THE IMPORTANCE OF 
"SINGING THE MASS"


SINGING THE "DIALOGUE"

40. Great importance should be attached to the use of singing in the celebration of the Mass...every care should be taken that singing by the ministers and the people not be absent in celebrations that occur on Sundays and on Holydays of Obligation.

...in the choosing of the parts actually to be sung, preference is to be given to those which are to be sung by the Priest or the Deacon or a reader, with the people replying...
("The Dialogue")

34....the celebration of Mass by its nature has a “communitarian” character...

36. Other parts, most useful for expressing and fostering the active participation of the faithful, and which are assigned to the whole gathering, include especially the Penitential Act, the Profession of Faith (CREED), the Universal Prayer, and the Lord’s Prayer.

113.  Liturgal worship is given a more noble form when....celebrated solemnly in song. (Vatican II)

30. To promote active participation, the people should be encouraged to take part by means of acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons...(Vatican II) 

118.  Religious singing by the people is to be skillfully fostered so that...the voices of the faihtful may ring out according to the norms and requirements of the rubrics. (Vatican II)...Dialogues between the Priest and the assembled faithful, and the acclamations are of great significance...
 

35. The acclamations and the responses of the faithful to the Priest’s greetings and prayers constitute that level of active participation that is to be made by the assembled faithful in every form of the Mass,... 

THE CREED

The Creed is to be sung...(choice #1 - Roman Missal)...by the Priest together with the people on Sundays and Solemnities...it is intoned by the Priest, if appropriate, by a cantor or the choir.  It is then sung either by everybody together or by the people alternating with the choir...if it is not sung (option #2) it is recited by everyone together...

LATIN IN THE NOVUS ORDO MASS

54...steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able...to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordianry of the Mass which pertain to them (i.e Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Mysterium fidei, Agnus Dei...) - VATICAN II (Sacrosanctum Concillium) 

... it is desirable that they (the faithful) know how to sing together at least some parts of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, especially the Profession of Faith and the Lord’s Prayer, according to the simpler settings...

41. The main place should be given, all things being equal, to Gregorian Chant, as being proper to the Roman Liturgy. 

The Church acknowledges Gregorian Chant as speciffically suited to the Roman Liturgy...it should be given pride of place in liturgical services.  (Vatican II)