Sacred Music
Sacred Music is music created and admitted for divine worship, joined to liturgical texts and actions so as to glorify God and sanctify the faithful.[1]
Music as liturgical ministry
Sacred music is not background atmosphere added to an otherwise complete rite. When joined to the liturgical words it forms an integral part of solemn worship, giving greater expression to prayer, fostering unity, and lending solemnity to the rites. Its holiness grows from its connection with the sacred action and its faithful service of the text and ritual moment.
The Church's treasury includes Gregorian chant, sacred polyphony, hymnody, psalmody, and worthy compositions arising in different rites and cultures. The Roman Rite gives Gregorian chant pride of place while admitting other forms that possess the required qualities. A genre's popularity, antiquity, or technical sophistication alone does not establish liturgical suitability.
Text, participation, and judgment
Texts must conform to Catholic doctrine and should draw chiefly from Scripture and liturgical sources. Music should respect the proper text, the liturgical day, the role of the part, and the capacities of ministers and people. Substituting a devotional song where the rite requires a specific acclamation or proclamation can distort the action even if the song is orthodox.[2]
Active participation includes singing but is not measured by constant congregational vocalization. Priest, deacon, cantor, psalmist, choir, instrumentalists, and assembly each have proper roles; prayerful listening can itself participate. Pastors and musicians should form the faithful, preserve the treasury, welcome worthy new work, and avoid both performance-centered display and utilitarian mediocrity.
References
- Back to citation Sacrosanctum Concilium — Vatican II's constitution on the liturgy, sacred music, art, and furnishings.
- Back to citation Musicam sacram — Instruction on sacred music, sung liturgy, ministries, participation, and instruments.