Who Sings at Mass

A few days ago, I began a short series of articles on the use of music at Mass.  The first article, “Why We Sing at Mass”, addressed why we sing at Mass.  Now, I turn to the question of who sings at Mass.

Who Is Supposed to Sing at Mass?

I would like to begin by referring to what I wrote in last week’s article, “Why We Sing at Mass”, regarding active participation.  The simple answer to “who is supposed to sing at Mass” is everyone.  Now, not every line of every music piece is supposed to be sung by everyone.  For instance, a cantor normally sings the verses of the Responsorial Psalm alone, but everyone is called to join in the refrain as our response to what the cantor sings. 

Having recognized that everyone is called to join in the singing at Mass, there are those of us, like myself, who have little or no musical talent.  We need someone to lead us in the singing.  When everyone sings, including those who do not have the gift of singing, and if we sing at a proper volume level, allowing the gifted musicians to lead us, we will “make a joyful noise unto the Lord” (Psalm 100, King James translation).”  If we do not follow the lead of the gifted musicians, then we just make noise, albeit not joyful.  This should not surprise us. In all things, we need someone who is well trained in a task to lead.  For example, if a group of people set out to build a new wooden structure without a trained carpenter leading, the structure may not hold up in its use.

With this in mind, the remainder of what I write here about who sings at Mass will focus on the qualified musicians who lead us.  As a person without the gift of music, I need a lead singer who knows when to begin singing with any instrumental accompaniment.  I can read music somewhat but while I might know the first note is an “A” note, I struggle to know what an “A” sounds like.  I also need musicians who understand rhythm and tempo.

I offer a sincere thank you to our musicians for using their God given gifts of music to help make our liturgies places of praise and worship.  We are blessed with musicians who are choosing to use their years of training as instrumentalists and vocalists to serve our parish.  We appreciate our music volunteers for the many hours spent every week preparing, practicing, and finally leading our worship with music.  We are also blessed with a volunteer who schedules our musicians and puts together a recommended list of hymns for each Mass, based on the readings and familiarity of the music to parishioners (see my article, “Using What You Have Been Given”, for more on how God calls us to use the gifts/talents He has given us). 

I presently serve in two small churches, St. Mary’s of the Lake in Watkins Glen, NY and St. Benedict’s in Odessa, NY.  We are especially blessed that all of our musicians for Sunday Masses are volunteers.  If we needed to pay our musicians, I do not know we could afford that.

As I express my gratitude to them, I would like to point out that parish musicians can be volunteers or paid staff.  In either case, they are using their God-given gifts of music to serve him.  Someone reading this might think, “if it is a God-given gift, should they not do it for free?”  It is not that simple.  I have been in parishes that use both volunteers and paid musicians.  The difference between them is not that the paid musicians are greedy.  For almost all of the paid musicians I have worked with, music is their sole source of income.  As Jesus says, “the laborer deserves his payment” (Luke 10:7).  They are entitled to just compensation and the financial support needed to ensure competent liturgical musical leadership (USCCB, Sing to the Lord, 51-52).

On the other hand, most volunteer musicians I know are able to make a choice to freely give their musical talents in service to the Lord without needing payment. 

So, why would anyone hire paid musicians if volunteers can do the work?  The answer to that is the commitment level we ask of them.  Volunteers have jobs, family life, and other commitments that affect their availability. They give what they can. It is not fair to ask too much of volunteers.  That is why there are times when we do not have any musicians for a Mass.  In those cases, I lead an opening hymn and a closing hymn a Capella and we speak the Mass parts.  Fortunately, when I sing there are people in the congregation who sing with me.  (If we are lucky, the good singers drown me out). 

There is also the reality that it can be easier to find higher-caliber musicians when you pay them.  This does not mean that volunteers are not good musicians.  I believe we have some very good volunteer musicians.  When a parish pays musicians, then the parish can require the musicians to be at all Masses.  Everything has its pros and cons.

So, for many parishes, a balance is necessary in having both some paid musicians as well as volunteers.  Here, the interpersonal skills of both sets of musicians are important.  Paid staff and volunteers working together do not always get along!  Pray!

Whether parish musicians are paid or volunteer, the USCCB writes, “Thus, musicians who serve the Church at prayer are not merely employees or volunteers.  They are ministers who share the faith, serve the community, and express the love of God and neighbor through music” (Sing to the Lord, 49).  Parish music should never be just a paid job.  It is a ministry that calls the musicians to use their musical gifts to sing and/or play the music in that encourages the congregation to sing. 

Musicians serve in different ways, each according to the particular gifts that God has given them.  The USCCB document Sing to Lord, offers the following:

“Among the faithful, the schola cantorum or choir exercises its own liturgical function, ensuring that the parts proper to it, in keeping with the different types of chants, are properly carried out and fostering the active participation of the faithful through the singing. What is said about the choir also applies, in accordance with the relevant norms, to other musicians, especially the organist” (GIRM, 103, emphasis added).

We also need to consider the use of instruments.  Instruments are not used at Mass as a musical performance.  Instruments are used to support the singing (see GIRM, 313).  If you go to a rock concert, you might hear drums providing a beat.  I have only seen drums on a few occasions in churches.  In my experience, they often take over depending on the drummer.  The same can be true of an organist who plays too loud and drowns out the singing. 

For the role of cantor, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) states, “It is fitting that there be a cantor or a choir director to lead and sustain the people’s singing. When in fact there is no choir, it is up to the cantor to lead the different chants, with the people taking part” (GIRM, 104, emphasis added, cf. USCCB, Sing to the Lord, 37-38).  Likewise, we read, “The choir’s role in this case is not to lead the congregational singing, but to sing with the congregation” (USCCB, Sing to the Lord, 31, emphasis added).  The same is said of instrumentalists (see USCCB, Sing to the Lord, 40).

Likewise, when hymns are selected for Mass, along with the musical abilities of the musicians, proper consideration should be given to the singing abilities of the congregation (see USCCB, Sing to the Lord, 45).  Music at Mass is not meant to be a performance of a few.  All are called to active participation.  Why?  Because

“Of all the sounds of which human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, are capable, voice is the most privileged and fundamental.  Musical instruments in the Liturgy are best understood as an extension of and support for the primary liturgical instrument, which is the human voice” (USCCB, Sing to the Lord, 86, emphasis added).

Singing is important because the words are mean to express what we believe (see the end of my last article, “Why We Sing at Mass” for the importance of doctrinal correctness in hymns).  Thus, it is important that the words be understandable.  For example, on rare occasion I have heard the Prayers of the Faithful sung.  Unfortunately, they were sung in a way that I could not understand what we were praying for (see also USCCB, Sing to the Lord, 45, 168, 170).

Again, music at Mass is not a performance but we are to sing joyfully to the Lord (USCCB, Sing to the Lord, 25).  For example, the acclamation before the gospel before the gospel reading at Mass expresses our joyful welcome to the Lord as He comes to us in the gospel (see GIRM 62).

Another consideration I would like to offer is allowing for silence.  There are times when silence is appropriate (USCCB, Sing to the Lord, 91).  After Communion can be a wonderful example.  We have just received Jesus.  It can be a great time to spend in silence with him.

Finally, the last consideration I offer today is the use of recorded music.  When musicians are not available, it seems simple to play recorded music, but the parish needs to consider copyright issues here for violating copyrights is see as a violation of the Seventh Commandment, “You shall not steal.”  Remember, the laborer deserves their wages.  More importantly, recorded music does not always carry well in a church.  Most importantly, my experience has been that recorded music does not lead to good congregational singing.  As the USCCB writes, “Recorded music lacks the authenticity provided by a living liturgical assembly gathered for the Sacred Liturgy” (USCCB, Sing to the Lord, 92).

This concludes my reflection on who sings at Mass.  In my next article I will address concerns about where musicians sing and/or play from before concluding with a discussion of the style of music that is appropriate for Mass.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff

Bibliography

Compendium:  Catechism of the Catholic Church. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. USCCB, 2006.  Also available online at https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) including Norms for the Distribution and Reception of Holy Communion under Both Kinds in the Dioceses of the United States of America (USCCB: Washington, DC).  2011.  https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20030317_ordinamento-messale_en.html

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Sing to the Lord Music in Divine Worship.  Washington, DC: USCCB.  2007.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Doctrine (USCCB Doctrine), “Catholic Hymnody at the Service of the Church:  An Aid for Evaluating Hymn Lyrics..” September 2020.