An Ordinary-Form Missa Cantata (almost)

Given the events that are taking place in the Church these days, I doubt that this post will receive much attention; however, as restoration of liturgical beauty has been a hallmark of Pope Benedict’s papacy, mentioning the local impact of his leadership seems noteworthy.

Saturday, March 23, marked the third consecutive time that I was asked to lead the Knights of Divine Mercy schola cantorum at the closing Mass of the Diocese of Madison‘s Men’s Lenten Retreat. This year’s Mass (an anticipated Mass for the Second Sunday of Lent) was as close as it has been to the Missa Cantata, the Sung Mass so desired by the Church to be the norm in the Latin Rite but so exceptionally rare in practice, especially in the Ordinary Form.^[1] The Mass, which was celebrated by Msgr. James Bartylla,^[2] the Vicar General of the Diocese of Madison, was sung a cappella or said in English unless otherwise specified:

Introductory Rites

Entrance Procession and Incensation of the Altar (Psalm 25: 6, 3, 22; 1–3; Glory Be; Simple English Propers, pp. 64–65): sung by the schola cantorum

Sign of the Cross: Missal, solemn tone

Greeting “Grace and peace…”: Missal, solemn tone

Penitential Act “Have mercy on us, O Lord…”: Missal, solemn tone

Kyrie: Mass XVI, Greek, sung by all

Collect^[3]: Missal, solemn tone

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading (Gen 15: 5–12, 17–18): Missal tone for the first reading, sung by a server/reader

Responsorial Psalm (cf. Ps 27: 1a, Modal Responsorial Psalms, p. 39): sung by psalmist; response sung by all.^[4]

Second Reading (Phil 3: 17–4: 1): Missal tone for the second reading, sung by another server/reader

Gospel Acclamation (“Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ…”, Modal Responsorial Psalms, p. 39): led by cantor; response sung by all

Gospel (Lk 9: 28b–36): Missal, simple tone, sung by the Priest

Homily: spoken

Creed: spoken (the Missal provides two melodies)

Prayer of the Faithful: spoken (the Missal provides four melodic formulas)

Liturgy of the Eucharist

Preparation of the Offerings and Incensation (Psalm 119: 47, 48; Psalm 119; Simple English Propers, pp. 65–66): sung by the schola cantorum

Invitation to Prayer “Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice”: Missal, solemn tone

Prayer over the Offerings: Missal, solemn tone

Preface: Missal tone

Sanctus: Mass XVIII, Latin, sung by all

Eucharistic Prayer II: Missal tone

Mystery of Faith “Save us, Savior of the world…”: Missal tone

Doxology: Missal, solemn tone

Communion Rite

Lord’s Prayer: Missal tone for the Dioceses of the United States

Embolism and Doxology: Missal tone

Sign of Peace: Missal tone

Agnus Dei: Mass XVIII, Latin, sung by all

“Behold the Lamb of God” dialog: Missal tone

Communion Chant I (Matthew 17:9; Psalm 45; Simple English Propers, pp. 66–67): sung by the schola cantorum; Latin Gregorian antiphon sung by a solo cantor

Communion Chant II (John 6:51a; Psalm 23; English chant derived from the Latin original found in the Graduale Simplex): sung by a solo cantor

Prayer after Communion: Missal, solemn tone

Concluding Rites

Blessing: Missal, solemn tone

Dismissal “Go and announce…”: Missal tone

Hymn: “What Wondrous Love is This”

This year the schola cantorum was spread rather thinly, as only four men including myself were able to chant; others in the group were called to serve at the altar.

I think moving towards actually enacting what the Church asks in regard to the singing of the words of the Mass instead of relegating it to a printed book ought to be a primary objective, given the Year of Faith theme for our diocese: “Evangelization through Beauty”.^[5]

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^[1] “For the celebration of the Eucharist with the people, especially on Sundays and feast days, a form of sung Mass (Missa in cantu) is to be preferred as much as possible, even several times on the same day.” Musicam Sacram Instruction on Music in the Liturgy, ¶27, emphasis added. Although some may argue that this instruction doesn’t apply to the current revision of the English-language Roman Missal, in fact the 2010 revision provides almost all of the resources needed for the priest to sing: the parts of the Mass proper to himself; many of the parts he sings with the faithful, e.g., the Sanctus; and the parts of the Mass that are better delegated to others, e.g., lector.

^[2] From September to May as his schedule allows, Msgr. Bartylla celebrates a Latin Missa Cantata with Gregorian chant and vernacular readings on the first Tuesday of each month at noon; he celebrates an English Missa Cantata with Gregorian-inspired English plainsong on the third Tuesday of the month at noon. In the case of a scheduling conflict these Masses are usually transferred to the following Tuesday. All of these Masses take in the chapel of the Bishop O’Connor Catholic Pastoral Center [map].

^[3] Why this was ever called the “Opening Prayer” in the defunct English translation mystifies me. Does not prayer occur from the beginning of the Mass? It’s more logical to understand the Collect as the closing prayer of the Introductory Rites.

^[4] “Faith comes from hearing.” Thus, I propose that during the Responsorial Psalm and other liturgical texts that share its nature, audible cues—such as slowing down at the final line of a verse and maintaining a consistent breathing pattern—are better than visual cues at fostering actual participation, i.e., intentional listening and prayerful singing. No visual cues were used to prompt the people’s singing of the refrain other than psalmist’s looking up from the ambo, which was done in conjunction with the aforementioned audible cues.

^[5] A friend recently relayed to me a question asked of her by another friend regarding the difference between the High Mass and the Low Mass (within the context of the Extraordinary Form). I quipped: At High Mass, all the texts that are supposed to be uttered in song are sung. At Low Mass, all the texts that are supposed to be uttered in song are…muttered. There are other differences to be sure, but given the weight Church teaching has placed on sacred music, I focus on that primarily. And the musical differences between High Mass and Low Mass also apply to the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite regardless of whether it is celebrated in its sacral languages.