Did you know that hymns are the last option for music at a Catholic mass?! When you read Church documents, you find that when a series of options are given, it is always in sequential order of preference, from most preferable to least preferable. If you look at documents such as the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), you will find that the antiphons are the most preferable option for all the musical parts of mass, while hymns are the last. For example, you can look at #48 in the GIRM, here, and see that the antiphon is the first preference.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!", you might say to me, "my parish only uses hymns, that's what I'm familiar and comfortable with. What is all of this antiphon mumbo jumbo?"
Good question, I would reply.
What is all of this antiphon mumbo jumbo? The word "antiphone" comes from the Greek "anti"=in return + "phone"=sound. So an antiphon is to "sound in return". This is because antiphons are sung in a verse and response format, and this can be done between cantor and choir, cantor and people, choir and people, or any other option you can think of. Antiphons, therefore, are a great way for full and active participation since it involves both listening and responding! And a congregation that listens and responds is a congregation that will grow together as a community in the prayer of the mass.
"Well that's nice, but antiphons seem like some pre-Vatican II institution that is cold and outdated" you might say.
Rubbish! I would respond with fervor and vigor. Every single mass has its own set of antiphons that are proper to it (that is why they are called mass "Propers") and they are all based on scriptures, or from the great prayers of the Church! How many times do we have to recycle the same old hymns when each mass deserves to be celebrated with its own special music! What's more, hymns can often be based on scripture, but will often end up simply being poems set to music, which is nice, but how much more awesome is it to sing the word of God! Not only that, but for centuries, dating back to the 4th, 5th, and 6th centuries, Christians sang antiphons for their worship. When we sing antiphons, we not only become full and active participants at mass, not only do we grow closer as a community, not only do we make each mass a special celebration, not only to we sing the word of God, but we also grow closer to the greater Christian community of all the men and women, saints and sinners, throughout the ups and downs of history, in an unending song of praise to God in the great prayer of the mass! Whoa!!!
At this point, you will say, "OK, I am sold. But I have such an expensive contract with a diabolical money-grabbing music factory, where can I find antiphons for my parish?"
"The internet!" I would respond. There are so many good options available for singing antiphons!
If you want to sing the Proper antiphons in English FOR FREE(!!!!!!) you can look at this site
http://musicasacra.com/simple-propers-of-the-mass-ordinary-form/
if you want an easy choir setting, you can use this site,
http://www.musicasacra.com/books/simplechoralgradual.pdf
If you get tired of printing these out, they are available on Amazon.
If you want to sing the Proper antiphons in Latin (oooooooohhh) FOR FREE(!!!!!!) you can look at this site
http://www.institute-christ-king.org/latin-mass-resources/sacred-music/
this site
http://isaacjogues.org/chants/
this site
the Gregorian Missal
or you can just order this book.
"Wow! Not only is it liturgically correct and spiritually awesome to use antiphons, but I can also save money!" you would say.
"Huzzah!" I would respond.
Cantate Domino Canticum Novum!
"Wow! Not only is it liturgically correct and spiritually awesome to use antiphons, but I can also save money..." lol :)
ReplyDeleteHey Colin. You note that antiphons are the first preference. But is there any discussion on to what extent should antiphons as the first preference should dominate over the others. For example, should the antiphons always be done if they can? Should they be done most often? Or as another thought, with hymns being the last preference how often should they be done?
ReplyDelete-Mike Humpherys
Friar Tuck- Therein lies the rub! While all options can be done, from what I've seen in documents, the first preference is meant to be the typical or normal option. For example, look at GIRM 228 http://www.usccb.org/liturgy/current/chapter5.shtml#sect2
ReplyDeleteWe see the normal first option, which is to celebrate mass in a Church, if this cannot be done, then the other options follow. I would say, then, that the use of antiphons is meant to be the norm, and the other options are used if either antiphons are unavailable or for some other reason they can't be used. There isn't a definitive statement on antiphon use, so all of this is my own argumentation and opionion, thus far.