WICHITA, Kansas (LifeSiteNews) — A Kansas bishop recently issued a pastoral letter emphasizing the importance of sacred music in the liturgy and encouraging the use of Gregorian chant, polyphony, and the organ at Holy Mass rather than secular music.
On September 13, Bishop Carl Kemme of the Diocese of Wichita released a pastoral letter titled “On Sacred Music: Let us Sing with the Lord,” in which he emphasized a desire “to restore sacred music in the liturgy” and the importance of music in enhancing the Mass.
Kemme added that the purpose of the letter was “to share my vision for Sacred Music in the Diocese of Wichita,” which he described as “less my own” and what he “consider[s] to be the Church’s vision for sacred music,” and to promote “fully conscious and actual participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.”
Embracing sacred music and traditional practices
Kemme cited Church documents and guidance on sacred music from the Second Vatican Council. He quoted Sacrosanctum Concilium of Vatican II on “how to evaluate the sanctity of sacred music”:
Sacred music is to be considered the more holy in proportion as it is more closely connected with the liturgical action, whether it adds delight to prayer, fosters unity of minds, or confers greater solemnity upon the sacred rites.
Kemme pointed out that while “there can certainly be a temptation to try to sanctify popular or secular music, even secular Christian music, by admitting it to the liturgy,” parishes “should avoid this temptation because the liturgy is meant to be something totally other so that when the priest dismisses us from the liturgy, we can go eagerly back into the world to transform and consecrate the world to God in our daily lives.”
As outlined in Sacrosanctum Concilium, Gregorian chant is “specially suited to the Roman liturgy” and to be “given pride of place in liturgical services.” The document additionally states that the organ “is to be held in high esteem.”
“To exhibit the uniqueness and beauty of sacred music, we should hold fast to our tradition and give pride of place to the Church’s preferred musical instruments, which are the human voice and the organ, and to musical repertories of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony,” Kemme wrote.
“When liturgical music holds fast to these elements of our tradition, it expresses heaven’s true beauty because these particular traditions are primarily reserved for the liturgy,” he wrote. “When an environment of beauty is cultivated, we encounter something other than ourselves, someone other than ourselves: we encounter God.”
Kemme also urged parishes to sing the liturgical texts of the Mass. “Rather than entering into a discussion about which hymns may or may not be appropriate for use in the Mass – a subjective judgment that too often relies on personal taste and preference – my humble guidance is to turn our attention toward the texts of the Mass, which the Church herself invites us to sing,” he wrote, citing the Entrance, Offertory, and Communion antiphons, in addition to the Responsorial Psalm and the Alleluia, which are found in the Roman Missal and the Roman Gradual.
“Throughout the tradition of the Church, most of these proper texts provided have been set to different Gregorian melodies, and even at times, the texts have been set in pieces of polyphony. A distinguishing characteristic of these texts is that the word always comes first and is more essential than the musical composition. This is important because the sung word in the liturgy is the Word that became flesh,” he added.
The bishop emphasized a “desire” for congregations “to shift our mindset from singing AT Mass to singing THE Mass,” saying that while it “may seem like a minute distinction… it is crucial.” “Utilizing the texts Christ has given us through the Church, we can restore the sacred and transcendent nature of the liturgy.”
To do so, he urged focus on “three important principles: the sanctity of sacred music, the intrinsic beauty of sacred music, and the universality of sacred music.”
Regarding “the universality of sacred music,” Kemme encouraged less attention “on personal preference” and being “overly dependent on cultural expression” and instead that parishes “strive to employ music that transcends personal preference and leaves all who have attended with a sense of encountering something marvelous, regardless of cultural experience or other subjective factors.”
“Even if it is sung on a single note, I hope you will offer your best efforts to sing with the Lord,” he concluded his letter. “Let us lead the people in reclaiming Sunday and renewing the ‘Stewardship Way of Life’ by emphasizing that the Mass is Christ’s sung prayer to the Father.”
Kemme also encouraged those involved in planning and leading sacred music during the liturgy to consult Vatican II’s Musicam Sacram as well as Sing to the Lord, the 2007 guidance on sacred music issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).