Sung Antiphons
Date: August 18, 2024
Author: Fr. Edward McNamara, LC
Question: The choir director at my parish is a great liturgical singer and loves the liturgy. Whenever he leads the music, he is set on singing the antiphons for the opening song, the offertory, and communion. He sings the antiphons in English, and they are sung nicely. However, since only the cantor sings, none of the people sing at the Mass and it seems somewhat somber. After asking him to sing hymns as well to involve the faithful and lift the atmosphere a little, he replied that hymns are a concession to singing the antiphons, and he hesitated to sing a hymn in place of the antiphons. I recently observed that at St. Peter’s in Rome the choir sings lots of hymns at Mass, and the atmosphere of the Mass was much more participative and active. My question would be what is the place of singing hymns in the Mass, and where might the Church have spoken about this? Also, what might be the pastoral approach to asking this musician to sing something that includes the people? -- J.K., United States
Answer: This is a good question, and it can be answered from several points of view.
One question concerns the preferability of singing the antiphons; another, what norms exist; and third, how to encourage greater liturgical participation.
As regards norms, there are several sources, but I will limit myself to two.
One is the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) as published in the United States. This represents the applicable liturgical law.
Second, there are the guidelines issued by the U.S. bishops’ conference, “Sing to the Lord.” While these are guidelines and not strict laws, I will quote from these as they also incorporate the laws found in the GIRM.
Regarding the entrance chant or song, the guidelines say:
“142. After the entire liturgical assembly has been gathered, an Entrance chant or song is sung as the procession with the priest, deacon, and ministers enters the church. ‘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.’
“143. Care must be taken in the treatment of the texts of psalms, hymns, and songs in the Liturgy. Verses and stanzas should not be omitted arbitrarily in ways that risk distorting their content. While not all musical pieces require that all verses or stanzas be sung, verses should be omitted only if the text to be sung forms a coherent whole.
“144. The text and music for the Entrance song may be drawn from a number of sources.
“a. The singing of an antiphon and psalm during the entrance procession has been a long-standing tradition in the Roman Liturgy. Antiphons and psalms may be drawn from the official liturgical books—the Graduale Romanum or the Graduale Simplex—or from other collections of antiphons and psalms.
“b. Other hymns and songs may also be sung at the Entrance, providing that they are in keeping with the purpose of the Entrance chant or song. The texts of antiphons, psalms, hymns, and songs for the Liturgy must have been approved either by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or by the local diocesan bishop.”
Regarding the Presentation of the Gifts:
“173. After the altar has been prepared, gifts of bread and wine are brought to the priest or deacon by members of the liturgical assembly. This procession is accompanied by an Offertory chant or song, ‘which continues at least until the gifts have been placed on the altar.’ The norms on the manner of singing are the same as for the Entrance chant (see nos. 142ff. in this document).
“174. Even when there is no procession with the gifts, singing may still accompany the rites at the Offertory. Instrumental music is also appropriate.
“175. The priest then prays the Prayer over the Offerings. Even when the prayer is not sung, the conclusion to the prayer may be sung, along with the response by the people.”
With respect to the communion antiphon:
“189. ‘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.’ The singing begins immediately and continues ‘for as long as the Sacrament is being administered to the faithful.’ 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.
“190. There are several options for the Communion song or chant, including the proper antiphon from the Graduale Romanum, a seasonal antiphon from the Graduale Simplex, an antiphon and psalm from a collection approved for liturgical use, or another appropriate liturgical song.
“191. In selecting a Communion song suitable for the Eucharistic banquet in which God’s blessings are bestowed so abundantly, one should look for texts that have themes of joy, wonder, unity, gratitude, and praise. Following ancient Roman liturgical tradition, the Communion song might reflect themes of the Gospel reading of the day. It is also appropriate to select a Communion processional song that reflects the liturgical action, i.e., eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Christ.
“192. As a processional piece, the Communion chant or song presents particular challenges. The faithful are encouraged to grasp ever more deeply the essentially communitarian nature of the Communion procession. In order to foster participation of the faithful with ‘unity of voices,’ it is recommended that psalms sung in the responsorial style, or songs with easily memorized refrains, be used. The refrains will generally need to be limited in number and repeated often, especially at the outset, so that they become familiar to the faithful.
“193. When the Communion procession is lengthy, more than one piece of music might be desirable. In this case, there may be a combination of pieces for congregation and pieces for choir alone. Choirs with the requisite ability may sing the proper Communion chant from the Graduale Romanum, either in Gregorian chant or in a polyphonic setting, or other suitable choral pieces. Instrumental music may also be used to foster a spirit of unity and joy. If there is a hymn or song after Communion, the Communion music should be ended ‘in a timely manner.’ A period of silent reflection for the entire congregation after the reception of Communion is also appropriate.
“194. During the various seasons of the year, the psalm or song during Communion should be chosen with the spirit of that season in mind. On most Sundays and other days, it would be appropriate to sing one of the psalms that have long been associated with participation in the Eucharistic banquet, such as Psalms 23, 34, and 147. There is also a substantial repertory of liturgical songs that give expression to the joy and wonder of sharing in the Lord’s Supper.
“195. Care should be taken to ensure that the musicians (singers and instrumentalists), too, ‘can receive Communion with ease.’ Since the Communion song begins while the priest is receiving the Sacrament, the singers and other musicians may receive Communion at or near the end of the procession.
“Song After Communion
“196. ‘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.’ 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.
This latter section on the communion hymn is based on the following text of the GIRM in the U.S.:
“159. ‘In the dioceses of the United States of America there are four options for the Communion chant (song): (1) the antiphon from the Roman Missal or the Psalm from the Roman Gradual, as set to music there or in another musical setting; (2) the seasonal antiphon and Psalm of the Simple Gradual; (3) a song from another collection of psalms and antiphons, approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or the diocesan Bishop, including psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms; (4) a suitable liturgical song chosen in accordance with no. 86. This is sung either by the choir alone or by the choir or cantor with the people’ (GIRM, no. 87).
“160. Antiphons from the Graduale Romanum or Graduale Simplex might be sung in Latin or vernacular.”
From the above, we can see that the law speaks of “options” and does not imply a hierarchy in each case.
It does emphasize the tradition of singing the entrance antiphon, and indeed since this antiphon forms part of the liturgy, it is preferable to sing the Mass and not just sing at Mass.
All the same, the norms suggest that the antiphon be accompanied by a psalm so that the faithful may participate. In English I believe that there are several musical versions of all the entrance antiphons that are compatible with community participation.
The norms place less stress on the offertory and communion antiphons. There is no longer an official chant for the offertory in the missal, and so this moment has greater flexibility. The above norms regarding the communion hymn clearly favor community participation.
I therefore think that our reader should assist his choir director in his liturgical formation by becoming better acquainted with existing liturgical laws and guidelines.
Finally, if I may be permitted an aside.
Liturgists and musicians tend to endlessly quibble and squabble over these four moments of the holy Mass (what one liturgist called the “Four hymn sandwich”). However, overall, while singing at these moments, especially during communion, is most worthy, they are in fact less important elements for full liturgical participation.
Active liturgical participation is best fostered by singing the most important parts of the Ordinary of the Mass such as the Sanctus (in both Latin and vernacular) which in some ways should be the most important sung element of the Eucharistic celebration.
As seen in the guidelines above, the response to the most important prayers is also important even if the priest only sings the conclusion. Other elements such as the Gloria, the Mystery of Faith, the Our Father and the Agnus Dei can be sung or not depending on the concrete pastoral situation.
In this way, a celebration can be highly and deeply participative when priest and people sing their respective parts even in those cases where no choir exist.
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