A Little More About Gregorian Chant

Grace and peace to you from God Our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

            In my last blog, I discussed the history and relevance of Gregorian chant, which begged the following questions: if Gregorian chant is so integral to the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy, why do so few churches in America utilize it? How do we, as Catholics, work to revitalize this powerful tradition and revive the reverence of the mass? Indeed, Valentino Grau asks this same question in his essay “Gregorian Chant: The Possibilities and Conditions for a Revival,” saying, “How could a bunch of insipid tunes stamped out according to the models of the most trivial popular music ever replace the nobility and robustness of the Gregorian melodies, even the most simple ones, which are capable of lifting the hearts of the people up to heaven?” (21).

            First of all, the Catholic Church in America has ever been besieged by the influence of Evangelical Protestantism, particularly in the realm of music, with their “revival meetings.” These early “worship” services consisted of a short sermon followed by highly emotive music that would cause people to be “caught up in the Spirit” until they would burst into a prophetic tongue. These non-liturgies were very attractive and garnered hundreds of Protestants who sought to leave the high and lofty liturgies with their bells and smells for the emotional high provided by these revival meetings.

This frightening reality is but a glimpse of what has happened to the music in the Sacred Liturgy in America today, which really turn its worst turn at Vatican II. According to our good friend Edward Schaefer, “Prior to the Council there was an intense and growing conflict between musicians and liturgists” (136). Musicians sought to follow the teachings and traditions of the Church by keeping the music sacred and the liturgy reverent, while liturgists, usually unqualified laypeople, sought to make the mass more engaging, and unfortunately, more Protestant. Ann Labounsky outlines the differences between liturgists and musicians in her book Jean Langlais: The Man and His Music and hits the nail on the head ten times when she describes the approach and methods of the liturgists. The painfully accurate list includes the following:

1.      Emphasis on total revision of the liturgy discarding the musical patrimony of the Church, including Gregorian Chant, polyphony, and Classical music.

2.      Verbal emphasis: weakening symbols. Vernacular important; Latin unimportant.

3.      Use of new composed music of very simple and repetitive character.

4.      Priest as celebrant, presider, president of the assembly, more in the Protestant role model.

5.      No distinction between sacred and secular. Utilitarian nature of worship.

6.      Choirs less important than congregational singing.

7.      External signs of piety preferred to internal signs. Action rather than contemplation.

8.      Mass as a meal of commemoration. All part of Mass equally sacred. Informal, folksy worship. Spontaneous, human-centered meal.

9.      Community, people-centered worship.

10.  Subjective criteria for planning worship.

I'm sorry, I was going to summarize, but they are all too real and I couldn’t leave even one of them out. If this list doesn’t describe your parish, then you are one of the few Catholics in America blessed with a reverent liturgy (I am quite spoiled in this regard; Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix, Arizona excels in their celebration of the liturgy, particularly with the greatness of their sacred music). Unfortunately, the list above is the best case scenario for most Catholics—believe me, I mean best.

Let me be clear; the Holy Mass is a sacrament administered by the Roman Catholic Church that is objectively good, true, and beautiful, and cannot be marred. I am not suggesting that the poor substitute to sacred music that most Catholics in America endure each Sunday—or anything for that matter—could mar the greatness of the mass. What can be marred, what can be made irreverent, invalid, irrelevant, sacrilegious, is the celebration of the mass, which is known as the liturgy.

So what can be done to fix this astronomical problem? How do we bring back the reverence? Step One: bring back Gregorian chant. As I discussed in my previous blog, nothing is more universal, communalizing, and orthodox than the music that exclusively served the Catholic liturgy for over 1,960 years. Grau boldly proclaims two other factors that are indispensable for revitalizing good sacred music, saying:

1.      Above all, the musical formation of priests, religious, and the faithful requires seriousness, and the avoidance of the halfhearted amateurishness seen in some volunteers. Those who have gone through great pains to prepare themselves for this service must be hired, and proper remuneration for them secured. In a word, we must know how to spend money on music. It is unthinkable that we should spend money on everything from flowers to banners, but not on music. What sense would it make to encourage young people to study, and then keep them unemployed, if not indeed humiliated or tormented by our whims and our lack of seriousness?

2.      The second necessary factor is harmony in action. John Paul II recalled: “The musical aspect of liturgical celebrations cannot be left to improvisation or the decision of individuals, but must be entrusted to well-coordinated leadership, in respect for the norms and competent authorities, as the substantial outcome of an adequate liturgical formation.” So, then, respect for the norms—which is already a widespread desire. We are waiting for authoritative directives, imparted with authority. And the coordination of all the local initiatives and practices is a service that rightfully belongs to the Church of Rome, to the Holy See. This is the opportune moment, and there is no time to waste.

So let’s set up the process:

Step One: Pray for the spiritual renewal of the Sacred Liturgy.

Step Two: Bring back Gregorian chant.

Step Three: Proper catechesis and professional formation.

Step Four: Better stewardship of parish resources to include staff and musicians properly educated and trained for the services they provide.

Step Five: Follow to the letter the precepts and teachings of the Catholic Church regarding the Sacred Liturgy.

Step Six: The Universal Church complete the steps above together and at the same time.

Let's get to work, shall we? 

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy faithful,

And enkindle in them the fire of thy love.

Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created,

And Thou shalt renew the face of the Earth.

O Holy God, you are the font of life and the fire of love. Grant that we, your holy servants, might be graced with the wisdom to know your will, and that, by the guiding hand of Holy Mary, your most precious spouse, we may always seek what is truly holy and reverent, not submitting to the desires of our fallen nature, but ever obeying the precepts of your Holy Church. We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Grau, Valentino Miserachs. “Gregorian Chant: The Possibilities and Conditions for a Revival.” Sacred Music. Winter 2005, Vol. 132 Issue 4, p20-23. Web.

Schaefer, Edward. Catholic Music Through the Ages. Hillenbrand Books, 2008. Print.