Liturgical Prayer is Musical Prayer​

The Christian liturgy was born in singing, and it has never ceased to sing. Singing must be regarded as one of the fundamental constituents of Christian worship.[1]  

Joseph Gelineau

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Scholars and practitioners of liturgical music often say something similar to Gelineau in their writing and teaching. The idea that music is integral to liturgical celebration is nearly universally held among Christian traditions. St. Augustine of Hippo is oft-quoted to have said, “Bis orat qui bene cantat” or “whoever sings well prays twice.” While the attribution to Augustine is tenuous—there is even a tradition that attributes the words to Martin Luther—the principle put forward in the proverb is found in many an ecclesiastical commentary on music and worship and most usefully interpreted to imply that, while liturgical prayer is possible without music, it is much diminished without it, and, more importantly, much enhanced with it. One can go further to say that liturgy without music is non-normative, or out of keeping with the nature of liturgical worship itself.

The liturgical-theological perspective can shed light on why music is essential in terms of human beings giving thanks to God (the whole point of liturgy!) in the most beautiful way possible—giving the best of their collective creativity and talent. Even further, the visceral acts of vocal and instrumental production (or even listening) are supremely effective in awakening the believer to deep spiritual realities as they contemplate in worship their connection to that Absolute Mystery we call God. 

It is, of course, impossible to speak for all times and places, but with very few exceptions it is possible to assert, drawing upon current practice, tradition, history, extant manuscripts and other artefacts, ecclesiastical statements, commentaries, and so forth, that music—especially singing—has been part of Christian liturgy in every time and place, and from the beginning.

The Constitution on the Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium (1963) says the purpose of liturgical music is “the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful.”[2] It then follows that “the musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value . . . [by means of which] a liturgical service takes on a nobler aspect.”[3] This is especially true of liturgical song, in which music and liturgical text are intimately connected. The assertion is that singing (at least; ideally other music is present as well) should always be part of liturgical celebration.

Singing also brings out particular emotive capacities of ritual worship such as joy or lament. The profundity of divine realities often expressed in liturgical rites are communicated more readily with the help of music. Music also unifies the assembly—a feat essential to integral ritual worship. From a practical standpoint—less relevant today with our use of electronic amplification, but extremely relevant in earlier centuries—music or chanting enhances the audibility of liturgical texts as well as brings the attention of the assembly to important things happening in the sanctuary. To be sure, the connection of melody to a text also makes it more memorable, instilling insights into the worshipper.

Drawing broadly on liturgical history and especially the insights of the Liturgical Movement and Reform, we can venture to assert:

• Liturgy is inherently musical: liturgy with music is the norm, and liturgy completely devoid of music is a diminishment of the potential of the ritual and usually undertaken only out of necessity. This principle applies especially to singing, but surely also to instrumental music for the accompaniment of a procession, e.g., or during times of ritual contemplation.
• Liturgy is normatively sung: This is the case insofar as music, especially singing together, has been a constitutive dimension of nearly all forms of Christian worship throughout history. Many texts were composed with the expectation that they would usually be sung.
• Most genres of liturgical texts are musical: The poetic and metaphorical language of many liturgical texts lends itself to cantillation or singing, and, more importantly, many liturgical texts are songs or chants in the sense that the normal way to express them is through singing, e.g., antiphons, psalms, litanies, acclamations, dialogues, hymns.
• Music is not integrated into the liturgy but is integral to it: This assertion draws strength from the rest of the list, but the primary point here is that music is not overlayed onto ritual but an intrinsic part of ritual. An especially good example is the musical nature of liturgical processions—without music (vocal, instrumental or both) they make no sense and cease to function properly.

It is even possible to go further and assert that for the majority of rites, in a majority of places, and in a majority of historical periods, liturgy is and has been sung liturgy.[4] To be sure, liturgical prayer is musical prayer.

Notes

[1] Joseph Gelineau, “Music and Singing in the Liturgy,” in The Study of Liturgy, ed. Cheslyn Jones et al. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 494.

[2] Vatican Council II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium (4 December 1963), no. 112.

[3] Sacrosanctum Concilium, 112-113.

[4] While it is bold yet possible to make these assertions for highly liturgical Christian traditions, it is necessary to respect and recognise the multiplicity of forms of Christian worship today and throughout history. Even so, a broad understanding of “singing” and “the lyrical” would hold for most traditions.  

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