Just some random thoughts this week!
I’ve been thinking a lot lately on various aspects of the liturgy and what they mean – probably since we can’t fully celebrate the mass in the present times. A lot of liturgy folks have been writing articles about how this is the perfect time to ‘fix’ our liturgies and how they think it’s best to do that. I’ve been looking at the original sources of instruction on the liturgy, namely the General Instructions for the Roman Missal and the Roman Missal itself, and focusing on what it says to us and how we’re supposed to be doing things. Even during these times of shortened and abbreviated liturgies, we’re trying to keep the basic principles at the forefront of all of our liturgical decisions.
I’ll start with the music. One of the first and most basic ideals is that music serves the liturgy. Music, while bringing inherent beauty to our liturgy as well as to our lives in general, is not done for and by itself. Music is subservient to the action occurring during the liturgy.– whether it’s music that accompanies a procession or action (opening, Gospel, Offertory, Communion, and closing), or music for what may be consider the ‘proper’ parts of the mass like the Gloria and the Eucharistic Acclamations (Holy, Memorial Acclamation, Amen and Lamb of God). The only sung part outside of those already listed is the responsorial psalm, which is from the Bible and for which we are given the exact text to be sung as it is the inspired word of God. So basically, all of the music in a mass is serving the liturgy. Nothing about the singing is for music itself – except possibly a reflection piece after Communion (in non-restricted times!) Even then, there are guidelines for what should be sung and how long it should last.
That leads into another important part of liturgy that is seldom discussed or thought much about. Timing. The timing of the liturgy is part of what leads to its beauty. No one part should outlast, or outshine, another part. The Liturgy of the Word (first reading through the Universal prayers) should last about the same time as the Liturgy of the Eucharist (the preparation of the altar through the prayer after Communion). Everything should be relative to the other – the homily shouldn’t be 20 minutes long during a 45 minute mass; the Gloria shouldn’t last 12 minutes when the Gospel is 2 minutes; the opening song shouldn’t be 8 minutes long when Communion takes 5 minutes. Everything should be relative and in proportion to the other. Once again, the length of time for the music should only be as long as the procession that it accompanies. The Responsorial Psalm likewise shouldn’t be sung in a way that makes it 5 times longer than any of the other readings. Of course there are some notable exceptions to this – for instance, the Passion reading on Palm Sunday will obviously take some time to proclaim, but it is also the primary focus for that Sunday and the beginning of the holiest of Holy weeks. Liturgy is about movement and timing of our prayers, it could also be seen as the movement and timing of God’s graces down to us as we lift our voices and souls up in praise of the Almighty.