Fr. Piero Lazzarini sx
50 (Fifty) years after the closing of the Vatican Council (1962-65), which gave the Church a new, renovated, enriched, joyful (potentially!) Liturgy, we must admit that the ROLE OF THE CHOIR - which is vital and essential in our Sunday liturgies - is still badly misunderstood; I would even say "ignored," by the members themselves of the choir and especially by those who are responsible for the preparation and celebration of the Mass.
In my long life experience as a priest (over 50 years), I have not come across yet a community where the Mass is celebrated and conducted - as far as music and singing are concerned - according to the good, wise and inspired guidelines of the Church. It is a great pity! The Mass could be so beautiful, so attractive, so spiritually edifying, if it were celebrated according to the mind and teaching of the Church!
LITURGY IS CELEBRATION
The Mass is a celebration in the real sense of the word. Music and singing are of the utmost importance in every liturgical celebration. Music and singing give the RITES solemnity, dignity and beauty. And they give joy and spiritual uplifting to all who are celebrating: priests, ministers, congregation.
What makes a good choir? Of course, you expect choir members to be able to sing well, to love singing and to be available to train and practise, and to lead the celebrations in church at the appropriate times. But since LITURGY, the Mass in particular, is not a free for all, but it is the "heart and centre of the whole christian life for the Church both universal and local" (GIRM,n.16) something precious, sacred, holy, 'untouchable' (i.e. not to be grossly and ignorantly mishandled!), THE RULES AND GUIDELINES OF THE CHURCH are not a matter of choice, but an obligation of faith and of personal responsibility.
"FULL, CONSCIOUS, ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD" (Vat.2)
This is the purpose and the end of every liturgical celebration, the Church keeps repeating. She has been stressing this and continues to stress it since the time of the Vatican Council. Every effort must be made to ensure that the christian people take part in liturgical celebrations "FULLY, CONSCIOUSLY, ACTIVELY" so that the celebrations may be also spiritually FRUITFUL.
This is the nature of the Liturgy: it belongs to the whole Body of Christ, not only to the priests or to the choir.
Therefore it is regrettable that the ROLE OF THE CHOIR is not yet understood in the Church. Many choirs perform in such a way as to attract attention on themselves, as if they were the centre of the celebration. The choir has a MINISTERIAL ROLE - the Church says - to play in the celebration of the Liturgy. Ministry means SERVICE. Therefore the Choir is at the service of the Congregation, the people of God. Its purpose and task is to lead and help, to animate and support, the encourage the full participation of the congregation.
Therefore the idea of a choir that entertains the passive congregation (who become mere "spectators") with skilled and elaborate "pieces" is unacceptable. It is an ongoing temptation and an abuse; it means ROBBING THE PEOPLE OF GOD OF THEIR RIGHT (and joy) to actively and fully participate in the celebration of the Liturgy.
How are we - we, priests, in particular - to resist that ongoing temptation and pressure on the part of the choir to "play to the gallery" in church, i.e. to play in order to ENTERTAIN, to impress and to show off, to MONOPOLISE all the singing, instead of helping and leading the people to glorify God and make the Liturgy beautiful and attractive? All the relevant documents of the church insist on LITURGICAL INSTRUCTION and SPIRITUAL FORMATION of the choir members.
A few regular sessions to present and explain the relevant parts of the Church's documents will go a long way towards helping the choir to understand, accept and appreciate THE MINISTERIAL ROLE, which they are expected to play in church. In the Church, if we go by the Gospel, SERVICE is a PRIVILEGE!
Does it mean that the choir is never allowed to sing on their own in church? Not so! The choir needs to put away any idea of PERFORMING (playing to the gallery!), but surely in the celebration of the Liturgy there are moments when the choir may laudably accompany some significant actions (processions) or sing a motet on their own (a prayerful reflection) during or after communion or take care of some difficult parts during some special liturgies.
The primary task of the choir is to lead, to guide, to ENABLE the whole assembly to celebrate and sing the praises of God. Let them not forget the verse of that Psalm: "Not to us, o Lord, not to us, but to your name give the glory!" This should be the MOTTO of every serious, mature, faith-full choir!
WHO IS TO LEAD, TO "DIRECT THE SINGING" OF THE CONGREGATION?
This is another aspect of great importance which so far has been totally ignored almost everywhere ... to our loss. If all the faithful, the WHOLE CONGREGATION, are to be fully and actively involved in singing God's praises - and the choir IS NOT TO ROB THEM of THEIR RIGHT AND DUTY, received in Baptism - WHO will direct, guide, encourage their singing and participation in the celebration of the Liturgy?
Obviously this is the TASK of the CHOIRMASTER! This is mentioned (though not with great emphasis) in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM, n.104), the most important liturgical document regarding the celebration of the Mass. He, the Choirmaster, can fulfil this task competently and effectively. What about the choir, then? Normally in our churches choirs are rightly positioned in front, close to the congregation: which means that the choirmaster can take care, without much problem, of both choir and congregation. This can make a GREAT POSITIVE DIFFERENCE to the effective and joyful participation of the congregation.
One necessary requirement is to have brief, well-planned, regular singing practice sessions before the Mass. It should be a matter of a few minutes: going over a refrain, a response, an acclamation or learning a new song or a new part of the Mass. If this is done regularly and promptly (and briefly), the Liturgy will surely improve by leaps and bounds, to everybody's satisfaction.
By the way, more space should be given to dialogical and responsorial singins, according to the pattern of traditional African singing.
THE ROLE OF THE PRIEST in regard TO MUSIC AND CHOIR
This is another aspect that is never been sufficiently stressed. The role of the priest in this matter is indeed DETERMINING.
First of all, consider well this statement of Pope Benedict (in Sacramentum Caritatis, n. 53):
"He alone, and no other, presides over the entire celebration of the Mass, from the initial greeting to the final blessing. He represents Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, and in a specific way, also the Church herself". This is official Church teaching.
Practically, he is to be in constant dialogue with choir and choirmaster. He is to give instruction and directives concerning singing. He is to see and supervise and approve the programme for the Mass.
In particular, he should take serious interest in the liturgical formation of the choir and give ongoing monitoring. It would go a long way if a copy of the most important document on the liturgy of the Mass were made available to them: GENERAL INSTRUCTION of the ROMAN MISSAL (in short GIRM), available at The Pastoral Centre, Kinsella St., near St Anthony's parish church, Freetown.
SOME OTHER RELEVANT POINTS
There are several other important points and aspects concerning the celebration of the Mass and especially the Role of the choir, that I would like to comment about, even if briefly.
1. HYMN BOOKS
They are important and desirable, but for various reasons they are not available. It is the task of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission to provide them. Those in circulation are not up to date and badly need a revision. Meantime each choir should compile its own repertoire of old and new songs, in English and local language (or even in Latin: Gregorian chant).
All new songs or musical pieces should be submitted to competent authority for checking content and catholic doctrine. This is very serious! Please, do not introduce "rubbish" into our catholic liturgy.
2. HYMNS ARE NOT A PRIORITY IN THE CELEBRATION OF THE MASS.
There are 5 LAYERS OF IMPORTANCE in the musical parts to be sung at Mass. This is where knowledge of liturgy is needed, especially by the choir masters. The priority is not to sing hymns at Mass, but to sing the parts of the Mass that by their nature require to be sung (like acclamations, dialogues, sanctus, the psalm (cantillatio!), doxology, gloria...
3. "NO ONE IS PERMITTED TO ADD, REMOVE OR CHANGE ANYTHING IN THE CELEBRATION OF THE MASS" (GIRM, n.24)
I am referring here specifically to the, by now, widespread habit of changing especially the acclamations - which are precious and untouchable proclamations of faith - and substituting them with sentimental trash. Let us treasure Pope Benedict's recommendation: "The Eucharist should be celebrated with dignity and beauty, in compliance with the established norms". (Africae Munus, n. 153).
4. THE CRITERIA TO CHOOSE HYMNS AND MUSICAL PARTS TO BE SUNG.
It is quite important to identify some basic criteria that can help in the preparation of the programme of the Mass, in order to make the Mass itself more meaningful. There are 3 of them:
First criterion: The liturgical season (or feast) (e.g. Advent, Lent, Easter...). This should be expressed in the Entrance hymn, sung by all, not only by the choir. It is the entrance hymn sets the tone of the celebration and reflects the liturgical season.
Second criterion: The scriptural theme. There is normally a clear theme expressed in the readings of the Mass. It is fitting to take up the scriptural theme at Communion time.
Third criterion: The liturgical action being carried out. This is pretty natural and spontaneous, for example at collection time.
But here I have to give a REMINDER. In past years we used to stress the OFFERTORY aspect of the procession very much. With the renewal of the liturgy of the Vatican Council, the Church has clarified that that procession is NOT really AN OFFERTORY, but simply a PRESENTATION or a preparation of the gifts. The gifts (bread and wine) are PRIMARILY GOD's GIFTS, NOT our gifts.
As a consequence, the accompanying songs should NOT necessarily reflect giving, offering... but rather praise. joy, faith, unity...
5. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
This could open a long chapter and a long discussion, but I will try to be brief and essential. Regarding musical traditions and musical instruments, the Church IN PRINCIPLE is open to welcome them for use into the liturgy:
* provided they are in keeping with the true and authentic spirit of the Liturgy (Sacr. Conc., n.120)
* on condition that the instruments ARE SUITABLE, or can be made suitable for sacred use (id.)
The Bishops of Kenya have stated that instruments must be suitable for SACRED use, i.e. they should be used to accompany/sustain the singing of the people, without covering or drowning the human voices. It is not right to transfer noisy, offensive, instruments, used for human entertainment or secular purposes, directly into church (without any adaptation or control).
The Episcopal Conferences are called to give clear directives in this matter.
Card. Arinze (from Nigeria), when he was the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome, signed a document (Redemptionis Sacramentum, n.57) that stated: "IT IS THE RIGHT OF CHRIST'S FAITHFUL that there should be TRUE AND SUITABLE SACRED MUSIC in the Sunday celebration".
6. RESPECTING THE NATURE OF THE MASS
The Mass is literally the "Lord's Supper", the "Action of Christ and of the Church", a "Sacred Mystery" (God getting involved with man).It is something that demands utmost respect, attention and deep participation. Liturgical rules insist on SILENCE: Silence is part and parcel of the celebration of Liturgy. Periods of silence are recommended (after the Readings, after the homily, at communion time). How long? A few seconds?
It is not just a few minutes or seconds that are needed to make the Mass fruitful and spiritually effective. The WHOLE MASS must/should be celebrated in an ATMOSPHERE of SILENCE, of recollection, of sacredness, which does not exclude in any way joyful singing, exultation, rejoicing. But it must NEVER become a carnival, just human entertainment or a noisy carry-on.
Here I want to denounce that kind of OBSESSION by the choirs to fill in every small space with "noise" (unwanted, unnecessary music), instead of giving a much needed break of silence.
7. SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP OF THE CHOIR
The Church assigns to the choir a special Ministry, a very important liturgical service. The choir members are specially close to the "sacred mysteries" and should have a more than superficial knowledge and appreciation of the Mass. Surely they should desire to participate and benefit FULLY from that special closeness, and not be simply satisfied with "doing a job": to provide the singing.
How is it then that very often, when communion time comes - the highest point of participation! - hardly anyone from the choir approaches the sacred table? They sing: "Come and eat... Come and eat..", but hardly anyone of them goes to eat. To me this is un-understandable and un-explainable. Do the choir members go to Mass primarily "to do a job" (i.e. provide the singing) or to meet and encounter and "touch" the Lord and be saved?
We all - not only the priests - expect from them spiritual leadership ...if they really believe.
50 (Fifty) years after the closing of the Vatican Council (1962-65), which gave the Church a new, renovated, enriched, joyful (potentially!) Liturgy, we must admit that the ROLE OF THE CHOIR - which is vital and essential in our Sunday liturgies - is still badly misunderstood; I would even say "ignored," by the members themselves of the choir and especially by those who are responsible for the preparation and celebration of the Mass.
In my long life experience as a priest (over 50 years), I have not come across yet a community where the Mass is celebrated and conducted - as far as music and singing are concerned - according to the good, wise and inspired guidelines of the Church. It is a great pity! The Mass could be so beautiful, so attractive, so spiritually edifying, if it were celebrated according to the mind and teaching of the Church!
LITURGY IS CELEBRATION
The Mass is a celebration in the real sense of the word. Music and singing are of the utmost importance in every liturgical celebration. Music and singing give the RITES solemnity, dignity and beauty. And they give joy and spiritual uplifting to all who are celebrating: priests, ministers, congregation.
What makes a good choir? Of course, you expect choir members to be able to sing well, to love singing and to be available to train and practise, and to lead the celebrations in church at the appropriate times. But since LITURGY, the Mass in particular, is not a free for all, but it is the "heart and centre of the whole christian life for the Church both universal and local" (GIRM,n.16) something precious, sacred, holy, 'untouchable' (i.e. not to be grossly and ignorantly mishandled!), THE RULES AND GUIDELINES OF THE CHURCH are not a matter of choice, but an obligation of faith and of personal responsibility.
"FULL, CONSCIOUS, ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD" (Vat.2)
This is the purpose and the end of every liturgical celebration, the Church keeps repeating. She has been stressing this and continues to stress it since the time of the Vatican Council. Every effort must be made to ensure that the christian people take part in liturgical celebrations "FULLY, CONSCIOUSLY, ACTIVELY" so that the celebrations may be also spiritually FRUITFUL.
This is the nature of the Liturgy: it belongs to the whole Body of Christ, not only to the priests or to the choir.
Therefore it is regrettable that the ROLE OF THE CHOIR is not yet understood in the Church. Many choirs perform in such a way as to attract attention on themselves, as if they were the centre of the celebration. The choir has a MINISTERIAL ROLE - the Church says - to play in the celebration of the Liturgy. Ministry means SERVICE. Therefore the Choir is at the service of the Congregation, the people of God. Its purpose and task is to lead and help, to animate and support, the encourage the full participation of the congregation.
Therefore the idea of a choir that entertains the passive congregation (who become mere "spectators") with skilled and elaborate "pieces" is unacceptable. It is an ongoing temptation and an abuse; it means ROBBING THE PEOPLE OF GOD OF THEIR RIGHT (and joy) to actively and fully participate in the celebration of the Liturgy.
How are we - we, priests, in particular - to resist that ongoing temptation and pressure on the part of the choir to "play to the gallery" in church, i.e. to play in order to ENTERTAIN, to impress and to show off, to MONOPOLISE all the singing, instead of helping and leading the people to glorify God and make the Liturgy beautiful and attractive? All the relevant documents of the church insist on LITURGICAL INSTRUCTION and SPIRITUAL FORMATION of the choir members.
A few regular sessions to present and explain the relevant parts of the Church's documents will go a long way towards helping the choir to understand, accept and appreciate THE MINISTERIAL ROLE, which they are expected to play in church. In the Church, if we go by the Gospel, SERVICE is a PRIVILEGE!
Does it mean that the choir is never allowed to sing on their own in church? Not so! The choir needs to put away any idea of PERFORMING (playing to the gallery!), but surely in the celebration of the Liturgy there are moments when the choir may laudably accompany some significant actions (processions) or sing a motet on their own (a prayerful reflection) during or after communion or take care of some difficult parts during some special liturgies.
The primary task of the choir is to lead, to guide, to ENABLE the whole assembly to celebrate and sing the praises of God. Let them not forget the verse of that Psalm: "Not to us, o Lord, not to us, but to your name give the glory!" This should be the MOTTO of every serious, mature, faith-full choir!
WHO IS TO LEAD, TO "DIRECT THE SINGING" OF THE CONGREGATION?
This is another aspect of great importance which so far has been totally ignored almost everywhere ... to our loss. If all the faithful, the WHOLE CONGREGATION, are to be fully and actively involved in singing God's praises - and the choir IS NOT TO ROB THEM of THEIR RIGHT AND DUTY, received in Baptism - WHO will direct, guide, encourage their singing and participation in the celebration of the Liturgy?
Obviously this is the TASK of the CHOIRMASTER! This is mentioned (though not with great emphasis) in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM, n.104), the most important liturgical document regarding the celebration of the Mass. He, the Choirmaster, can fulfil this task competently and effectively. What about the choir, then? Normally in our churches choirs are rightly positioned in front, close to the congregation: which means that the choirmaster can take care, without much problem, of both choir and congregation. This can make a GREAT POSITIVE DIFFERENCE to the effective and joyful participation of the congregation.
One necessary requirement is to have brief, well-planned, regular singing practice sessions before the Mass. It should be a matter of a few minutes: going over a refrain, a response, an acclamation or learning a new song or a new part of the Mass. If this is done regularly and promptly (and briefly), the Liturgy will surely improve by leaps and bounds, to everybody's satisfaction.
By the way, more space should be given to dialogical and responsorial singins, according to the pattern of traditional African singing.
THE ROLE OF THE PRIEST in regard TO MUSIC AND CHOIR
This is another aspect that is never been sufficiently stressed. The role of the priest in this matter is indeed DETERMINING.
First of all, consider well this statement of Pope Benedict (in Sacramentum Caritatis, n. 53):
"He alone, and no other, presides over the entire celebration of the Mass, from the initial greeting to the final blessing. He represents Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, and in a specific way, also the Church herself". This is official Church teaching.
Practically, he is to be in constant dialogue with choir and choirmaster. He is to give instruction and directives concerning singing. He is to see and supervise and approve the programme for the Mass.
In particular, he should take serious interest in the liturgical formation of the choir and give ongoing monitoring. It would go a long way if a copy of the most important document on the liturgy of the Mass were made available to them: GENERAL INSTRUCTION of the ROMAN MISSAL (in short GIRM), available at The Pastoral Centre, Kinsella St., near St Anthony's parish church, Freetown.
SOME OTHER RELEVANT POINTS
There are several other important points and aspects concerning the celebration of the Mass and especially the Role of the choir, that I would like to comment about, even if briefly.
1. HYMN BOOKS
They are important and desirable, but for various reasons they are not available. It is the task of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission to provide them. Those in circulation are not up to date and badly need a revision. Meantime each choir should compile its own repertoire of old and new songs, in English and local language (or even in Latin: Gregorian chant).
All new songs or musical pieces should be submitted to competent authority for checking content and catholic doctrine. This is very serious! Please, do not introduce "rubbish" into our catholic liturgy.
2. HYMNS ARE NOT A PRIORITY IN THE CELEBRATION OF THE MASS.
There are 5 LAYERS OF IMPORTANCE in the musical parts to be sung at Mass. This is where knowledge of liturgy is needed, especially by the choir masters. The priority is not to sing hymns at Mass, but to sing the parts of the Mass that by their nature require to be sung (like acclamations, dialogues, sanctus, the psalm (cantillatio!), doxology, gloria...
3. "NO ONE IS PERMITTED TO ADD, REMOVE OR CHANGE ANYTHING IN THE CELEBRATION OF THE MASS" (GIRM, n.24)
I am referring here specifically to the, by now, widespread habit of changing especially the acclamations - which are precious and untouchable proclamations of faith - and substituting them with sentimental trash. Let us treasure Pope Benedict's recommendation: "The Eucharist should be celebrated with dignity and beauty, in compliance with the established norms". (Africae Munus, n. 153).
4. THE CRITERIA TO CHOOSE HYMNS AND MUSICAL PARTS TO BE SUNG.
It is quite important to identify some basic criteria that can help in the preparation of the programme of the Mass, in order to make the Mass itself more meaningful. There are 3 of them:
First criterion: The liturgical season (or feast) (e.g. Advent, Lent, Easter...). This should be expressed in the Entrance hymn, sung by all, not only by the choir. It is the entrance hymn sets the tone of the celebration and reflects the liturgical season.
Second criterion: The scriptural theme. There is normally a clear theme expressed in the readings of the Mass. It is fitting to take up the scriptural theme at Communion time.
Third criterion: The liturgical action being carried out. This is pretty natural and spontaneous, for example at collection time.
But here I have to give a REMINDER. In past years we used to stress the OFFERTORY aspect of the procession very much. With the renewal of the liturgy of the Vatican Council, the Church has clarified that that procession is NOT really AN OFFERTORY, but simply a PRESENTATION or a preparation of the gifts. The gifts (bread and wine) are PRIMARILY GOD's GIFTS, NOT our gifts.
As a consequence, the accompanying songs should NOT necessarily reflect giving, offering... but rather praise. joy, faith, unity...
5. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
This could open a long chapter and a long discussion, but I will try to be brief and essential. Regarding musical traditions and musical instruments, the Church IN PRINCIPLE is open to welcome them for use into the liturgy:
* provided they are in keeping with the true and authentic spirit of the Liturgy (Sacr. Conc., n.120)
* on condition that the instruments ARE SUITABLE, or can be made suitable for sacred use (id.)
The Bishops of Kenya have stated that instruments must be suitable for SACRED use, i.e. they should be used to accompany/sustain the singing of the people, without covering or drowning the human voices. It is not right to transfer noisy, offensive, instruments, used for human entertainment or secular purposes, directly into church (without any adaptation or control).
The Episcopal Conferences are called to give clear directives in this matter.
Card. Arinze (from Nigeria), when he was the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome, signed a document (Redemptionis Sacramentum, n.57) that stated: "IT IS THE RIGHT OF CHRIST'S FAITHFUL that there should be TRUE AND SUITABLE SACRED MUSIC in the Sunday celebration".
6. RESPECTING THE NATURE OF THE MASS
The Mass is literally the "Lord's Supper", the "Action of Christ and of the Church", a "Sacred Mystery" (God getting involved with man).It is something that demands utmost respect, attention and deep participation. Liturgical rules insist on SILENCE: Silence is part and parcel of the celebration of Liturgy. Periods of silence are recommended (after the Readings, after the homily, at communion time). How long? A few seconds?
It is not just a few minutes or seconds that are needed to make the Mass fruitful and spiritually effective. The WHOLE MASS must/should be celebrated in an ATMOSPHERE of SILENCE, of recollection, of sacredness, which does not exclude in any way joyful singing, exultation, rejoicing. But it must NEVER become a carnival, just human entertainment or a noisy carry-on.
Here I want to denounce that kind of OBSESSION by the choirs to fill in every small space with "noise" (unwanted, unnecessary music), instead of giving a much needed break of silence.
7. SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP OF THE CHOIR
The Church assigns to the choir a special Ministry, a very important liturgical service. The choir members are specially close to the "sacred mysteries" and should have a more than superficial knowledge and appreciation of the Mass. Surely they should desire to participate and benefit FULLY from that special closeness, and not be simply satisfied with "doing a job": to provide the singing.
How is it then that very often, when communion time comes - the highest point of participation! - hardly anyone from the choir approaches the sacred table? They sing: "Come and eat... Come and eat..", but hardly anyone of them goes to eat. To me this is un-understandable and un-explainable. Do the choir members go to Mass primarily "to do a job" (i.e. provide the singing) or to meet and encounter and "touch" the Lord and be saved?
We all - not only the priests - expect from them spiritual leadership ...if they really believe.