Responsorial Psalm and Acclamation before the Gospel
Alleluia! Victory and glory and power to our God! (Rev 19:1).
* * *
The Responsorial Psalm
After the first reading comes the responsorial psalm or the Gradual, an integral part of the liturgy of the word.
It was the custom in the Jewish liturgy that the course of the reading be broken by the recitation of psalms. This helped keep away monotony, while allowing a real participation of the congregation in worship. The chants and psalms found in today’s missals preserve this ancient custom. That recitation of psalms is a long‑standing practice among the Christians themselves is evident from the testimony of St Hippolytus and Tertullian in the third century.[1] In those days, a trained cantor would sing the psalm while the people joined in the responsum (response), generally the first line of the psalm or the Alleluia. There was also the Gradual, ordinarily composed of words which appropriately referred to the lesson just read; it was begun by a singer standing on the step (gradus) of the lectern. To this verse the congregation replied by taking up a refrain. It soon became a custom for the Gradual verse to be sung by a deacon. But toward the end of the sixth century, Pope St Gregory discontinued this custom, because it led deacons to care for their voices to the detriment of more important duties.[2]
* * *
Under the present regulations, the choice of the psalm depends on the readings. The psalmist or cantor of the psalm sings the verses at the lectern or some other suitable place. The people remain seated.[3]
There are two established ways of singing the psalm after the first reading: responsorially and directly. In responsorial singing, which, as far as possible, is to be given preference, the cantor sings the psalm verse and the whole congregation joins in by singing the response. In direct singing, there is no response by the community; either the psalmist sings alone as the community listens or all sing it together. When not sung, the psalm is to be recited in a manner conducive to meditation on the word of God.[4]
The psalm when sung may be taken either from the lectionary or from the Graduale Romanum.[5]
* * *
The Church desires that we have a great esteem for the liturgical chants because they are a sign of our heart’s cheerfulness. St Paul recommends that the faithful gathered waiting for the coming of the Lord sing together psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles (see Col 3:16). The heart shows its joy by singing. Thus St Augustine says rightly, “To sing belongs to lovers.” There is also the ancient proverb: “One who sings well prays twice.”[6]
Perhaps we cannot sing to God as well as we would like to; nevertheless, we can be sure that our Father in heaven looks at things differently. We will do fine if we sing with the simplicity and spontaneity of children– after having rehearsed at least a little.
* * *
“What is more pleasing than a psalm? David expresses it well: ‘Praise the Lord, for a song of praise is good: let there be praise of our God with gladness and grace.’ Yes, a psalm is a blessing on the lips of the people, a hymn in praise of God, the assembly’s homage, a general acclamation, a word that speaks for all, the voice of the Church, a confession of faith in song. It is the voice of complete assent, the joy of freedom, a cry of happiness, the echo of gladness. It soothes the temper, distracts from care, lightens the burden of sorrow. It is a source of security at night, a lesson in wisdom by day. It is a shield when we are afraid, a celebration of holiness, a vision of serenity, a promise of peace and harmony. It is like a lyre, evoking harmony from a blend of notes. Day begins to the music of a psalm. Day closes to the echo of a psalm.”[7]
After reading this, don’t you think that, very often, we can draw our “password,” that is, our “aspiration for the day,” from the responsorial psalm of the Mass? That “password” will then be liturgical and it will give our day a more supernatural tone.
The Alleluia
After the second reading (if there is any), the acclamation before the Gospel or Alleluia follows. Unlike the responsorial psalm, it is not related to the preceding reading but to the Gospel, which follows. It serves as the assembled faithful’s greeting of welcome to the Lord who is about to speak to them and as an expression of their faith through song. The whole congregation stands up to sing it.[8]
* * *
The word Alleluia is an old Judaic expression of joy; it means “praise the Lord.” It was incorporated into the liturgy of the Church at a very early date, and passed from religion into everyday life. Sailors, when they recognized another ship, used to greet each other with a shout of Alleluia. In the year 429, when the Breton Christians fought the Saxons, they used Alleluia as their war cry. St Jerome heard the farm laborers of Bethlehem sing it while ploughing.
* * *
The Alleluia was at first sung at Rome only once a year—on Easter Sunday. The historian Sozomen records for us a proverb that was current in Rome in the fifth century: “God grant that I may hear the Alleluia!” This wish is similar to that which we make on New Year’s Eve, that we shall again be gathered and reunited as a family at the beginning of the next year. After Easter Sunday, the Alleluia was heard during the fifty days of the Easter season.
* * *
Nowadays the Alleluia is sung in every liturgical season outside Lent. It is usually begun by the cantor or choir, and then it may be repeated by all. The verse that follows is taken from the Lectionary or from the Graduale. It ends up with a renewed Alleluia acclamation from the congregation.
* * *
The Alleluia is the song of men set free by God, our loving Father; men redeemed by the blood of Christ. This triumphal acclamation is linked to the cheerfulness of Easter. “Cheerfulness is a necessary consequence of our divine filiation, of knowing that our Father God loves us with a love of predilection, that he holds us up and helps us and forgives us.
“Remember this and never forget it: even if it should seem at times that everything around you is collapsing, in fact nothing is collapsing at all, because God does not lose battles.”[9]
The Lenten acclamations During Lent, instead of Alleluia, an acclamation is made before and after the verse before the Gospel. The forms customary for this acclamation are:
• Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
• Praise and honor to you, Lord Jesus!
• Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
• Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God![10]
• Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, king of endless glory!
The Sequence
In the early liturgy, the singing of the Alleluia was extended with a long vocalization executed on the final vowel, resembling—the comparison was made by St Augustine—the joyful modulations of country people who, without using words, hum a tune on one isolated syllable. This was called the jubilus. In the West, words were put in place of the vocalization of the jubilus. The texts that followed the official verses were called “Sequences.” Only four of these most beautiful Sequences have been retained.[11] The Sequence is like an appendix or complement for the Alleluia, but it is compulsory only on Easter Sunday and the day of Pentecost.
Footnotes:
[1]See St Hippolytus, Trad. Ad., 51s.; Tertullian, De or., c. 27; see also St Augustine, Enarr. in Ps., 119, 1.
[2]The following is the text of the decision made by the Pope at the Roman Council of the year 595: “It has long been the custom of the Roman Church to make singers deacons, and to use them in singing instead of in preaching or committing the care of the poor to them. The result of this has been that, in admitting anyone to Holy Orders, a good voice has been held in much higher regard that an irreproachable character. Therefore the deacons shall sing nothing in the church except for the Gospel of the Mass. The other lessons shall be sung by the sub‑deacons or one of the minor orders” (Quoted in F. Mourret, L’ église et le monde barbare).
[3]GIRM, no. 36; GIRM3, no. 61.
[4]ILM, no. 20 and 22.
[5]GIRM, no. 36; GIRM3, no. 61.
[6]GIRM, no. 19; GIRM3, no. 39.
[7]St Ambrose (339‑397), On the Psalms, 1,9‑12; CSEL 64:7.9‑10.
[8]ILM, no. 23.
[9]St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Forge (London: Scepter, 1988), no. 332.
[10]ILM, no. 91.
[11]The four Sequences retained in the Roman Missal are: for Easter, Victimae Paschali laudes, a paschal dialogue between the cantor and the congregation; for Pentecost, Veni Sancti Spiritus, a real masterpiece; for the feast of the Body and Blood of our Lord, the Lauda Sion, a noble page of theology authored by St Thomas Aquinas; for the celebration of our Lady of Sorrows, Stabat Mater, by Jacopone di Todi.
* * *
The Responsorial Psalm
After the first reading comes the responsorial psalm or the Gradual, an integral part of the liturgy of the word.
It was the custom in the Jewish liturgy that the course of the reading be broken by the recitation of psalms. This helped keep away monotony, while allowing a real participation of the congregation in worship. The chants and psalms found in today’s missals preserve this ancient custom. That recitation of psalms is a long‑standing practice among the Christians themselves is evident from the testimony of St Hippolytus and Tertullian in the third century.[1] In those days, a trained cantor would sing the psalm while the people joined in the responsum (response), generally the first line of the psalm or the Alleluia. There was also the Gradual, ordinarily composed of words which appropriately referred to the lesson just read; it was begun by a singer standing on the step (gradus) of the lectern. To this verse the congregation replied by taking up a refrain. It soon became a custom for the Gradual verse to be sung by a deacon. But toward the end of the sixth century, Pope St Gregory discontinued this custom, because it led deacons to care for their voices to the detriment of more important duties.[2]
* * *
Under the present regulations, the choice of the psalm depends on the readings. The psalmist or cantor of the psalm sings the verses at the lectern or some other suitable place. The people remain seated.[3]
There are two established ways of singing the psalm after the first reading: responsorially and directly. In responsorial singing, which, as far as possible, is to be given preference, the cantor sings the psalm verse and the whole congregation joins in by singing the response. In direct singing, there is no response by the community; either the psalmist sings alone as the community listens or all sing it together. When not sung, the psalm is to be recited in a manner conducive to meditation on the word of God.[4]
The psalm when sung may be taken either from the lectionary or from the Graduale Romanum.[5]
* * *
The Church desires that we have a great esteem for the liturgical chants because they are a sign of our heart’s cheerfulness. St Paul recommends that the faithful gathered waiting for the coming of the Lord sing together psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles (see Col 3:16). The heart shows its joy by singing. Thus St Augustine says rightly, “To sing belongs to lovers.” There is also the ancient proverb: “One who sings well prays twice.”[6]
Perhaps we cannot sing to God as well as we would like to; nevertheless, we can be sure that our Father in heaven looks at things differently. We will do fine if we sing with the simplicity and spontaneity of children– after having rehearsed at least a little.
* * *
“What is more pleasing than a psalm? David expresses it well: ‘Praise the Lord, for a song of praise is good: let there be praise of our God with gladness and grace.’ Yes, a psalm is a blessing on the lips of the people, a hymn in praise of God, the assembly’s homage, a general acclamation, a word that speaks for all, the voice of the Church, a confession of faith in song. It is the voice of complete assent, the joy of freedom, a cry of happiness, the echo of gladness. It soothes the temper, distracts from care, lightens the burden of sorrow. It is a source of security at night, a lesson in wisdom by day. It is a shield when we are afraid, a celebration of holiness, a vision of serenity, a promise of peace and harmony. It is like a lyre, evoking harmony from a blend of notes. Day begins to the music of a psalm. Day closes to the echo of a psalm.”[7]
After reading this, don’t you think that, very often, we can draw our “password,” that is, our “aspiration for the day,” from the responsorial psalm of the Mass? That “password” will then be liturgical and it will give our day a more supernatural tone.
The Alleluia
After the second reading (if there is any), the acclamation before the Gospel or Alleluia follows. Unlike the responsorial psalm, it is not related to the preceding reading but to the Gospel, which follows. It serves as the assembled faithful’s greeting of welcome to the Lord who is about to speak to them and as an expression of their faith through song. The whole congregation stands up to sing it.[8]
* * *
The word Alleluia is an old Judaic expression of joy; it means “praise the Lord.” It was incorporated into the liturgy of the Church at a very early date, and passed from religion into everyday life. Sailors, when they recognized another ship, used to greet each other with a shout of Alleluia. In the year 429, when the Breton Christians fought the Saxons, they used Alleluia as their war cry. St Jerome heard the farm laborers of Bethlehem sing it while ploughing.
* * *
The Alleluia was at first sung at Rome only once a year—on Easter Sunday. The historian Sozomen records for us a proverb that was current in Rome in the fifth century: “God grant that I may hear the Alleluia!” This wish is similar to that which we make on New Year’s Eve, that we shall again be gathered and reunited as a family at the beginning of the next year. After Easter Sunday, the Alleluia was heard during the fifty days of the Easter season.
* * *
Nowadays the Alleluia is sung in every liturgical season outside Lent. It is usually begun by the cantor or choir, and then it may be repeated by all. The verse that follows is taken from the Lectionary or from the Graduale. It ends up with a renewed Alleluia acclamation from the congregation.
* * *
The Alleluia is the song of men set free by God, our loving Father; men redeemed by the blood of Christ. This triumphal acclamation is linked to the cheerfulness of Easter. “Cheerfulness is a necessary consequence of our divine filiation, of knowing that our Father God loves us with a love of predilection, that he holds us up and helps us and forgives us.
“Remember this and never forget it: even if it should seem at times that everything around you is collapsing, in fact nothing is collapsing at all, because God does not lose battles.”[9]
The Lenten acclamations During Lent, instead of Alleluia, an acclamation is made before and after the verse before the Gospel. The forms customary for this acclamation are:
• Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
• Praise and honor to you, Lord Jesus!
• Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
• Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God![10]
• Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, king of endless glory!
The Sequence
In the early liturgy, the singing of the Alleluia was extended with a long vocalization executed on the final vowel, resembling—the comparison was made by St Augustine—the joyful modulations of country people who, without using words, hum a tune on one isolated syllable. This was called the jubilus. In the West, words were put in place of the vocalization of the jubilus. The texts that followed the official verses were called “Sequences.” Only four of these most beautiful Sequences have been retained.[11] The Sequence is like an appendix or complement for the Alleluia, but it is compulsory only on Easter Sunday and the day of Pentecost.
Footnotes:
[1]See St Hippolytus, Trad. Ad., 51s.; Tertullian, De or., c. 27; see also St Augustine, Enarr. in Ps., 119, 1.
[2]The following is the text of the decision made by the Pope at the Roman Council of the year 595: “It has long been the custom of the Roman Church to make singers deacons, and to use them in singing instead of in preaching or committing the care of the poor to them. The result of this has been that, in admitting anyone to Holy Orders, a good voice has been held in much higher regard that an irreproachable character. Therefore the deacons shall sing nothing in the church except for the Gospel of the Mass. The other lessons shall be sung by the sub‑deacons or one of the minor orders” (Quoted in F. Mourret, L’ église et le monde barbare).
[3]GIRM, no. 36; GIRM3, no. 61.
[4]ILM, no. 20 and 22.
[5]GIRM, no. 36; GIRM3, no. 61.
[6]GIRM, no. 19; GIRM3, no. 39.
[7]St Ambrose (339‑397), On the Psalms, 1,9‑12; CSEL 64:7.9‑10.
[8]ILM, no. 23.
[9]St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Forge (London: Scepter, 1988), no. 332.
[10]ILM, no. 91.
[11]The four Sequences retained in the Roman Missal are: for Easter, Victimae Paschali laudes, a paschal dialogue between the cantor and the congregation; for Pentecost, Veni Sancti Spiritus, a real masterpiece; for the feast of the Body and Blood of our Lord, the Lauda Sion, a noble page of theology authored by St Thomas Aquinas; for the celebration of our Lady of Sorrows, Stabat Mater, by Jacopone di Todi.