SPLIT: Congregational Singing after Communion

[TheRealJuliane]

The common practice here is to go back to your pew, kneel and say prayers, staying on your knees until the Blessed Sacrament is returned to the tabernacle. Only after the Body has left the church do we sit down. Sometimes we stand up for the final blessing without ever having sat down. I personally, do not sing after receiving as I am trying to absorb the magnitude of the sacrament and the music shifts my attention downward. I think there is altogether too much music in the church these days in the first place, but that’s another thread.

I do see some people standing up, occasionally, and I think it’s a perfectly respectful option.

 

[GKCT]

In the whole of our parish (CT) we kneel. Personally I believe it is the most reverential position after communion. Less distracting, you can close your eyes in prayer which is hard to do standing up. There are a couple at weekday Mass that stand, but it is not the norm here. It is not something that has been addressed at our church.

I don’t sing the communion hymn either, that is also distracting. Just having soft organ music would be fine with me, or a nice violin solo, like Meditation by Massenet. We are fortunate to have a violinist. That’s another forum!

 

[Elizium23]

I personally, do not sing after receiving as I am trying to absorb the magnitude of the sacrament and the music shifts my attention downward. I think there is altogether too much music in the church these days in the first place, but that’s another thread.

I don’t sing the communion hymn either, that is also distracting. Just having soft organ music would be fine with me, or a nice violin solo, like Meditation by Massenet. We are fortunate to have a violinist. That’s another forum!

As a member of the choir, I find this extremely dismaying. You should be singing. The people in line for reception of communion probably do not have their hymnals and cannot join singing until they have consumed the sacred species, but those in the pews should be singing along with the choir! That is the whole reason for having a communion hymn, so that the people of God may praise Him as one in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

And I don’t care about your personal taste in music. Even if the music sucks, make an effort to sing. It is insulting for people to sit/stand/kneel in their pews and ignore the congregational singing, because this is as much a part of the Mass as anything else.

 

[Seatuck]

As a member of the choir, I find this extremely dismaying. You should be singing. The people in line for reception of communion probably do not have their hymnals and cannot join singing until they have consumed the sacred species, but those in the pews should be singing along with the choir! That is the whole reason for having a communion hymn, so that the people of God may praise Him as one in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

And I don’t care about your personal taste in music. Even if the music sucks, make an effort to sing. It is insulting for people to sit/stand/kneel in their pews and ignore the congregational singing, because this is as much a part of the Mass as anything else.

I completely disagree. After communion we should be spending time in quiet contemplation , Thanksgiving and prayer and not singing. If I am not receiving I may sing during that time. Or I might be spending time in adoration and prayer. It is my choice.

 

[Elizium23]

From Sing to the Lord, a 2007 document by the USCCB:
Sing to the Lord:

1. Within the gathered assembly, the role of the congregation is especially important. “The full and active participation by all the people is the aim to be considered before all else, for it is the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian
   spirit.”23
2. Participation in the Sacred Liturgy must be “internal, in the sense that by it the faithful join their mind to what they pronounce or hear, and cooperate with heavenly grace.”24 Even when listening to the various prayers and readings of the Liturgy or to the singing of the choir, the assembly continues to participate actively as they “unite themselves interiorly to what the ministers or choir sing, so that by listening to them they may raise their minds to God.”25 “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.”26
3. Participation must also be external, so that internal participation can be expressed and reinforced by actions, gestures, and bodily attitudes, and by the acclamations, responses, and singing.27 The quality of our participation in such sung praise comes less from our vocal ability than from the desire of our hearts to sing together of our love for God. Participation in the Sacred Liturgy both expresses and strengthens the faith that is in us.
4. Our participation in the Liturgy is challenging. Sometimes, our voices do not
   correspond to the convictions of our hearts. At other times, we are distracted or preoccupied by the cares of the world. But Christ always invites us to enter into song, to rise above our own preoccupations, and to give our entire selves to the hymn of his Paschal Sacrifice for the honor and glory of the Most Blessed Trinity.
5. “While the priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion chant [or song] is begun. Its purpose is to express the communicants’ union in spirit by means of the unity of their voices, to show joy of heart, and to highlight more clearly the ‘communitarian’ nature of the procession to receive Communion.”157 The singing begins immediately and continues “for as long as the Sacrament is being administered to the faithful.”158 The Communion chant or song may be sung by the people with choir or cantor, or by the choir alone. Because the Communion chant expresses the unity of those processing and receiving the Holy Sacrament, communal singing is commendable. The singing of the people should be preeminent.
6. “When the distribution of Communion is finished, as circumstances suggest, the priest and faithful spend some time praying privately. If desired, a psalm or other canticle of praise or a hymn may also be sung by the entire congregation.”164 The song after Communion should focus the assembly on the mystery of the Holy Communion in which it participates, and it should never draw undue attention to the choir or other musicians. The congregation may stand for the song after Communion if the nature of the music seems to call for it.

In summary, it is not about your personal taste in activities during communion. It is about the Church’s requirement for “full, conscious and active participation” in the liturgy that should be foremost on our minds.

Many priests choose to offer a period of meditative silence after the communion hymns are finished. This is your chance for silent adoration and thanksgiving. By all means, use it.

 

[zab]

It is insulting for people to sit/stand/kneel in their pews and ignore the congregational singing, because this is as much a part of the Mass as anything else.

From Sing to the Lord, a 2007 document by the USCCB:

In summary, it is not about your personal taste in activities during communion. It is about the Church’s requirement for “full, conscious and active participation” in the liturgy that should be foremost on our minds.

Many priests choose to offer a period of meditative silence after the communion hymns are finished. This is your chance for silent adoration and thanksgiving. By all means, use it.

Priests who offer a period of meditative silence after the communion hymns are finished do so because they are quite busy before the hymns are finished. I do not believe that people who use their time in prayer after coming back from Communion are being insulting while the choir and other people continue to sing. Even the document that you quoted, Sing to the Lord, in #189 it states that the Communion chant or song may be sung by the people with the choir or by the choir alone.

 

[Brendan]

In summary, it is not about your personal taste in activities during communion. It is about the Church’s requirement for “full, conscious and active participation” in the liturgy that should be foremost on our minds.

First of all, it says that it MAY be sung by the entire congregation. That’s a far stretch form stating that it MUST be done that way.

Also, I think you have a lack of understanding on what the Church teaches is , full, conscious and active participation.

I would suggest you review Pope Benedict’s book “The Spirit of the Liturgy”. He has a whole chapter on what is, and is not active participation.

In the book, he looks at the actio of each element of th Mass, the action the the Church is trying to accomplish.

For the faithful, it boils down to two actia. They must listen attentively to the lessions presented in the Liturgy of the Word, the Readings, Gosple and Homily. And reflect upon it’s meaning in their lives.

The second actio of the faithful is to offer themselves to God as the sacrifice proper to the common priesthood in conjunction with the priest’s Sacrifice of the Altar.

Both of these actia are generally done in silence. The first, always so. The second may be done by the person singing, but there is no requirement by the Church to do so.

 

[Elizium23]

I suggest you review Sacrosanctum Concilium, which has this to say:

28. In liturgical celebrations each person, minister or layman, who has an office to perform, should do all of, but only, those parts which pertain to his office by the nature of the rite and the principles of liturgy.

1. To promote active participation, the people should be encouraged to take part by means of acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons, and songs, as well as by actions, gestures, and bodily attitudes. And at the proper times all should observe a reverent silence.
2. Liturgical worship is given a more noble form when the divine offices are celebrated solemnly in song, with the assistance of sacred ministers and the active participation of the people.
3. The treasure of sacred music is to be preserved and fostered with great care. Choirs must be diligently promoted, especially in cathedral churches; but bishops and other pastors of souls must be at pains to ensure that, whenever the sacred action is to be celebrated with song, the whole body of the faithful may be able to contribute that active participation which is rightly theirs, as laid down in Art. 28 and 30.

 

[zab]

post-synodal
apostolic exhortation
sacramentum caritatis
of the holy father
**benedict xvi
**

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**
the distribution and reception of the eucharist
50. Another moment of the celebration needing to be mentioned is the distribution and reception of holy communion. I ask everyone, especially ordained ministers and those who, after adequate preparation and in cases of genuine need, are authorized to exercise the ministry of distributing the eucharist, to make every effort to ensure that this simple act preserves its importance as a personal encounter with the lord jesus in the sacrament. for the rules governing correct practice in this regard, i would refer to those documents recently issued on the subject. (151) all christian communities are to observe the current norms faithfully, seeing in them an expression of the faith and love with which we all must regard this sublime sacrament. furthermore, the precious time of thanksgiving after communion should not be neglected: Besides the singing of an appropriate hymn, it can also be most helpful to remain recollected in silence. (152)

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[Brendan]

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.

Pope John Paul II - Address to the US Bishops 1999

Note that simply following along in silence and stillness to the music of the liturgy is Active Participation. “Profoundly Active” to quote his Holiness, and part of an art of listening that should be learned.

 

[Elizium23]

I stand by the quoted Church documents on the subject of congregational singing.

Besides the singing of an appropriate hymn, it can also be most helpful to remain recollected in silence. (152)

This clearly refers to the ability of the liturgist to select between a choice of congregational hymns, choral hymns, or silence. If the liturgist has selected from the latter two, then by all means, remain silent! It will be obvious if you are not provided with the music and lyrics for a hymn, and/or the choir uses soloists, and/or they select a song which you do not know. But if you have been provided with a worship aid, and the choir is clearly attempting to lead you in song, then the principle of “full, conscious and active participation” requires that you join your voice in song to those of the choir and those of the rest of the assembled faithful.

In fact, the liturgist does not even have to choose among these three choices: he may choose all of them! A congregational chant that the whole assembly sings during the Communion procession, and then a meditative hymn which the choir presents after Communion, and then a period of holy silence during which even the choir may reflect on the mystery of the Eucharist and offer thanksgiving for receiving the Body and Blood of Christ.

And thank you for bringing the “other” SC to my attention, because now it is my turn to quote it!
Sacramentum Caritatis:

1. In the ars celebrandi, liturgical song has a pre-eminent place. (126) Saint Augustine rightly says in a famous sermon that “the new man sings a new song. Singing is an expression of joy and, if we consider the matter, an expression of love” (127). The People of God assembled for the liturgy sings the praises of God.

It cannot be said any plainer than that.

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.

Please read his words carefully here. “when listening” means this only applies in a certain situation. What this sentence doesn’t do is demand or require that worshippers only listen to music. It describes what happens when they listen to it. When you sing, must you not also listen to what you are singing? I certainly do. At any rate, this sentence refutes the fallacy that worshippers are passive when they are just listening. Don’t read into it more than that, because it isn’t there.

Furthermore, you may listen to chants which are not proper to the congregation, or hymns that have been purposely selected for choral or solo singing. As above, I encourage you to remain silent for these parts! However, the reality is that the vast majority of the Ordinary of the Mass, as well as the usual four-hymn sandwich, congregational singing is expected, encouraged, and yes, demanded by the principle of “full, conscious and active participation.”

I must stress that I fully agree with the quotes from SC as well as John Paul II. Holy silence is commendable and required in a life of faith. Worshippers are never passive when merely listening. However, for everything there is a time and place, and just as we must answer the priest with a fervent “AMEN!” whenever he says “We ask this through Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever,” we must answer the choir’s invitation to sing actively when it is extended!

Your parish goes to great expense to provide you with worship aids and/or hymnals for congregational singing. Your choir rehearses weekly and prides itself in leading the faithful in song. This is their ministry to you in the liturgy. Don’t deny it by cherry-picking from documents about silence. Sing along, it’s good for you.

 

[zab]

I stand by the quoted Church documents on the subject of congregational singing…

Don’t deny it by cherry-picking from documents about silence. Sing along, it’s good for you.

Come on now- who’s really doing the “cherry-picking from documents”? And who ever said that I don’t sing along? I sing along before Communion and after Communion, I first make my personal thanskgiving and I recite silently the Anima Christi before joining in the singing. It is wonderful that you are encouraging people to join in on the singing. But lets not get too judgemental in the process.

 

[Elizium23]

Come on now- who’s really doing the “cherry-picking from documents”? And who ever said that I don’t sing along? I sing along before Communion and after Communion, I first make my personal thanskgiving and I recite silently the Anima Christi before joining in the singing. It is wonderful that you are encouraging people to join in on the singing. But lets not get too judgemental in the process.

Cherry picking is the act of pointing at individual cases or data that seem to confirm a particular position, while ignoring a significant portion of related cases or data that may contradict that position.

I categorically deny cherry-picking. I am quoting liberally from targeted Church documents about everything I can find on communal singing and every time my search bears fruit, I share it, and it confirms my position. I challenge you to quote significant Church documents which contradict me. I believe I have already adequately explained the context and intent of the quotes in your responses.

As for your personal practice, I commend it. Naturally, I was using the term “you” in general, and not about any particular “you,” since I certainly do not know how much any of you sing! Recitation of the Anima Christi is a laudable practice and I am glad that you fit it into your personal prayer life alongside congregational singing. You set an example that even I should strive to accomplish.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am the member of my parish choir, and Sunday liturgies often feel like a day at work for me due to the pressure of my ministry. And perhaps you can understand my disappointment and frustration when I look out on the assembled faithful to see a lot of closed mouths.

 

[zab]

Many priests choose to offer a period of meditative silence after the communion hymns are finished. This is your chance for silent adoration and thanksgiving. By all means, use it.

As for your personal practice, I commend it. Naturally, I was using the term “you” in general, and not about any particular “you,” since I certainly do not know how much any of you sing! Recitation of the Anima Christi is a laudable practice and I am glad that you fit it into your personal prayer life alongside congregational singing. You set an example that even I should strive to accomplish.

At first it seemed that you were saying that one should not use the immediate time after receiving Communion for silent private prayer at all. Rather they should be joining in the communal singing immediately after getting back to their pew. We had been talking about posture when coming back from Communion. You even highlighted that the time for silence was after the communion hymns are finished and stated “This is your chance for silent adoration and thanksgiving.” But looking back at all of your posts, I can see that you were responding to those who don’t believe that they should be singing at all. Some posters said that singing was distracting. And you responded that it “insulting for people to sit/stand/kneel in their pews and ignore the congregational singing”.
I actually agree with both positions. We need not wait for the period of silence after all communion hymns are finished to engage in our silent personal prayer of thanksgiving immediately after receiving Our Lord. That is the best time for silent prayer. But it is also proper to join in on the singing after we have made our personal thanksgiving. But I can’t see any reason why it is insulting to the choir members when people do not join in the singing after Communion or why you bother to look and see what they are doing.

 

[Brendan]

**But I can’t see any reason why it is insulting to the choir members when people do not join in the singing **after Communion or why you bother to look and see what they are doing.

That is pretty much my point as well.

 

[Seatuck]

Originally Posted by zab
* **But I can’t see any reason why it is insulting to the choir members when people do not join in the singing ***after Communion or why you bother to look and see what they are doing.

That is pretty much my point as well.

I agree. And lets keep in mind there should be a whole bunch of people present who are not receiving and therefore may be completely focused on singing the hymn.

 

[Jean_Anthony]

aaa

 

[Phemie]

In fact, the liturgist does not even have to choose among these three choices: he may choose all of them! A congregational chant that the whole assembly sings during the Communion procession, and then a meditative hymn which the choir presents after Communion, and then a period of holy silence during which even the choir may reflect on the mystery of the Eucharist and offer thanksgiving for receiving the Body and Blood of Christ.

Actually, if the liturgist cares about the GIRM, he/she will not schedule a choir-alone ‘meditative’ hymn after Communion. While the GIRM is clear that a choir-alone hymn is perfectly acceptable at Communion, it’s also clear that the hymn after Communion is a congregational hymn. Why does it seem that most parish musicians haven’t read that one?

1. When the distribution of Communion is finished, as circumstances suggest, the priest and faithful spend some time praying privately. If desired, a psalm or other canticle of praise or a hymn may also be sung by the entire congregation.

 

[Matthew_Holford]

I do not care one iota about the choir. That may sound harsh but when these discussions appear on the Forum it always makes me wonder why there is some glaring error! When we go to Mass we don’t go to ‘honour’ the choir. We go to worship our God who sent his Son to suffer for our sins and to receive our Blessed Lord to nourish our souls.

After Communion it is to Him that our attention should focused and spending the time after Communion in prayerful thanksgiving for the most unimaginable gift we have just received. It is not a time to honour the choir by joining in any singing.

Do a search on the Net for the many wonderful blogs and videos of H.E. Francis Cardinal Arinze (Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments) where he teaches us about the liturgy. He says that after Communion the Church gives us the freedom to kneel, sit, or stand and we can pray or join in the singing.

 

[Cat]

I think it’s interesting and sad that Christians find singing in conflict with reflection, thanksgiving, and adoration of the Lord.

This is a cultural thing. It is not a Christian thing.

Christians have always found singing, especially corporate singing (with other Christians) one of the best ways to worship God, honor Him, and yes, reflect upon him.

The Psalms are brimming full of admonitions to sing to the Lord. Singing does NOT obliterate personal reflection and adoration. Many of the Psalms are deeply personal, and yet through Jewish and Christian history, they have been sung with others, not just alone.

Throughout the Old Testament, the people sang together to honor the Lord.

Mark 14: 26, makes it clear that the disciples followed the rubrics of the traditional Jewish passover and “sang a hymn” after receiving the Lord’s Body and Blood.

Ephesians 5: 18-20 says “Do not get drunk with wine…but be filled with the Spirit as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all time and for everything…”

The italics above are mine. It is obvious that the singing is happening outwardly (“among yourselves”) but also inwardly. The people are singing inside their hearts and the song is their way of giving thanks.

It’s just sad that our American culture has caused us to see singing as something that is contrary to thankfulness, contemplation, prayer, and adoration. We need to resist popular culture that is masquerading as Christian spirituality and deceiving Christians into thinking that they are doing a good thing to close their eyes and remain silent and isolated during a time that the Church has repeatedly stated should be a corporate worship time.

In the U.S., we have plenty of opportunities for individual worship and contemplation throughout the rest of the week. To shut out our Christian brothers and sisters during Holy Communion is contrary to the way the Sacrament has always been done. From the beginning, Holy Communion has been a corporate sacrament, something that is done in a group setting. Christians gather together in a special place for Holy Communion–they don’t receive by themselves in a solitary place. This is the time for corporate adoration, and singing is a good way to unify our hearts and voices. No wonder there is so much division between Christians–we bring it on ourselves by insisting on our own self-centered behavior during Holy Communion, and then we increase the harm by trying to label our behavior as something good and proper. Again, this is not traditional Church thinking. This is American Individualism culture that has permeated our Church and deceived Christians into thinking that singing is something jarring and disruptive rather than something glorious and worshipful.