Psalmist and Ambo

[Gethsemane]

+Praise be to Jesus through Mary+

So, the psalm is usually sung by a member of the choir at my parish and they usually go up to the ambo to do it, though sometimes they remain with the choir. It’s my personal preference to remain with the choir, but I’m not sure this is permitted in the rubrics. Is it?

 

[John_Lilburne]

From the General Instruction of the Roman Missal:

“61. … It is preferable for the Responsorial Psalm to be sung, at least as far as the people’s response is concerned. Hence the psalmist, or cantor of the Psalm, sings the Psalm verses at the ambo or another suitable place, …”

“135. If no reader is present, the Priest himself proclaims all the readings and the Psalm, standing at the ambo.”

So it seems to me that for singing the Responsorial Psalm, “another suitable place” is permitted.

 

[pianistclare]

+Praise be to Jesus through Mary+

So, the psalm is usually sung by a member of the choir at my parish and they usually go up to the ambo to do it, though sometimes they remain with the choir. It’s my personal preference to remain with the choir, but I’m not sure this is permitted in the rubrics. Is it?

Why does this bother you?
It’s Scripture. Scripture is proclaimed at the ambo.
We had a choir loft. It would have been awkward to leave the loft, and take the time to walk all the way to the front of the church to the ambo, so we sung from the loft.
Either way is permitted.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

From the General Instruction of the Roman Missal:

“61. … It is preferable for the Responsorial Psalm to be sung, at least as far as the people’s response is concerned. Hence the psalmist, or cantor of the Psalm, sings the Psalm verses at the ambo or another suitable place, …”

“135. If no reader is present, the Priest himself proclaims all the readings and the Psalm, standing at the ambo.”

So it seems to me that for singing the Responsorial Psalm, “another suitable place” is permitted.

While I’m not disagreeing, it would seem that the ambo is the preference. That’s what is typically done at all the parishes (and Cathedral) around here. I’ve even seen the psalmist leave the choir loft during the first reading to trek over to the ambo, or sometimes the psalmist is seated separately from the choir, if the distance to the ambo is lengthy.

Again, I understand “another suitable place” is permitted, but it certainly doesn’t seem right, if the ambo is a logistically feasible option.

 

[Mary_Ellen]

We almost always proclaim the sung Psalm from the ambo in our parish. The only exception is when my knees hurt so much I can barely walk - then I proclaim this Scripture from the choir area. Also, in the Basilica there are no railings leading up to the sanctuary in the upper church - when I sing there I sing from a spot just below the ambo - I just can’t make it up and down those stairs without something to hold on to.

 

[peter26]

In my parish, we use the Ambo in the week when the psalm is just said and in or near the choir area on a Sunday when its sung. My new job is singing the psalm at the Saturday night Mass. I just sit in the front pew and get out and stand by the keyboard when its time.

 

[Gethsemane]

Why does this bother you?

It’s more in that I’m tradition minded and would prefer that the Scriptures be proclaimed by men only. Since in the choir everyone is expected to proclaim the psalm, I can’t exactly make myself an exception, since it’s a matter of discipline and not salvation. I would feel more comfortable proclaiming from the choir. In the extraordinary form the psalm is often proclaimed from the choir due to choir lofts, or proclaimed from the ambo which is probably why a suitable place is included in the GIRM. And apparently historically, it was more common for the psalm to be proclaimed from the choir.

 

[rondirect]

For us, it’s a matter of distance the ambo is from the choir and instrumentation. Our church is built so that the congregation sits 180 degrees around the Sanctuary in 6 sections. The music ministry is set up in one of the 6 sections totally opposite the ambo which is on the left as you face the altar, the music area on the right. We tried having the cantors sing from ambo with not much luck because of time delays, hearing the music loud enough as you are singing, etc. I don’t know how cantors do it when the choir and instruments are in a loft and they sing from the ambo! Anyway, we have a mic’d podium set up just in front of the music ministry (choir, organ, piano and others) facing the congregation. The cantor moves from the choir to a chair near the podium for the Psalm and GA, then walks back to the choir after the Gospel reading. The podium is also used for the before mass announcements.

 

[Phemie]

In most of the parishes where I’ve been a member the psalmist sang the from the choir. In my present parish, the only time the Psalm is proclaimed from the ambo is when it’s NOT sung – so on weekdays and at the Saturday evening Mass.