20. Liturgical Music & Art

20. Lineamenta on Liturgical Music and Art

THE MINISTRY OF MUSIC AND DIOCESAN CULTURAL PROGRAM


Sacred music and art and other cultural expressions of faith and worship are addressed to God the Father who created us in his image and likeness and every creature with its purpose, beauty and goodness (Genesis 1:1-27). They play an important part in our worship and ecclesial gatherings for the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful (Vatican II: Sacrosanctum Concilium [SC], chapter VI & VII). Greater than that of any other art, sacred music has an “immeasurable value” since it “increases in holiness to the degree that it is intimately linked with liturgical action, winningly expresses prayerfulness, promotes solidarity, and enriches sacred rites with heightened solemnity” (SC, 112). “Liturgical action is given a more noble form when sacred rites are solemnized in song, with the assistance of sacred ministers and the active participation of the people” (SC, 113). Hence, sacred music has to be preserved and fostered with great care (SC, 114), has to be taught in seminaries and formation houses of religious congregations (SC, 115) and fostered among the lay faithful (SC, 118). Local or indigenous religious music can also be adapted into our Church liturgy (SC, 119 & 120). Composers and singers of sacred music “must be given a genuine liturgical training” (SC, 115) and the local Church is encourage to “found higher institutes of sacred music whenever this can be done” (Ibid.)
Sacred art, as the highest achievement and considered the noblest expression of human genius, is sought for use in divine worship and it “should be truly worthy, becoming, and beautiful, signs and symbols of heavenly realities” (SC, 122). The art should be sacred and with noble beauty; and the local church should exclude art works which are repugnant to Christian faith, morals and piety and lack artistic worth (SC, 124). Sacred furnishings and vestments should worthily and beautifully serve the dignity of worship but the church also “welcomed those changes in materials, style, or ornamentation which the progress of the technical arts has brought with the passage of time” (SC, 122).
The primary role of sacred music, sacred art and sacred furnishings is to support the liturgical rite and enacts the paschal mystery of Christ and the pattern that this mystery lays out for our lives. The cantor or song leader and the choir should bear in mind that their role is not to entertain, nor to keep the faithful “interested” when the rite seems dry but to help the people to surrender to the Paschal Mystery as it unfolds within the rite. The cantor and the choir members require personal skills and qualities beyond the ability to sing well. They should have quality of personal presence which is paying attention to others, listening well and communicating easily. They should be poised in front of a group and have a certain level of technical skill that allows them to take personal responsibility for the music ministry. They should be transparent, open to critique and coaching and open to learn new ways of doing this ministry well. Moreover, beyond improving their vocal and gestural skills, they need to deepen their spirituality so that they may prayerfully sing and perform their ministry that unfolds the story of God’s salvific activity for all.
Thomas Day offered the following advice to improve music ministry in the Church: (Thomas Day, Why Catholics Can’t Sing [N.Y.: Crossroad, 1990], pp. 169-170):
1. The pastor or parish priest should have a constructive involvement and gives congregational singing a significant boost.
2. Let the assembly hear its own voice, not the voice of an ego behind a microphone.
3. Put a reasonably good musician in charge of the music.
4. Occasionally, sing unaccompanied music supported only by a choir. Parishes with limited resources can produce some rugged yet impressive sounds with plain unaccompanied singing of plain music.
5. Maybe once a week, maybe once a month, let the music reach its full potential; let the entire assembly sense that it is doing its best to pray in song.
6. Hymn and songs are useful, but they can die from overuse. Catholicism’s real musical destiny is in the singing of the actual texts of the liturgy.
7. Avoid “contemporary” songs that sound palpitatingly romantic.
8. Encourage music as an art.
9. Good congregational singing begins with a sense of beloved familiarity.
If we are to encounter the Paschal Mystery of Christ to its depths through the sacred music and art, it is to immerse into it and let the workings of God unfold marvelously that you need not look any further than your chosen liturgical ministry and your daily life to find the way of salvation.

Questions for small group discussion:

How would you want your music ministry be in your parish?
How should our sacred art and furnishings be in our churches and places of worship?
How can we coordinate and systematize the music ministry and the different cultural activities in our diocese?