SPLIT: Congregational Singing after Communion

[Acta_non_verba]

Frankly, you are lucky that they wait until communion is over to sing a hymn. Our music director asks us to to join in singing while processing up to communion (even encouraging people to carry a hymnal with them). Its impossible to pray or reflect upon the miracle in which we are about to take part. Its all about the music, you know!

 

[Phemie]

Frankly, you are lucky that they wait until communion is over to sing a hymn. Our music director asks us to to join in singing while processing up to communion (even encouraging people to carry a hymnal with them). Its impossible to pray or reflect upon the miracle in which we are about to take part. Its all about the music, you know!

It’s not as though your music director pulled that out of his hat, it’s what the Church calls for. GIRM #86 is clear that the Communion chant starts as the priest is receiving Communion and lasts at least until everyone has received. “This is sung either by the choir alone or by the choir or cantor with the people.” So your music director is not acting on a whim. Why is that so difficult for people to understand?

OTOH, carrying a hymnal if you are to receive in the hand is a no-no. That’s why during the Communion procession, responsorial hymns work best: the choir sings the verses and the people sing the refrain.

 

[Acta_non_verba]

Phemie,

Unfortunately, the GIRM doesn’t take into account the music director who insists we shuffle up to communion singing “One Bread, One Body” or “Gift of Finest Wheat” for the 1,000th time. I’d much prefer a little silent contemplation. At least once in a while

 

[jmcrae]

Frankly, you are lucky that they wait until communion is over to sing a hymn. Our music director asks us to to join in singing while processing up to communion (even encouraging people to carry a hymnal with them).

I hope they are receiving on the tongue, if they are doing that - it would be difficult to juggle the hymnbook while receiving on the hand, I think.

It’s impossible to pray or reflect upon the miracle in which we are about to take part. Its all about the music, you know!

For myself, I find it difficult enough to remember my Anima Christi (I am a convert, and this is one that I haven’t fully memorized, yet; I’m always forgetting a body part somewhere) - if I have to pray it while at the same time singing completely different words, I’m really going to mess it up! But if they were to set the Anima Christi to music and play that, then I’d sing along, for sure!

 

[Phemie]

Phemie,

Unfortunately, the GIRM doesn’t take into account the music director who insists we shuffle up to communion singing “One Bread, One Body” or “Gift of Finest Wheat” for the 1,000th time. I’d much prefer a little silent contemplation. At least once in a while

Look on the bright side, after singing them that often you shouldn’t need your hymnal in the Communion line.

 

[Newbie2]

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.

.

Yeah, that’s cherry-picking to me.

Anyway, you’ve quoted no source that says everyone must sing every hymn. It’s only your interpretation of participation that holds your argument together, and it’s a weak argument at that.

Look, I’m for singing. But if someone prefers quiet contemplation or prayer following or preceeding their reception of the Eucharist, I find it difficult to say they are not fully participating in the mass.

And you can third me Brendan, in questioning why anyone in any choir would be offended if people didn’t sing like they were “supposed” to. That would mean every person in every choir in every Catholic Parish would be (or should be) insulted.

 

[Elizium23]

I am honestly flabbergasted at the level of resistance to participation in the liturgy. I never realized that so many people who seem like otherwise faithful Catholics don’t care at all about the sacred hymns and would rather not hear them at all.

Please re-read the definition of cherry-picking: while I have liberally quoted from a broad variety of Church documents everything that pertains to congregational singing, my opponents have seized on small, out-of-context sound bites that seem to disprove my position. Now which one fits the definition? If you can find documentation that supports your idea that ignoring congregational singing is preferable if one wishes to engage in personal prayer, by all means, quote it here for all to see.

Also please explain why my advocacy of “full, conscious and active participation” in the liturgy is a “weak argument.” I have explained why singing is the best kind of active participation. Even listening can be full participation if it is done prayerfully. I have already quoted Sing to the Lord extensively. To refresh:
Sing to the Lord:

1. 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.25

Here we find that it is Christ Himself who calls us to sing and “rise above our own preoccupations.” How can you pass up such a holy opportunity as this when it presents itself in the form of a congregational hymn?
Sing to the Lord:

1. “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.

“commendable”? Did my own pet document just refute my whole position? I guess so. It doesn’t say “required” or “demanded” or “compulsory on pain of mortal sin.” So I suppose I’ve gone overboard in my advocacy. Oh well.

I am usually too busy in my ministry to be offended or even notice if people are not singing. However, it is important for someone to notice this. If the assembly stops singing, there is some kind of a problem - either they hate the song, or the song is unfamiliar to them, or we’ve stumped them by going off into a verse that’s not printed in their worship aids. It is helpful for someone to monitor the level of congregational singing and make adjustments to our ministry that will foster the highest levels of participation. Therefore, a lack of singing won’t necessarily offend or insult me. It could mean that I haven’t done my job properly. But if I am doing it properly and you still won’t sing, someone could take offense. Possibly even Jesus, who called us to “give our entire selves to the hymn of his Paschal Sacrifice for the honor and glory of the Most Blessed Trinity.”

As for silence, I am no enemy of silence. Certainly modern Masses are all too noisy and in need of sacred periods of silence to offset the hustle and bustle.
Sing to the Lord:

1. Music arises out of silence and returns to silence. God is revealed both in the beauty of song and in the power of silence. The Sacred Liturgy has its rhythm of texts, actions, songs, and silence. Silence in the Liturgy allows the community to reflect on what it has heard and experienced, and to open its heart to the mystery celebrated. Ministers and pastoral musicians should take care that the rites unfold with the proper ebb and flow of sound and silence.98 The importance of silence in the Liturgy cannot be overemphasized.

Clearly, there is a place for silence in the liturgy. It is the appropriate time to engage in personal acts of thanksgiving or devotional prayer and reflection. But when the choir is singing, we should clearly either be singing along or actively listening. In this way we join ourselves in unity with the Body of Christ.

Allow me to play Devil’s Advocate now. Who says we should join in any of the [spoken] responses of the Mass anyway? [edited] Who dares tell me that the responses need to be parroted by the faithful anyway? “Active” participation is a weak argument anyway.

 

[roadsend]

I am honestly flabbergasted at the level of resistance to participation in the liturgy. I never realized that so many people who seem like otherwise faithful Catholics don’t care at all about the sacred hymns and would rather not hear them at all.
…

Allow me to play Devil’s Advocate now. Who says we should join in any of the [spoken] responses of the Mass anyway? Why shouldn’t I just go back to the venerable old custom, pre-Vatican II, of bringing my rosary to Mass and saying as many decades as I could fit during the liturgy? I mean, it’s my preference to offer my own thanksgiving to Mary in this way. The rosary is a perfectly reverent way to spend my time at church, when I am obligated to show up every Sunday anyway. Who dares tell me that the responses need to be parroted by the faithful anyway? “Active” participation is a weak argument anyway.

Pre-Vatican II?
I notice folks saying rosaries at Mass almost every Sunday, mostly when the “music ministers” are singing.

 

[roadsend]

Phemie,

Unfortunately, the GIRM doesn’t take into account the music director who insists we shuffle up to communion singing “One Bread, One Body” or “Gift of Finest Wheat” for the 1,000th time. I’d much prefer a little silent contemplation. At least once in a while

Yup. Been there, seen that.
Like the overwhelming majority of the congregation, I refrain from singing.
It would be nice sometime and conducive to the solemnity of that part of the Mass to hear the “music ministers” chanting the Communion verse from the missal or leading the congregation in singing a traditionally Catholic Eucharistic hymn.

 

[Acta_non_verba]

Why shouldn’t I just go back to the venerable old custom, pre-Vatican II, of bringing my rosary to Mass and saying as many decades as I could fit during the liturgy?

I travel out of town about once a month and always attend a Traditional Latin Mass in the city I visit. Its funny but I have never seen anyone there pray the rosary during the liturgy. They are usually absorbed in their missals. They seem far more engaged in the liturgy than what I see at most other churches. And there is the added bonus of the incredibly beautiful sung parts of the mass (chant and polyphony). They sound like angels. The musicians at my regular parish sounds like Peter, Paul and Mary wannabes.

 

[zab]

Phemie,

Unfortunately, the GIRM doesn’t take into account the music director who insists we shuffle up to communion singing “One Bread, One Body” or “Gift of Finest Wheat” for the 1,000th time. I’d much prefer a little silent contemplation. At least once in a while

Here is something that I think some music directors could improve on. I seldom do repeats after all of the verses have been sung. Sometimes it gets too repetitive. Two of our choir leaders are conscious of this, but the other doesn’t get it and she sometimes has the choir to repeat hymns two and three times on those occassions when the priest is doing something extra like incensing the altar or when processing on Holy Thursday. There are some things that can be done to break the monotony. For example, if the hymn has verses that are in English and Latin, when you finish singing all of the verses in English, then sing them in Latin rather than repeating the same thing over and over and over again. Or when all of the verses have ended, let the organist continue to play without the singing when appropriate.

 

[jmcrae]

I am honestly flabbergasted at the level of resistance to participation in the liturgy.

Hymn-singing is not “participation in the liturgy” - the hymns aren’t actually part of the liturgy - it’s still a full Mass even when there are no hymns - hymns are just add-on extras that may be included, but are not required to be included.

Certainly, when well-rehearsed, and when the music is of a suitable kind, hymn-singing adds beauty to the Mass.

But if the choir is not very well-rehearsed, or if the music itself isn’t beautiful or appropriate, then the hymns actually detract from the Mass - for example, guitar choirs being used because no one can be found who plays the organ, or hymns being sung off-key (and when the choir is off-key, there is no hope for the congregation - even good singers in the congregation will be distracted by the off-key choir), or else (as I saw once) every hymn being sung to the same tune, because the choir director had only just begun his music lessons, and only knew the one tune.

Hymns are normally used on Sundays to replace the recited verses that would be used at a weekday Mass, or even at a Mass on Sunday if the choir were to be absent for some reason.

Allow me to play Devil’s Advocate now. Who says we should join in any of the [spoken] responses of the Mass anyway? [edited] Who dares tell me that the responses need to be parroted by the faithful anyway? “Active” participation is a weak argument anyway.

The spoken responses are part of the text of the Mass, and the Mass is incomplete without them. But the Mass remains complete, even if there are no hymns sung - hymns are not essential to the integrity of the Mass.

 

[Cat]

It is an act of kindness for those who can sing to sing when there is opportunity in the Mass.

Many of the elderly and infirm are unable to sing. Even some younger people struggle to sing because of various disabilities.

Many of these people love listening to the hymns in the Mass. Many of them don’t care if the hymn is ancient or modern and don’t really pay acute attention to the words and analyze the theology–to them, it’s all music that honors and glorifies the Lord Jesus and is uplifting and beautiful.

Many of these people don’t necessarily come from a beautiful environment. If they are ill or in pain, they may spend much of their time out of Mass suffering.

To not sing is to deprive these people of pleasant moments that will encourage them and give them cheer for the rest of the day or week.

For gosh sakes, why do we always think only of ourselves and our "alone time? I can’t believe what I read here sometimes. It’s very sad.

I agree with Elizium23 on this thread.

And I stand by what I posted a few posts back. There is NO CONFLICT between contemplation of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and congregational singing. The conflict has been imposed upon us by our secular society. Those who insist that the only way they can contemplate the Lord is in utter silence have been duped into thinking this way by the world, not the Church.

 

[archangel04]

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.

Are you serious? So the fact that I have my Lord full in my physical body and I want to give thanks and praise in my own private devotions and you think that is wrong? In fact it would be better to only have muic instead of singning during communion this would allow one to be able to meditate in prayer, not to mention that some music still out there has nothing to do with worshiping God.