Category: Jeffrey Tucker

The Catholic Review has published an interesting news story about the propers of the Mass and whether and to what extent they should inform music selections. I’m quoted and this is mostly because Jerry Galipeau of WLP suggested to the reporter that he contact me. I’m very grateful for that. That was a very fair and kind thing to do; otherwise the reporter would have never heard of this blog or the Church Music Association of America.

I had a 30 minute long discussion with the reporter and it went well. I’m not unhappy with what he quoted but of course I didn’t write the story and there are some obvious problems with the overall take. One does not gain from the story the fullness of the issue here: the proper texts aren’t just another source text for music at Mass; they are the whole basis of Christian liturgical music at Mass and have always been. How do we know this? By looking at the history of the liturgical books. Even today: when you hold a Graduale Romanum in your hands, you are holding the music book of the Roman Rite. This is a very difficult point to get across to people because it requires a complete re-arranging of how we think about music and the Roman Rite.

In any case, I’m thrilled about this story, which is the first that I can think of that deals with this very important topic.

Fr. John Mayo, writing in the St. Louis Review, provides a beautifully compressed explanation of why singing in liturgy is important and what considerations must restrict its stylistic and textual components.

Among those who are curious about this topic, the various differences between the propers in the Missal and the propers in the Graduale Romanum have been a subject of curiosity. Steven van Roode, who typeset the Simple English Propers, posted on the MusicaSacra forum a beautiful summary of all the research that has gone into account for the differences that you will find, for example, in the OCP pew aide vs. the propers in the SEP. These paragraphs nicely sum it up.

OCP clearly prints the propers as they appear in the Missale Romanum:

Ant. ad communionem Ps 30,20 Quam magna multitúdo dulcédinis tuae, Dómine, quam abscondísti timéntibus te.

Vel: Mt 5,9-10 Beáti pacífici, quóniam fílii Dei vocabúntur. Beáti qui persecutiónem patiúntur propter iustítiam, quóniam ipsórum est regnum caelórum.

SEP however uses the propers as they appear in the Graduale Romanum:

Ps 70, 16-18 Domine, memorabor iustitiæ tuæ solius: Deus, docuisti me a iuventute mea, et usque in senectam et senium, Deus, ne derelinquas me.

Anno A: Mt 16, 24 Qui vult venire post me, abneget semetipsum: et tollat crucem suam, et sequatur me.

The Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum (April 3, 1969) explains why the Missal propers are sometimes different from the Graduale propers:

Quod reliquum est, licet textus Gradualis Romani, ad cantum saltem quod attinet, non fuerit mutatus, tamen, facilioris intellectus gratia, sive psalmus ille responsorius, de quo S. Augustinus et S. Leo Magnus saepe commemorant, sive antiphonae ad introitum et ad Communionem in Missis lectis adhibendae, pro opportunitate, instaurata sunt.

Even though the text of the Roman Gradual, at least that which concerns the singing, has not been changed, still, for a better understanding, the responsorial psalm, which St. Augustine and St. Leo the Great often mention, has been restored, and the Introit and Communion antiphons have been adapted for read Masses.

So, the Missal propers are intended for read Masses, whereas the Graduale propers are intended for sung Masses. That’s why SEP adheres to the propers as they appear in the Graduale Romanum.