To promote active participation, the people should be encouraged to take part by means of acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons, and songs, as well as by actions, gestures, and bodily attitudes. And at the proper times all should observe a reverent silence.⁴

To make things easier for the common folk, an approved Simple Gradual was developed “containing simpler melodies, for use in small churches” ⁵. We also now have an English version of the Simple Gradual by Paul F. Ford called By Flowing Waters: Chant for the Liturgy.

Singapore parishes have to start somewhere, although (to continue my previous analogy) taste buds accustomed to modern music are very difficult to wean.

A good weaning approach would be to encourage and use compositions that try, as far as possible, to adhere to the musical formula of the Gregorian chant. This is based on advice given by Pope John Paul II, who said:

With regard to compositions of liturgical music, I make my own the “general rule” that St Pius X formulated in these words: “The more closely a composition for church approaches in its movement, inspiration and savour the Gregorian melodic form, the more sacred and liturgical it becomes; and the more out of harmony it is with that supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple”. It is not, of course, a question of imitating Gregorian chant but rather of ensuring that new compositions are imbued with the same spirit that inspired and little by little came to shape it. ⁶

Certainly, a major benefit of singing songs that emulate Gregorian chant is that it helps us to become more discerning about the non-chant music we sing.

I propose the formation of a schola cantorum of between one to two dozen singers to work with a sympathetic priest so that at least on one Sunday a month, somewhere in our archdiocese, a Mass may be celebrated using only the Roman Gradual and the Simple Gradual (including its English translation). I have already formed a small one, and hope others will join me!

At such a Mass, we will strive to create a prayerful and contemplative atmosphere in order to enable those who come to enter ever more deeply into the mysteries of our salvation, hear the gracious words of our liturgy in all their startling clarity and be profoundly changed by them. And from the smallest of such seeds, may a mustard tree grow.

Want to sound off on Francis’s article? Send your e-mails to theprompt@catholic.org

Francis Nyan has been passionate about Gregorian chant for many years. He currently leads a small schola which sings plainchant Evening Prayer and Night Prayer every 4th Sunday of the month at 8pm in the Adoration Chapel of the Church of Sts Peter & Paul. It also aims to provide plainchant at a monthly Mass in the near future. For more information contact francisnyan@gmail.com.

In June, Francis will conduct a basic Gregorian chant course under the auspices of the Liturgical Music Committee of the Liturgy Commission. For further details and registration, contact Robert Loh at robertloh54@yahoo.com.