Responsorial Psalm

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Bodmin01

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Hello

I am getting married in the Republic of Ireland next year (I live in the UK) and I am currently putting together my wedding ceremony booklet. My partner is Catholic but I am not and I am struggling to find any helpful information on Responsorial Psalms. It is meant to be sung. . Can anyone give me some examples of Responsorial Psalms often sung at weddings?

Many thanks
 
Are you getting married in a Catholic Church? If so, then I would suggest you call the parish and talk with the music director with whom you’ll be working. I’m sure s/he will be willing to talk all about the music options available to you!
 
The Church is in Ireland which I will not be visiting until next year and there isn’t a musical director.

I was hoping someone who has had a Catholic wedding ceremony would be able to point me to some suitable suggestions.
 
There are a variety of planning aids available for Catholic weddings. A couple that have been available for a while in the USA are “Together For Life” and “Your Catholic Wedding” - both are fairly inexpensive booklets that have all the readings and prayer options for use in the USA. If something similar doesn’t exist in the UK or Ireland, these two are available from Amazon. (You only need one of them.)
 
Thank you for your posts. My confusion is with the sung psalms. I have a list of psalms but none of the sung psalms are the same (i.e. word for word) as the written psalms. Are the psalms that are being sung e.g. the magnificat simply based on the psalms from the bible?
 
Bodmin01 said:
Thank you for your posts. My confusion is with the sung psalms. I have a list of psalms but none of the sung psalms are the same (i.e. word for word) as the written psalms. Are the psalms that are being sung e.g. the magnificat simply based on the psalms from the bible?
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Read the sites that have recommended psalms for weddings.
OCP has a book called
Respond and Acclaim" that has them in chant form in English.
Or simply look them up by title on a good Catholic Music website and get the sheet music. But really, the Music Director at the parish should have all of this already.
Check with him or her FIRST.
Congratulations on your wedding. 🙂
 
I agree with previous posters. Psalm 128, “Happy are all who fear the Lord” &c, is not only appropriate for a wedding, it’s highly traditional! It’s the psalm which was used in the pre-Vatican II nuptial mass.

To answer your larger question, the “responsorial” setting for a psalm works like this: the entire congregation reads or sings a key verse (refrain) from the psalm, such as “May the Lord bless you from Zion all the days of your life.” Then the cantor will read or sing a strophe from the psalm, and the congregation will repeat the refrain. A second time the cantor will read or sing a strophe, and the congregation will repeat the refrain. And so on.

I would recommend a common setting for the psalm, or bringing the music with you! At a recent funeral we were limited to the psalms that the local musicians had the music for… It also depends on the season of the year; music is still restricted during Lent. Suggest you write some letters to the parish where you plan to be married and make contact on this issue, soon.
 
Bodmin01 said:
Are the psalms that are being sung e.g. the magnificat simply based on the psalms from the bible?
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The psalms that are sung are generally based on Psalms from the Bible. Some music directors attempt to insert songs that aren’t based on Psalms from Scripture; that isn’t proper. The “General Instruction on the Roman Missal”, which explains the Liturgy, asserts that the responsorial psalm should be a psalm, not a song or hymn.

The Magnificat isn’t a Psalm; it’s from chapter 1 of the Gospel of Luke.
 
Gorgias said:
Yes, the Magnificat is beautiful. But…

A responsorial psalm is supposed to be, well… a psalm. The Magnificat isn’t a psalm. 😉
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The Magnificat is used as a responsorial psalm as on the Third Sunday of Advent, Cycle B .
 
I am fairly sure that the Grail Psalms are used in Ireland. One psalm is selected from the nine options given in the Lectionary.

A book that has music for singing both the psalm and the response is “The Gelineau Gradual, Volume II”, published by G.I.A. Publications, Inc. Chicago in 1979. It is Edition G-2216. The Responsorial Psalms for the Rite of Marriage are on pages 36-43.

They are selling it for $15.50 at giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=2008 .

If the wedding is during the Season of Lent then the responses with Alleluia should not be used – choose another option.
 
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