Chants of the Masses of All Souls

31 October 2018 Annual, Chant, Holy Days, Latin, The Sacred Liturgy

Can we talk about Gregorian chant? Because All Souls Day – coming up on November 2nd – has some doozies. I confess that I was a fan of chant long before I was a Catholic. In part, God used the beauty of this kind of music to draw me to Him.

Specific chants are prescribed for each Mass in both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite. Each day’s Mass has its own chants. Some of the texts are printed directly in the Roman Missal, but most are collected in a liturgical book called the Graduale Romanum. There are dozens of English versions of these available for the Ordinary Form if you don’t like the Latin.

Mind you, in the Ordinary Form, it’s become practice – despite the rules governing this – to replace them with hymns or other songs. There are plenty of folks, particularly those of my parents’ generation, who prefer the “five-hymn” sandwich approach to the Mass, using bouncy uptempo songs they say are more “joyful” than the antiphons.

Of course, it was exactly these sorts of songs that helped convince me in my teenage years that the Catholic Church offered nothing of weight or substance. In my head, I continue to associate these kinds of songs with sloppy, irreverent liturgy, and sloppier catechesis.

There are still songs I can’t hear without immediately thinking of the guitar-strumming Deacon Dieter from my high school. For those of us in my school seeking a deeper spirituality, this was all just saccharine and fluff.

The church asks us to sing these antiphons. Skipping them or replacing them is just one step removed from replacing the Responsorial Psalm… or the readings. Recently, I wrote a lengthy article on the antiphons, and I encourage you to read it for more information.

Here are some of the traditional chants for All Souls Day. Clearly, since this is a day specifically dedicated to the praying for the dead, none of them are particularly bouncy and light. And they shouldn’t be.

If you only listen to one, listen to the Dies Iræ. Enjoy!

Lyrics and translations may be found on Wikipedia, of course.

Introit: Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine (Grant them eternal rest, O Lord)