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Jesus said to them: “I have come into this world so that a sentence may fall upon it, that those who are blind should see, and those who see should become blind. If you were blind, you would not be guilty. It is because you protest, ‘We can see clearly,’ that you cannot be rid of your guilt.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Scripture, Sacred Music, and the Actions of Our Lives

Richard J. Clark · December 26, 2014

ERE IS A FREE DOWNLOAD for the communion antiphon for the Feast of the Epiphany. The Roman Missal contains two communion antiphons, which are meant to be recited rather than sung. One of the antiphons (Matthew 2:2) happily coincides with the antiphon found in the Graduale Romanum. As such, this setting uses the antiphon found in both. I have used the 2010 translation of the Roman Missal. The verses use the 2010 Grail translation.

      * *  Free Download:
PDF • Vidimus stellam | Communion Antiphon | Epiphany of the Lord | for Schola, SATB, Organ
I had some requests for an audio sample. Here’s a demo I threw together quickly. I used the piano instead of the organ as I’ve been traveling:
      * *  YouTube:  Rehearsal DEMO

NE DISTINCT DIFFERENCE between the sung propers of the Graduale Romanum and the spoken propers of the Roman Missal, are the singing of psalm verses, which allow for further meditation, as well as repetition of the antiphon. The Roman Missal antiphons do not assign any verses, as there is no use for them in a single quick recitation.

On the Feast of the Epiphany, for example, the Communion Antiphon from the Graduale Romanum (or in the example above, the Gradule Triplex) is taken from the Gospel of the day (Mt. 2:1-12). Furthermore, the Graduale Romanum assigns Psalm 72 (71) which corresponds closely to the Responsorial Psalm of the day in the Ordinary Form. (Note the specificity of the prescribed verses. Also note the Graduale uses the Greek numbering system for the Psalms. Here’s a useful reference: Why are the Psalms numbered differently?)

These kinds of scriptural correlations are very typical of the Communion antiphons. While the Roman Missal communion antiphons also harken back to the Gospel, the addition of the psalmody and repetition of the antiphon lends it to accompanying the liturgical action.

These are very compelling reasons to sing the propers, as we sing the scriptures in union with the liturgy. In doing so, we allow the scriptures to form and shape us, while in this case, receiving the Eucharist. This is a profound relationship which may lead to even more profound prayer. In doing so, may we live our lives as Christ calls us to live.

ITTLE BY LITTLE, THIS CORRELATION is becoming more apparent to many. Sacred music, wedded to the actions of the sacred liturgy, helps us live the scriptures through the action of our lives. The principles of Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, and Lex Vivendi remind us that as we pray what we believe, we must therefore respond to God’s call by the way that we live.

Finally, consider that the antiphons of the Church are fifteen hundred years old and the psalms about three thousand years old. Consider that the psalms are quoted in the New Testament an astounding number of times. (Let’s not minimize the role of the psalms in the mass to the Responsorial.) They have much wisdom to teach us. If one sings the psalms and antiphons weekly, this will transform one’s soul. I know I’m in desperate need of such transformation!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Propers, Singing the Mass, Sung Vs Spoken Propers Novus Ordo Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 5th Sunday of Easter (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 5th Sunday of Easter (18 May 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. The Communion Antiphon was ‘restored’ the 1970 Missale Romanum (a.k.a. MISSALE RECENS) from an obscure martyr’s feast. Our choir is on break this Sunday, so the selections are relatively simple in nature.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Communion Chant (5th Sunday of Easter)
    This coming Sunday—18 May 2025—is the 5th Sunday of Easter, Year C (MISSALE RECENS). The COMMUNION ANTIPHON “Ego Sum Vitis Vera” assigned by the Church is rather interesting, because it comes from a rare martyr’s feast: viz. Saint Vitalis of Milan. It was never part of the EDITIO VATICANA, which is the still the Church’s official edition. As a result, the musical notation had to be printed in the Ordo Cantus Missae, which appeared in 1970.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 4th Sunday of Easter (Year C)
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for the 4th Sunday of Easter (11 May 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. I don’t know a more gorgeous ENTRANCE CHANT than the one given there: Misericórdia Dómini Plena Est Terra.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    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
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

“In my capacity as the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, I continue to remind all that the celebration toward the East (versus orientem) is authorized by the rubrics of the missal, which specify the moments when the celebrant must turn toward the people. A particular authorization is, therefore, not needed to celebrate Mass facing the Lord.”

— ‘Robert Cardinal Sarah, 23 May 2016’

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