Jul 15 Wed
In the Mass, should I join the singing?
The Mass is the center of our inner life, nourishing our piety. Our participation in the liturgical celebration effectively links us to the Holy Sacrifice of the Cross. Our whole being takes part: our understanding, our will, and our body too, through the actions and gestures we perform.
In the liturgy, singing expresses the love and joy in our hearts. The Church offers us a very human way to express what we feel: singing. It is a need we feel, because as St. Augustine says, singing comes naturally to people in love, and we are in love.
Singing is an expression of joy, the genuine fruit of love. That is why our life, a life of love, needs to break out into songs of happiness. The full, ringing tones of our songs come from a heart is dedicated to God.
The Second Vatican Council's documents emphasize the integral role of music in the liturgical celebration, highlighting the importance of the Church's musical tradition.
“The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as a combination of sacred music and words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy.” Song and music are closely connected with the liturgical action. The criteria for their adequate use are their expressive beauty as prayer, the assembly's unanimous participation, and the celebration's sacred character.
The documents encourage the preservation of inherited liturgical music traditions while also inviting composers and poets to create new sacred music that reflects the faithful's cultural traditions—music that fosters community, promotes understanding, and leads to deeper communion with God. The overarching aim is to ensure that the whole body of the faithful can actively participate in the liturgy, making it a more noble and expressive form of worship.
Still, Gregorian chant should have a place in liturgical acts together with vernacular songs, as we usually sing at solemn Masses, at Benediction, and at other ceremonies.
"Have veneration and respect for the Holy Liturgy of the Church and for each of its ceremonies. Carry them out faithfully. Don't you see that, for us poor humans, even the greatest and most noble things must enter through the senses?"
“The Church sings, it has been said, because speech alone would not suffice for its prayer. You, who are a Christian, should learn to sing liturgically." Thus, we must put loving care into singing as an expression of piety.
We can use the songs and chants of the liturgy for our prayer, because they are rich in doctrine. In the Creed, we proclaim our faith in God, One and Three, in God the Creator of all things, in Jesus Christ the Son of God. We praise him when we sing the Gloria; we acknowledge his supreme majesty in the Sanctus; we beg him to wash away our sins as we sing the Agnus Dei.