At the Midnight Mass with the Holy Father at St. Peter's Basilica, the Gradual was chanted in place of the "Responsorial Psalm." The Chant Cafe is reporting that this is ultra-radical! But let me remind everyone who is the true ultra-radical around here. We chanted the official Gradual for the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary this past March 19th (2012) but at an Ordinary Form Mass that was a hybrid of Latin and English. And our cantor sang the Tract after the second reading rather than the Lenten Gospel acclamation! Our combined choirs sang the Schubert Mass. I also and I didn't intend for it to be "illicit" although some may judge it as so, celebrated this Mass which was an OF Mass in an EF way, with adjustments made to the rubrics of the Penitential Act, double genuflections at the consecrations and kissing the altar each time I turned from it to the congregation. Will we see this in higher place in the future? I will make you a modest wager, I will wager that you'll see this in high places by offering you an Ordinary Form Mass celebrated in an Extraordinary Form sort of way.
Go to about minute 14 for the Liturgy of the Word and the Latin Gregorian Chanted Gradual and then following the second reading, the Tract chanted in Gregorian Latin chant in place of the banal Lenten Gospel Acclamation. Of course you can watch it from the start to see the other illicit things I did unwittingly of course, but compared to the illicit things we see at Ordinary Form Masses regularly is this really so awful?:
Now this is the Gradual sung at St. Peter's just two days ago. Do you think they got the idea from my Schubert's Mass, no I realize that is impossible, or is it?
This just goes to show that the reforms of the Mass required by Vatican II and Sacrosanctum Concilium are still in its infancy and that on-going reform is taking place and before it is actually mandated by revising the Liturgical books of the 1970's. This is great news and we will actually see today a reform/restoration/renewal of the Roman Liturgies. God is good!!
16 comments:
They actually chanted the gradual last year for Christmas too :)
But I think the Gradual should replace the Responsorial Psalm permanently :), for every Mass
Oh! Yes maybe my radical inspiration actually came from our most radical poor. Be a child of the 70's I really feel warmt for radicals!
I got to thinking whilst watching the papal Mass that there should be another reclamation which should happen.
Namely, the lector/subdeacon/deacon of the Mass (and it should be an installed lector, why wouldn't a lector be used at the very least?) should stand on the epistle side (a la TLM) and sing the epistle (both) readings, facing the Holy Father. The deacon of the Word, should sing the Gospel facing the Gospel side, with proper attendants, after the singing of the Gospel in Greek, by the Greek deacon.
It is wonderful to hear that you're using the gradual and the alleluia/tract/sequence. It is a necessary and a very important part of the Mass, which has been lost. I pray that it becomes the norm. I know of several other parishes which use the chanted gradual and alleluia/tract/sequence and the faithful are definitely edified for it, as it more closely follows the Mass of the day as opposed to trying to insert a psalm which may or may not (usually not) have any connection.
My comment should read most radical POPE and being a child...iPhone typing
FrAJM, all that is left for you to seal your place in history is to punch someone in the mouth.
BEAUTIFUL!!! Thank YOU Father for being a faithful priest to lead the people to a deeper reverence for the Holy SACRIFICE of the Mass. God Bless You in this Christmas season. I pray daily that God will raise up many priests like yourself to lead us. Priests after God's own heart.
Father McDonald,
Just for fun, you should play an intellectual game where you create a new post entitled, "Maybe my radical inspiration actually came from our most radical poor. Be a child of the 70's I really feel warmt for radicals!" and then seek to defend this in the body of the post. I would certainly like to comment upon that post!
Beautiful. Let's hope this kind of renewal spreads far and wide, sooner than later.
I have it on good authority (a Franciscan superior whose community celebrates both Forms) that the Pope's biggest current liturgical problem is reconciling the EF and OF calendars. This man thinks the Pope is currently working on this very intently right now.
FRAJM,
While I can't agree with rcg's prescription, may I add, as a long time supporter, that perhaps the time has come for you to rescind the hubris of both your "seer cum trend setter" posturing on this blog. Let your videos, if not produced as evidence of any prescience on anyone's part, serve to be examples of your getting "lex orandi...."
I wish I could have visited you this coming January.
Every sung Latin OF Mass that I have attended since the 1970s has used the GR Propers (including the Gradual and Alleluia/Tract) although the readings are as as per the Lectionary and usually, though by no means always, in the vernacular.
I have yet to hear a Responsorial Psalm in Latin outside the Vatican!
Andy Milam, I do not disagree with you as much as my posts may seem to indicate, but I cannot understand your indication that the responsorial psalms usually have little or no connection to the themes of the Mass. It seems to me obvious that in theory (and I would say almost always in practice) the responsorial psalm is related to or supports and states anew the point or primary meaning of the first reading. I cannot understand why so many (I am influenced by just having gone through a long thread on WDTPRS) prefer the snippets of the Tridentine graduals to the generous portions of the responsorial psalms of the missal of Paul VI. - Ancil Payne
Anonymous, basically because it's a B to have to remember the response. I spend half the Psalm in the OF wracking my brains for the response and so I miss basically the whole Psalm. In the future I'm just not going to respond.
Anon, the Graduals are not 'Tridentine' - they predate Trent by a thousand years. The Responsorial Psalm is probably even older, but like a lot of the archaeologism of the post-V2 reformers it wasn't done properly. To speak the refrain in unison is absurd and tiresome (everybody recognized this when it first came out) and the musical settings of the 1970s were pretty dire. That said, there are some good recent settings, notably those by Arlene Oost-Zinner. In a sung Latin OF Mass the Gradual should be used, and even in a vernacular Mass a GR Alleluia, albeit with the Lectionary verse in psalm-tone, is an attractive option.
The responsorial would work better IF it were sung ala vespers and monastic traditions (side 1, side 2)...alas most congregations don't have the talent for that
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