December 16, 2011
Commentary
A choir member finds music helpful bringing in the new Roman Missal
By JANE LEINGANG (Special to the Message)
Editor’s note: The following is the fourth in a series of columns from various perspectives on the implementation of the new Roman Missal.
When I attended Mass on the first Sunday of Advent with my son and his family in New Jer-sey, I was expecting some changes. As a choir member at my
home parish, St. Ben’s, I had been fully informed of all the changes that would take place that day. We had been diligently preparing to sing a new setting of the Mass, the Mass of the Res-urrection by Randall DeBruyn. We had practiced new sung responses to the prayers. I was aware that there would be changes and I understood why. I thought I was prepared, but I found myself confused and frus-trated. What happened?
I am a baby boomer and so I experienced the changes in the Mass in the sixties. It had been no problem for me when we changed from the Latin Mass to first one English translation and then to another. It didn’t throw me at all. In fact, I remember being energized by it. This time, not so much. The first lesson I learned on the first Sunday of Advent is that changing the habits of the last 40 years will be difficult for me and require patience.
As a choir member I think music may help us with this change. One of the difficulties for me in New Jersey was that they were using a different Mass setting than the one I learned. The worship aid in this parish didn’t include the Mass of the Resurrection I was familiar with. I hadn’t been able to pick up the melodies of the responses with only the experience of the previous Sunday to guide me and I couldn’t readily find them in the book provided. At St. Ben’s, the choir had practiced the setting we were using for several months. The congregation learned it in October and we had been using it at Mass since the beginning of Novem-ber. I have it memorized now. The Mass setting would not have been a problem for me at home.
The biggest frustration I had on the first Sunday of the New Roman Missal was with the response, “And with your spirit.” I never realized how often we said that during the Mass. I tripped up every time, I’m sorry to say. We were using spoken responses at the parish in New Jersey. At the time, I suspected it would have been easier for me with music, which taps into a different part of the brain.
And that suspicion was confirmed when I sang with the choir at St. Ben’s on the second Sunday of Advent. I sailed through without any problems. I was back in familiar surroundings. I had a card with all the proper sung and spoken responses as well as a quick reference pamphlet for the Mass setting we were using. And I was able to pray. On the previous Sunday I have to say I lost my cool as I tried to find the right music and the right responses with unfamiliar tools. I am grateful for all the preparation that we did at St. Ben’s to transition to the new Roman Missal. I think I have first hand experience of how hard it can be when a person hasn’t had that advantage.
The pastor at the first parish encouraged us by telling us we were praying not performing. He urged us to be patient with ourselves. From my experience I can say it’s getting easier already. I think for me the music makes the difference.