When the people sang


NEW PUBLIGATiOI^* .ererence

WHEN THE
PEOPLE SANG

Marie Pierik



7<[ihil Obstat

Right Reverend Eric F. Mackenzie, J.C.D.

Censor Deputatus, October 10, 1949.

Imprimatur

Richard J. Cushing, D.D.

Archbishop of Boston

Copyright 1949

By marie PIERIK
British Copyright secured.

Printed in the United States of America



WHEN THE
PEOPLE SANG

Marie Pierik

Author of

THE SPIRIT OF GREGORIAN CHANT

THE SONG OF THE CHURCH

McLaughlin ^ Reilly

Boston, Mass.

1949



FOREWORD
Greatest of all elements in the apostolic task of bringing

God to the people and the people to God is the Holy Mass,

a rende2;vous designed by God Himself. Piety and 2;eal have

surrounded this Action with all manner of adornments.

Closest to the heart of things is the actual participation of the

people in the Divine Liturgy and, in the course of this, “he

who sings prays twice.”

Hence I am glad to v/elcome to a useful and honorable

place in literature Miss Pierik’s small volume nostalgically

titled “When The People Sang” which is a simple treatise
on the Gregorian Chant, its history and use. It was from the

spontaneous outpourings of the devoted hearts of all the

faithful that these ancient chants ultimately arose and thus

when we sing them today we speak a language known to

our predecessors of long ago “When The People Sang.”
May the people sing again in cathedral, church and chapel

in preparation for the great day when their melodies will

blend with those of the cherubim and seraphim in unceasing

praise of the thrice-holy Lord of Hosts!

RICHARD J. CUSHING
Archbishop of Boston

Archbishop’s House November 4, 1949.

Boston.

DeadcSfi6d



INTRODUCTION

Gregorian Chant

Gregorian Chant, the official music of the Church, is a

sacred musical language whose origin stems from the begin-

ning of the Church itself. St. Gregory the Great (d. 604),

from whom the chant takes its name, inherited an already

existing and developed liturgical music. The title ‘’plain-

chant” (cantus planus

)

was employed for this musical art

in the twelfth century, at the time when proportional nota-

tion (ars mensurabilis) and harmony (the concordent super-

position of melodies) had come into existence, in order to

distinguish Gregorian Chant which is monodic in character

(a one-voiced melody) and of equal notes from many-voiced

music of proportional notation.

St. Gregory’s particular contribution to the chant which

bears his names lies principally in the power of his direction

of the reform which brought to perfection the chants already

in use and the addition of certain pieces adapted to liturgical

changes which Pope Gregory himself made.

Gregorian Chant has been termed “a doctrinal music in

that it is by destination a radiation of truth, of which the

Church is depositor.” Through various causes this beautiful

traditional music was for many centuries either disfigured

or lost to the Church completely and it was not until our own

epoch that it was “rediscovered.”

After many valiant attempts on the part of liturgical

musicians to restore Gregorian Chant to its pristine purity,

these efforts were finally crowned by the discoveries of two

Benedictine monks of Solesmes, France, Dom Paul Jausions

3



(d. 1870) and Dom. Joseph Pothier (d. 1923), as a result

of intensive study and archeological research labors.

The ultimate restoration of Gregorian Chant to the univer^

sal Church is due primarily to the initiative of Pope Pius X,

who, in his Motu proprio of November 22, 1903, imposed the

obligation upon all—clergy as well as laity—that “this chant
proper to the Roman Church, the only chant that she has

inherited from the ancient Fathers, which she has jealously

guarded for centuries in her liturgical codices, which she

directly proposes to the faithful as her own and which she

prescribes exclusively for some parts of the liturgy” be re^

stored to the Church. “And,” the Holy Father adds,

“special efforts are to be made to restore Gregorian Chant to

the people, so that the faithful may again take a more active

part in the ecclesiastical offices as was the case in ancient

times.” (Sec. 2) ^ It was because of this cherished desire on

the part of Pope Pius X—return to congregational singing

—

that the Vatican edition of the Kyriale was brought out two

years before (1905) the Gradual (1907).

Succeeding Popes have reinforced the obligations stressed

in the Motu proprio of 1903 : “So that the faithful may take

a more active part in divine worship, let Georgian Chant

be restored to popular use in the parts proper to the people.

Indeed it is very necessary that the faithful attend the sacred

ceremonies not as if they were outsiders or mute onlookers,

but let them fully appreciate the beauty of the Liturgy and

take part in the sacred ceremonies, alternating their voice

with the priest and the choir, according to the prescribed

norms. If, please God, this is done, it will not happen that

the congregation hardly ever or only in a low murmur answer

the prayers in Latin or in the vernacular.” (Pope Pius XI,

Divini cultus, IX.) ^

1 Catholic Education Press, Washington, D. C.
2 The White List, The Society of St. Gregory of America, Phila^

delphia.

4



“As regards music, let the clear and guiding norms of the

Apostolic See be scrupulously dbserved. Gregorian Chant,

which the Church considers her own as handed down from

antiquity and kept under her close tutelage, is proposed to

the faithful as belonging to them also. In certain parts of

the Liturgy the Church definitely prescribes it; it makes

the celebration of the Sacred Mysteries not only more digni-

fied and solemn, but helps very much to increase the faith

and devotion of the congregation.” (Pope Pius XII, Mediator

Dei, IV, 2.)i

Pope Pius X has termed Gregorian Chant “the sung
prayer.” Take notice that the Holy Father did not say that

it is “a song that is prayed” but “a prayer that is sung." A
Trappist monk of our day (Thomas Merton) has summed

it up in the following sacred tribute: “For the magnificent

and holy plainchant is the voice of Christ, and the psalms are

His songs of love and praise.”2

The official rules for the interpretation of Gregorian Chant,

those binding upon the universal Church, ^ are found in the

Preface of the Vatican Gradual. Herein are expressed in

simple and lucid terms the principles which guide the inter-

pretation of Gregorian Chant from the standpoint of the

triple alliance of the word, the melody and rhythm, whose

combined elements constitute a living whole. The rules of

the Vatican edition make manifest that it is practically impos-

sible to consider any one of these three factors apart from

the inter-dependence of all three in a musical art which, in

the last analysis, remains always “the sung prayer.”

In this present short narrative of the early Church we

shall discover that not only the pieces of the Ordinary of the

Mass, with certain reservations for the Gloria and the Credo,

1 Translation, Vatican Library, Rome, 1948.
2 Exile ends in glory, p. 47.
3 Decree of February 18, 1910, Prefect of S. C. R.

5



but those of the Proper as well, other than the Tract, were

sung, at their origin, by the congregation, either in respon-

sorial form, the most ancient manner, wherein the people

answered each clause or verse chanted by the reader with

some acclamation or ejaculation, or, from the fourth century

on, in antiphonal manner, alternating chanting of the psalAi

verses by two choirs.

When later the music of the Church became more florid,
the educated voices of the scholae cantorum (singing schools)

in the various basilicas took over the singing of the Proper

and this has been their function ever since. From about the

tenth century on, congregational singing of the Ordinary

likewise disappeared. The composers now started to write

more difiicult music and the people could not arrive at

executing it, so the educated voices of the scholae appro-

priated to themselves all the songs of the Mass. The advent

of polyphony (super-imposed melodies sung simultaneously)

completed the course already begun. The congregation let

itself be swayed by the charm of the new music and gradually

abandoned its inherited and traditional right.

Not until the advent of Pope Pius X to the pontifical
throne did the Church furnish a pontiff who considered it

his sacred duty to restore the lost heritage to the Church.

Pope Pius X was especially qualified for drawing up laws
pertaining to liturgical music because of his natural talents

and experience in the field of Church music. This saintly

Vicar of Christ inaugurated not only a new era in the life

of Gregorian Chant, but, at the same time, he gave an

impetus to the life of the Church which continues to make

itself felt throughout the entire Catholic world.

So it is that today serious students of Gregorian Chant

seek also a comprehensive knowledge of the history and lit-

urgy of the Church—the Eucharistic Sacrifice and the Divine
Office. This is not difficult to procure in our day which has

6



furnished magistral works on the liturgy, to be found in

English as well as in foreign languages.

To our knowledge no condensed history of the entire

Mass—Proper and Ordinary—which concentrates particu-
larly on participation of the people in the early songs of the

Church has yet been presented in English. It may then

prove of interest to pastors who are striving to fulfill the

unanimous desire of recent pontiffs that congregational sing'

ing be restored to the Church, to see for themselves what an

integral role the people played in the formation of the musi'

cal liturgy of the Church, and we hope that in turn this may

serve as a means of encouragement to their own present day

efforts.

. . Surely We are aware of the 2;eal and labor demanded
by all these matters [pertaining to the restoration of the

musical liturgy of the Church] which We have just ordained.
Yet who does not know how many works and how very

artistically accomplished our ancestors, undeterred by diT

ficulties, have handed down to us because they were imbued

with the 2;eal of piety and the spirit of the musical liturgy?

And it is not to be wondered at, for whatever proceeds from

the interior life of the Church lives, transcends the most per'

feet things of this world. Let the difficulties of this most holy

undertaking stir and rouse, and in no wise weaken, the spirits

of the Bishops of the Church, all of whom by harmoniously
and constantly obeying Our wish will accomplish a work for

the Supreme Bishop, most worthy of their episcopal office.”

(Pope Pius, XI, op. cit., XL)

The Author.

7



PROLOGUE

Jesus has been called “the first Christian cantor.” He
must frequently have chanted the Jewish liturgy as soloist.

The Gospels furnish us with certain examples. St. Luke

recounts the occasion when Our Lord read aloud in the syna-

gogue the text from the prophet Isaias : “The .Spirit of the

Lord is upon me. . . .” (IV, 18.) Jesus was chosen from the

congregation by the ha2;2;an (cantor) to fulfill this rite. The

reading, on which He next preached, was actually a modu'
lation wherein He conformed to the custom of His time in

observing the musical accents and punctuation markings of

the phrases, as was the case with all Israelites who were invited

to read passages from the Law and the Prophets. When
Jesus sang at the Last Supper (Matt. XXV, 30) He acted
as cantor in the responsorial chant of the Hallel (psalms 112'

117) with His apostles.

The coming of the Holy Ghost left in its wake Christian

life with liturgical prayers at fixed hours: “Peter and John

went up to the Temple at the ninth hour of prayer.” (Acts,

III, 1.) As soon as the Church was detached from Jerusalem

and radiated in the world, the people continued with public

prayer analogous to that in the Temple. The new'born

Church, as St. Jerome points out, avoided innovations among

her Jewish converts which might have scandali2;ed the first

faithful. Like a benevolent mother she retained certain

liturgical practices which were in no way contrary to, but

rather in keeping with, the spirit of the Church.

8



THE STORY OF THE MASS

PART I

Proper of the Mass

Gradual

St. Justin in his first Apology (c. 155) gives us the foh

lowing description of the early Eucharistic Sacrifice: “On

the day of the Sun all who dwelt in the cities or in the country

come together in one place. The narratives of the Apostles

or the writings of the Prophets are read as long as time will

permit. When the reader finishes, the president (the bishop
or his representative) verbally instructs and exhorts all to

follow the beautiful example just cited. Then all rise and

prayers are said; finally, at the termination of the prayers,

bread and wine and water are brought. The president in

like manner offers prayers and thanksgiving, according to

his ability, and the people respond with the acclamation

‘Amen.’ Each person receives a part of the Blessed Bread

which is distributed and is sent to the absent by the ministers

of the deacon.” (ch. 67.) ^

This account reveals then that the primitive Eucharistic

Sacrifice started with readings of Holy Scripture, as in the

synagogue ritual of the Sabbath and as still exists in the

Roman Mass of the Presanctified. The first readers of the

Holy Books in the Church were laymen chosen from the

congregation just as was the case in the synagogue. They

were designated by the bishop or by his representative to

1 Ante'Nicene Library, 1,186.

9



serve in this capacity. In the third century these scriptural

readings were confided to certain chosen faithful, who, little

by little, were consecrated as clerics. In the fifth century

the function of lector marks the first degree of the priesthood,

and today the lector is considered with the three other orders

:

the porter, the exorcist and the acolyte.

The psalms accompanied all the circumstances of the

Christian life of the people in the first centuries of the Church.

The Apostolic Constitutions (c. 380), in describing the

Syrian liturgy derived from Jerusalem, give the first testi'

mony of responsorial psalmody, rendered by a soloist and

the people. (Bk. VIII.) ^ It can be supposed, however, from

this description that the same manner of rendition had been

practiced from the third century, or even before, and was

used earlier than antiphonal chant. Responsorial form

came from the Mosaic cult. In the synagogue every reading

of Holy Scripture was followed by a song.

The Apostolic Constitutions also indicate three groups of

readings in the early Church: 1) From the Old Testament.

2) The Acts or the Epistles of St. Paul. 3) The four Gospels.

The same document states that the readings were interspersed

with chants of the psalms. ^ After each couplet of readings

from the Old Testament (in these groups of readings it seems

they had many couplets) the people sang as far as the acrostic,

the pause marked at the middle and end of the psalm verse.

At this epoch one entire psalm was sung and this practice

continued until the fifth century. St. Jerome (d. 420) ah

ludes to this custom. (Brev. in ps. 145.) ^ St. Augustine

(d. 430) speaks of the same: “We have heard the first
lesson from the Apostles, then we sang a psalm. After that

the lesson of the Gospel showed us the ten lepers healed.”

{Sermon. 176)^ St. Augustine adds that the psalms were

1 Ib., 7, 486. 3 Patrologia Latina, 26, 1249.

2 Ih.. 487 ff. 4 jb., 38, 950.

10



fixed by the bishop for the Mass of the day and the people

responded with a refrain which was a constant repetition

of the central thought, as in psalm 135: quoniam in aeternam

misericordia ejus.

The Holy Doctor insists, as does St. Paul (Eph., V, 19),

that the song must come from the bottom of the heart and that

the voice should be in full harmony with one’s life and works.

(Serm. 198.) ^ He considered as one of the principle duties

of his preaching that the psalms be explained to the people

in accordance with their intentions. (Dom A. Dohmes.) ^

The psalms should be an echo of that which was taught by

the readings and often had a close relation with them. That

is why the Fathers attached the greatest importance to the

fact that the Christian people understand what they sing.

Eventually participation of the people in the chant of the

psalms after the reading disappeared. From the second half

of the fifth century the schola of educated voices in the

Church took over the singing of the refrain and it in turn

became quite as elaborate as the soloist’s verses. The rendi^

tion now proved so beautiful and of such inspirational value

that the bishop and his assistants did not proceed with the

liturgical ceremonies but listened to the singing. By the

middle of the sixth century the music of the responsorium

was so elaborate that only one psalm verse was sung after

the introductory passage (refrain) was repeated. At the

close of the psalm verse the refrain was sung once again.

The immediate repetition of the refrain was not rigorously

maintained after Gregory I, during which time the length of

the Mass was shortened. Permission for this repetition is

now given, if so desired. (Vatican Gradual, De ritibus
servandis in cantu missae, IV.)

1 Ib., 39, 2115.
2 Material from Dom A. Dohmes of Maria Laach is taken from ,

1939 issues of Revue du chant gregorien, Grenoble.

11



The first Roman Ordo (c. 770, but founded on a similar
document of the sixth century) employs the name respori'

sorium for this early chant of the Mass, but some time in

the Middle Ages the title Gradual (from gradus, the step of

the ambo on which the reader chanted the psalm) was given

to this song to distinguish it from the responsorium of the

Ofiice.

Alleluia

The second responsorial song of the Church is likewise an

inheritance from the Jewish liturgy. Its Hebrew proto-

type existed in the Temple of Solomon and continued to be

used in the synagogue as a liturgical acclamation or refrain

to the psalm verses chanted by the soloist. The word

“Alleluia” is derived from the imperative plural of the He-

brew ver'b hillel (to praise), hallelu-j-yah (abbreviation of

Jehovah). The Church continued to use this ejaculation in

Hebrew even as she did the words “Amen”, “Hosanna” and

others, even though they could have been translated into the

prevailing liturgical language, in order to preserve unchanged

certain traditional Jewish customs, as already pointed out.

“Alleluia” was one of the most popular ejaculations of

the early Church. St. John’s vision in the Apocalypse of

the “voice of a great multitude . . . singing Alleluia” pre-

supposes a terrestrial liturgy at that time with the voice of all

the assembly. (D. Dohmes) This Hebrew ejaculation, modu-

lated on all forms, became the refrain of gladness which

accompanied the daily occupation of the peaceful popu-

lations converted to the faith. It was the Christian’s cry of

victory emerging from two and a half centuries of persecu-

tion and oppression and in reunions of the cult was the most

frequently used of the musical acclamations by which the

entire assembly united in the chant of the Church. (St.

12



Jerome, Epist. 107, 1.) i Christians used it at Easter time

to salute one another as a means of mutual encouragement

in the reali2;ation of that which they had to accomplish. (St.

Augustine, Ennar. in ps. 148.) ^ Sailors at sea saluted one

another from afar with the cry “Alleluia.”^ Rowers used it

for the cadence of the refrain of a canticle which they sang

to Christ. Venerable Bede recounts that St. Germain,

Bishop of Paris, commanded the soldiers to sing it before

battle, so that with this cry they might march to combat

and win victory without bloodshed. (Hist. Eccles., 1, ch. 20.) ^

The Alleluia, especially with its character of refrain, con-

stitutes the most venerable and the most ancient representa^

tion of the sung prayer of the people at the Mass during the

first ages of Christianity. St. Augustine speaks several times

of the Alleluia of Pentecost as an ancient tradition of the

Church heard everywhere during the fifty days after Easter.

(Ennar. in ps. 106; Serm. 252.)®

In the early Christian church the Alleluia was sung by

the people as a refrain to the psalm verses and probably in

simple syllabic setting. At its origin it accompanied an

entire psalm but later only a single psalm verse was used.

When the jubilus, or long vocali2;ation, was added to the last
syllable, it was probably the soloist who sang this meli’s"

matic ornament. Both the east and the west used the song

of the Alleluia before the Gospel prior to the fourth century.

(D. Dohmes.) St. Augustine alludes to the participation of

the faithful in the Alleluia of the Mass: “The Holy Spirit

have exhorted us by the voice of the psalms, we all answered

with one voice ‘Alleluia.’ Just as [after the resurrection}

we shall contemplate truth without fatigue and with ever"

lasting delight . . . and we shall be united to truth in a sweet

1 P. L., 22, 868. 4 ih„ 95, 49.

2 lb., 37, 1938. 5 Ib.. 37, 1419; 38, 1176.

3 Gerbert, De cantu, I, 57.

13



and chaste embrace, so shall we render it praise with as
untiring a voice in singing Alleluia.’ For all the citi2;ens of
this city, in their exultation, will sing ‘Alleluia.’ ” (Serm.

362.) 1

St. Gregory’s assertion that the Alleluia was introduced
into the Roman Mass by Pope Damasus (366'84) after it
had been made known to him by St. Jerome 2 has been ques^
tinned

,

by liturgists.3 St. Gregory extended its use to all
the Sundays of the year except Lent.

Since all the people participated in the song of the Alleluia

at the Mass in Africa, it must have been the same in Rome
during the same epoch. (D. Dohmes.) The participation of
the people in the rendition of the Alleluia ceased probably
about the middle of the fifth century, the same time that they
relinquished their singing of the first responsorial chant of the

Mass, the Gradual. During the fifth century the three initial
readings of the Mass, Prophecy, Epistle, Gospel, were re-
duced to the two latter, but the psalms remained two
although both were now joined together between the Epistle
and Gospel. The first of the two psalms was reduced to the
two verses of the Gradual and from the second psalm the
single verse of the Alleluia resulted.

Introit

The Eucharistic Sacrifice comprises three processions: 1)
the entrance of the pontiff into the church, Introit. 2) The
procession of the faithful carrying their offerings for sacrifice.

Offertory. 3) The communicants going to the Eucharistic
Banquet, Communion. The chants which accompanied
these processions appeared nearly at the same time as the
processions themselves. At their origin these three chants

1 lb., 39, 1632.
2 lb.. 77, 956.
3 Cf. Cath. Ency. (1936), Alleluia.

14



were antiphonal in character (Gr. anti, against
+phone,

sound), the men stationed on one side of the church, the

women and children on the other, alternating at the octave.

This practice of the Greek church came to the eastern church

from the synagogue, where the men’s voices alternated with

a chorus of women’s and children’s voices. In the principal

centers of life in the Church the people knew the psalms by

heart. Since they were the really substantial basis of the

daily prayer of the faithful, there was no difficulty for the

whole assembly to participate in the chanting of the psalms

in antiphonal manner.

One of the first accounts of antiphonal singing comes to

us from a certain Sylvia (or Egeria) , possibly a nun of Gaul

or Spain, who heard the psalms sung at Jerusalem (385'88)

by two alternating choirs: monks and nuns, and laymen

(women and children) . ^ St. Basil also writes of this practice

in the east: “Our people collect in the church at night . . . ;

from prayer they proceed to the chant of the psalms, and,

separating into two parts, they psalmody in alternate choirs,

fortifying themselves in this way not only in meditation of

the word of God but likewise by concentration, and in

banishing distractions from the heart. One side alone intones

the piece and the other side then unites with them. The

night is passed in psalmodi^ing in this manner, interspersed

also by prayer, to the break of day. As one man, as one

mouth, as one heart all intone one of the penitential psalms,

applying to themselves these words of sorrow and of pen"

ance.”2 (Epist. 207.)

The antiphon was a little melody which served as an

exposition of the melody of the psalm verses themselves.

The antiphon was sometimes sung by one voice, the first

1 Msgr. L. Duchesne, Origines du culte chretien, 469.

2 Taken from the Italian translation of Dom P. Thomas, Storia
del Canto Gregoriana, p. 51.

15



cantor, or again, either of the two choirs might sing it. It
was also intercalated between the verses, a refrain sung
by the combined choirs; at the close it was repeated by all.
Sylvia’s account of her pilgrimage in the Holy Places is the
most ancient document in which the antiphon and psalms
are separately enumerated. The term antiphon is not used
by St. Ambrose, St. Jerome nor St. Augustine. St. John
Chrysostom, knowing the psalms for two choirs at Antioch,
introduced them at Constantinople. This style was imitated
by St. Ambrose (d. 397), who had the hymns and psalms
sung in oriental manner”, secundum morem orientdlium
partium. (St. Augustine, Confess.) i St. Ambrose introduced
antiphonal singing of the psalms at the nocturnal Vigils (to

which the name Matins was later given) at Milan, and Rome
must have adopted this custom about the same time. (D.
Dohmes.) Peter Wagner suggests that antiphonal singing
may have come to Rome in 382 during the period of a council
under Pope Damasus, and that the eastern bishops may have
introduced this style into the Roman Vigils, from which it
passed a half century later into the Roman Mass. 2

During St. Augustine’s time reading still constituted the
beginning of the Eucharistic Sacrifice at Carthage. At the
start of the fifth century an entrance chant was unknown.
A contemporary of St. Augustine seems to have introduced
this practice at Rome. The Liber Pontificalis attributes to
Pope Celestine (d. 432) the prescription of alternating

chanting of the psalter by all before the Mass,^ that which
had not been done before, only the Epistles of St. Paul and
the Gospels having been read just prior to this time. (cf.

p. 14, par. 3.) However, the thought of the pontifF must have

been that the one hundred and fifty psalms were to be dis'

1 P. L., 32, 770.

2 Origines et devel. du chant liturgique I, 106.
2 Duchesne, 2304.

16



tributed between the Sundays and feast days throughout the

year.

The conclusion is that an entire psalm, or at least series
of verses of a psalm, were sung by the people at the entrance

(introitus) of the pontiff into the church. According to a

ninth century Ordo, the psalm started as the celebrant and

his assistant left the sacristy at the side of the principal

entrance of the church and terminated with the Gloria Patri

at a sign from the pontiff after his arrival at the altar.

At Rome the singing of the Introit was taken by the
schola at an early age. By the time of St. Gregory it was
already a developed choral chant. The first Roman Ordo
describes it as a chant of the schola,^ but in Gaul there is
evidence of the participation of the faithful in the rendition

of the Introit until the ninth century although their part in

it may have been reduced to that of the Doxology alone.
Charlemagne ordained that “the Gloria Patri should be sung
by all with reverence.” (Admonitio generalis, 789.)

As the preliminary ceremonies of the Mass became
shortened the number of psalm verses was cut down. By
the ninth and tenth centuries the Introit was reduced to its
present form, as given in the eleventh century Roman Ordo:
antiphon, psalm verse, Gloria Patri (with sicut erat) and a
closing repetition of the antiphon, A-B'C'A. The first
verse is marked Ps., a souvenir of its origin as an entire psalm.
The Introit acts as a “herald” for the sentiment of the

feast which the Mass celebrates.

Offertory

According to the testimony of St. Augustine the Offertory

was born at the time when antiphonal singing reigned every'
where, a fact which supports the supposition that it came into
existence about the same time as the Introit and at its origin

^ E. G. Atchley, Ordo Romanus I, 58.

17



was an antiphonal chant. St. Augustine says that at Carthage

before the oblation (ante oblationem) and during the offers

ings of the people they started to sing “hymns drawn from

the book of psalms.” (Retract. II, 11.)^ He defended this

practice against the Catholic Tribune which protested against

this innovation, from which is implied that until that time

a song at this place in the Mass was unknown and that St.

Augustine probably introduced it into his church as a novelty.

The description suggests that these psalms ante oblationem

were sung by the people. By oblatio is understood the central

part of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the prayer of offering

properly speaking, which corresponds to what we call the

Preface and Canon. Thus psalms sung ante oblationem

correspond to what we know today as the Offertory. (D.

Dohmes.) Dr. Wagner thinks it is probable that Africa

adopted a Milanese or Roman custom (Origines, loc. cit.J,

which means that this practice should have existed at both

Milan and at Rome at the beginning of the fifth century, or

at least at Rome, from which latter place Milan may have

borrowed it.

Dom Dohmes suggests that since it must have been diE
ficult for the people to sing and carry their gifts to the

altar at the same time, this circumstance may account for

the fact that the Offertory was the first of the antiphonal

chants to be taken over entirely by the schola, which from

then on transformed it into a responsorial piece for soloist and

choir. Dr. Wagner adds that since the choir members them'

selves had to carry their offerings to the altar the execution of

the verses was confided to but one or two singers, cantors, and

the choir sang only the refrain. This produced a very in'

teresting cyclical structure. It started with the antiphon,

or refrain, sung by the schola, followed by one, two or at

most three psalm verses sung by the cantors. After each

1 P. L., 32, 634.

18



verse the schola repeated the last part of the antiphon. At

the end the entire antiphon was sung by all : A'Ba'Ca'Da-A. ^

From the time when the Roman schola fixed the melody

there is disagreement between the designation of the Offertory

chant and its musical character. The most ancient documents

call it antiphona ad ojferendum and it is placed on the same

plane as the antiphona ad introitum and antiphona ad com'

munionem. In fact, its original melodies were simple, like

those of the first Introits and Communions. But in the trans"

mitted manuscripts it is melismatic, florid in character, more

on the order of the Tract, Gradual and Alleluia.

When the ceremony of congregational offering at the
altar ceased the psalm verses were eliminated and the anti"

phon, or refrain, stood alone. From the thirteenth century

the Offertory everywhere was a song of but a single piece.

The Requiem Mass with its verse is the only reminder of the

ancient usage.

From the reaction exercised on music by liturgical things

it thus resulted that the Offertory became a very developed

song of the soloist, as is found in the Gregorian Offertory.

Accordingly, this piece became the artistic central point of

the Mass in taking over the function formerly filled by the

Gradual responsorium.

Communion

The first information we have regarding the Com"

munion comes to us from St. .Cyril of Jerusalem (347"8),

which indicates that the first half of verse 9 of psalm 33, “O
taste and see that the Lord is sweet” was used as the text of

the Communion. (Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril, 5, 20.)

The Apostolic Constitutions give all of psalm 33 for the

Communion: “Psalm 33 should be sung while all the others

^ Geschichte der Messe, Preface.

19



communicate." (VIII, 13, 1.) St. John Chrysostom relates

from his journeys in Antioch (386'97) that those initiated

into the mysteries fthe faithful) repeat assiduously: “The

eyes of all hope in Thee, O Lord, and Thou givest them
meat in due season." (ps. 144, 15) sung as a refrain. This

takes place while they savor the Body and Blood of Him
Who regenerated the faithful." (Expos, in ps. 144.) ^ St.
Jerome speaks of the song in Bethlehem (408T0) which was

evidently a collective one: “Associated each day with the

Celestial Bread we sing ‘Taste and see . . .’ " (Comment, in

Is.) 2 St. Augustine in his sermons always returns to “Ap^

proach the Lord and you will 'be enlightened" as well as to

verse 9 of psalm 33. {Serm. 225. Ennar. in ps. 33.) ^

In Africa the Communion psalm was sung like the Of'

fertory, by the people. At Rome antiphonal singing of the

Communion by the people must have prevailed at the same

time as that of the Introit, since the antiphons of both pieces

seem to be from the same period. Each had its origin in

antiphonal singing of a psalm, one at the beginning of the

Mass, the other at the end. Thus the structure of each

must have been the same. (A. Baumstark, quoted by D.

Dohmes.) At Rome the chant of the Communion was

evidently assigned to the schola at an early age because the

first Roman Ordo speaks of its rendition by the subdeacons

and schola,^ to whom it had already passed a long time before.
At this early period also, psalms other than 33 were chosen

for its rendition. The Roman Mass uses verse 9 only for the

eighth Sunday after Pentecost.

In the Middle Ages the giving out of Holy Communion

at High Mass gradually went out of practice, so there was

eventually no necessity for a long accompaniment. Accord'

1 Patrol. Graeca, 51, 464.
2 P. L., 24, 86.
3 lb., 38, 1098; 36, 311, 315.
4 Atchley, op. cit., 160.

20



ingly, the antiphon lost its psalm verses, and by the ninth

or tenth century stood alone as the Communion piece. The

Requiem Mass with its single Communion verse reminds

us of the ancient usage. The Communion antiphon is less

melodically developed than the Introit, which, as previously

stated, announces the character of the feast which the Mass

celebrates.

Dom Abbot Ferretti speaks of the Introit and Communion
as the prelude and postlude of the entire euchological and

eucharistical drama of the Mass.

PART II

Ordinary of the Mass

Kyrie

The word "‘Kyrie” (Lord) like the word “Sanctus” (holy)

and other acclamations was popular before becoming litur^

gical. (Dom F. Cabrol.) “Kyrie” with the added sup'

plication “eleison” (have mercy) was probably in former

times a litany sung before Mass. With time this litany of

introduction underwent a double transformation, of matter

and of form. A rubric of the Sacramentary of Pope
Gelasius (d. 496) placed after the Introit reads: “After a

little interval all start the Kyrie eleison with the litany.” In

a letter to St. John of Syracuse, St. Gregory writes; “We
never sing the Kyrie like the Greeks. They all sing it

together. We clerics [around the altar] intone and the
people respond.” 1 The introduction of the “Christe” was

1 P. L., 77, 956.

21



one of the liturgical changes of Gregory I. The Greek

church does not include the “Christe.” In 529 St. Cesar of

Arles introduced the song of the Kyrie eleison into the Gallic

can Mass, following the example at Rome.

Like the psalm pieces of the Mass, the Kyrie was at first

fitted to the needs of the liturgical ceremony and the singers

ceased at a sign from the pontiff. It was soon after Pope

Gregory’s time that it became customary to sing nine im'

plorations.

The Kyrie eleison is the only piece in the Roman Mass that

is sung in Greek. Liturgists offer two solutions for this

peculiarity. One is that the Greek text is not a fragment

of the early Roman Mass which was said in Greek but that

this term was adopted about the fifth century in Greek,

prior to which time it was said in the litany of general

petition before Mass but in the Latin tongue. Dr. Wagner

concludes, on the other hand, that since even at Rome Greek

was the liturgical language until at least the end of the

third century, by that time the song of the Kyrie must have

become so much a prayer of the people that on the occasion

of the first codifying of the Latin liturgy the Church was

reluctant to change the term from Greek to Latin. We find
here an example of the powerful influence attributed to par'

ticipation of the people in the early liturgy of the Church.

During the seventh and eighth centuries congregational

singing of the Kyrie ceased at Rome. At this epoch the

Ordinary was sung by the clerics assembled around the altar

but the people continued to join in the singing of the acclama'

tions and answers. Amen, Et cum spiritu tuo, etc. Outside of

Rome, however, congregational singing of the Ordinary con'

tinned and in Gaul this custom obtained until the end of the

tenth century.

The Kyrie is the first of the five'piece series, the Ordinary

22



of the Mass, whose rendition has been restored to the people

by Pope Pius X.

Gloria

This hymn of praise, built upon the acclamation Gloria

in excelsis Deo, sung by the angels at the crib in Bethlehem,

was interchangeable with the hymn Te Deum in the ancient
liturgies. One or other of these songs was sung at the

nocturnal Vigils or else served as an early morning hymn in

preparation for the Holy Sacrifice. The Greek Church

still uses the Gloria hymn of praise at the morning oflice.

The Christians came together each morning at the same

hour to render praise and glory to God because of His

goodness. The church of Milan followed this early Greek

custom until the sixteenth century. The presence today of

the Gloria at the Roman Mass of Holy Saturday, wherein

there is no Introit, Offertory nor Communion, fulfills its

original function as a morning hymn of praise.^

The Gloria was introduced into the eastern Mass in the

fourth or fifth century. It came into the Occident in the

sixth century and was sung for quite a long time in Greek,

like the Kyrie. It is found in manuscripts of the ninth and

tenth centuries in Greek but written in Latin letters. ^

An old document says the Gloria formed part of the early
Christian Mass. Pope Symmachus (d. 514) extended its

use to Masses said by bishops on Sundays and feasts of Our

Lord and of the Martyrs; the ordinary Priest was permitted

to intone it only on Easter Sunday. Use of the Gloria

in the Roman Mass was not general until the eleventh

century. There are still many days of the liturgical year

when it is omitted, including all days of penance. It has

1 Dom H. Leclerq, Diet, d'archeologie, Gloria.
2 Idem.

23



never arrived at a place in the Mass equal in importance to

that of the other pieces.

Unlike the other Mass songs considered to this point, the

song of the Gloria was intoned by the celebrant and not by

the cantors nor by the clergy assembled about the altar, as

was the Kyrie in the Roman Mass. The celebrant was

privileged to permit that it be sung or omitted. After its

intonation the assembled clergy, not the schola nor the con^

gregation, continued it. This was a natural procedure in

view of the alertness demanded for the continuation of a song

whose presence or absence in the Mass had not been pre-

viously determined. The intonation of the Gloria has always

remained with the celebrant.

The Latini^jation of the Gloria, its psalmodic character,

the brevity of its phrases, like those of the litany, destined it

to the Ordinary.

The Gloria is the second of the Mass songs which the con'

gregation is chosen to render.

Credo

The Creed formula used in the rites of Baptism and in

daily prayer is called the Apostles Creed because it repre'

sents the summary of the apostolic doctrine which, according

to tradition, was preached by the first disciples of Christ

in twelve articles, one attributed to each of the apostles

(Matthew replacing Judas). The second Creed formula

is the Nicean version, used at the Mass, and which, in 325

at the Council of Nicea, established the doctrine of the

Son equal to the Father in refutation of the Arian heresy.

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit equal to the Father and the

Son was subsequently established at Constantinople in 381.

The Creed was introduced into the Mass at Antioch in

24



the fifth century and at Constantinople, Spain, Gaul and

elsewhere in the sixth century. Its Greek title, Symbole,

signifies synthesis or summing up. The Mass Creed was

bestowed upon the faithful as a more detailed and explicit

symbol of the one used anteriorly at Baptism. Its nature was

confirmation in and affirmation of the true Catholic doctrine

against all heretical infiltration. In the sixth century the

priest intoned and the clerics with all the people continued. ^

It is evident that they sang it by heart since they had no

books of music.

In Gaul, Amalarius of Met2; (d. 850) writes: “After

Christ [in parable] has spoken to the people, they apply

themselves with greater fervor and devotion to confess the

object of their faith; for it is proper that after the Gospel is

read the people express with resounding voice the truths of

the faith in which their spirit is confirmed. (De ord. antiph.J^

From the sixth century the Gelasian Sacramentary antici'

pates the song of the Credo both in Latin and in Greek. From

the ninth century the Roman Ordo includes the Credo for

certain feasts in imitation of that done in other churches.

In the eleventh century, at the express wish of St. Henry II,

Roman Emporeror, the Credo was incorporated into the

Roman Mass by Pope Benedict VIII. This late insertion
of the Credo as an established part of the Roman Mass is
attributable to the fact that the Roman Church was not
impaired by heresies in the early centuries as was the Eastern

Church, so the faithful at Rome were not obliged to make an

explicit profession of faith as were their eastern brethren.®

The Credo is not a direct conversation like the Kyrie,

Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei, but an affirmation of funda^

mental truths, an act of personal faith and charity: Credo,

(I believe) the Constantinople version, is used in Rome,

1 Gerbert, De cantu, I, 426.
2 P. L., 105, 1323.
5 Dom L. David, Revue du ch. grig., 1937.

25



Milan and in the oriental churches. The Mowrabic liturgy

of Toledo, Spain, still uses the Nicean version: Credimus,

(we believe). Here the Credo is said at the end of the

Canon before the Pater, the only liturgy wherein it is so

placed. Milan, and the other churches which follow the

same rite, sing it at the end of the Offertory, as do most of

the eastern liturgies. The Roman liturgy uses it as the

last act of preparation before the direct preparation of the

Holy Sacrifice started at the Offertory.^

The Credo comprises three great mysteries: the mystery

of the Trinity, the mystery of the Redemption and the

mystery of the Church. The rubrics of an old Roman Sac'

ramentary state that the bishop intoned the Credo if he did

not wish to preach. Accordingly, at that time the Credo and

the sermon, or homily after the reading, excluded one an-

other as each was a composition in shortest summation of

that which can be preached as principles of faith. The pres-

ence today of both the sermon and the Credo in the course of

the Mass is therefore not of Roman origin. ^

As in the case of the Gloria the Credo also was not in-

cluded in all the daily Masses used throughout the liturgical

year. There are many days on which it is omitted. For

the same reason then which attributed the rendition of the

Gloria in the Roman Mass to the clergy, the Credo also was

sung by the clerics assembled about the altar after its intona-

tion by the celebrant.

The original melody of the Credo is the authentic one,

number I in the Vatican Gradual. The origin of this

melodic recitative is very ancient even in the Roman liturgy.

Amadee Gastoue asserts that this melody was undoubtedly

composed for a Greek text and it probably comes from

Constantinople.^

1 Idem.
2 P. Wagner, Gesch., Pref. and Einfixhrung.
3 Revue du ch. greg., 1933.

26



The Credo is the third piece of the Roman Ordinary

whose rendition has been restored to the people. ‘Tf there

is a song in the Church which merits active participation of

the people it is the Credo.” (D. David.) ‘‘There can scarcely

be anything more sublime than the participation of the whole

congregation, men and women, boys and girls, in the song of

the Credo!” (P. Wagner.)

Sanctus

The Sanctus of the Jewish Sabbath liturgy is a song of

officiant and choir. The part which interests us directly is

the following phrase in the present Jewish rite of the Sabbath

;

“Holy, holy, holy. Lord God of Sabaoth. All the earth is

full of Your Majesty.” The text of the Sanctus of the Mass

up to the Hosanna has undoubtedly come from the Jewish

liturgy. The first part of the Sanctus is formed from the

same verse of Isaias (VI, 3) : “Holy, holy, holy. Lord God

of hosts. All the earth is full of His glory.” The Church

added the word “heavens” and changed “His glory” to “Your

glory.”

The first testimony of the Sanctus as a liturgical prayer

sung by the faithful in chorus is found in a letter of Pope

Clement to the Corinthians (c. 97) : “Ten thousand times

ten thousand stood around Him and thousands of thousands

administered unto Him (Dan. VII, 10) and cried, ‘Holy,

holy, holy [is] the Lord of Sabaoth; the whole creation is

full of His glory.’ And let us therefore conscientiously

gathered together in harmony cry to Him earnestly, as with

one mouth, that we may be made partakers of His great and

glorious promises.”^

According to the Liber Pontificalis (Duchesne, 128) Pope

1 Ante'Nic. Libr., 1, 14.

27



Sixtus I, at the beginning of the second century, ordains that

“at the moment when the priest starts the Sacrifice (actionem

)

the celebrant intones and the people continue; “Holy, holy,

holy . . . The Fathers of the Church insist upon the

same. Tertullian (d. 220) says: “Let us render to Him

the glory which the angelic choirs do not cease to proclaim:

‘Holy, holy, holy.’ That is why we also, in order to merit

association with the angels, learn from here below to sing

forever His glory.” St. Gregory Na2;ianz;en spurs the cate'
chumens on their way with: “May you hasten to receive

Baptism in order to sing with the faithful that which the

seraphim sing.” St. John Chrysostom returns to the same

subject (as does St. Cyril of Jerusalem, d. 386) : “This hymn

was first sung in heaven .... And the pontiff, after having
spoken of the cherubim and seraphim [in the Preface]

exhorts us all to proffer the same canticle . . . .”^ The Apos'

tolic Constitutions prescribe formally the intervention of all

the faithful: “Let all the people say with the cherubim and

seraphim and ten thousand times ten thousand angels ‘Holy,

holy, holy. Lord of hosts, the heavens and the earth are full

of His glory. Be Thou blessed forever. Amen.’
”

VIII, 12.) 2

The Apostolic Constitutions contain as the first liturgy

the Benedictus qui venit .... (ps. 117, 26) Hosanna in

excelsis, but this part is used as a song before the Com'

munion.® Bishops contemporaneous with St. Athanasius

(d. 373) offer the Sanctus alone without the Benedictus.

Thus until at least the end of the fourth century the Sanctus

ended with gloria tua.'^ At the time of the fixation of the

Greek, Gallican and Mo2;arabic liturgies in the fifth or sixth
century, they added the acclamations of the Jewish children

at Our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem.^
1 Gastoue, Revue, 193

^

Atchley, Ordo Rom. I, 91.
2 Ante'Nic. Libr., 7, 488. ® Gastoue, he. cit.
3 Ih.. 490.

28



Accordingly, the Benedictus was not at first destined to be

sung before the consecration. During this period of liturgical

history indecision as to its place and definitive form reigned

in the different churches. Little by little it moved from the

neighborhood of the Communion to proximity with the con^

secration, no doubt by the intermediary of the piece sung

during the Fractio panis. When fusion of the two parts took
place the celebrant and his attendants in the Roman rite,

as well as in other liturgies, bowed their heads in silence

until the end of the second Hosanna before starting the Te

igitur and all the Canon. ^

A capitulary of the Frankish kings states that St. Cesar
of Arles ordains that the priest should not start the Canon

before the Sanctus is achieved, and it seems he sang it

habitually with the faithful.^ From the tenth century the
melodies of the Sanctus developed, and from that time on

the celebrant continued the Canon in a low voice timing it

so that the song of the Benedictus concorded with the Words

of Institution. 2 The second Roman Ordo (ninth century)

says to sing the Hosanna twice, but in certain churches it

was sung but once. This form has remained with the

Armenians.

Although the Sanctus comes to us from earliest Chris-

tianity, it was not contained in the daily and habitual liturgi-

cal redactions. However, from an early hour it is found in

the Sunday and feast day Masses. In 560 the Council of

Vaison (France) extended its use to the daily Masses as for

Sundays. The Liber Pontificalis (Duchesne, 128) alludes to

an early pontiff who made its use obligatory.

It seems that at first the Sanctus was sung by the celebrant

as a continuation of the Preface. This is portrayed in the

1 Idem.
2 David, Revue, 1937.
3 Gastoue, loc. cit.

29



melodic setting of the Roman ferial Mass. We have seen
that at the time of Pope Sixtus I the celebrant intoned and

the people continued. However, at an early hour his minis'

ters must have assisted him because the first Roman Ordo

reserves this song to the subdeacons who encircle the altar

(Atchley, 90), but in Gaul it remained a song of the people

until at least the ninth centry. Charlemagne ordained that

the priest sing the Sanctus in union with “the angels and

the people of God.” (Admonitio generalis.) Bishop Herard

of Tours prescribed (858) that the Gloria Patri (of the In'

troit)
,
Kyrie, Credo and Sanctus should be sung by all with

reverence. (Hardoni, Acta Concil. V, 451.) Furthermore,

the word “dicentes” at the close of the Preface calls for the

people to continue.

The Sanctus is the fourth piece of the Mass Ordinary

whose rendition has reverted to the congregation.

Agnus Dei

The text of the Agnus Dei was used in a processional chant

at* the same time that it was introduced into the Mass.

Its original text is found in the Gloria of the Mass. The

ejaculation “Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi” came from

St. John Baptist at the time when he revealed to his disciples

the Divine mission of Christ and its expiatory and redemptory

character, namely to purify and save the souls of humanity.

(John, I, 29'36.)

At its origin the Agnus Dei was sung or omitted ad

libitum. Pope Sergius I (d. 701) prescribed its incorpora'

tion into the Mass: “He ordained that at the moment of

the fraction of the Body of Our Lord the Agnus Dei qui

tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis should be sung by the

clergy and people.”^ Today, since the simplification of

1 Duchesne, Lib. Pont., 381.

30



this ceremony, the Agnus Dsi is sung after the priest breaks

the large Host over the chalice.

In certain churches in Gaul, such as Arles for quite a long

time and at Lyon, the phrase was sung but once, but in

general it would seem to have been sung twice, once by the

clergy and once by the people. In Gaul this manner of

rendition was the rule until the thirteenth century.

In Rome, where the Agnus Dei was repeated three times,

its three terminations were the same until the twelfth

century. Pope Innocent III (d. 1216) states that some time

in the twelfth century the third invocation was changed to

dona nobis pacem in supplication for the cessation of troubles

and strifes then desolating the Church. ^ In one basilica, St.

John Lateran, Mother Church of Rome and papal church

of the Middle Ages, the custom still remains of singing

miserere nobis three times. This explains why Mass com'

posers of the polyphonic age often close with miserere nobis

instead of with dona nobis pacem. By the twelfth and

thirteenth centuries the words dona eis requiem had been

substituted for miserere nobis in the Requiem Mass.

As previously stated, at the time of its insertion into the

Roman liturgy by Pope Sergius I the Agnus Dei was a song

of clergy and people. Dr. Wagner observes that this pontiff

of Syrian birth may have had a taste for the florid melodies

used in the Greek Church at the time, for in Rome the rendi'

tion of the Agnus Dei was taken from the clergy and the

people by him and given to the educated voices of the

schola.^ Elsewhere, however, the people continued to sing

it until the late Middle Ages, at which time the rendition of

the entire Ordinary, in addition to the Proper, was taken

over by the schola, as pointed out in the Introduction of this

study.

1 P. L. 217, 908.
2 Gesch., Pref.

31



At the beginning and end of the Holy Sacrifice humility

imposes itself—with the Kyrie at the start and the Agnus Dei
at the close. It is certain, says Dom David, that the Agnus
Dei was inserted in the sung prayer of the Mass to permit

the assistants, clergy and faithful, to better prepare them'

selves for the reception of the Blessed Sacrament in this last

act of contrition and charity.

The Agnus Dei is the fifth and last piece of the Ordinary

of the Mass whose rendition has been restored to the people

by papal decree.

EPILOGUE
. . Therefore is the Church with the inpouring of the

faithful through all its portals like the undulations of

ocean waves. For the sonorous voice of the people, men,

women, virgins and children, rings out in the psalmody of

responsorial song like the sound of surging billows.

I dare so to speak, for does not this wave wash away sin

and give place to the life'giving breath of the Holy Ghost?”

St. Ambrose.

32



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