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Views from the Choir Loft

“And I Will Raise You Up” — Voice Of God Songs During Mass

Jeff Ostrowski · September 23, 2013

VER THE YEARS, numerous articles have treated the question of “Voice of God” hymns (songs). The typical example is Suzanne Toolan’s I Am The Bread of Life, where each member of the congregation adopts the “voice of God” singing phrases like, “And I will raise you up on the last day.” Some claim these songs are acceptable because Gregorian chant occasionally employs the “voice of God.” Others disagree, since a Schola Cantorum singing verbatim Biblical verses (especially in Latin) is not the same as every member of the congregation using the “voice of God.”

There is also the question of the quality of so much contemporary hymnody. I’m not a poet, so I need to be careful what I say. However, so many contemporary hymn texts are what I call Rhyming Dictionary hymns. They’re uninspired, and (what’s worse) I always know in advance which word will be used to complete the rhyme. It’s as if the author relied heavily on a rhyming dictionary to write these texts. I feel that poetry should not be so predictable.

Professor László Dobszay has given the final word on “voice of God” hymns in this brilliant article. To some extent, he also treats Rhyming Dictionary hymn texts:

EITHER CAN WE disregard the form of the texts. The Introit of the Ascension begins thus: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven?” Whom do we hear speaking in this chant? It is the speech of God, of course, and then of the Church — but in the words of the angels. This is a chant of representation. And we have already seen Christ speaking in the Easter Introit, “I am risen and am still with thee …”   […]

All these examples have one thing in common. In them, someone speaks. Now, when we listen to a strophic hymn, this precise effect of locutio directa is diminished, indeed disappears completely. When we sing even the finest hymns, we feel they are the compositions of a poet — it is the poet who speaks in these chants. And that difference is a consequence of the form. There, the flow of thoughts, the length and linkage of phrases, the selection of words is defined and determined by the poetic form, by its rhythmic structure and rhyme. The poem is artefactum, an artificial construct, artistic opus. And when the result is not of the highest quality in either its theological or poetical dimension, then we sense even more vividly that the necessities of the poem direct the thought, rather than vice versa. One need not at all despise sung poetry in hymns, even those of extra-liturgical origin, in order to recognize that hymns can never be such speech-like texts as one finds in free biblical prose.

Since the chants of the Mass proper, with but few exceptions, are based upon biblical texts they are, again with but few exceptions, manifestations of a “spiritual speech” rather than “poems.” Finding their own pleasant articulation, they proceed with the naturalness of speech; the singer can take it on his lips as speech delivered in a special way. This is what Ewald Jammers meant when he affirmed that “Man does not ‘compose’ music to God’s word; instead, he pronounces it. And he does so at worship by speaking not in the language of the Everyday, the language of the marketplace, but rather in a solemn singing voice.” Psychologically, the prose form always approximates speech more closely; when pronouncing a text of this kind, we feel more easily that we are praying. This is not to say that prayers in strophic form cannot be uttered with a prayerful mentality. But even then, there always remains something that makes us feel we are speaking “in quotation marks.”

Of course, for good Church music to come back, we need to accept the fact that the congregation is not required to sing everything at Mass. We need to once again become comfortable with the congregation actively listening as a choir or Schola sings, as the Second Vatican Council ordered. I hope to address some of these issues in a future blog, which I plan on giving the (provocative) title Leave Me Alone.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Hymns Replacing Propers Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “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

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

“The Catholic Church has a dignity far surpassing that of every merely human society, for it was founded by Christ the Lord. It is altogether fitting, therefore, that the language it uses should be noble, majestic, and non-vernacular.”

— Blessed John XXIII (22 February 1962)

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