Protestant music during Mass

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calinorth86

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When I’m at mass I notice that there is at least a song or two that is protestant, is there anything wrong with this? What does the church teach about this ?
 
I think we recently had a thread about it. From what I recall, it’s not unusual and there are several hymns/songs that have what might be called “protestant” origins.
 
The Church simply says that the hymns or hymnal must be approved by the bishop or your country’s conference of bishops.

As long as the hymns don’t contain any theological errors or anything contrary to the Catholic faith there is no problem. We share many theological concepts with the Protestants, and just because Protestant denominations are very wrong on many issues, it does not mean they are wrong on all issues, and the points we hold in common with them are fair game for hymns.
 
If by “Protestant” you mean written by Protestants, there is no inherent problem with that. There would only be an issue if the lyrics oppose Catholic teaching.

I also think music used in the liturgy needs to be approved by the bishop.
 
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calinorth86 said:
When I’m at mass I notice that there is at least a song or two that is protestant, is there anything wrong with this?
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Not if the words are truthful .

At tonight’s vigil Mass for the Ascension we sang a hymn by a Protestant William Chatterton Dix , and it’s very true and beautiful .

 
I’ve always liked the hymn, “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.” I think of it as a Protestant hymn, and I really like it when it is used at Mass. A NO mass. Doubt I’d hear it at a Tridentine.
 
Well, it’s important to remember a ton of English hymns were written by Anglicans before Vatican II

The question really shouldn’t be “is it a protestant hymn?” but really “do the lyrics conflict with Catholic theology?”

Most hymns (not all) that are in Catholic Hymnals do not conflict with Catholic theology, however, there are several that are iffy (and some of them were written by Catholics).

God Bless
 
Do you mean:
#104 ‘The Song of Sola Scriptura’
#517 ‘Call No Man Father’
not to mention the old favorite #96 ‘All It Takes To Get To Heaven is to Be a Good Person’
Closing with ‘All Praise Pelagianism’

???

Aside from that, how is a song “Protestant”?
 
As others have already said, there’s nothing wrong with it as long as the hymn isn’t heretical. Protestants can write some really good hymns so it’s nice the Church allows them.
 
We sing this at our church too.

There are certain songs that are nice, but just don’t seem appropriate for a Catholic mass. Unfortunately, the organist/music director (who I am not sure was Catholic) chose many songs not in our hymnal. There is one song I really don’t like and my children were aware of it.

One Sunday when my daughter was an altar server, he started playing it during mass and she looked over at me to see my reaction. 😳

“Shall we gather by the river?”
 
1 Shall we gather at the river,
Where bright angel feet have trod;
With its crystal tide forever
Flowing by the throne of God?

Refrain:
Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
The beautiful, the beautiful river;
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God.

2 On the margin of the river,
Washing up its silver spray,
We will walk and worship ever,
All the happy golden day. [Refrain]

3 Ere we reach the shining river,
Lay we ev’ry burden down;
Grace our spirits will deliver,
And provide a robe and crown. [Refrain]

4 Soon we’ll reach the shining river,
Soon our pilgrimage will cease;
Soon our happy hearts will quiver
With the melody of peace. [Refrain]

I could argue that this one plays a little fast and lose with doctrine, to be fully orthodox it should say “Pray we’ll gather at the river”. I’d likely speak to pastor about this one.
 
Well, he is finally retired after too many years, so I don’t have to worry about hearing it again.😊
 
I’ve noticed a number of protestant songs that I have memorized from my days as a protestant. Many of them have altered lyrics to address any issues with Catholic theology. One of my favorite songs, “The Church’s One Foundation” even had an entire verse removed: “Though with a scornful wonder men see her sore oppressed, by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed: yet saints their watch are keeping, their cry goes up, “How long?” And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song!”
 
Personally, I like hearing songs about Jesus even if is written by Protestant. Though they are not Catholic, they are still written with love and care for our Lord.
 
I had a similar question a few weeks ago so I’m glad you asked this, I couldn’t find a clear answer. I went to a different Catholic church than I normally go to two weeks ago and I noticed their opening and closing hymns were Hillsongs music. I didn’t find anything conflicting with those particular songs, but it did confuse me and bother me a bit (maybe irrationally). The band did all the songs during the mass very fast paced and the music was really modern/popular style. I felt that type of music distracted from the main purpose of the Mass and had people more involved with the music and waiting for the next song to come on. I don’t know their hearts but its just the impression I got. I swear it felt like I accidentally walked into one of the Pentecostal services I used to go to in my teen years- maybe thats why it felt so off to me lol. I think they can be nice songs to listen to at home, but I guess its just my opinion that we have a wonderful collection of Catholic music for our Masses and we don’t need Hillsong to be ‘cool’ (this church was on a university campus). Can you tell I’ve been holding these thoughts in for 2 weeks? haha
 
Hymns are a Protestant thing to begin with. Chant is Catholics. Since the Church decided to adopt Protestant elements into worship, four hymns, then of course they will mostly be Protestant. There aren’t that many Catholic hymns because Catholics don’t have a history of hymns. Unfortunately many Catholic hymns come from the 60s and 70s and are sappy, banal music.
 
exnihilo said:
Hymns are a Protestant thing to begin with.
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Not only is that a major oversimplification, it’s also downright untrue.

St. Thomas Aquinas, in the introduction to his commentary on the Psalms, defined the Christian hymn thus: “Hymnus est laus Dei cum cantico; canticum autem exultatio mentis de aeternis habita, prorumpens in vocem.” (“A hymn is the praise of God with song; a song is the exultation of the mind dwelling on eternal things, bursting forth in the voice.”) The earliest Christian hymns are mentioned round about the year 64 by Saint Paul in his letters. The Greek hymn, Hail gladdening light was mentioned by Saint Basil around 370. Latin hymns appear at around the same time, influenced by Saint Ambrose of Milan. Early Christian hymns are known as canticles and are often based on Biblical passages other than the psalms; they are still used in Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist liturgy, examples are Te Deum and Benedicite. Prudentius, a Spanish poet of the late 4th century was one of the most prolific hymn writers of the time. Early Celtic hymns, associated with Saint Patrick and Saint Columba, including the still extant, Saint Patrick’s Breastplate, can be traced to the 6th and 7th centuries. Catholic hymnody in the Western church introduced four-part vocal harmony as the norm, adopting major and minor keys, and came to be led by organ and choir.

The Eastern Catholic Churches also venerate several Saints with the title of “hymnographer” - St. Joseph the Hymnographer was a 9th century Sicilian hymn writer and poet who is greatly venerated.
 
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Spyridon said:
Not only is that a major oversimplification, it’s also downright untrue.
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No it isn’t. By hymns I mean the style of songs used and the use of four at the particular places during the Mass. Of course Catholics sing. We have ancient chants and used to sing the whole Mass.
 
Spyridon said:
Not only is that a major oversimplification, it’s also downright untrue.
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Yes and no. Both congregational singing during the liturgy and the singing of hymns during the liturgy that are not actually part of the liturgy itself are both things we borrowed from the Protestants. Hymns of the type that the OP is referring to are largely Protestant invention that is only distantly based on prior Catholic practice, with later Catholic practice imitating the Protestant one, with wholesale borrowing. Even the idea of women singing during the liturgy is something we borrowed from the Protestants, much more than it is an outgrowth of the previous Catholic practice of nuns singing in a cloistered environment.

Even before VII, Catholic musical practices were highly influenced by Protestant innovations.
 
Arwing said:
If by “Protestant” you mean written by Protestants, there is no inherent problem with that. There would only be an issue if the lyrics oppose Catholic teaching.

I also think music used in the liturgy needs to be approved by the bishop.
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A lot of the hymns in the Praise and Worship hymnal were written by protestants, including a very large percentage of the “new” ones. Marty Haugen is an example. I think he’s Church of Christ. I’m not sure who approved that or why they did. But among all the protestant hymns, the ones I can most tolerate are the old ones.
joeybaggz said:
I’ve always liked the hymn, “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.”
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Same here. When I was a little kid growing up in the Ozarks, there was no TV station that could reach where we lived, so my folks played the radio. Protestant hymns were pervasive on the radio in those days, and I grew to like those old hymns. When, as a kid, I picked strawberries in the hilltop patches, the protestants (everybody there but me) would sometimes strike up a hymn while we picked. It was nice.
 
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