Why don't we sing every verse of every song at Mass?

  • Thread starter Thread starter doglover
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
D

doglover

Guest
My non-Catholic eye doctor made a comment at my last visit. (We talk about faith. 🙂 ) Apparently, he has attended Mass on occasion. He mentioned that Catholics don’t sing all the verses of the songs at Mass. Does anyone have any ideas why we don’t sing every verse of every song so that I can explain this to him? :confused:
 
Often it seems to me that we don’t because we don’t need to. For example, the entrance hymn only has to last until the priest has processed in, kissed the altar, and is ready to begin. That may take 2 verses, it may take 4. But there isn’t a reason to keep singing after the priest is in position just because the hymn has 6 verses.
 
time
the song is chosen to express the appropriate theme for the Mass of the day and the part of the Mass, and is played while the action proper to that part of the Mass is going on–entrance procession, offertory, communion etc.–and is not supposed to impede or interfere with the orderly progress of the rite. It is not a performance of an individual or group, as often is in a non-Catholic church where the musical solo or performance is more central to worship, next to the preaching (often replacing communion in importance). The music at Mass serves the liturgy, does not dominate or control it. Whereas in many other churches, particular large non-denom, the praise and worship music is essential to the experience, and the congregational singing is the most participation they can expect.

so at Mass the music goes on as long as the action, when the priest is ready to begin the next prayer or action, the music stops.
 
Sr_Sally said:
Often it seems to me that we don’t because we don’t need to. For example, the entrance hymn only has to last until the priest has processed in, kissed the altar, and is ready to begin. That may take 2 verses, it may take 4. But there isn’t a reason to keep singing after the priest is in position just because the hymn has 6 verses.
Click to expand...
Not true. This is a very common misconception.

The church tells us that the entrance hymn or antiphon has several purposes; among them, to gather the assembly together, to lead our thoughts and help us prepare for the day or feast at hand that we are celebrating, and to accompany the procession of the celebrant and ministers.

Stopping the entrance hymn when the celebrant reaches his chair would provide for the last purpose for sure. But what about the first two? It makes sense to sing a hymn in as close to its entirety as possible, since a hymn usually expresses an evolution of a complete thought.

The churches that fail to do this are simply pandering to the people who can’t be in church past 45 minutes.
 
In my opinion, not all the verses to all the hymns are appropriate to all the occasions.

A case in point might be “Eternal Father, Strong to Save (Navy Hymn)”. It has more verses than “99 Bottles of Beer On The Wall” and not every branch of service and/ or acitvity needs to “represent” to make it appropriate to the occasion, scripture, and feast. Is it really necessary on an air force base to sing about those in peril on the sea?

Some hymns have seasonal verses, one for Lent, one for Advent, one for Ordinary Time. Why sing the Lent verses during Ordinary Time?

Another good reason is hymns with several translations. I have heard very lovely versions of “Silent Night” in five different languages. It was not necessary to hear all four verses, all the way through, translated from German into English, Spanish, Polish and French. It was better with the first verse in German, second Spanish, third French, fourth Polish, then everybody joining in on the first verse again in English.

This is especially true of hymns translated from Latin. One verse in Latin, one in English, unless it’s a EF Mass or rite.
 
Sr_Sally said:
Often it seems to me that we don’t because we don’t need to. For example, the entrance hymn only has to last until the priest has processed in, kissed the altar, and is ready to begin. That may take 2 verses, it may take 4. But there isn’t a reason to keep singing after the priest is in position just because the hymn has 6 verses.
Click to expand...
That unfortunately is a wrong understanding of the Entrance Hymn. Accompanying the procession is only one of the functions of this hymn. The GIRM says “The purpose of this chant is to open the celebration, foster the unity of those who have been gathered, introduce their thoughts to the mystery of the liturgical season or festivity, and accompany the procession of the priest and ministers.”

Considering that hymns have a complete theme running through them with a beginning, a core and an end, not singing all the verses often leaves one without a true understanding of the hymn – witnessed often in Catholic parishes where we sing a hymn about the Trinity and invariably omit the Holy Spirit because we stop singing when Fr. reaches his chair.

True enough, some hymns have verses that are specific to Advent, Christmas, Lent & Easter so we don’t always sing ALL their verses – but that is in keeping with the lyricist’s intent.
 
PaixGioiaAmor said:
Not true. This is a very common misconception.

The church tells us that the entrance hymn or antiphon has several purposes; among them, to gather the assembly together, to lead our thoughts and help us prepare for the day or feast at hand that we are celebrating, and to accompany the procession of the celebrant and ministers.

Stopping the entrance hymn when the celebrant reaches his chair would provide for the last purpose for sure. But what about the first two? It makes sense to sing a hymn in as close to its entirety as possible, since a hymn usually expresses an evolution of a complete thought.

The churches that fail to do this are simply pandering to the people who can’t be in church past 45 minutes.
Click to expand...
In my parish, the priests used to stand in the vestibule and process up the middle aisle at the beginning of Mass. My pastor changed the procession. Now they come out of the sacristy, process down a side aisle, the come up through the middle aisle. By lengthening the procession, it allows all verses of the opening hymn to be sung. My pastor mentioned that is why he changed things, so the beginning of Mass would not seem rushed.

After Mass, the procession stops and bows to the altar, then genuflects to the tabernacle, then starts walking out, so we get a longer recessional hymn too, with all the verses usually. My pastor changed that too, so the end of Mass would not seem rushed.
 
There is a great number of songs which in order for the message or lesson of the lyrics to be conveyed must be sung in their entirety. It is a shame that time constraints frequently if not always prohibit the singing of the entire hymn. The doctor in question is no doubt accustomed to protestant worship services which have no fixed time frame since there is only one service at the church each Sunday. In such a setting hymns may be sung in their entirety without causing any problem. When there are enough local churches that the congregation can fit into one worship service (Mass) on Sunday, then we, too, will have the luxury of singing all the verses.

Matthew
 
To counter the “limited time” argument let me quote Bernadette Gasslein, editor of “Celebrate!” after she had done a test which proved that singing the rest of the hymn after Fr. had reached his chair added a whopping 45 seconds to the Mass: “The only time 45 seconds is a significant length of time is if you’re in cardiac arrest.”
 
doglover said:
My non-Catholic eye doctor made a comment at my last visit. (We talk about faith. 🙂 ) Apparently, he has attended Mass on occasion. He mentioned that Catholics don’t sing all the verses of the songs at Mass. Does anyone have any ideas why we don’t sing every verse of every song so that I can explain this to him? :confused:
Click to expand...
It bothers me too, especially during Christmas when we get to sing carols…
 
As has been said before, a lot of the time its just because its not really needed.

Although I will say that at times you will come across a parish that will sing every single verse of every single song. My parish priest, for example, is a firm believer in the old adage “Singing is twice praying”, so he doesn’t mind waiting after the procession for the song to finish up, so that we aren’t cutting off the worship of song for the sake of time. Whats a few minutes if they’re spent glorifying God?
 
dandn5000 said:
As has been said before, a lot of the time its just because its not really needed.

Although I will say that at times you will come across a parish that will sing every single verse of every single song. My parish priest, for example, is a firm believer in the old adage “Singing is twice praying”, so he doesn’t mind waiting after the procession for the song to finish up, so that we aren’t cutting off the worship of song for the sake of time. Whats a few minutes if they’re spent glorifying God?
Click to expand...
We have to stop thinking of the Entrance Hymn as travelling music and start thinking of it as what it is: our first act of worship as a community. If that doesn’t deserve the extra minute that singing the entire hymn might take…

We know the Offertory Hymn has to end by the end of the Lavabo, so if there is usually a small congregation and collection doesn’t take long, picking a hymn that has 8 verses but only singing 3 or 4 may not be the best move a DM can make. I’ve yet to see a hymn that gets the message across in the first 4 of 8 verses.
 
Phemie said:
We know the Offertory Hymn has to end by the end of the Lavabo…[snip]
Click to expand...
Sorry to be off-topic…

But this would likely explain why if the offertory hymn is a bit long, Father will wait at the altar before commencing with the Lavabo.

Thanks for that bit of insight, Phemie!
 
one mistake choirs and cantors make IMO is to sing the wrong verses for the season, for instance O Come Emmanuel would not be as repetitive if we sang the proper verses, instead of always the first 2 or 3, all we “have time for”. On Jordan’s Bank has verses proper to Advent, and to Baptism of the Lord and early Sundays of OT. There are many traditional hymns like this, also that have verses appropriate to morning or evening, and can be changed accordingly.
 
We generally do, our priest waits for us and wholeheartily sings a long, he likes to sing. And he leaves the choice to our choir director who keeps an eye on what is happening and the timeing going on. We don’t always sing all the Psalm verses, but that is the choice of our director.
 
The other part of the equation has to do with the celebrant. Our regular 2 priests love to sing and do not mind singing all the verses for the entrance and the recessional. A couple of months ago, we had a rent-a-priest filling in who made a point of coming over and telling us that he has never had a Sunday mass last more than an hour and he did not want to start now. The songs were all 1 or 2 verses long that day.
 
I noticed this too when I started attending Catholic Masses. It absolutely amazed me that only the first two verses were sung. Growing up we always sang every verse (even the starred verses, which are always understood to be optional in the hymnal). Most people have absolutely no idea that “O Come All Ye Faithful” actually has six verses. Of course, there are also times that I really appreciate NOT singing every verse…such as when it’s just not a good song in general.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top