“Every sound in worship is, at its root, musical. The tunefulness of worship, therefore, is not confined to the sounding of instruments or to the vocalization of choirs or other musical specialists. Liturgy is to be tuneful in every human sound, including speech.” – Milwaukee Symposia for Church Composers
The songs we sing outside of the Ordinary (unchanging) parts of the Mass make up the hymnody of our parish celebrations. While these hymns offer a music and/or director the greatest freedom in terms of selection, there still are a number of important factors that influence what songs we sing (and where.) Primarily, music is selected to encourage full, active, conscious participation by the assembly. But equally important, the music must be selected to complement the liturgy itself. The four hymns we sing at most Sunday Masses (Processional Hymns – also known as Opening or Gathering songs, Offertory Hymns, Communion Hymns, and Recessional Hymns or Closing songs) are selected to reflect on the action of the Mass that they accompany. Gathering songs are centered on the people being called together for worship and centering our prayer as a community on the sacrifice of the Mass that is to occur. Communion hymns focus on the presence of Christ in the Eucharistic celebration and our role as participants in that sharing of the sacrament. Recessional Hymns reinforce our commissioning that accompanies our dismissal; we are not just told to leave, but rather to “go in peace to love and serve the Lord and one another.”
The Offertory is a bit of an outlier – instead of being selected to reinforce the action of the Mass, (in this case, the preparation of the altar and the collection of our offerings,) the hymn here acts more as a bridge, connecting the Liturgy of the Word with the Liturgy of the Eucharist that follows. As such, there is less structure to its role and more importance on the third purpose. That is, reinforcing the themes and messages found in the readings of the day. While to an extent, this plays into the selection of all the music at any given Mass, there are more options, for example, that reflect upon this week’s Gospel about the return of the Samaritan leper than there are that filter that reflection through the lens of an opening, dismissal, or that of the Eucharist. So greater weight is given to the readings in selecting Offertory hymns and less on the accompanying rite.
Please accept this invitation to participate more fully, more actively, in our parish’s music ministry. If you are interested in singing in the choir, leading the congregation as a cantor,
or enriching our liturgy as an instrumentalist, email Shawn Gelzleichter at sgelzleichter@gmail.com or call the rectory at 781-662-8844.