The introduction of the new Missal is one year away and many pastors are planning ahead. I’ve heard from many pastors who have no chant programs in their parishes, no scholas working their way through the Gradual, who see this new Missal has an opportunity to unify their music programs toward a solemn direction and do something about the problem that afflicts nearly every parish in this country: the fracturing of the parish community into niche sectors organized by demographics and musical style preference.
ICEL and the American Bishops are intensely aware of this problem, and regard the music in the new Missal as part of the solution. The widely held aspiration is that these chants will become the standard music for the new translation of Mass. This message is certainly getting out.
I have my own issues with the chants that will appear in the new Missal. In particular I think more could have been done to provide weightier English versions of the Sanctus and Angus. And yet, there might be wisdom in the easy settings that are provided in here. Those of us with developing, progressing programs can easily forget just how impoverished the musical life of most parishes truly is. There are no choirs, no organists, no real directors of music in them; there are only volunteers trying to do what the Church wants but who feel mostly confused and lost.
These easy chants can get them on the right track. I do that is the most important accomplishment here. There is an additional factor here: the chanted text will help people to get to know the new text, just as little songs we sing in grade school help us to remember poetry, grammar, and even math. A sung text becomes more familiar more quickly than a spoken one.
My own hope is that parishes will push beyond the Gloria, Sanctus, and Agnus and look to the credo. Every document says that a sung Creed is a priority in the Roman Rite and yet, it is hardly ever sung. This is a chance for a real change.
I prefer the credo based on Credo I but here are two in the new missal.