said there should be a good mix of styles, or that there should be one Mass with more “traditional” music & one with more contemporary for those who desire one or the other as an aid to worship.

Well, when you call it “wallowing”, I don’t want to “wallow” in English either.

However, as the Church has written, singing the ordinary of Mass in Latin should be expected of the faithful,
Twelve years of Catholic School & I wasn’t taught one whit of Latin! Go figure.

Gregorian chant is the model for sacred music (and should have pride of place), and there are some parts of Mass where it is perfectly acceptable for the choir to sing and not the congregation. I’m not making this stuff up.
You are correct. However, I’ve experienced Masses where the choir was so grand & sung such hymns & propers that the congregation was reduced to croaking out an “Amen.” This is performance art, not liturgical music.

Also, you are making “worship” subjective by saying “worship is not X (but it could be for some people)”… then worship could simultaneously be “X” and “not X” at the same time! Perhaps you meant “For me, worship is not wallowing in Latin”.
Different people are moved to worship by different things. John might be moved to worship by Gregorian chant, Mary by Latin, Tom by hymns written in the 1950’s & Barbara by more contemporary music. We are all different.

I would add that it’s not just having our minds and hearts moved to God, but lifted out of this world as well. That’s why Gregorian chant is different from secular music, because it isn’t like secular music. The song you mentioned below, “Our God is an Awesome God”, has this line: “When He rolls up His sleeves, He ain’t just puttin’ on the Ritz”. Sorry, but that’s just not appropriate language for the Mass (although the way some priests celebrate Mass these days, perhaps that distinction has been lost).
Again, I agree with you & did not advocate using “Our God is an Awesome God” liturgically. I mentioned it because, as I said, it’s not that it makes people “feel good” but that it moves some people to worship God. Not all worship of God takes place at Mass.

As for “Shout to the Lord”, I think the style of the music is more the issue here. Christian Contemporary Music is, by and large, religious texts sung to secular tunes.
So it was with classical pieces written a couple of centuries ago. Sacred music mirrored the musical style of the day.

I can think of numerous traditional hymns of love and praise. I’m also quite confident that most of the Ordinary and Propers of the Mass deal with love and praise. (But when’s the last time you heard the Propers of the Mass sung?) The quote is from here. A funeral is reverent out of respect for God and the deceased. Mass should be reverent out of respect for God and the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. Would we pay more respect and show more solemnity for a mere human than for the God-Man who saves us?

“Reverent” and “solemn” don’t mean joy-less, by the way.
But in reality, joylessness is what is conveyed & experienced in too many, if not most, Masses. (Come on, let’s be real… Walk into any parish on a Sunday morning & most people’s faces look as if their best friend just died!) I would modify your above sentence to read “Mass should be reverent out of respect for God & the death of His Son Jesus Christ AND joy-filled because of His Resurrection.”

Mighty fine selection there, Gemma. Here’s the FULL index of hymns. “Day of Wrath! Day of Mourning!” is an English translation of Dies irae, dies illa, a 13th century Latin hymn used at funeral (requiem) Masses. I would guess “O Day of Mourning” is another translation and setting of the hymn.
Of the song titles contained in the Adoremus hymnal, not all of which I know (of 176, I know about 100), there are some hymns which I consider to be very beautiful, very moving (Adoro Te Devote comes to mind first), but it is not a good hymnal IMO because it does not take into account too many different kinds of music. I’m sure there would be many who could look at it and find few things to inspire them.

Here are some pleasant titles from the “Breaking Bread” hymnal… “Ashes”, “Funeral Litany”, “Song of Farewell”, “We Feel the Weight of Sadness Lord”. Of course, if you take these titles out of context, and you take the hymns out of their context, you don’t get the right picture.
Okay. Got me there.

I don’t think people sang that music to feel miserable, I think they sang it because it was born out of their misery and elevated their minds to the mercy of God, which they prayed would reign over His justice.
True. But you know what does that for me? “Loving and Forgiving” Many others feel the same. All I’m saying is: One way is not the only way.

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*“Dear God, do You know the greatest grief one of Your creatures can bear? It is the thought that she can never love You enough. ” *- St. Gemma Galgani

 

[ProVobis]

So, do you think Thomas Aquinas would agree with you…just a performance?

Good rule of thumb: where applause is allowed or encouraged, then, yes, there basically is a performance. Slam-dunk argument if you ask me.

 

[MrS]

Good rule of thumb: where applause is allowed or encouraged, then, yes, there basically is a performance. Slam-dunk argument if you ask me.

I can live with that:thumbsup:

 

[ProVobis]

Like in Pipe Organ?

Looks like most of them went Protestant. You can count on your fingers all the pipe organ pieces played in Catholic Churches on youtube.

 

[DiZent]

That’s where we must look at the tradition and history of sacred music in the Church, and we must think with the mind of the Church. A composer who understands why the Church calls Gregorian chant the permanent standard and supreme model, and why she considers sacred polyphony also especially suited to the liturgy, such a composer will understand how to compose modern music which draws on those very qualities which make chant and polyphony the pinnacle of Catholic liturgical music.

Rest assured that nobody is calling for an end to contemporary music. But people are calling for contemporary music that is more in line with what the Church desires. For one thing, she desires that the actual texts of the Mass be sung as the ideal (including the Propers as well as the Ordinary), rather than singing songs at Mass. The 4-hymn Mass is not the Catholic ideal and never has been, and we should move away from it (note I don’t say abandon it).

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly are the Mass “Propers” and “Ordinary”. We usually have the 4 hymns - Entrance, Offeratory, Communion & Recessional - sometimes a Prelude and a second Communion Hymn. We also sing the Gloria, the Responsorial Psalm, the Gospel Acclamation (Alleluia), the Memorial Acclamation & the Great Amen, and we sing the Kyrie during Lent. I haven’t heard the Mass parts called “Propers” and “Ordinary” before.

 

[japhy]

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly are the Mass “Propers” and “Ordinary”. We usually have the 4 hymns - Entrance, Offeratory, Communion & Recessional - sometimes a Prelude and a second Communion Hymn. We also sing the Gloria, the Responsorial Psalm, the Gospel Acclamation (Alleluia), the Memorial Acclamation & the Great Amen, and we sing the Kyrie during Lent. I haven’t heard the Mass parts called “Propers” and “Ordinary” before.

The propers are the entrance antiphon (introit), the responsorial psalm or gradual, the alleluia verse or tract, the offertory antiphon, and the communion antiphon. (Technically included in the propers would be the prayers and readings of that day, but those don’t belong to the choir.)

The ordinary is the parts of Mass that do not change from day to day: the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Credo, the Sanctus (“Holy, Holy, Holy”), the Agnus Dei. You could also include the Memorial Acclamation (in the middle of the Eucharistic Prayer), the Amen (at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer), and the Pater Noster (“Our Father”).

See, hymns at the entrance, the offertory, and communion are taking the place of the texts assigned for that day. It’s a legitimate option, but it’s the last option… the first option is to do what’s “proper”: sing the propers!

You can see the propers in PDF from the 1974 (yes, that’s the Novus Ordo!) Graduale Romanum here.

 

[VociMike]

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly are the Mass “Propers” and “Ordinary”. We usually have the 4 hymns - Entrance, Offeratory, Communion & Recessional - sometimes a Prelude and a second Communion Hymn. We also sing the Gloria, the Responsorial Psalm, the Gospel Acclamation (Alleluia), the Memorial Acclamation & the Great Amen, and we sing the Kyrie during Lent. I haven’t heard the Mass parts called “Propers” and “Ordinary” before.

The Ordinary is those parts of the Mass that remain the same every day. In particular, the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. Both in Gregorian chant settings and polyphonic settings all of these parts (except, often, the Credo, for reasons I don’t know) will be presented as a single Mass.

The Propers are the prayers which change at each Mass. Thus one can speak of e.g. the Propers of Palm Sunday. They are the Introit (at the beginning of Mass), Gradual (after the first reading), Alleluia (before the gospel), Offertory and Communion. In order of preference these are the most preferred songs at Mass, because they form a unified whole for each Mass. They can also be recited by the priest.

Just to give you an example, here are the Propers for last Sunday:

Introit
Sing to the Lord a new song, alleluia; for the Lord has accomplished wonderous deeds, alleluia: he has revealed his justice in the sight of the Gentiles, alleluia, alleluia. His right hand and his holy arm have given him victory.

First Alleluia (replaces the Gradual for Easter)
Alleluia, the right hand of the Lord has done valiantly; the right hand of the Lord has lifted me up.

Alleluia
Alleluia, Christ has been raised from the dead and will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.

Offertory
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; shout with joy to God, all the earth; sing a psalm in honour of his name; come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what great things the Lord has done for my soul, alleluia.

Communion
Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me? Philip, he who sees me, sees the Father. Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? Alleluia, alleluia.

 

[GemmaRose]

My other remark (remembered it too late to edit the previous post) is that we all have a tendency to make worship what we want it to be, rather than what the Church wants it to be. Letting the Church guide our worship is an act of humility.

What is “the Church”? Who is “the Church”? From the CCC:

ARTICLE 9
“I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH”

Paragraph 2. The Church—People of God, Body of Christ, Temple of the Holy Spirit

I. The Church—People of God

781 “At all times and in every race, anyone who fears God and does what is right has been acceptable to him. He has, however, willed to make men holy and save them, not as individuals without any bond or link between them, but rather to make them into a people who might acknowledge him and serve him in holiness. He therefore chose the Israelite race to be his own people and established a covenant with it. He gradually instructed this people… All these things, however, happened as a preparation for and figure of that new and perfect covenant which was to be ratified in Christ… the New Covenant in his blood; he called together a race made up of Jews and Gentiles which would be one, not according to the flesh, but in the Spirit.”

Characteristics of the People of God

782 The People of God is marked by characteristics that clearly distinguish it from all other religious, ethnic, political, or cultural groups found in history:

• It is the People of God: God is not the property of any one people. But he acquired a people for himself from those who previously were not a people: “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.”
• One becomes a member of this people not by a physical birth, but by being “born anew,” a birth “of water and the Spirit,” that is, by faith in Christ, and Baptism.
• This People has for its Head Jesus the Christ (the anointed, the Messiah). Because the same anointing, the Holy Spirit, flows from the head into the body, this is “the messianic people.”
• “The status of this people is that of the dignity and freedom of the sons of God, in whose hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in a temple.”
  Does this not include the dignity & freedom to know & to choose what type of music leads us to prayer & worship, especially since there are no mandates, only suggestions, regarding such matters?
• “Its law is the new commandment to love as Christ loved us.” This is the “new” law of the Holy Spirit.
• Its mission is to be salt of the earth and light of the world. This people is “a most sure seed of unity, hope, and salvation for the whole human race.”
• Its destiny, finally, “is the Kingdom of God which has been begun by God himself on earth and which must be further extended until it has been brought to perfection by him at the end of time.”
  We are still a work in progress.

CHAPTER TWO
THE SACRAMENTAL CELEBRATION OF THE PASCHAL MYSTERY

ARTICLE 1
CELEBRATING THE CHURCH’S LITURGY

Singing and music

1156 “The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as a combination of sacred music and words, it forms a necessary or integral part of solemn liturgy.” The composition and singing of inspired psalms, often accompanied by musical instruments, were already closely linked to the liturgical celebrations of the Old Covenant. The Church continues and develops this tradition: “Address… one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart.” “He who sings prays twice.”
NOTE 1: “musical instruments” - no mention of nor limitation to pipe organs, nor mandate that they are the only instruments which may be used.
NOTE 2: “The Church continues & develops this tradition” - i.e., not static nor set in stone.

1157 Song and music fulfill their function as signs in a manner all the more significant when they are “more closely connected . . . with the liturgical action,” according to three principal criteria: beauty expressive of prayer, the unanimous participation of the assembly at the designated moments, and the solemn character of the celebration. In this way they participate in the purpose of the liturgical words and actions: the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful:

How I wept, deeply moved by your hymns, songs, and the voices that echoed through your Church! What emotion I experienced in them! Those sounds flowed into my ears, distilling the truth in my heart. A feeling of devotion surged within me, and tears streamed down my face—tears that did me good.24

1158 The harmony of signs (song, music, words, and actions) is all the more expressive and fruitful when expressed in the cultural richness of the People of God who celebrate. Hence “religious singing by the faithful is to be intelligently fostered so that in devotions and sacred exercises as well as in liturgical services,” in conformity with the Church’s norms, “the voices of the faithful may be heard.” But "the texts intended to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine. Indeed they should be drawn chiefly from the Sacred Scripture and from liturgical sources."Does this even need comment?

(Had to remove footnote numbers since post had too many characters.)

---

*“Dear God, do You know the greatest grief one of Your creatures can bear? It is the thought that she can never love You enough.” *- St. Gemma Galgani

 

[japhy]

What is “the Church”? Who is “the Church”?

We can’t think apart from (i.e. outside) the Church and then impose that thinking upon the Church. In other words, I can’t impose my preferred prayers on the Church’s corporate worship in the Mass: I can’t pray my version of the Our Father instead of the one prescribed by the Church.

As for paragraph 1158:The harmony of signs (song, music, words, and actions) is all the more expressive and fruitful when expressed in the cultural richness of the People of God who celebrate. Hence “religious singing by the faithful is to be intelligently fostered so that in devotions and sacred exercises as well as in liturgical services,” in conformity with the Church’s norms, “the voices of the faithful may be heard.” But “the texts intended to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine. Indeed they should be drawn chiefly from the Sacred Scripture and from liturgical sources.”
I’ve highlighted a part you might have missed (and the only part my blinders allow me to see). Where are those norms? Well, they’re not in the Catechism. The Church teaches more about music than is encompassed by those three paragraphs in the Catechism.

 

[DiZent]

The propers are the entrance antiphon (introit), the responsorial psalm or gradual, the alleluia verse or tract, the offertory antiphon, and the communion antiphon. (Technically included in the propers would be the prayers and readings of that day, but those don’t belong to the choir.)

The ordinary is the parts of Mass that do not change from day to day: the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Credo, the Sanctus (“Holy, Holy, Holy”), the Agnus Dei. You could also include the Memorial Acclamation (in the middle of the Eucharistic Prayer), the Amen (at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer), and the Pater Noster (“Our Father”).

See, hymns at the entrance, the offertory, and communion are taking the place of the texts assigned for that day. It’s a legitimate option, but it’s the last option… the first option is to do what’s “proper”: sing the propers!

You can see the propers in PDF from the 1974 (yes, that’s the Novus Ordo!) Graduale Romanum here.

Thanks for explaining. I had forgotten to include the Holy, Holy, Holy and the Lamb of God. We don’t sing the Our Father or the Creed. I remember seeing the antiphons when we used the missalette.

 

[VociMike]

OK, you’ve convinced me. Any form of music is OK at Mass, as long as the lyrics aren’t heretical. That’s what you ultimately want, isn’t it? Because it is assuredly what your approach will ultimately get (and sooner than you might think).

BTW, I’m fascinated that you extracted your views (confirmed them, rather) from a few lines in the Catechism rather than going to the many Church documents on sacred music. That’s a new one on me.

 

[GemmaRose]

• From your posts, I would agree. You seem to have a stong preference for the horizontal in the liturgy. That makes little or no sense at all, yet many Catholics and most Protestants will agree with you.
  Subjective. Subjective. Subjective. What is “horizontal” in your opinion is “vertical” in the opinion of many others.
• Same with a baseball game, or a kids soccer match. However, at these events distractions and ongoing “interaction” with those around you is part of the event. So it is with Mass. Mass is not just “me and Jesus”!! The purpose of the event is, at best, only equal to the “active participation” of the audience. We are supposed to be “actively participating” at Mass.

Allow me to quote from the CCC:

ARTICLE 1
CELEBRATING THE CHURCH’S LITURGY

I. Who Celebrates?

1136 Liturgy is an “action” of the whole Christ (Christus totus). Those who even now celebrate it without signs are already in the heavenly liturgy, where celebration is wholly communion and feast.
…

The celebrants of the sacramental liturgy

1140 It is the whole community, the Body of Christ united with its Head, that celebrates. “Liturgical services are not private functions but are celebrations of the Church which is ‘the sacrament of unity,’ namely, the holy people united and organized under the authority of the bishops. Therefore, liturgical services pertain to the whole Body of the Church. They manifest it, and have effects upon it. But they touch individual members of the Church in different ways, depending on their orders, their role in the liturgical services, and their actual participation in them.” For this reason, “rites which are meant to be celebrated in common, with the faithful present and actively participating, should as far as possible be celebrated in that way rather than by an individual and quasi-privately.”

1141 The celebrating assembly is the community of the baptized who, “by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated to be a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, that through all the works of Christian men they may offer spiritual sacrifices.” This “common priesthood” is that of Christ the sole priest, in which all his members participate:

Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy, and to which the Christian people, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people,” have a right and an obligation by reason of their Baptism.

• The concern of the posters here who disagree with you is that focus on the sanctuary and the Mass should not be “tested” with distractions that we ourselves innitiate.
• If we could agree that it is more about Him, and less about us, we could probably agree on a liturgy full of reverence, and not subjected to our desires for the horizontal… at the sacrifice of the vertical liturgy due to the Lord.

I submit that the posters who disagree with me distract themselves! There was even a post in a similar thread of someone who walked out of a Mass because of the Opening Song! If that’s not focusing on oneself and not Him than I don’t know what is.

And your judgment or opinion of what is “vertical” and what is “horizontal” is just that - your opinion and thus subjective. What is “vertical” for me may be “horizontal” for you and vice versa, which is why I have posted ad nauseum, that I advocate a mix and a choice.

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*“Dear God, do You know the greatest grief one of Your creatures can bear? It is the thought that she can never love You enough. ” *- St. Gemma Galgani

 

[benedictgal]

We can’t think apart from (i.e. outside) the Church and then impose that thinking upon the Church. In other words, I can’t impose my preferred prayers on the Church’s corporate worship in the Mass: I can’t pray my version of the Our Father instead of the one prescribed by the Church.

As for paragraph 1158:The harmony of signs (song, music, words, and actions) is all the more expressive and fruitful when expressed in the cultural richness of the People of God who celebrate. Hence “religious singing by the faithful is to be intelligently fostered so that in devotions and sacred exercises as well as in liturgical services,” in conformity with the Church’s norms, “the voices of the faithful may be heard.” But “the texts intended to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine. Indeed they should be drawn chiefly from the Sacred Scripture and from liturgical sources.”
I’ve highlighted a part you might have missed (and the only part my blinders allow me to see). Where are those norms? Well, they’re not in the Catechism. The Church teaches more about music than is encompassed by those three paragraphs in the Catechism.

That was well said, japhy. The Catechism does not govern the Liturgy. The GIRM and Redemptionis Sacramentum do, with their basis found in the Constitution on Sacred Liturgy. Musica Sacram also plays an important role, since the document indicates that:

1. Musical instruments can be very useful in sacred celebrations, whether they accompany the singing or whether they are played as solo instruments.
   "The pipe organ is to be held in high esteem in the Latin Church, since it is its traditional instrument, the sound of which can add a wonderful splendor to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lift up men’s minds to God and higher things.

"The use of other instruments may also be admitted in divine worship, given the decision and consent of the competent territorial authority, provided that the instruments are suitable for sacred use, or can be adapted to it, that they are in keeping with the dignity of the temple, and truly contribute to the edification of the faithful."43

1. In permitting and using musical instruments, the culture and traditions of individual peoples must be taken into account. However, those instruments which are, by common opinion and use, suitable for secular music only, are to be altogether prohibited from every liturgical celebration and from popular devotions.44

Furthermore, in his Chirograph on Sacred Music, Pope John Paul II notes that:

1. In continuity with the teachings of St Pius X and the Second Vatican Council, it is necessary first of all to emphasize that music destined for sacred rites must have holiness as its reference point: indeed, “sacred music increases in holiness to the degree that it is intimately linked with liturgical action”[11]. For this very reason, “not all without distinction that is outside the temple (profanum) is fit to cross its threshold”, my venerable Predecessor Paul VI wisely said, commenting on a Decree of the Council of Trent[12]. And he explained that “if music - instrumental and vocal - does not possess at the same time the sense of prayer, dignity and beauty, it precludes the entry into the sphere of the sacred and the religious”[13]. Today, moreover, the meaning of the category “sacred music” has been broadened to include repertoires that cannot be part of the celebration without violating the spirit and norms of the Liturgy itself.

St Pius X’s reform aimed specifically at purifying Church music from the contamination of profane theatrical music that in many countries had polluted the repertoire and musical praxis of the Liturgy. In our day too, careful thought, as I emphasized in the Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, should be given to the fact that not all the expressions of figurative art or of music are able “to express adequately the mystery grasped in the fullness of the Church’s faith”[14]. Consequently, not all forms of music can be considered suitable for liturgical celebrations.

1. Again at the practical level, the Motu Proprio whose centenary it is also deals with the question of the musical instruments to be used in the Latin Liturgy. Among these, it recognizes without hesitation the prevalence of the pipe organ and establishes appropriate norms for its use[42]. The Second Vatican Council fully accepted my holy Predecessor’s approach, decreeing: "The pipe organ is to be held in high esteem in the Latin Church, for it is the traditional musical instrument, the sound of which can add a wonderful splendour to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lifts up people’s minds to God and to higher things"[43].

Nonetheless, it should be noted that contemporary compositions often use a diversity of musical forms that have a certain dignity of their own. To the extent that they are helpful to the prayer of the Church they can prove a precious enrichment. Care must be taken, however, to ensure that instruments are suitable for sacred use, that they are fitting for the dignity of the Church and can accompany the singing of the faithful and serve to edify them.

Therefore, even though some allowances are made for an acoustic guitar, certainly keyboards, drums, bongos and other secular things are not fitting for the Mass.

 

[GemmaRose]

benedictgal:

Just out of curiousity, have you ever read any of the documents, or, are you just relying on personal opinion? Reading the documents helps us to form our consciences so that we can learn to think with the Church.

In all of your posts, I have never read where you are referring something that the Church has actually noted regarding Sacred Music.

Yes, and in none of the documents do I find mandates but only suggestions.

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*“Dear God, do You know the greatest grief one of Your creatures can bear? It is the thought that she can never love You enough. ” *- St. Gemma Galgani