![]() ![]() They advised that language implying "that the elements are still bread and wine after consecration should be avoided," and that "poetic license should conform to customary usage of Scripture and liturgical Tradition." Regarding Eucharistic doctrine, the bishops warned that "Catholics nurtured on a steady diet of certain hymns will learn from them that at Mass we come together to share bread and wine, which remain bread and wine, a common meal, even if under special circumstances … A steady diet of these hymns would erode Catholic sensibility regarding the fullness of Eucharistic teaching, on the Mass as sacrifice, and eventually on the Church, as formed by that sacrifice." They urged that those involved in hymnody "be especially attentive" to six categories of potential deficiencies: in the presentation of Eucharistic doctrine of Trinitarian doctrine in the doctrine of God and his relation to humans a view of the Church that sees her as essentially a human construction doctrinally incorrect views of the Jewish people and incorrect Christian anthropology. "Since contemporary hymnody and contemporary catechetical texts evolved, to some extent, together, it can be useful to use this list of ten imprecisions to alert a bishop, pastor, or liturgical music minister to deficiencies they may find in hymns, or in a collection of hymns as a whole," the doctrine committee advised. "The sacred texts, and the liturgical sources which draw on the living Word, provide something of a 'norm' for expression when communicating the mystery of faith in liturgical poetics, or hymnody." Scripture provides "the normative idiom for the expression of the mystery," the bishops said. They added that "while there are a number of factors that affect the suitability of hymns for use in Catholic liturgy, such as singability, beauty of language, poetry, etc., in this resource we are concerned with their doctrinal content." Hymn-writers are bound to honor and communicate "the mystery of faith in word and music, and this requires genuine artistry, industry, and fidelity," the bishops wrote. At the same time, the beauty of the faith cannot be neglected - indeed it must be reverenced and highlighted - in the desire to communicate effectively the truth of what has been revealed." ![]() The truth of the faith need not be - and indeed must not be- compromised or subordinated to the canons of compositional style or the needs of musical or poetic form. It adds that since beauty and truth are convertible, "there can be no competition, much less contradiction, between the two. Hymnody's beauty "is constitutively related to the truth of the mystery of faith it proposes for our wonder and praise," the document's preface notes. While hymns needn't "be composed of doctrinal formulae … It is important to avoid language that could be easily misconstrued in a way that is contrary to Catholic doctrine," the bishops explained. bishops' doctrine committee provided two general guidelines for determining whether a hymn is doctrinally suitable for liturgical use: whether it conforms to Catholic doctrine, and whether its images and vocabulary appropriately reflect the usage of Scripture and the liturgical prayer of the Church. The document was distributed to bishops this month they were encouraged by the USCCB to share it with diocesan worship offices, pastors, and parish musicians. ![]() This cannot be done if language is used that is out of keeping with the sensibility created by scriptural texts and universal liturgical usage." ![]() "It is all the more important, then, that hymnody selected for the liturgical life of the Church successfully draw out the beauty of the Christian mysteries themselves. "Christian tradition, both Eastern and Western, has from antiquity been acutely aware that hymns and other songs are among the most significant forces in shaping – or misshaping – the religious and theological sensibility of the faithful," the committee wrote in "Catholic Hymnody at the Service of the Church," which is dated September 2020. The doctrine committee of the US bishops' conference (USCCB) earlier this year produced a guide to evaluating the lyrics of hymns on the basis of their doctrinal content, noting that Vatican II declared sacred music's purpose to be "the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful." ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |