What if the people (even the clergy) find the chant distracting or boring; then it serves no real liturgical purpose at all. Chant in this case is not achieving the prime aim the Church has asked of liturgical music - "its proper aim is to add greater efficacy to the text, in order that through it the faithful may be the more easily moved to devotion and better disposed for the reception of the fruits of grace belonging to the celebration of the most holy mysteries"
This critique of chant could also be made of the entire Divine Office and the Mass too. What if prayers they don't move a particular people to devotion? What if a group says that this arrangement of set prayers do not dispose them better toward the sacraments? For that matter, what if someone says that the sacraments aren't so great either? Many people do not like prayer either. Should we consider getting rid of them too? In this case, the entire religion becomes shaped by the community's subjective preferences.
The liturgy knows something that the complainers may not know. No everyone is prepared to appreciate what the Church has to offer in any aspect of its belief and practices. In that case, what is needed is conversion and formation. The primacy of form in the liturgy is wiser than any critic. The suggestion that the liturgy better prepares people presumes that people are properly formed to accept that preparation. Print this post
