The Musical, Liturgical and Pastoral benefits of a literal approach to the Psalms: A cost-benefit analysis.

I often find myself warning others about the dangers of literally interpreting the Bible. I tend to think and suggest that the Bible is a complex collection of writings that must be investigated at depth, opened up and explored at an exegetical level for a richer, fuller understanding to be reached. Accepting mere words on a page as the final word is simply not sufficient – there is always a deeper story and meaning to be found…

However, I recently read a blog at Dandy Kat Konnection that challenged this viewpoint of mine and made me think twice. [I would suggest you to read the hyperlinked article above as a bit of a backdrop before continuing any further here.]

The blog spoke about a congregation praying Psalm 150 in their worship space. As people entered – an assortment of percussive instruments were placed at the foot of the sanctuary and people were asked to select one of them as they entered and to ‘play’ it when the Psalm commenced.

Quite literally, the action of playing these instruments was a direct mimicking of Psalm 150:

‘Praise God with tambourine and dance;
Praise God with strings and pipe!
Praise God with clanging cymbals;
Praise God with loud clashing cymbals!’

What we see here is scriptural literalism occurring…seemingly at its [dare I say it] best! Apparently, the celebration was energising and a prayerful encounter with the joyful flavour of the final Psalm.

While, I am aware this kind of very interactive style of liturgy may not suit everybody – or congregation for that matter – there are a number of things happening here which I feel are worth exploring a little further.

There appear to be pastoral, musical and liturgical pros and cons to consider here. I will work through each of them individually and see what emerges:

PASTORAL: In the referenced story from Dandy Kat Konnection, the pastoral needs of the congregation are held as central. Their direct involvement in the playing and propulsion of the psalm places them in a wonderful position to [as Dr. Kathleen Harmon would argue] become the psalm.

There is a drama at play here that has an accompanying action that is in-sync with the words emanating from the Psalm. This in turn, reinforces the lyrical beauty of the Psalm – and I would argue creates for people a tool to remember the psalm. This is a great thing, as it makes it possible for the psalm to become something that will travel with the individual. It will more likely become a part of the prayer life of the person in their weekly pilgrim journey because of this event of memory which has been created by a visual, physical cue married to the text…and in a sung form at that! There is great pastoral benefit here…full, conscious and active participation!!

MUSICAL: Bring people together in this fashion and inviting them to actually play the music of the psalm is an ambitious venture. Quite possibly, the music might be enhanced – if you have some rhythmical members of the assembly. The power of sung prayer in this instance could be enhanced and ‘owned’ by the assembly in a very real way.

But what happens if this is not the case? What if people don’t have a rhythmical bone in their body and the music becomes overrun with banging and clanging and becomes very ‘unprayerful’ and a distraction? It would be best to avoid such a situation. Solution: target your ‘players’ perhaps prior to the liturgy? Issue: Would this in turn break the sense of spontaneity? This seems to be an area where there are more questions and unknown quantities. Do you take the risk and allow the Spirit to lead proceedings? Or is a more cautious and reserved approach warranted?

The idea of inviting anybody to play is a very community-driven, welcoming and dynamic thing to do. Musically however, I would say you might be setting yourself up for unforeseen and potentially sloppy musical delivery.

LITURGICAL: The liturgy in itself is a powerful manifestation of scripture. This is what Dom Cyprian Vagaggini O.S.B says about the scriptures in relation to the liturgy in his 1976 opus ‘Theological Dimensions of the Liturgy’:

‘The liturgy is concerned with the mystery of sacred history, the mystery of Christ, the mystery of the Church. But the liturgy does not invent this mystery; it simply finds it in the scriptures’.

The liturgical merits of praying the Psalms therefore seem grounded theologically. That participants of the liturgy are literally reinforcing what is being celebrated in the text of the Psalm itself by way of physical gesture and action – is surely highlighting the value and beauty of the Word.

This idea of literal mimicry within Catholic liturgy is nothing outlandishly new.

The gesture of raising one’s hands or arms in prayer to God is known as the Orans. Mostly associated with the Presider, it can also be used by members of the assembly to heighten their own prayer [although it is rarely seen]. The evangelicals love doing it at praise and worship sessions – you’ve probably seen it on television – all that arm waving - all the ecstasy of prayer and the like. The Catholics aren’t really into it and see it as the priest’s job to flap his arms about.

In the Roman Rite, the Orans take most notable effect at the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer with the priest calling ‘Lift Up Your Hearts’ [with arms elevated gesturing the assembly with word and action to follow]. There are of course many other points in the liturgy where the Orans is used.

Elsewhere in Catholic liturgy, such as in Evening Prayer, the use of physical gesture in Psalm 141 ‘Let my prayers rise up like incense before you – the lifting up of my hands – as an offering to you’…is also a place where the Orans can be used. On a personal note, it has been with a sense of delight that my wife and I have watched our two children spontaneously adopt the Orans when we sing Psalm 141 as part of our domestic adaptation of Evening Prayer. Their use of the Orans has developed simply by hearing the words being sung and deciding to literally mimic the words being recited with an appropriate and accompanying action. It has been fascinating to watch, because they were not prompted to do so my either my wife or myself.

Literally enacting the words of the psalm in this instance has enhanced our experience of Liturgy…as it no doubt did for Dan’s community and their rhythmical interpretation of Psalm 150. Biblical literalism may not be as dirty an idea as I once thought!

It seems to me, the Psalms can often come off second best in the liturgy and people often overlook them [or fail to see them] as the wonderful source of prayer that they are. They are essentially, as I have said previously, the prayers and songs of Jesus himself. It is necessary and important that we therefore make them our own songs too.

Dan at Dandy Kat Konnection might be onto something in the way his community celebrated Psalm 150. Are there other Psalms that could be investigated in a similar interactive way that will heighten the pastoral, liturgical and musical needs of the gathered faithful?

CD Review: TONY ALONSO and GABE HUCK, By Heart – Seasonal Songs for Gathering, Interceding, and Communion (GIA Publications, Inc.)

The more I listen to this CD – the more I like it.

But when I first purchased it, took it home and played it – I wasn’t that enthused. Now with hindsight, I realise I was listening to it in the wrong way. I would argue that ‘By Heart’ is a collection more-so geared towards communities and Liturgy Committees who are looking at ways in which they can sing the rites – and not [as Alonso and Huck stress in the liner notes] sing during the rites. This is a recording to give ideas about how liturgy can be celebrated – not a CD to be ‘listened’ to for enjoyment or pleasure per se. This being said, imagining how music and ritual could be fused as displayed on ‘By Heart’ is a pleasurable experience to hear.

The CD comprises 12 tracks and is divided into 4 parts: Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. Each of the four liturgical seasons are presented by three different songs: a Gathering Rite, Intercessions and a Communion Rite.

Tony Alonso and Gabe Huck have worked together to produce a helpful resource. Huck has been responsible for the spoken texts, while Alonso has been charged with the music and arrangements. There exists a gentle and obvious symbiosis between the two, which is helped by the production of Marty Haugen. The collection attempts to create various moments of the Mass, punctuated by the music and texts presented. And while Huck and Alonso in the liner notes acknowledge that ‘it is impossible to capture the life and rhythm of a liturgical celebration on a studio recording’ – they have certainly captured my imagination about how things might look [and sound] by adapting what is presented here and applying it to various liturgical settings.

The collection begins with Advent. The Gathering Rite is an adaptation of ‘Come, Emmanuel’ – a popular hymn of Advent. The treatment given here is reflective and bordering on being somber. This is not an upbeat version of ‘Come O Come Emmanuel’ as heard on Alonso’s 2001 ‘Fresh As The Morning’ which had a great sense of urgency that seemed to mirror our own propulsion to the Christmas event. No – this is a much more measured affair. The music begins which lasts for a few minutes, then the spoken liturgical greeting is given by Fr. Ray East [yeah!] whose arresting and excellent spoken word delivery as seen on ‘You Can Make Me Whole’ [Reach Towards Heaven, David Haas, 2003] and also as the Narrator in Marty Haugen’s recent opus ‘So That You May Have Life’ is gladly welcomed. The text spoken by East [written by Huck], are justice-driven and stand as the highlight on this particular track. After the spoken welcoming rites [with music being played in the background all the while], a final refrain of ‘Come, Emmanuel’ is collectively sung. Nice.

The Intercessions are spoken verbally with a sung refrain of ‘Come Quickly, Lord’ - which is an adaptation of the traditional chant ‘Conditor Alme Siderum’. The texts are focused and concise with the music providing a gentle under-current to help things along.

The Communion Rite begins with the Lamb of God with the cantor being provided by Marty Haugen. The music for the setting is based on ‘Blow the Candles Out’ [a traditional English folk tune]. The rhythm is driving and stirring, but not overpowering. This segues into the Communion Song ‘God Shall Gather In’ [still using and adapting the melody] which flows nicely.

The next three tracks are devoted to the season of Christmas. The Gathering Rite is based on African American Spiritual ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain’. The music is upbeat with some tasty Soprano Sax being played by John Wojciechowski. The gathering song fades away to a spoken liturgical greeting by Fr. Bob Oldershaw. After this brief welcome, the Gloria is sung based on another African American Spiritual, ‘Plenty Good Room’. The gospel feel of this entire Gathering Rite is galvanizing and infectious. What a way to celebrate the Christmas event!

Marty Haugen again sings as cantor on the track ‘Child of Mary’ which is the sung response to the Intercessions for the Christmas season. Haugen sings, ‘All creation, raise your voices: Child of Mary, Hear Our Prayer’. Haugen’s singing is sweet and inviting. The instruments are piano and gently strummed guitar are simply arranged and this works to great effect.

Next, the Communion Rite. Again starting at the Lamb God, but with a musical setting called ‘Come to Bethlehem Manger’ based on yet another Spiritual ‘Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow’. ‘Come to Bethlehem Manger’ starts immediately after ‘..but only say the Word and I shall be healed…’ which provides insight as to the timing of the Communion Song. This immediacy sits well with the flow of the entire piece and flow of the Liturgy. David Haas says in his book ‘The Ministry and Mission of Sung Prayer’ the Communion Song should start immediately begin after the Lamb of God – and the settings as shown on ‘By Heart’ indicate this. Quite often, this time during Mass is an awkward silence…not here. I like it. It makes good musical, liturgical and pastoral sense.

The next bracket is devoted to Lent. The mood is sorrowful and serious. The Gathering Rite and Intercessions are musically based on traditional chants; with the Intercessions based on ‘Parce Domine’. The arrangements are stark and bare – even haunting. The Communion Rite is based on the Iona ‘Take, O Take Me as I Am’ written by John L. Bell.

The collection concludes with attention given to Easter. The mood is joyous with the setting targeted for Easter Sunday celebrations. ‘Halle, Halle, Halle’ begins proceedings with light and bouncy percussion. Fr. Ray East again gives the spoken liturgical welcome. A blessing of the water follows after the general greeting [for the purposes of a Sprinkling Rite?]. The text here is excellently scripted by Huck with wonderful references to scripture dealing with the image of water.

The Intercessions are a celebration with the spoken petitions referring to ‘those baptized last night’. Tony Alonso sings the response ‘Hear Us, Saviour: Hear Our Prayer’. The language is relevant and appropriate with a musical sense of optimism.

‘Joyous Cup’ concludes the Easter season as the Communion Rite. Starting out quite slowly, the tempo increases as soon as the Lamb of God ends. The pace quickens and swirls to a triumphant anthem with various cantors adding to the joyful melody including Tony Alonso, Jeanne Cotter, ValLimar Jansen and Marty Haugen. It fittingly concludes the collection on an optimistic and uplifting note.

This is not a ‘song-fest’ CD such as i.e.: The Best of David Haas Volume 1 & 2. What is presented here is an ‘ideas’ CD. Listen to it and give yourself some new ideas about how Liturgy may be enhanced with the powerful medium of music at your local parish center. It might be rather timely to go a purchase ‘By Heart’ as we are nearly in the season of Advent - and Christmas will be upon us before we know it. Having a resource such as this at your disposal may well prove useful.