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Views from the Choir Loft

Sing Prayerfully

Andrew Leung · February 12, 2015

323 Andrew Leung T HAS BEEN SAID: “He who sings prays twice.” However as church musicians, we don’t always feel prayerful and peaceful when we are singing and playing during the Liturgy. Recently, I heard from some friends that singing at Mass was never a peaceful and prayerful experience for them, but a stressful one. A lot of times, we worry about whether the choir is singing too slow, pronunciation of the text, messing up the rhythm, missing an entrance in a polyphonic piece, making mistakes on a melody or harmony, etc. Should the Mass be a prayerful experience for the musicians?

YES! I am sure that most of you will agree that singing the Mass is not just a performance, but a prayer. The music at Mass should be for the glorification of God and the sanctification of the faithful. Musicians, as part of the faithful, should be sanctified by the Liturgical Music too. When we sing at Mass, it is understandable that there might be a little nerve just like what we would experience in other performances. However, this nerve shouldn’t affect us too much spiritually.

If Liturgical Music is a prayer, when do we begin praying? The prayer should start way before the Mass. In fact, we should make our personal practices and group rehearsals part of the prayer. It is a long process of prayer that the congregation will never experience. It is like saying the rosary. A rosary is formed by many “Our Father”, “Hail Mary”, “Glory be” and other prayers and devotions. Before Mas, we practice the pieces over and over again just like how we say the “Hail Mary” fifty times in a rosary. Each “Hail Mary” is a short and simple prayer, but when they are all linked together, they become part of a long prayer, the rosary. Similarly, we make a lot of mistakes and pauses during rehearsals. And when we put all our works and efforts together at Mass, the prayer is finally completed. That is why preparations and practices are very important for church musicians.

HERE ARE A FEW THOUGHTS and suggestions on how one can make “church singing” more prayerful.

First, Spiritually:

1. Understand the idea of “Sing the Mass, not Sing at Mass.” To “Sing at Mass” would be to make our singing a performance only. On the other hand, to “Sing the Mass” is to make our singing a prayer. Always starts and ends the rehearsal or the “performance” with a prayer to remind ourselves to make the music a prayer to God.

2. Know the text. A good piece of Sacred Music should have a scriptural text, or sometimes the text would be taken from other traditional prayers. In order to sing prayerfully, we need to make sure we know what we are singing, especially when the text is in a foreign language.

3. Observe sacred silence, especially in our own prayer time. As musicians, we are constantly participating the Mass externally through singing or playing. It is important that we do not forget the internal participation and to listen to God through silent prayer and meditation.

And now, more Technical:

1. Know the Strengths and Weaknesses. As choir directors, we need to know our choirs’ strengths and weaknesses; and as singers, we need to know our own strengths and weaknesses too. If singing the Mass is a stressful experience for you, you should try to find out what is stressing you out.

2. Find the Right Repertoire. One of the main reasons why singing the Mass is so stressful for some people is because repertoire is too difficult. For example, the Tract might be too long and hard for a choir. Then maybe you would like to consider singing it in psalm tone until your choir is comfortable with long and melismatic chant. It is more important to sing well and pray well than to sing a challenging piece.

3. Use your Rehearsal Time Wisely. If singing the Mass is a stressful experience for you, consider lengthening your rehearsal time so that you can spend more time learning and practicing. In order to master a piece of music, you will need to be able to sing the piece comfortably during rehearsal. You might also want to consider spending some time during rehearsals on solfege exercises and other vocal exercises to increase your skill level.

I hope my suggestions help to make singing the Mass a prayerful and peaceful experience for you.

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 Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “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
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday
    Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I prepared for Pentecost Sunday (8 June 2025). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. Because our choir is on break this week, the music is relatively simple.
    —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

The “Nova Organi Harmonia” demanded from each of us an unusual commitment; we have dedicated to it the best of our energies. Would it be, therefore, presumptuous on our part to be satisfied with the result and to expect its welcome reception in the musical world?

— Msgr. Jules Van Nuffel (circa 1940)

Recent Posts

  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
  • “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday
  • “Participation” • Recovering its Receptive Dimension

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