Liturgy News Winter 2020

11 Winter 2020 LITURGY NEWS reinforcing the messages of the readings, reflect the particular season of the Church and enhance the assembly’s engagement? The repertoire is extensive. Therefore music selected for the Entrance Procession, Responsorial Psalm, Communion procession and for the acclamations and Ordinary parts of the Mass needs to ensure it fulfils these obligations. Does the music reflect the solemn action and sacred text? Is it good music and can the congregation participate by singing it prayerfully in the liturgical celebration? Of course it should be a given that the music itself is played and sung to an appropriate standard. Music may fulfil its obligations in respect to its function in liturgy, but pastorally it has to be played and sung competently in a way that uplifts the hearts and minds of the faithful. There can be no room for mediocrity from organist, guitarist, keyboard player, cantor or choir. It is not good enough for the sacred liturgy that the performance of its music be just good enough! Indeed, while the music in the liturgy may not be a performance as such, poor quality singing and instrumental accompaniment will detract from the experience and prayerful response of the assembly. We are not just singing at Mass, we are singing the Mass. We are not just interspersing a reflective song or a joyous acclamation here and there; rather music enhances the theological, ministerial and pastoral aspects of the liturgical text itself. This has immense implications when it comes to the quality of music selected, how it is played and sung, and the full involvement of the assembly. In singing the liturgy, we are being invited to give of our ourselves and we are opening ourselves to the action of the Word in our lives. Thus music in liturgy, in an on-going and creative sense, continues to teach and engage our hearts and minds in the life of Christ beyond the celebration of the liturgy. This is what Universa Laus , in its second major document Music in Christian Liturgies (2002), describes as the pedagogical and mystagogical function of liturgical singing. The document adds that it is not music that is sacred but the live voices of the baptised, singing in and with Christ . This lifts the understanding that the assembly is taking part knowingly, actively and fruitfully (SC 11) in liturgical celebrations to a whole new level. For not only is the music made ‘more holy’ but also the encounter with Christ of those present is enriched and deepened. Awareness of this symbiotic relationship within the liturgy must continue to be the guiding principle for all church musicians. Clearly the onus is heavy, therefore, on those whose ministerial responsibility it is to ensure that what happens musically in our worship is authentic to the liturgy, theologically sound, musically appropriate and well performed so that it actively engages the congregation. So, what’s in a name? It is far more than a superficial label! It is what the label signifies that correctly gives it its meaning – namely that the true purpose of sacred music is the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful (SC 112). Anything less is unworthy of the name ‘liturgical music’.  Gerry Crooks, musician and pastoral associate, is a former teacher and school principal. IN MEMORIAM G EOFFREY W AINWRIGHT (1939-2020), Methodist theologian and professor at Duke Divinity School, worked extensively in ecumenical dialogue. With Bishop Michael Putney, he was co-chair of the world Methodist-Catholic dialogue. He was a key author of the World Council of Churches’ Faith and Order paper, Baptism, Eucharist, Ministry (1982). He was a contributing editor to The Study of Liturgy (1978-1992) and The Oxford History of Christian Worship (2006). He was the author of the influential Doxology: The Praise of God in Worship, Doctrine and Life – a systematic theology (1980). He loved the hymnody of Charles Wesley. He was a member and former president of Societas Liturgica, and chaired the committee on worship and liturgy within the World Methodist Council. Though always the Englishman, he lived and worked in the USA for forty years. TWO COMPOSERS R AY R EPP (1942-2020), American singer-songwriter, introduced the first generation of Catholics after Vatican II to singing in church. Beginning in 1965 with Mass for Young Americans, he popularised a folk style of music played on guitar to Catholic liturgy. He explored typical themes of peace, justice and community. Unknown and even mocked today, anyone over 60 will be able to sing Peace My Friends, Into Your Hands, Sons of God, Hear O Lord, Here we are. S HIRLEY M URRAY (1931-2020), New Zealand hymn writer, came from a Methodist background but worked ecumenically. Her lyrics are found in over 140 hymn books and have been translated into other languages. She has three titles in Catholic Worship Book II. Her poetic and inclusive texts are contemporary in both their imagery and the issues they address. 10 LITURGY NEWS Winter 2020 by Gerry Crooks There have been many labels that have been used to describe music that is used in liturgical settings. Terms such as religious music, sacred song, church music, ritual music, worship music and liturgical music are often used interchangeably. This article will discuss some of these and lead on to a consideration of what the essence of ‘liturgical music’ should be. Some music is composed specifically for a ‘religious’ context and includes settings of biblical or sacred texts (for example, Ave Maria or The Lord is My Shepherd ). Such music includes the great oratorios and grand Mass settings, the motets and cantatas, hymns and even instrumental music composed around a religious theme or text (the organ works of Olivier Messiaen come to mind). Some are composed specifically for church performance – that is, at a religious service in church – while others are more appropriate to the concert hall. The term ‘ritual music’ is more specific; it is the form or style of music or song used in a particular ritual. Simple examples include the use of The Last Post in Anzac Day services or the Litany of the Saints sung at ordinations or during the Easter Vigil. Vatican II insists, though, that sacred music has to be so bound intrinsically to the liturgy that it becomes ‘holy’ as it engages the assembly within the form and nature of liturgical celebration – sacred music being made ‘the more holy the more closely it is joined to the liturgical rite’ (SC 112). In this function, music reinforces and enriches the theological, aesthetic and even catechetical function of liturgy: words, gestures, signs and symbols are used to proclaim Christ’s presence and to reply with our worship and praise (USCCB . Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship ). Joseph Ratzinger and John Paul II have both written on the ‘sacredness’ of music in the liturgy. Ratzinger in 2000 argued that not every kind of music can have a place in Christian worship…the Holy Spirit leads us to the Logos and… to a music that serves the Logos as a sign of the sursum corda , the lifting up of the human heart.’ This music to which we are led is that which integrates someone by drawing a person to what is above. This speaks of a beautiful unifying relationship enjoining humankind to God through a specific type of music which reflects, serves and enhances the liturgy. In his 2003 Chirograph for the Centenary of the Pius X’s Motu Proprio – Tra le sollicitudine, John Paul II laments that the meaning of sacred music has been broadened to include repertoires that cannot be part of the celebration without violating the spirit and norms of the liturgy itself . He adds that not only must sacred music for the liturgy be ‘true art’, but also must meet the specific prerequisites of the liturgy: full adherence to the text it presents, synchronisation with the time and moment in the liturgy for which it is intended (and) appropriately reflecting the gestures proposed in the rite. Earlier Universa Laus , an international group convened to examine singing and instrumental music in the liturgy, in their report Music in Christian Celebration (1980), made the observation that music is integrated (my emphasis) into these different components of worship in order to support and reinforce the proclamation of the Gospel, to give fuller expression to the professing of one’s faith…and to enhance the sacramental rite in its dual aspect of action and work . Readers may wish to consult From Sacred Song to Ritual Music (1997) by liturgist and composer, Jan Michael Joncas, which provides a very comprehensive summary of significant church documents on liturgical music in the twentieth century. The central premise of these documents is that resources be musical, liturgical and pastoral ( Sing to the Lord ). The questions need to be asked: Is it good music? Does the music relate to the liturgical function? Does it enhance the religious experience and story of the assembly? In the Eucharist, does the music assist in LITURGICAL MUSIC What’s in a name?