Music and Liturgy: What Should Our Music Sound Like

I created the following video to address the question: What should our music sound like for Mass?

There seems to be an unclear answer from our Church, since it’s difficult to draw hard lines in an art like music. Should we ban or allow particular chords, certain intervals or rhythms, or even entire genres? Can we say that the music has to have an objective purity, like perfect pitches and intervals? Well, that would exclude much of what we actually find beautiful about music. For example, a singer’s vibrato creates an imperfection in pitch, but creates beauty with the variation. Beauty can be found in a dissonant interval resolving to consonance. Beauty can be found in varying dynamics, moving from soft to loud and soft again. It’s almost that what makes music beautiful is its humanness, its expression of the creator. After all, we are most beautiful of all art, made in the image of our Creator, God.

In this video, I provide our Church’s teaching on what music is ideal for the Liturgy, what is not permitted, and how we can create art with the in between.

Music and Liturgy Video Series: How We Select Music

The following is a video that I created for my parish answering the question: How do we select music for Mass?

First, we look at the quote from the General Instruction of the Roman Missal:

In the Dioceses of the United States of America, there are four options for the Entrance Chant: (1) the antiphon from the Missal or the antiphon with its Psalm from the Graduale Romanum, as set to music there or in another setting; (2) the antiphon and Psalm of the Graduale Simplex for the liturgical time; (3) a chant from another collection of Psalms and antiphons, approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop, including Psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms; (4) another liturgical chant that is suited to the sacred action, the day, or the time of year, similarly approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop.

GIRM 48

In the video above, I break open the 4th option given above, and how we prayerfully and strategically select music based on the “sacred action, the day, or the time of year”.

Music and Liturgy Video Series: Music That Is Ever Ancient And Ever New

The following is a video that I created for my parish answering the question: How can we select music for Mass that reflects God’s nature as Ever Ancient and Ever New?

“Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you!”

- St. Augustine, Confessions

This quote from St. Augustine reveals God as Beauty who is both “ever ancient” and “ever new”. The music for our Mass should reveal the nature of God, so how can our music reflect God as "ever ancient” and “ever new”? I address this by asking “Why is Ever Ancient important?” as well as “Why is Ever New important?” The goal is to provide music for the liturgy that provides as balance between:

The treasure of sacred music is to be preserved and fostered with great care.
- Sacrosanctum Concilium, 114

and

Sing to the LORD a new song;
- Psalm 96:1

Music and Liturgy Video Series: The Languages We Sing

The following is a video that I created for my parish answering the question: What is the importance of using both the vernacular (native language) and Latin at Mass?

In this video, we look at Sacrosanctum Concilium, the document on Liturgy from Vatican II, and how it allowed the use of the mother tongue:

In Masses which are celebrated with the people, a suitable place may be allotted to their mother tongue.
- Sacrosanctum Concilium, 54

But, we keep in mind that Vatican II did not eliminate Latin from the Liturgy:

Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites.
- Sacrosanctum Concilium, 36

I look at the importance of both the mother tongue and Latin, and how we can balance the two.

Should We Sing the Antiphons?

Should parishes be singing antiphons at Mass? Antiphons are short scripture verses that are provided to be recited or sung to accompany certain parts of the Mass, in particular the Entrance, Offertory, and Communion. As with all liturgical questions, let’s turn to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. Here’s what it says is permitted for the music for the Entrance, Offertory, and Communion:

In the Dioceses of the United States of America, there are four options for the Entrance Chant:
(1) the antiphon from the Missal or the antiphon with its Psalm from the Graduale Romanum, as set to music there or in another setting;
(2) the antiphon and Psalm of the Graduale Simplex for the liturgical time;
(3) a chant from another collection of Psalms and antiphons, approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop, including Psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms;
(4) another liturgical chant that is suited to the sacred action, the day, or the time of year, similarly approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop.
- General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 48

Paragraphs 74 and 87 state that the above applies also for the Offertory and Communion chants. As you can see, most of the music we typically use in your average parish falls under the 4th option: “another liturgical chant”.

It Is Required to Sing the Antiphons?

I’ve heard some liturgical experts say that these options are in order of preference, in which case the first preference should always be to sing the antiphon from the Roman Missal or Graduale Romanum. Some even say that the other three options should be outside the norm, although the GIRM does not state this. There is a hierarchy to these options though, which is why they are listed in that order. Since the antiphon is given in the Missal itself, the antiphon is the most ideal text. We have the three other options though because music for the Mass is art, and art requires freedom. So the Church gives priests and music directors freedom in these four options so they can create beautiful art through their decisions in music, and hopefully through the art, people will recognize God the Creator and grow closer to Him.

So no, it’s not required to sing the antiphons, that’s why the Church gives options.

Should We Sing the Antiphons?

The antiphons in the Roman Missal and Graduale Romanum are the texts given by the Church herself for each particular liturgy, so I don’t think we should consider any other text more ideal than the antiphon. Yes, we should be free to serve our congregation with another song or hymn that will unite their hearts to Christ, but if there’s a way to use antiphons, why not? Keeping in mind you don’t have to… but if you can give your congregation the opportunity to pray these scripture verses in the Missal, I encourage you to go for it. When you chant the antiphons, you begin to see the rhythm of the liturgical year. You begin to identify certain text with certain liturgies, which enriches your liturgies as well as your personal devotion to scripture. If you decide to use antiphons though, be sure that your decision isn’t out of righteousness or pride, but out of a desire to uncover the Church’s wisdom, out of humility.

How to Sing the Antiphons

If your parish is used to only songs or hymns at the Entrance, Offertory, and Communion, it can be jarring to your congregation to introduce antiphons, so I encourage you to do so slowly. It can take a parish an entire three year liturgical cycle to get used to singing antiphons, so be patient. To start out, you could pick one antiphon to use over a liturgical season like Advent or Lent, so your congregation can get used to singing along, then when you change liturgical seasons, you can start to use the weekly antiphons for each particular liturgy.

I don’t recommend cutting out songs/hymns and replacing them with antiphons unless your congregation is ready, which could take years or even generations. I’ve seen parishes switch to antiphons only too quickly, and no matter the amount of catechesis, their parishioners still felt abandoned. The faith of your congregation is more important than being right when it comes to these options. Make changes relationally, for example introduce a communion antiphon, give it some time, then see how your congregation is doing. Keep adjusting the rate of your change according to your congregation, which is how you can make changes pastorally.

I recommend pairing the antiphon with a song/hymn. For example, for Communion, you can chant the Communion antiphon twice (once by a cantor and then invite the congregation and choir to join), then transition into your Communion hymn. In an effort to teach the congregation that the antiphons are not a political thing, but a prayer just as much as the Communion song, I chant the communion antiphon in the same or a similar key as our communion song with organ or a keys pad under it, and we keep the keys sustaining straight into our communion song. We even do this for our Entrance procession as well. To see how we do this, you can check out my church’s YouTube channel, where we post our Masses every weekend: St. Timothy’s YouTube Channel

Most publishers now have versions of the antiphons that you can use, the antiphon arrangements we use are available for free download at illuminarepublications.com. I really enjoy using these antiphons because they were arranged to be in the same mode as the Latin antiphons in the Graduale Romanum. For Masses like Christmas and Easter, we even do these English antiphons back-to-back with the Graduale Romanum antiphons, and it eases the intimidation of the Latin since we also sing the English translation.

Personally, in my personal prayer time, I know the Holy Spirit has encouraged me to chant antiphons, and I would like to pass on that encouragement. Anything outside of our paradigm can seem like a mountain to climb, but they’re a lot more simple than it seems. Just make sure that anything you do isn’t out of pride, but out of service for God and your congregation. If you ever need help learning how to chant the antiphons, feel free to reach out to myself (davidmaresmusic@gmail.com) or check out my resources page.

Leading Worship: Leaders Listen

Think of great leaders in business, politics, or sports, and you usually think about inspirational speeches. The first quality that comes to mind about great leaders is what they say. In all of the great speeches in history or the greatest sports movies, you see a leader already leading those who follow. But what comes before that? What influences them to follow the leader in the first place?

In ministry, the model we have for leadership given by Jesus is “pastoring”, which draws from the image of a shepherd leading his sheep. A shepherd should always keep an eye on all of his sheep, but in ministry, we can’t see where anyone is spiritually, we can only see evidence, such as if a person visibly praying. We have to know where people are in order to direct them where to go, and the only way that we can know where people are is by listening: listening to God, and listening to them. This is why listening is one of the most important tools for any leader, especially in ministry.

Listen to God

“I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me.”
— John 10:14

How can we truly know where people are in their relationship with God? Only God knows our hearts, which is why it’s vital to listen to God, the Good Shepherd Himself. As worship leaders, yes, it’s important for people to follow us so we can sing and praise together, but ultimately the goal is to direct our hearts to the presence of God and to a deeper relationship with Him. In order for us to direct others to God, we need to ask God two things:

  1. Where are the people I’m leading in their relationship with God in this very moment?

  2. How can I lead them closer to God?

If we don’t ask these questions before we lead (in prayer while planning), while we lead (between and even during songs), and after we lead (spending time in prayer), we’re not following God and we’re definitely not leading anyone. We’re only serving ourselves at that point.

Don’t Play Songs, Lead Prayer

While on the surface, it may look like we can just pick some songs and play them through, but if that’s all we do, then we’re missing an opportunity for something so much deeper. While you lead through the songs, constantly be asking God those two questions above. Even take moments in the songs for “listening” time, where you can repeat a chord progression or even stay on one chord, and spend a moment to listen to God in your heart. When I have a band, I’ll usually build in a few “instrumental breaks”, which can also be a powerful moment of soaking in God’s presence. I’ll usually cue it up by saying something like “let’s take a moment and open our hearts to God’s presence” or “let’s take a moment to allow God to speak His love into our hearts.” Sometimes God will give me something to share, like an image, an encouraging word, or a scripture. Other times the moment of quiet will serve its own purpose, maybe God will speak directly into everyone’s hearts. If we desire praise and worship to deepen our relationship with God, it has to be a balance of speaking/praise and listening, since that’s how relationships are built. We need to give God the space to lead us into His heart.

Listen to Others

Afterwards, take time to talk to those who were praising with you and see how God moved in their hearts. Find out what songs or moments were fruitful for them. This will help you not only adjust how you lead the next time, but allow you to see where you listened to God, which will help you grow in knowing God’s voice. As you grow deeper in relationship with God, you’ll be able to hear his voice more clearly, and checking with others affirms that growth within yourself.

More importantly, simply talk to people about how they’re doing in life. Relational ministry, which is listening to another where they are in life and serving them in that, goes hand in hand with leading praise and worship. It helps you to see with even more clarity how God may be moving in a particular moment. Also, there’s a saying that “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Growing in relationship with someone allows each of you to open your heart to what the other has to say, because you begin to see each other not in a ministerial role, but simply as a human person. Taking time to grow in relationship with others affects the way that they will respond to when you lead praise and worship.

Know God’s Voice

We need to learn his voice. We need to spend the time listening to him in our private prayer life. Prayer life is critical for worship leaders. Carve out time for prayer, let’s allow God to lead us in everything we do.

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