Success with the SEP

This is one report among so many I’ve seen at how well the SEP works. And note the direction of change here: from guitar songs to sung English propers with the goal of a Gregorian embrace. The SEP is what makes this change possible.

I just wanted to say that I have now been the Director of Music for two Sundays at a small parish in Southern Oregon. Last week I stuck pretty much with the format that the choir was used to, which was mostly OCP guitar music, however I added in a gregorian chant during communion, and I used a chanted version of the Gloria in English, that I found searching the forum. The chants went over well, and the choir who had no background in chant outside of Sanctus and Angus Dei, XVIII during Lent and Advent, learned them very quickly.

This weekend at the Saturday vigil and the Sunday Morning Mass, I decided to use the SEP. At the Saturday vigil where I was the lone cantor, I sang the introit, Offertory and Communion from the SEP and this morning, because the RE kids crowned Mary, I was asked sing a Marian song for the Processional, which I did, however I was still able to keep the Offertory and the Communion. I was quite amazed at how quickly the choir was able to learn them, and how well the came off. Ever more so I was surprised by the amount of people who thanked me for bringing back the propers and for using chant. So I just wanted to say thank you to Adam Bartlett and the CMAA for providing these.

As a Byzantine Catholic, I’ve often been very put off by what I’ve seen in Roman liturgies, and really wasn’t sure what could be done to make them better. Then I was able to attend the last colloquium in Chicago a couple years ago, and saw how beautiful the Roman rite could actually be (I had sung at the William Byrd Festival in Portland, OR, so I wasn’t totally without exposure to a good Roman liturgy, but that was all I’d really experienced). Me ending up in this parish was quite out of the blue. I really was worried that it would be an up hill battle all the way, however things are off to a good start with the majority of the people being happy with the vision I’ve put forward.

The priest who is an ex monk and I are planning to bring about fully sung masses starting in Advent with the new translation, and hopefully I’ll be able to use this summer to present some workshops to the laity, on chant, ect. I’ve already been able to recruit some people in the congregation who want to learn all the chant ordinaries, so they can disperse themselves throughout the congregation so that people hear other people singing and not just the choir.

Things are off to a start and I hope they can continue in a positive direction. I’m hoping to be able to do away with Respond and Acclaim in a month or so, but we’ll see. But above all it was wonderful to be able to reintroduce the propers to the mass. Without them it just feels like people aren’t really even getting the mass, since part of it is missing. Thanks again to Adam, the CMAA and everyone who has donated to the cause.

11 Replies to “Success with the SEP”

  1. I'd be curious to know… did the author use the SEP for the Introit, Offertory and Communion instead of the usual hymnody, or in addition to a hymn or song? I have to say that at this point in time (in my parish) the Communion Antiphon now extends to more than half of the time that communion is being received, and there has been no comments, objections or whatever from the Pastor or clergy, and actually very positive comments from the parishioners!

    But the Introit…that's a bigger problem as it involves a major shift in liturgical aesthetics and sensibilities. Communion has generally been thought of as a time for quiet and reflection… a natural fit for the communion chant. But the entrance has come to be understood as a time for rousing energy…blaring trumpets and organ (or guitars/drums…)…a big Hymn being sung at full volume by a church full of people…a processional cross held high followed by the Deacon (or more likely a lector) holding high the book of the Gospels as though it is the Baby Simba in the opening scene of Lion King! That seems to be the ideal. How to replace that with a 3 or 4-person schola singing a monophonic Antiphon unnacompanied?

    And so for now we chant the Antiphon immediately prior to the start of the processional hymn. Any ideas on how to make this transition?

  2. BTW… does anyone know of something like the SEP to sing during the "Sprinkling Rite" on Sundays of Easter? Sort of a "Vidi Aquam" for the Ordinary Form in English? The usual offerings in the hymnals are really wretched…

  3. Chironomo,

    Why change it? I would suggest a processional hymn, followed by the Rite of Sprinkling, and then the Inroit. IMO there is nothing wrong with granduer at the beginning of Mass, Advent, and especially Lent excepted.

  4. Chironomo,

    On Saturday night I used the SEP in place of hymns. Saturday nights have tended to be filled with people looking for a more traditional service, even though the previous directors refused to do that. Because of this I just went for it and received many positive responses. This was also easier because I was by myself that night, and everything was done a cappella.

    Sunday Morning, as I said above I didn't use the introit (which also meant I didn't have to teach it for the choir's first time using the SEP) at all, however for the Offertory, I used a short hymn during the collection of tithes and then switched over to the SEP Offertory just before they prepared to bring up the gifts. So the SEP Offertory went from just prior to the time they began to walk up with the gifts to the time the gifts were placed on the altar.

    Sunday Morning I also used the SEP communion as the only music, and it lasted until about the last two communicants. They are used to having silence for a short time after communion so that was kept.

    This coming weekend is the parish's "First Communion" mass, so there will be a couple communion hymns in addition to the SEP communion, and the Offertory will be the same as above with a hymn and the SEP. For the Processional, there will be both the introit and a short hymn, since the children will be processing in we will have time for both.

    Other than that, the recessional will stay some sort of hymn that the people are used to for the time being. I may also continue to keep the short hymn during the collection, for several months to ensure that people can't claim I'm completely changing everything.

  5. Chironomo,

    Have you looked at #101 and 103 in the Adoremus Hymnal? These English-language Sprinkling Rite chants are by "A Cistercian Monk".

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