"Let us open our eyes to the deifying light and our ears to the voice from heaven that every day calls out." Rule of Benedict Prologue: 9
Liturgy and music
“The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art.” So begins the chapter on sacred music in the document Sacrosanctum Concilium, of Vatican II. Above all, this reference to sacred music means Gregorian chant, which enjoys ‘pride of place’ in liturgical celebrations. While our celebration of the Divine Office utilizes English translations of traditional chants, at Mass, we sing God’s praises with the contemplative melodies of Gregorian chant, melodies whose origins are found in the eighth and ninth centuries in Europe and whose inspiration surely derives from the Apostolic Church.
Singing these chants forms us to be men who are lovers of the Word, lovers of ancient and proven traditions of spirituality and lovers of peace and inner stillness. This page features recordings of our renditions of chant, accompanied by theological reflections on the teachings of these chants.
The following books may be referred to in the reflections:
The Graduale Triplex (GT):book containing the chants of the Mass as well as the earliest notations of these chants, indicating rhythmic and rhetorical nuances.
The Chants of the Vatican Gradual by Dom Dominic Johner, OSB: this ‘guide to the appreciation of chant’ gives musical and theological reflections on the chants, but was written in 1928, prior to the discoveries of the more recent science of semiology, the study of the more ancient notation of chant. Our reflections here aim to take into account some of this more recent work of scholarship while remaining indebted to Dom Johner’s earlier expert work.
July 11: Solemnity of Saint Benedict
Communion: Semel iuravi
Once for all I have sworn by my holiness: his seed shall last forever: and his throne is like the sun in my sight, and like the full moon forever a faithful witness in the heavens.
The Latin semel, “once and for all” is already a strong word, but it receives particular emphasis here, set off by marks indicating pauses. This also creates a building momentum that carries us up to the words sancto meo, “my holiness.” The oath itself it also set off by a quick change of register. As the fact is stated: “His seed shall last forever,” we have a somewhat pedestrian repetition of main modal pitches: la, sol and mi.
What a change then, when the Son of David’s throne is compared to the sun: we leap up to do and utilize the ti natural to brighten the mode. In the original Psalm, the reference to the sun was a sign of the permanence of the throne. One senses here that the imagery has been affected by the prophetic visions of Ezekiel and John as well as the Transfiguration.
Why should this chant be chosen for the Solemnity of Saint Benedict? Are we to understand ourselves as the sons of St. Benedict being referred to here? Shortly after the election of Pope Benedict XVI, I began to hear rumors of a prophecy that of all the religious, only the Benedictines would last until the end of the world. These sorts of private revelations are not necessary to believe, but the rumor is one that reflects something of the intrinsic place of monasticism in the heart of the church. Perseverance is one of the dearest virtues of Benedictines, and the promise of God’s fidelity forever is a wonderful consolation and reinforcement of one’s own solemn vows at the time of Communion.