Song and Sword

Learning the importance of music in the liturgy

10/28/2021

Lk 6:12-16 Jesus went up to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Do you have trouble remembering things? One of the best ways to aid your memory is with music. For example, can you name the twelve apostles that Jesus picks in the gospel today? You might guess most of them, but you might also miss one or two. I recently heard the names of the apostles set to music and it made it a lot easier for my poor memory. It went with the tune of “Jesus loves me this I know.”

It goes: “Jesus called them one by one, / Peter, Andrew, James and John, / Next came Philip, Thomas too, Matthew and Bartholomew. / Yes, Jesus called them, / Yes, Jesus called them, / Yes, Jesus called them, / He called them one by one. / James the one they call the less, / Simon also Thaddeus, / Twelfth apostle Judas made, / Jesus was by him betrayed. / Yes, Jesus called them, / Yes, Jesus called them, / Yes, Jesus called them, / He called them one by one.” If you sing that song a few times you will never forget the names of the twelve apostles, especially Simon and Jude.

I believe the connection between music and memory goes much deeper than learning a few names. It serves a liturgical function, that is, music stands in service of prayer and praise at Mass. St. Augustine famously said, “He who sings prays twice.” We Catholics are notorious for not singing – although we love to complain about other people’s singing – and so our worship suffers from a severe deficit. If the person who sings “prays twice,” then most of us Catholics are only “praying once” as we recite our prayers without musical accompaniment.

Ever since the COVID pandemic started we have cut back on singing, and we even removed the hymnals from the pews for a while. Of course we did that with an abundance of caution for people’s health and not to spread the virus. But the missing music was painfully obvious. Several parishioners asked me, “Fr. John, when are we going to start singing at Mass again?” My sarcastic side wanted to reply: “I would love to know when we Catholics will ever start singing!”

Did you know that many of the parts the priest says at Mass should really be sung? That is why many of our associate priests – well trained in seminary – have sung the opening prayer, the Alleluia, the Preface, etc. They are not showing off, but rather they sing because they are truly praying and praising God. The priest who sings prays twice. In other words, music does not just help us remember the apostles’ names; music is the best way to invoke God’s name at Mass.

Did you know that music is also essential in the Bible? In today’s gospel we read: “Jesus went up the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God.” How did Jesus pray? He did not pray the rosary all night. Jesus, being a good Jew, had a prayer book: it was the Psalter, the 150 Psalms. But the Jews did not recite the psalms like we recite the Responsorial Psalm at Mass. Rather, they sang it. It probably helped them remember the 150 psalms like music helps us remember the twelve apostles. When Jesus spends the night in prayer, therefore, we should imagine him on the mountainside singing the psalms and praising his heavenly Father.

If you study the book of Revelation closely, you will discover it is punctuated with hymn after hymn after hymn. Indeed, in just three chapters, Rv 4, 5, and 7, we find seven hymns that the angels and saints sing to worship God. And we sing some of those hymns at Mass, like the Holy, Holy, Holy in Rv. 4, or at least we should sing them. That is why the army of angels is best called “choirs of angels” (Rv. 5:11). The angels know better than St. Augustine that "he who sings prays twice."

In other words, when we sing in the liturgy (at Mass), we join the army of angels who march in musical formation and defeat the Evil One, with both song and sword, much like the Marines march in musical rhythm and sing as they go to war. And if we look a little closer at the spiritual battle, we will see that the song is the sword.

Praised be Jesus Christ!