A Moment of Silence: A Return to Unaccompanied Music

Most people are now aware that the English-speaking Church will receive a new translation of the Roman Missal on the first Sunday of Advent 2011.  I am often asked whether the “Mass itself” will change.  Usually this means, “Will the rubrics change?”  The short answer is no.  The rubrics of the Mass are not being altered in the new translation.  However, this is only partly correct.  While the rubrics themselves aren’t changing, the way in which they appear in the Roman Missal will in many cases be different than how they appear in the current Sacramentary.  I noticed this while studying the new texts for today, the Fourth Sunday of Lent (also known as Latarae Sunday, following the first words of the Introit chant).

Here is the note that appears at the top of the Fourth Sunday of Lent:

In this Mass, the color violet or rose is used. Instrumental music is permitted, and the altar may be decorated with flowers.

It may seem strange to specify that instrumental music is “permitted.”  After all, if your parish is anything like mine, we have instrumentation at every major Mass of the year.  To understand the note, we should first understand that this particular Sunday is a joyous one, as far as Lent goes, and so instrumentation makes sense.  However, this only serves to explain what the note says.  It does not explain why it is necessary.  After all, doesn’t it sound like it is making an exception for this particular Sunday?  Actually, this is precisely the case.  To see this, let’s look at another not in the new Roman Missal, one that occurs at the beginning of the section of Lent, just before the Ash Wednesday texts:

During Lent, it is not permitted to decorate the altar with flowers, and the use of musical instruments is allowed only so as to support the singing. Nevertheless, Laetare Sunday (the Fourth Sunday of Lent), Solemnities, and Feasts are exceptions to this rule.

To be sure, the language does not insist that all parishes must abandon all instrumentation during Lent, but it does strike a rather cautionary note, a sort of “only if you must.”  There is a myth that congregations always sing better with accompaniment, so it becomes tempting for every parish to think that they are the exception, the one that needs instruments “to support the singing.”  At a recent workshop on new settings for the Ordinary, the director of music for the cathedral in the Diocese of Columbus pointed out the success he has had in using unaccompanied music with his congregation.  The ideal is to eliminate instruments during Lent.  At the very least, there is a strong suggestion that the accompaniment be much simpler and toned down than it is during the rest of the year.  Otherwise, the note itself would be superfluous.

The language in the Roman Missal suggests that the default should be for no instrumentation during Lent, and in cases where it is an absolute must, then the accompaniment should be a very light, very soft organ accompaniment.  This would provide the liturgies of Lent with several striking contrasts.  First, on Ash Wednesday and the first Sunday of Lent, the congregation would be greeted with a profound silence, something they haven’t “heard” in a while.  The use of sacred silence has been talked about much in the past couple years, and the “cold turkey” cut of instruments when Lent begins will inevitably jar the congregation out of the ordinary.  Then, when Latarae Sunday come around, and instrumentation returns, the congregation is once more jarred.  Indeed, they may even be prompted to ask, “Father, why the organ today?  Aren’t we still in Lent?”  Catechesis ensues, “Well, today is Latarae Sunday, a break in the middle of Lent to remind us that this season, while penitential, is headed inevitably towards Easter.”*  The same contrast is achieved at the actual celebration of Easter when instrumental music returns in all of its glory and majestic splendor.

There is another deliberately “jarring” moment during Lent, and it occurs on the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday.  The new Roman Missal directs:

The Gloria in excelsis (Glory to God in the highest) is said. While the hymn is being sung, bells are rung, and when it is finished, they remain silent until the Gloria in excelsis of the Easter Vigil, unless, if appropriate, the Diocesan Bishop has decided otherwise. Likewise, during this same period, the organ and other musical instruments may be used only so as to support the singing.

The Gloria has been absent for weeks (the entire season of Lent except for the two solemnities), and its triumphant return at the start of the Triduum is intentionally shocking, once more a reminder that the penitential time, even and especially in the final three days, is directed towards the glorious resurrection.  Many of us have fond memories of the utter silence that follows the Holy Thursday Gloria and persists until the same Gloria on the Easter Vigil.  Indeed, following the Last Supper, the Church is plunged into a holy darkness that only silence can convey.

Many of these rubrics exist in General Instruction of the Roman Missal in one form or another, which is why I said that the rubrics themselves will not be changing with the new translation.  However, and here is the point, they do not exist in the Sacramentary.**  Having these rubrics printed in the Roman Missal, the very book from which the priest will read the Mass texts, will inevitably bring them to the forefront of his attention.  In this sense, perhaps the new translation will bring a change, not in the rubrics themselves, but in the degree to which they are followed.

*  Of course, the ideal conversation plays out here in my mind, wherein the person then asks the priest why this Sunday is called “Latarae Sunday,” and the priest explains that this comes from the first word of the opening chant.  Finally, the person then asks, “Why don’t we sing that chant, Father?”

**  Now, I should be honest here.  It doesn’t exist in the Sacramentary that I have on my bookshelves.  I cannot promise that it isn’t in some printing of the Sacramentary somewhere.