ATIN GREGORIAN CHANT is universal. It is Catholic. And I can prove it.
Take a listen to the recording below. It is a recent viral social media post of a group of pilgrims singing Credo IV.
* Mp3 Download • Live Rec. (“Credo IV by mystery choir”)
——“Credo IV” • Mystery choir.
Now listen closely—what country are they from? What part of the world? What accent do they have? What is their nationality? Can you tell?
In this particular recording, the singers were a group of US seminarians from Virginia on pilgrimage to Rome. Yet, when they chant in Latin, they ceased to sound American. They didn’t sound Italian, French, or African either. They sounded Catholic—universalis, belonging to no one people but to everyone at once. This is the power of the Church’s ancient language: it transcends the divisions of culture and geography and allows the faithful to sing with one heart and one voice.
Clarity • Latin is often called a “dead language,” but in the life of the Church, that is its greatest strength. Because Latin no longer evolves like modern tongues, it remains fixed—unchanged, clear, and precise. Living languages shift constantly; words pick up new meanings, phrases become outdated, and connotations change. “Don we now our gay apparel,” means something entirely different to modern ears than it did just a few generations ago. The unchanging nature of Latin preserves the clarity of doctrine and worship, ensuring that the Church’s prayers mean today what they meant a thousand years ago.
Unity • Many parishes today celebrate Mass in several languages—English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and more. This reflects the beauty of cultural diversity, but it can also lead to division. A parish may unintentionally become three or four communities sharing one building but not one heart.
The great unifier–as the Second Vatican Council envisioned–is the use of Latin for the common parts of the Mass. Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, states that “the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites” (§36) and that “steps should be taken so that the faithful may be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them” (§54).
Borders disappear • Those pilgrims from Virginia are from the United States. Many of them are likely American football fans who enjoy barbecues and hot dogs. If you spoke with them on the street, they would have American accents. But when they chanted together in Rome, they were not from any country. Their accents disappeared. Their culture blended into the harmony of the Church.
They were no longer citizens. They were Catholic. They were universal. And that, in the truest sense, is what it means to be part of the Church that sings with one timeless, heavenly voice.
You can see the original video post here.
