Tag Archives: Mass

Why hast Thou forsaken me?

30 Tuesday Mar 2021

Posted by in Abrahamic Religions, Human Condition, Spirituality, the Bible, The Eucharist

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Jesus Christ Pantokrator
Agony in the Garden by El Greco

The seven sayings of Jesus on the cross

Ten years ago, I published a post on the Canonical hours and noted that literary critic Northrop Frye suggested that these words: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” expressed the very essence of the tragic mode. They expressed:

a sense of his exclusion, as a divine being from the society of the Trinity.

Northrop Frye [1]

Jesus was no longer God.

The seven sayings are:

The seven sayings, being “last words”, may provide a way to understand what was ultimately important to this man who was dying on the cross.

(See Sayings of Jesus on the cross, Wikipedia.)

They do. The sayings of Jesus on the cross epitomize the burden of incarnation. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and had to leave the Garden of Eden, but they would be redeemed. Not only was Jesus made flesh, but he died a cruel death: crucifixion.

The Eucharist, or Holy Communion, commemorates the Last Supper. It invites an anamnesis. The host, l’hostie, represents the body of Christ. « Le Christianisme (…) utilise le pain pour représenter le corps de Jésus-Christ ».

“[D]o this in remembrance of me.”
« Ensuite il prit du pain; et, après avoir rendu grâces, il le rompit, et le leur donna, en disant: Ceci est mon corps, qui est donné pour vous; faites ceci en mémoire de moi.» (Luc 22 : 19).

During the Last Supper, Jesus of Nazareth knew that he had been betrayed and that he would be arrested. He was alone when his agony began.

The Canonical Hours

As for the nine (originally seven) Canonical Hours, they constitute vigilance. At the Garden of Gethsemane, during his agony, Jesus’ disciples would not keep watch with Him. Jesus was abandoned (See Matthew 26: 36 – 46).

Now Cenobite Monks, Monks who live under an abbey, observe nine Hours. Vigil was added, which precedes Matins. Monks keep watch night and day. Jesus, the Redeemer was a man and vulnerable. Vigils are kept the day or evening before Feasts. They may include or be replaced by fasting.

The Canonical hours are:

It is my understanding that the evening song or, evensong, comprises the Nunc Dimittis, Simeon’s song of praise. It is a canticle. The Hours are mostly Psalms, but include Antiphons, Responsories and Canticles.

“Why hast Thou forsaken me?”

This saying is Matthew 27: 46 & Psalm 22:1, but in my French psautier, the relevant Psaume is numbered 21. In my Bible, however, the same Psalm is numbered 22 (21):

« Mon Dieu, mon Dieu, pourquoi m’abandonner ? »
“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”
[Why hast Thou forsaken me?]

Jesus was a Jew and he spoke Aramaic. Eli would be Elijah. These words were uttered when Jesus was dying on the cross. In the ninth hour he said: My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? They are the fourth of seven sayings of Christ on the Cross (Les Sept Paroles du Christ).

Conclusion

On the cross, Jesus, God the Son, fully assumed his humanity, the incarnation. His disciples would not keep watch with him during his agony (Matthew 26: 36 – 46), and he was crucified (Psalm 22: [21]). All His sayings on the cross express the human condition, but none so powerfully as: “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” In « L’Isolement », Alphonse de Lamartine wrote: « Un seul être vous manque, et tout est dépeuplé » (Only one being is missing, and all is a wasteland). Lamartine borrowed this line from Nicolas-Germain Léonard (1844 – 1893). On the death of his daughter, Lamartine also wrote Gethsémani ou La Mort de Julia: « C’était le seul anneau de ma chaîne brisée » (She was the only link in my broken chain). Why hast Thou… Père, père…

I learned liturgy and liturgical music as a student of musicology and the theory of music. Jesus’ sayings on the cross have been set to music by several composers (see Sayings of Jesus on the cross, Wikipedia). To this body of music, Théodore Dubois (1837 – 1924) contributed: Les Sept Paroles du Christ, an Oratorio.

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[1] Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism, (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1973 [1957]), p. 36.

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Love to everyone 💕

Les Sept Paroles du Christ de Théodore Dubois interprété par l’Ensemble vocal Abbaye de la Cambre
Bronzino‘s depiction of the crucifixion with three nails, no ropes, and an hypopodium standing support, c. 1545. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
30 March 2021
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Liturgy as a Musical Form: the Hours and the Mass

07 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by in Feasts, Liturgy, Music

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Illuminations

Illumination

This post contains a tiny list of three posts written in 2011.  They have been revised.  For instance, they include more links.

1. The first post was republished earlier this week.  It tells that nature and, in particular, the degree of darkness and light, dictates the dates on which feasts are celebrated.  In other words, it tells about the calendar.

2. The second post deals with the Hours.  The Hours predate Christianity.  However, the concept of “watching” also finds its roots in Christ’s agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.  His apostles would not stay awake when he was about to be taken away and crucified.  My parish, so to speak, is the Benedictine monastery at Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, on Lake Memphremagog.  The Hours and the Mass are the two components of daily liturgy at Saint-Benoît-du-Lac.  Other priests, priests who are not monks, read their Breviary which is also a book of hours. This post also alludes to the solstices and equinoctial points.

Not mentioned in the posts listed below are the equinoctial tides.  Again, a natural phenomenon dictates a feast.  In September, at about the time the feast of St. Michael the archangel is celebrated, on September 29th, the tides are briefly at their lowest point.  The year I lived in Normandy, one could not see the water from the shore and Mont-Saint-Michel was an island.  When the water receded sheep would graze on the salted meadows, the prés salés.  We often ate lamb from the prés salés.  It was a treat.

3. The third post discusses Mass, the second and most important part of daily liturgy.  Mass can be short (the Ordinary of the Mass) and have no movable parts, such as the Agnus Dei, or it can be long, the Proper of the Mass).  It is also called the Eucharist as Communion is a constant reminder of the Last Supper.

Musicology

I thought I had learned the Mass as a child as well as Gregorian Chant.  I also had a brief career as church organist.  However, I did not know much, if anything, about the Mass or liturgy in general until I took courses in musicology from a teacher who was not a Catholic.  Secular music has existed for a very long time but sheer bulk precludes leaving Sacred Music out of musicology courses.  The same could be said about studying the Fine Arts, but to a lesser extent.

In particular, sacred music allows us to trace the development of polyphonic music, i.e. soprano, alto, tenor, bass (SATB) combined.  Some pieces combine more or fewer voices.  In secular music, studying the Madrigal is also a way of learning how polyphonic music developed.  However, Gregorian music is monodic or monophonic.

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composer: J. S. Bach  (31 March 1685 – 28 July 1750)
piece: Gloria in excelsis Deo, Messe h-Moll (BWV 232)
performers: Amsterdam Baroque Choir, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
conductor: Ton Koopman
painting: “The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew,” Caravaggio (29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610)

The Visitation in the Book of Hours of the Duc de Berry; the Magnificat in Latin

The Visitation in the Book of Hours of the Duc de Berry; the Magnificat in Latin

© Micheline Walker
December 7th, 2012
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(please click on the picture to enlarge it)

Components of the Mass as a Musical Form

19 Monday Dec 2011

Posted by in Liturgy, Music

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Missel dominicain

Ordinary of the Mass or Eucharist

Proper of the mass or Eucharist

Ordinary (in bold) & Proper of the mass

Introit, Kyrie, Gloria, Collect, Epistle, Gradual, Alleluia or Tract, Sequence (on major feasts), Gospel, Sermon, Credo, Offertory, Prayers, Secret, Preface, Canon, Sanctus, Pater noster (The Lord’s Prayer), Agnus Dei, Communion, Postcommunion, Ite missa est

Mass as a Musical Form

  • parts sung by the choir:
  • Introit, Kyrie, Gloria, [Gradual, Alleluia or Tract, Sequence], Credo, Offertory, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, [Communion], Ite missa est
  • parts intoned:
  • Collect, Epistle, Gospel, Preface, Pater Noster (The Lord’s Prayer), Post Communion
  • parts spoken:
  • Sermon, Prayer (Confiteor), Secret, Canon

Requiem* mass:

Introit, Kyrie eleison, Gradual, Tract, Sequence, Offertory, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Communion, Pie Jesu, Libera me, In paradisum.

*Requiem mass

The Last Supper, Bouveret

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(Please click on the title to hear the music.)

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© Micheline Walker
18 December 2011
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Liturgy as a Musical Form

15 Thursday Dec 2011

Posted by in Liturgy, Music

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codex-calixtinus

Liturgy as a Musical Form

I often encounter persons who tell me they love a certain piece of Christian liturgical music, but feel embarrassed because they are atheists, agnostics, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. We should note, therefore, that Sacred Music is not only liturgical, but that it is also, and officially, a musical form.

The Daily Liturgy

The Canonical Hours: Daily Liturgy

As we have seen in an earlier blog, Benedictine and other monks observe the Canonical Hours, thereby following the directives of Benedict of Nursia, the father of monasticism. But monks also celebrate Mass, the more important service of daily liturgy.

The Canonical Hours could be defined as a Vigil. During his agony, at Gethsemane, as he was about to be taken by the Romans and later crucified, Jesus was alone. One of his disciples had betrayed him and now everyone slept. Therefore, monks have long kept Hours.

The Mass: Daily Liturgy

Mass (liturgy)* is the central service of the Church and it commemorates the Last Supper, or the last time Jesus and his disciples broke bread and drank wine together. This explains why Mass is also called the sacrament of the Eucharist. The priest and the faithful take communion in remembrance of the Last Supper. Praticing Christians, Catholics at any rate, do not usually observe the Hours, except Vespers, occasionally. But they attend Mass every Sunday and on feast days, such as Christmas.

*or Mass (musical form); Mass (liturgy)

The Catholic Mass

The Ordinary of the Mass: Permanent Components

There are as many masses as there are days in the year, if not more, but all contain the Ordinary of the Mass. The Ordinary of the Mass is not variable and it comprises the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Ite missa est. The Ite missa est (Mass is finished) is sometimes replaced in Requiem Masses, Masses for the dead or Masses commemorating the dead. Mozart’s Requiem is considered one of the foremost examples of the genre.

The Proper of the Mass: Moveable Components

There is also a Proper of the Mass, which is variable. For example, Christmas Mass differs from Easter Mass. Moreover Masses are said in honour of apostles, martyrs, saints, archangels, etc. So the Proper of the Mass changes accordingly. The Proper contains the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia or Tract, Sequence, Offertory, Communion. These components are added to the Ordinary of the Mass.

The Accentus ecclesiasticus: more Moveable Components

Also variable are those parts of the liturgy which the priest, the deacon, the subdeacon, or the acolyte sing. These are the Collect, Epistle, Gospel, Secret, Preface, Canon and the Postcommunion.

The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcommunion was probably introduced by Andreas Ornithoparchus in his Musicæ Activæ Micrologus, Leipzig, 1517. Parts sung by the entire choir (mass ordinary, hymns, psalms, alleluia) form the concentus.

Mass is incorporated in the Liber usualis, but masses are usually the main content of the Missal.

The Nativity: Simeon’s Song of Praise at the Consecration of the firstborn son by Aert de Gelder, c. 1700-1710

The Four Seasons: Soltices and Equinoxes

Although the moveable parts of the Mass can be used to honour an apostle, a martyr, a saint, or serve some other purpose, the liturgical calendar also corresponds to the seasons or, more precisely, the solstices and the equinoxes, as we have seen in earlier blogs. But let us repeat that, traditionally, Christmas has been celebrated near the longest night of the year. In 2011, the winter solstice was on December 22nd.

As for Easter, the most important celebration of the liturgical year, traditionally, it has been celebrated near the vernal equinox, when night and day are the same length. The summer solstice, the longest day, is St. John’s Day, celebrated on the 24th of June. As for the autumn equinox, it used be called Michaelmas, but Michaelmas has disappeared. However, on September 29th, Christians still celebrate the feast of Michael the Archangel.

In order words, nature has been the mold in which feasts were, metaphorically speaking, poured. This eased the transition between “paganism” and Christianity. Roman Saturnaliæ and the Greek kômos (comedy) were replaced by Christmas.

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To sum up, although Sacred Music is liturgical, it is also a musical form. As a musical form it contains the daily liturgy, i. e. the Mass and the Canonical Hours, but it also includes oratorios (Handel’s Messiah), motets, cantatas, canticles, for the Virgin Mary especially, such as the Magnificat and the Ave Maria, and other forms or genres.

Sacred music has in fact proven an enduring musical form. John Rutter composed the music that was sung at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton and is also the composer of a Requiem, as is Andrew Lloyd Webber, or Baron Lloyd-Webber.

Moreover, the story of sacred music is also the story of polyphony “music in which voices sing together in independent parts”[i] in which it resembles the story of the Madrigal, to which composers kept adding voices.

This blog is now rather long, so I will end it. But I will include several musical examples from which you can choose.  

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The Lacrimosa and the Piu Jesu are part of a Requiem Mass. Here is a description of a Nunc dimittis (a song of praise).

(Click on title to hear music.)

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[i] J. P. Burkholder, D. J. Grout and Claude V. Palisca, A History of Western Music, 7th edition (New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company), p. 87.

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© Micheline Walker
15 December 2011
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