III.

Sacred Music In The Celebration

Of The Sacraments and
Sacramentals, In Special Functions
Of The Liturgical Year,
In Celebrations Of The Word Of
God, and In Popular Devotions

Musica Sacra nn. 42-46

12 November 2018
MS 42. The Council laid down in principle
that whenever a rite, in keeping with its
character, allows a celebration in common
with the attendance and active participation
of the faithful, this is to be preferred to an
individual and quasi-private celebration of
the rite. It follows logically from this that
singing is of great importance since it more
clearly demonstrates the 'ecclesial' aspect of
the celebration.
What is a rite? – it represents an ecclesial
tradition about how the sacraments are to be
celebrated.

- As the early Church grew and spread, it

celebrated the sacraments as would be
best understood and received in the
context of individual cultures, without ever
changing their essential form and matter.

- When these rites are celebrated together

with the people of God, singing is of great
importance.
What are sacraments?

 “The sacraments are efficacious signs of

grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to
the Church, by which divine life is dispensed
to us. The visible rites by which the
sacraments are celebrated signify and make
present the graces proper to each
sacrament. They bear fruit in those who
receive them with the required dispositions”
(Catechism of the Catholic Church n. 1131).
What are sacraments?

 We recognize that the Sacraments have a

visible and invisible reality, a reality open to
all the human senses but grasped in its God-
given depths with the eyes of faith. **
What are sacraments?

 The visible reality we see in the Sacraments is

their outward expression, the form they take,
and the way in which they are administered
and received. The invisible reality we cannot
"see" is God's grace, his gracious initiative in
redeeming us through the death and
Resurrection of his Son.
What are sacraments?

 The saving words and deeds of Jesus Christ

are the foundation of what he would
communicate in the Sacraments through the
ministers of the Church.

 In the sacramental aspect of the liturgy,

Christ’s redeeming act is put within our
reach.
What are sacraments?

 Christ came once to meet humanity as a

redeemer. He continues to do so in the
sacraments today.

 In the sacraments He continues His salvation-

revealing action and in them the Church
experiences her salvation – no longer under
the outward sign of his humanity and of his
action, but under the outward signs of the
sacraments.
What are sacraments?

 Through the sacraments he causes the

priestly, redeeming worship of the Paschal
mystery to continue in the Church:

Quod conspicuum erat in Christo, transivit in

Ecclesiae sacramenta – «And so that which till
then was visible in Christ has passed into the
sacraments of the Church». Pope Leo the Great
(sermo)
What are sacraments?

 the outward sign of Christ’s humanity and

salvific action is replaced by the outward
sign of the sacraments, but both contain the
same salvific reality: Christ’s redeeming
worship.
What are sacraments?

 Therefore every sacramental celebration is a

meeting with Christ, according to this
striking saying of St. Ambrose:

Facie ad faciem te mihi, Christe, demonstrasti;

in tuis te invenio sacramentis – «Thou hast
shown thyself to me face to face, O Christ; I find
thee in the sacraments».
What are sacraments?

 The sacraments are the personal saving acts

of Christ, but in the liturgical form of ecclesial
acts.

 It is Christ himself who in the sacramental

liturgy baptizes, absolves and offers. (Pope
Pius XII, Encyclical Mystici Corporis).
What are sacraments?

 Each sacrament is the sacramental presence

of Christ’s eternally actual act of Redemption
and therefore the sacraments are no mere
means endowed with magic power, but
meetings between us, earthly men and the
glorified God-Man.
 Baptism

Holy
Confirmation
Orders

7
sacraments
instituted by
Marriage the Lord Eucharist

Anointing of
Penance
the Sick
MS 43. Certain celebrations of the Sacraments and
Sacramentals, which have a special importance in the
life of the whole parish community, such as
confirmation, sacred ordinations, matrimony, the
consecration of a church or altar funerals, etc.,
should be performed in sung form as far as possible,
so that even the solemnity of the rite will contribute
to its greater pastoral effectiveness. Nevertheless,
the introduction into the celebration of anything
which is merely secular, or which is hardly
compatible with divine worship, under the guise of
solemnity should be carefully avoided: this applies
particularly to the celebration of marriages.
Sacramentals are sacred signs
instituted by the Church to prepare
us to receive the fruit of the
sacraments and to sanctify different
circumstances of our lives (Catecthism
of the the Catholic Church no. 1677).
Sacramentals are distinguished from
sacraments in that they have been
instituted by the Church and do not find
their origin in Christ. They exist in order
to make holy almost every event in the
lives of believers and, like the
sacraments, draw their power from the
Paschal Mystery.
 Sacramentals - holy oil, bells, incense,
candles, rosaries and medals, holy
waters, medals scapulars

 Liturgical prayers and rites used in

administering the sacraments, funerals,
exorcisms, blessings of people,
consecrations, and blessings of objects
are also included as sacramentals.
MS 44. Similarly, celebrations which are singled
out by the liturgy in the course of the liturgical
year as being of special importance, may be
solemnized by singing. In a very special way, the
sacred rites of Holy Week should be given due
solemnity, since these lead the faithful to the
center of the liturgical year and of the liturgy
itself through the celebration of the Paschal
Mystery.
 Celebrations during the Holy Week
 Palm Sunday, Chrism Mass, Institution of the
Eucharist, Institution of the Sacrament of the
priesthood on Holy Thursday,

 Bishops and priests come together at their

local Cathedrals on Holy Thursday morning (in
other dioceses on Holy Tuesday) to celebrate
the institution of the priesthood. During the
Mass, the bishop blesses the Oil of Chrism that
will be used for Baptism, Confirmation, and
Anointing of the sick or dying.
 Celebrations during the Holy Week

TRIDUUM

 Holy Thursday Liturgy takes place, marking the

end of Lent and the beginning of the sacred
"Triduum,” or three, of Holy Week. These days
are the three holiest days in the Catholic
Church.
 Celebrations during the Holy Week

TRIDUUM

 This Mass stresses the importance Jesus puts

on the humility of service, and the need for
cleansing with water, a symbol of baptism. Also
emphasized are the critical importance of the
Eucharist and the sacrifice of Christ’s Body,
which we now find present in the consecrated
Host.
 At the conclusion of the Mass, the faithful are
invited to continue Adoration of the Blessed
Sacrament throughout the night, just as the
disciples were invited to stay up with the Lord
during His agony in the garden before His
betrayal by Judas.

 After Holy Thursday, no Mass will be

celebrated again in the Church until the Easter
Vigil celebrates and proclaims the
Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
 Good Friday?

 Easter Vigil?
MS 45. For the liturgy of the Sacraments and
Sacramentals, and for other special
celebrations of the liturgical year, suitable
melodies should be provided, which can
encourage a celebration in a more solemn
form, even in the vernacular, depending on
the capabilities of individual congregations
and in accordance with the norms of the
competent authority.

Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist,

Marriage, Holy Orders, Penance, Dedication
of a Church, Blessing of a new house,
Blessing of families etc.
MS 46 - Sacred music is also very effective in
fostering the devotion of the faithful in
celebrations of the Word of God, and in
popular devotions.

In the celebrations of the Word of God, let the

Liturgy of the Word in the Mass be taken as a
model. In all popular devotions the psalms will
be especially useful, and also works of sacred
music drawn from both the old and the more
recent heritage of sacred music, popular
religious songs, and the playing of the organ,
or of other instruments characteristic of a
particular people.
MS 46 - Moreover, in these same popular
devotions, and especially in celebrations of
the Word of God, it is excellent to include as
well some of those musical works which,
although they no longer have a place in the
liturgy, can nevertheless foster a religious
spirit and encourage meditation on the sacred
mystery.

Novena to our Mother of Perpetual Help,

Sacred Heart of Jesus,
Holy Rosary, Stations of the Cross,
Adoration to the Blessed Sacrament,