{"id":89976,"date":"2018-08-17T11:43:15","date_gmt":"2018-08-17T18:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=89976"},"modified":"2023-02-08T08:39:54","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T16:39:54","slug":"antiphony-reborn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/antiphony-reborn\/","title":{"rendered":"Antiphony Reborn: Singing the Mass Propers"},"content":{"rendered":"

D<\/span>oes Sunday Mass in your parish start with a hymn? Why? Did you know that the Church actually provides scripture<\/em> to be read or sung during the entrance of the Priest and servers?<\/p>\n

This, my friends, is the Entrance Antiphon<\/em> or, to give it its traditional name, the Introit<\/em>. In a talk he gave at the recent Sacred Liturgy Conference<\/a>, Monsignor Andrew Wadsworth, Director of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy<\/a>, called the antiphons a “musical lectio<\/a><\/em> on the day”.<\/p>\n

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Would you replace the First Reading at Mass with a chapter from Jonathan Livingston Seagull<\/em>? How about replacing the Responsorial Psalm with “On Eagle’s Wings”? No?<\/p>\n

Then why replace the Entrance Antiphon with “Here I am, Lord”?
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\nThe Church is pretty serious about this. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal<\/em> is found at the beginning of every Missal. It says,<\/p>\n

I<\/span>n the Dioceses of the United States of America<\/em> there are four options for the Entrance Chant<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span>:<\/p>\n

(1) the antiphon from the Missal or the antiphon with its Psalm from the Graduale Romanum<\/em> as set to music there or in another setting;<\/p>\n

(2) the antiphon and Psalm of the Graduale Simplex<\/em> for the liturgical time;<\/p>\n

(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;<\/p>\n

(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.<\/p>\n

If there is no singing at the Entrance, the antiphon given in the Missal is recited either by the faithful, or by some of them, or by a reader; otherwise, it is recited by the Priest himself…<\/p>\n

(General Instruction<\/em>, no. 48)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Seems pretty clear. No possibility of using a hymn is even mentioned.<\/p>\n

So why do so many parishes start their Masses off with a “gathering hymn”? As it turns out, Rome gave specific permission for replacing the various antiphons with vernacular hymns back in 1958.<\/p>\n

As the revised Missal was being published in 1969, the Sacred Congregation of Rites<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> was asked whether or not this instruction still applied.<\/p>\n

The response, published in Notitiae<\/em>, their official journal, reads as follows:<\/p>\n

That rule has been superseded. What must be sung is the Mass, its Ordinary and Proper, not ‘something,’ no matter how consistent, that is imposed on the Mass. Because the liturgical service is one, it has only one countenance, one motif, one voice, the voice of the Church. To continue to replace the text of the Mass being celebrated<\/em> with motets that are reverent and devout, yet out of keeping with the Mass of the day amounts to continuing an unacceptable ambiguity: it is to cheat the people. Liturgical song involves not mere melody, but words, text, thought and the sentiments that the poetry and music contain. Thus texts must be those of the Mass, not others, and singing means singing the Mass not just singing during Mass.<\/p>\n

(Notitiae<\/em> 5 [1969] page 406)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Did you catch that? Rome thinks that replacing the antiphon with a hymn, no matter how good, is cheating<\/em> you. Pretty strong language.<\/p>\n

When the United States Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy was asked the same question in 1993, they published a six page reply that likewise concluded that the rule had been superseded, and they quoted from the Congregation’s response above<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

If you’re not singing the Entrance Antiphon, you have been cheated. Maybe not intentionally, but cheated nonetheless.<\/p>\n

And since Pope Francis recently called for end<\/a> to \u201cmediocrity, banality and superficiality\u201d in liturgical music, restoring the Entrance Antiphon seems like a good place to start!<\/p>\n

So where do you find<\/em> the antiphons?<\/p>\n

The General Instruction<\/em> helpfully provides a list. Let’s start with number 1. This is actually two different options, bundled together: (A) the antiphon from the Missal or (B) the antiphon with its Psalm from the Graduale Romanum<\/em>.<\/p>\n

While the texts of the Entrance Antiphons for any given Sunday are usually the same in the Missal and the Gradual, this is not always the case, so let’s take them one by one.<\/p>\n

1-A. The (Spoken) Antiphon from the Missale Romanum<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The first option is by far the easiest. The Entrance Antiphon is printed directly in the Missal!<\/p>\n

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Many pew Missals have them as well.<\/p>\n

In previous versions of the General Instruction<\/em>, it said that the Antiphon from the Missal is to be recited, rather than sung<\/span>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

According to rather vaguely written instruction in the current General Instruction<\/em>, the Missal Antiphon may now apparently be said or<\/em> sung<\/span>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. So where’s the music to sing it? Some of the more modern pew hymnals may have this, but by and large where you find music, it will be for the next option.<\/p>\n

One exception that I have found is the Simple Choral Gradual<\/i><\/a> (Richard Rice, 2011), which indeed uses the Missal texts. The PDF is free for download.<\/p>\n

1-B. The Sung Antiphon with its Psalm from the Graduale Romanum<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This of course, is the most traditional version. The book was revised in 1974, but the musical compositions themselves contained within are unchanged from the previous versions, many dating back more than a thousand years.<\/p>\n

In addition to the relatively short antiphon, there is an accompanying psalm just like the Responsorial Psalm. In fact, in terms of form and format, the Entrance Chant (consisting of antiphon and psalm) is exactly like the Responsorial.<\/p>\n

The Graduale Romanum<\/em> may be purchased – it’s even available on Amazon<\/a>! A supplementary volume of organ accompaniment is likewise available<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Corpus Christi Watershed<\/a> has graciously made available a PDF of the Graduale<\/em><\/a> as well, though at 906 pages, you’re probably better off purchasing a copy than printing this one out!<\/p>\n

When you take a look at it, the first thing you’re going to notice is this: the Antiphons are entirely in Latin. And unless you get the 1990 edition, so are the instructions.<\/p>\n

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Now, if your parish is up for the Latin, by all means have at it! However, this is not going to be for everyone.<\/p>\n

Many talented modern composers have set approved English translations to music and have made them available for free download. Here are just a few:<\/p>\n