JANUARY 2024 H the perfection of charity.”1


oliness is not easy to pin down or define. Te Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks of our call “to the fullness of Christian life and to When we speak of holiness,


we often refer to particular people who embody the Christian life in a particularly compelling way. We know holiness when we see it—or, better, when we encounter someone who lives it. All of us are called to become holy, little by little, week after week, year after year, as we celebrate the Eucharist, listen to the Word, and receive the Body and Blood of Christ into our bodies and hearts. As we make our way through life, each of us is called to become ever more fully him whom we receive, so that our lives may echo ever more fully the words of St. Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).


While we experience an intimate personal encounter with Christ in Holy Communion and all of us are called to transformation as individuals, in the concreteness of our “everyday” lives, the call to holiness also comes to us as a community of faith. Te Communion procession is more than a practical means to facilitate the distribution of Communion to individuals. It is a ritual action of the Body of Christ, the Church. Pope Benedict XVI notes, “Te eucharistic form of Christian life is clearly an ecclesial and communitarian form.”2 Te Eucharist “impels us to work courageously within our world for that renewal of relationships which has its inexhaustible source in God’s gift.”3 Te Communion procession and song are designed to express and deepen this corporate identity, this communal call to holiness of life. In this article we will explore how the liturgy brings this about from three vantage points: the symbolic impact of communal song, the role of the sound or feel of the music, and the message of the texts we sing.


Singing Together: Expressing


and Deepening Unity Tere are only two ritual moments in the Order of Mass for which the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) lists particular functions or purposes for liturgical music. One is the song during the Entrance procession. Te other is the Communion chant (song). In both cases, the GIRM lists multiple functions, a strong indication that singing is integral to the effectiveness of these ritual moments—and that


the Church expects the singing to have a significant impact. Te GIRM specifies three functions of the communion song:4


1. Te express the communicants’ union in spirit by means of the unity of their voices;


2. To show joy of heart;


3. To highlight more clearly the “communitarian’ nature of the procession.


Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship (STL) adds this pastoral note: “Because the Communion chant expresses the unity of those processing and receiving the Holy Sacrament, communal singing is commendable. Te singing of the people should be preeminent.”5


Te assumption here is that singing together, no matter which text or musical style is employed, has the power to express our identity and unity and to heighten our experience of the procession as communal action. Tat singing together is integral to the ritual action is further emphasized by the GIRM’s directions about when the Communion song begins and ends—one of the most widely ignored directives in parish practice! Te Communion song begins “while the priest is receiving the sacrament” and continues “for as long as the Sacrament is being administered.”6 Tis ritual action expresses the unity of the entire assembly—priest, deacon, extraordinary ministers, musicians and congregation—as we partake of the one Bread and one Cup. Te GIRM offers no option to begin the Communion song at a later time. Tere is no “when convenient” or “for pastoral reasons.” Te GIRM presumes that all will continue singing after they receive Communion, so that the song will express unity and “joy of heart” while everyone receives, even those near the end of the line.7


Tat being said,


the GIRM does not ignore the need for individual prayer, indicating that, if appropriate, the priest and people “spend some time praying privately.”8


But this


dedicated time comes not after each one receives. It happens “when the distribution of Communion [and the Communion song] is over.”9


Recently I participated in an early Sunday morning Mass wherein the Communion song began after not only the priest and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion had received, but after the loft-located cantor had walked up the aisle to receive—and then walked back down the aisle and returned to the choir


27


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36