The Deacon's Bench
Last week, I posted a little item on The Exsultet — and by happy coincidence, the good folks at Catholic News Service have issued a series of stories and videos on the subject of Gregorian chant.
It is one of the treasures of the Church—and one more places are seeking to reclaim and restore:
The tradition of sung prayer dates back to the first millennium, with Gregorian chant becoming the proper music of the mature Roman rite, said Timothy S. McDonnell, director of the Institute of Sacred Music at The Catholic University of America in Washington.
Gregorian chant was standard in the Mass in the 1950s, but fell out of favor after the Second Vatican Council, when the traditional Latin Mass was changed to the dominant language of each country.
Though it has regained popularity in the past few decades, the chant is not the principal music in most U.S. Catholic parishes, McDonnell told Catholic News Service.
Categorically speaking, Gregorian chant is sacred music, but not all sacred music is Gregorian chant.
What distinguishes the chant is that the songs are actual prayers and text vital to the liturgy, said Elizabeth Black, assistant music director of St. John the Beloved Catholic Church in McLean, Virginia.
For instance, when the priest sings, “the Lord be with you,” and the congregation responds in song, “and with your spirit,” they are performing Gregorian chant, because those holy texts are an essential part of the Mass, Black told Catholic News Service during a recent interview.
Check out more here.
Below is a great video introduction—which opens with, of course, The Exsultet (check out the other excellent videos in this series here):
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