Guidelines - Music Within the Mass

1 Guidelines : Music Within the Mass Introduction The purpose of these guid elines is to pro vide su pport to parish Music leaders and gr oups in their d ay-to- day minis try of mu sic Within the Ma ss. The do cument recalls the centra li ty of the Eucharist to o ur Catho lic way of lif e, helps in understanding the purp ose and importance of Music wit hin the Ma ss, ident ifies t he as semb ly as the p rima ry mu sic mi nister, details the important role of mu sic mi nisters in pr eparation and coor dination of the as sem bly s mus ic m inistry, ident ifies t he di ffe rent fo rms of l iturg ical so ng with in t he Ma ss.

2 Expl ains the options a nd helps guide the selection of Music for the va rio us parts o f the Mass, ident ifies o ther key c oncer ns for par ish and s cho ol m usic mi nistry as we ll as strat egies and re sou rces to add ress the m. It is ho ped that these guid elin es will assi st you in your Music mi nist ry and help make our cele bration of the Ma ss an uplifting ex perien ce of the community at pray er and w orship. The Centrality of Liturgy and the Eucharist As Ca tholics, we know that cele brating the litu rgy of the Chu rch is at the h eart of the way we give glory to Go d.

3 The term liturgy h as its origins in the G reek word , meaning p ublic work' or a ' servi ce in the na me of / on behalf of the peopl e.' This wo rd appears th roughout the New Te stame nt, a nd is und ersto od to mean the participation of the People of God in the work of the Triu ne Go d ( cf. Lk 1: 23; Acts 13:2; Rom 15:16, 2 7; 2 Cor 9:12; Ph il 2:14-17, 2 5, 3 0; Heb 8:2, 6). Through liturgy, Christ con tinues the w ork of our r edemption in, with and t hrough his Church.

4 The li turgy is our w ay of parti cipa ting pub licly in the on going work of Christ in wors hi p, p rocla mat io n of the G osp el and a ctive cha rity to the glo ry of G od (Catec hism of the Catholic Church (CCC), 1069 -70). No wonder the Second Vat ican C ouncil described liturgy as the su mmit and sou rce of the Ch urch s activity (C ons titution on Sacr ed L iturgy, Sacrosanctum Co ncili um, 1 0), a nd Eucharist ( the Ma ss) as the sou rce and summit of Chris tian life ( Dog ma tic Consti tution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, 11).

5 The Function and Importance of Music in Liturgy Our m odel for Music in the li tur gy is Jes us him self, w ho sang psalms with the apos tles a t the La st Supper (Mt 26:30; Mk 14:26). Music is an integral part of our pa rticipation in liturgy an inte gral part of our participation in the work of Go d. For wh en song and mus ic are sig ns of the Holy Sp irit s pre sence and a ction, they encourage, in a certain way, com munion with the Trinity (John Paul II, Address to the Pontific al Instit ute of Sacr ed Mu sic, 3; Chi rograph on Sacr ed Mu sic, 3).

6 The Se cond Vatican Council s C onstitution on S acred Litu rgy (C SL) ma de particular mention of the role of Music in fulfi lling the purp ose of l itur gy, which is the glory of God and the sa nct ific ation of the faithful (C SL 11 2). The Second Vatican Coun cil s In stru ction on Music in the L itur gy, Musicam Sacram (M S), ment ions f ive spe cific minist erial func tions of Music in the l itur gy. Through mus ic in the li turgy: 1. prayer is g iven a m ore gra cef ul expr ession, 2.

7 The m ystery of the liturgy, with its hierarchical and community nature, is more openly s ho wn, 3. the unity of hearts is more profoundly achieved by the union of voices, 4. minds are more easily raised to heavenly things by the beauty of the liturgy, and 5. the who le cele bration more cle arly pre fig ures the he avenly lit urgy (cf. MS 4- 5). One cann ot find anything more religio us and mo re joyful in sacred cele bra tions than a whole con gregation expr essing its faith a nd de voti on in song (MS 16).

8 Great importance sh ould theref ore be atta ched to the use of singing in the celebr ation of the M ass, with due consi deratio n for the culture of p eopl es and abil iti es of each li turgical ass emb ly. Although it is not always nec essary ( , in wee kday Ma sse s) to s ing a ll t he texts that are in pri nciple m eant to be sung, every care should be taken that singing by the m inisters and the people is not abse nt in celebrations that occ ur on Sundays a nd on holy days of o bli gation (Ge ner al In stru ction of the R oman Missal (GIRM ), 40).

9 Our preparation and leadership of mu sic w ithin the Mass greatly assists the People o f God, the community as the b ody of Christ, to experi ence "n ew life in the Spirit, involveme nt in the mission of the Churc h, and service to her u nity" (CCC 1072). The Role of the Music Ministry The pri ma ry Music mi nist er in the li turgy is the a ssem bly. At certain times the priest, the deacon, the choir, the musicians, the psalmist and t he cantor have speci fic ro les of their own.

10 But there is no place in the li turgy for perfo rmances of a rt for art s sake. Of special importance are the ro les of Music director, choir director and Music coordinator, who are respo nsible for p rep aring, rehearsing and conducting the mu sical aspe cts of liturg ical celebr atio ns . They ha ve a vit al role in ch oosing the mu sic and he lping the ass embly take an active part in the si nging (cf. CSL 28, 30, 114, 118, and 121). The role of vo ice traine rs is cri tical in prepa ring psalmists to s ing the respo nsori al p salm.