Lately I’ve been going to Mass at a beautiful church run by an order of Dominican friars. At the beginning of Mass all the Dominicans gather on either side of the altar and sing the Introit.
Introit (in’ trō it) n. 1. The city next to the largest city in Michigan. 2. German word for “come inside, dinner’s on the table.” 3. A short prayer sung when the priest begins Mass.
The 3rd definition listed is the one I would like to call your attention to, since the first two are utterly false. Yes, though we Catholics are used to starting Mass with an entrance hymn, the Church officially prefers chanting the Introit instead. I understand why. When a devoted band of Dominican friars begins singing chant in two or three part harmony, your soul necessarily rises up a little closer to God. There’s something about the way it isn’t sung according to a fixed rhythm—it feels like an ocean moving around you, an irregular push-and-pull but with a mind of its own. I wish every parish would drop the hymns (except in some cases) and start doing chants again.
I feel so strongly about this, in fact, that I decided to engage in a bit of advocacy journalism on the subject. I temporarily doffed my knavish blog persona, donned my Scholarly Egghead costume, and submitted an article to Crisis magazine that lauds the awesomeness of chantin.’ That’s right, I dropped the “g.” “Chantin’.” If you have a minute, please head over to Crisis, read my stuff, and leave some love in the combox!
Have a great day!
Amen! I’m linking to it in my blog post.
OK, so don’t tell anybody I said this, but I sing one of our church choirs and I would prefer chanting as well, esp. with the Kyrie, Gloria, Holy holy, etc. I think a chanted introit would be wonderful. I experienced performing some Gregorian chants in college, and it really is an art. The idea is to become “one sound”. I can see why it is done in religious communities with the Divine Office. It fosters a real sense of togetherness.
Lisa Schmidt Excellent post, Dan! My husband and I have the honor of celebrating Mass and praying the Divine Office with monks at Conception Abbey in Missouri from time to time, and the experience is elevated to anything beyond the “normal” experience at the parish level. I credit chanting in achieivng that result (along with purposeful silence, architecture and art, tempo of the Mass and the spoken word, both in the homily and way Scripture is proclaimed). Chanting certainly has been a prime way for my spirituality to be tapped in a way it’s never been before.
And sorry, I meant to leave the comment at Crisis. So I will head over ther now, too. Spamming away, today, I am!
Thanks for the encouragement, everybody! You’re awesome!