JESUS SANG

Mark 14:26

1. Singing is one of the primary ways that the assembly of the faithful participates actively in the Liturgy. The musical formation of the assembly must be a continuing concern in order to foster full, conscious, and active participation.
2. Music should be considered a normal and ordinary part of the Church’s liturgical life. Singing by the gathered assembly is important at all celebrations. Among the parts to be sung, preference should be given “especially to those to be sung by the priest or the deacon or the lector, with the people responding, or by the priest and people together.” The dialogues of the Liturgy are fundamental because they “are not simply outward signs of communal celebration but foster and bring about communion between priest and people.”
3. The importance of the priest’s participation in the Liturgy, especially by singing, cannot be overemphasized. The priest sings the presidential prayers and dialogues of the Liturgy according to his capabilities, and he encourages sung participation in the Liturgy by his own example, joining in the congregational song.
4. In order to promote the corporate voice of the assembly when it sings, the priest’s own voice should not be heard above the congregation, nor should he sing the congregational response of the dialogues. While the assembly sings, the priest should step back from a microphone, or, if he is using a wireless microphone, he should turn it off.
5. Programs of diaconal formation should include major and compulsory courses in the chant and song of the Liturgy.

Taken from “Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship” USCCB, 2008