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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Thou Hast Saved the Good Wine until Now

Fr. David Friel · January 16, 2021

OR THE Mass of the Second Sunday after Epiphany, the Church provides a gorgeous communion chant, Dicit Dominus. Both its text and its melody invite the faithful to deeper reflection on the Gospel of the day, which recounts the first sign worked by the Lord at Cana in Galilee. Appreciating this chant in all its fullness is made easier by James McKinnon’s seminal work on the chants of the Proprium Missae, particularly his 2000 book, The Advent Project: The Later-Seventh-Century Creation of the Roman Mass Proper.

The Architriclinus testing the wine

Last month, I reflected on the lovely communio chant for the Second Sunday of Advent, taken from the Book of Baruch. An extended quotation from McKinnon’s book in that article helped to place the Advent-Christmas series of communio chants in context.

Today, another passage from McKinnon will help to reveal the uniqueness and beauty of this chant for the Second Sunday after Epiphany. He writes:

From a purely aesthetic point of view the Advent-Christmas sequence must claim pride of place. It takes the form of two distinct groups of greatly contrasting character. . . . The first group, consisting of the ten communions for the three Sundays of Advent (the fourth was of course a dominica vacat at the time), the three Ember Days and the vigil and three Masses of Christmas, form a homogeneous set of short lyric chants, all with texts from the Prophets in the more conventional sense or from David. The texts tell us either that the Lord is nigh or (on Christmas day) already at hand.

The second group could hardly be more different: all nine texts are from the New Testament; indeed, all are derived from the gospel of the day, except for Stephen’s Video caelos, from the Acts of the Apostles, a book serving generally as a sort of fifth gospel, and in this case as the only source of the story of Stephen’s martyrdom. The nine communions are colorful narrative chants, several examples of which employ a flamboyant dramatic style that plays fast and loose with the biblical original. The second Sunday after the Epiphany’s Dicit dominus, in particular, might be called a liturgical play in the shape of a communion antiphon. It is stitched together from five fragments of John 2.7–11, changing the language when necessary to produce a nicely coherent dramatic vignette of the marriage feast of Cana, employing even musical characterization with the solemn tones of Jesus, the excited exclamations of the chief steward and the matter-of-fact summing up of the narrator at the end of the piece.

That striking dualism between the lyric prophetic chants and colorful narrative ones remains the overarching truth of the Advent-Christmas communion sequence. 1

We have scores and a rehearsal video for this communion chant freely available from the online Saint René Goupil Gradual (here). See and hear for yourself the intricacy and cleverness McKinnon describes in Dicit Dominus.

The solemn tone used for the words of the Lord—hovering calmly within a stately, baritone register—immediately transports the listener to the Christus part of the chanted Passion. The ecstatic words of the headwaiter, by contrast, almost whimsically convey his joy at tasting the water that had been thrilled into wine.

Another author concurs with McKinnon about the exceptional nature of this communion chant. John Murrett’s fascinating book, The Message of the Mass Melodies, characterizes it this way:

The Gospel story is condensed for us here in a most unusual melody. Note the simplicity of Dicit, but the majesty of Dominus. Then the music of the next six words is very expressive. It even seems like the tones of a person talking very calmly but firmly, emphasizing his words so that they may be correctly understood: “Fill up—the jars—with water—and take—to the steward.” The next words are set to a very matter-of-fact kind of music until we reach the word dicit; then the steward seems to chide the bridegroom: “You’ve kept the good wine until now!” There is almost a smacking of lips on bonum, and a glad excitement seems to follow.

If the composer had a sense of humor—and it seems he did—he knew when to be serious, too. Hear the sober dignity in the words that follow: “This was the first sign that Jesus worked in the presence of His disciples.” The last notes of the music seem scarcely to end because, as we know, it was not the last sign. 2

McKinnon is right to call this proper a sort of “liturgical play.” There is much for our reflection, both in this communion chant and in the miracle of Cana.

The Wedding Feast at Cana


NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   James McKinnon, The Advent Project: The Later-Seventh-Century Creation of the Roman Mass Proper (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000), 329.

2   John C. Murrett, The Message of the Mass Melodies (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1960), 26-27.

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

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: chant, Graduale Romanum Roman Gradual Propers, Gregorian Chant, James McKinnon, Mass Propers Proprium Missae, Propers, Wedding Feast Cana Last Updated: January 16, 2021

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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President’s Corner

    Why A “Fugue” Here?
    I believe I know why this plainsong harmonizer created a tiny fugue as the INTRODUCTION to his accompaniment. Take a look (PDF) and tell me your thoughts about what he did on the feast of the Flight of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Egypt (17 February). And now I must go because “tempus fugit” as they say!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Reminder” — Month of October (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Did they simplify these hymn harmonies?
    Choirs love to sing the famous & splendid tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1952, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. In other words, their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1952 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. I really like the groovy Germanic INTRODUCTION they added.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The Night Office—Nocturns or Matins—except for Holy Week, Easter Octave, and Christmas, has never appeared in the Vatican edition. The larger part of the mediaeval repertory for the Office thus remains still unpublished in the Vatican edition, and is likely to remain so, for the obvious reason that almost no cathedral chapters or monastic choirs sing the Night Office regularly today.”

— John Merle Boe (1968)

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