OW WOULD YOU respond to the following question? “What are the best five seconds in the entire Gregorian repertoire?” I must admit my own answer undoubtedly comes from being an Altar Boy for so many years. Anyone who has served the Holy Saturday Vigil will recall how special, fantastic, and mysterious it is. For some reason, the following melody causes a tingle down my spine. Translated into English, it means: “This night, long ago, thou didst rescue the sons of Israel, our fathers, out of Egypt, over the Red Sea bidding them pass dryshod…”
Here, then, is my favorite “five seconds” from the Gregorian repertoire:
Father Augustin Bea, S.J.—personal confessor of Pope Pius XII—was certainly not a liturgical conservative. But even he said in the years immediately before the Second Vatican Council: “No concession should ever be made for the singing of the Exultet, in whole or in part, in the vernacular.” If only this statement had been followed…
(Maybe Fr. Bea remembered hearing the Deacon chant the Exultet as a boy, just like I do. It’s something you never forget.)
