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Views from the Choir Loft

Why Are the Readings Not Sung at Mass?

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · November 20, 2014

0319_Kwasni-97-MED NYONE WHO ATTENDS a High Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite will surely notice one characteristic feature: all texts that are meant to be heard by the people are sung, from start to finish, and the people, too, or the schola on their behalf, respond in song—as in the Byzantine liturgy. (The only exception to this rule might be the Confiteor said right before communion, but in many cases this is said so quietly as to be barely audible.) And of the texts that are sung, none, to a newcomer, would seem a more surprising candidate for this treatment than the Epistle and Gospel. For, sadly enough, in the Ordinary Form the readings are perhaps the least sung of all the customarily sung portions of the Mass.

Given that they can and ought to be chanted, however, and that handsome books are available with the readings already pointed for chanting (for examples, see here, here, and here) why has this beautiful treatment of the Word of God not entered into the mainstream of parish life?

The reason, I believe, is twofold. First, the readings are, 99.9% of the time, in the vernacular; and speaking broadly, the only singing of words in the vernacular with which people are familiar is, for the majority, pop songs (including in this category pseudo-folk music), and, for the upper crust, classical music. Otherwise, in our world nothing is sung—and what is sung in our world is hardly sacred. In other cultures and societies, both historically in the West and presently in non-Western parts of the world, singing is a widespread activity, loved and practiced by all, and put to a very wide variety of uses, especially religious ones. It is natural for people of most times, places, and cultures to sing; we modern Westerners are aberrant in that regard.

The second reason is that the priest or deacon or lector is facing the people when he reads, and there are very few, at least nowadays, who will chant a reading while facing the congregation. This may just be a sign of psychological immaturity, but the fact remains, and perhaps it is not merely immaturity: in the modern West, when a man sings towards a group of people, it is generally for entertainment, and it always involves a certain “stage personality.” This is abhorrent to the spirit of the liturgy. Significantly, in a solemn High Mass in the usus antiquior, the subdeacon chants the Epistle facing eastwards, and the deacon faces northwards to chant the Gospel, while in a Missa cantata both readings are chanted at the altar, again facing eastwards.1

It seems to me, therefore, that solemn chanting of the readings was undermined, first, by the abolition of Latin, which is a language eminently suited for sung proclamation and one for which an elegant set of lection tones developed over time (there was, in other words, a centuries-old custom of singing readings in Latin), and second, by the prevalent view that everything ought to be done towards the people. Either of these, by itself, would not have meant abandoning the chanting of readings; but combined, they pretty much guaranteed it. I can count on one hand the number of times in my entire life that I have heard readings chanted at a Novus Ordo Mass. The loss of this beautiful, solemn chanting of the revealed word of God is inestimable. It is something we need to recover.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   In the Byzantine East, where the priest does face the people to chant the Gospel, it has no appearance of a performance. The entire feel of the liturgy prevents that association. The Latin liturgy did not develop in the same way, and since the Novus Ordo was implemented in an often theatrical and personality-driven way, chanting facing the people is going to have a much harder time escaping this gravitational field.

Please visit THIS PAGE to learn more about Dr. Kwasniewski’s Sacred Choral Works and the audio CDs that contain recordings of the pieces.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College (B.A. in Liberal Arts) and The Catholic University of America (M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy), Dr. Peter Kwasniewski is currently Professor at Wyoming Catholic College. He is also a published and performed composer, especially of sacred music.

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President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
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    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“…I started down the road of the liturgy, and this became a continuous process of growth into a grand reality transcending all particular individuals and generations, a reality that became an occasion for me of ever-new amazement and discovery. The incredible reality of the Catholic liturgy has accompanied me through all phases of life, and so I shall have to speak of it time and again.”

— Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

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