Music in The Catholic Church

The serious study of the liturgical music of the Catholic Church — namely Gregorian Chant, polyphony and those modern forms of music that are consonant with the Church’s liturgical spirit and tradition — is of utmost importance in the education of a Church musician.

To sing well is to sing with a heart that is on fire for God. Our earthly music, no matter how refined it is in our vision, or how imperfect it may be in God’s, will be pleasing to Him only when we truly become mirrors of charity. As Benedictine Father Stephen Thuis wrote in 1952, “It is of interest to note that today we are experiencing a revived appreciation of plainchant. This, then, would indicate … that we are in the midst of a reawakening of the religious spirit”

Church musicians are exhorted to follow the advice of Pope Saint Pius X, who counseled pastoral musicians, before making music before the Lord, to pray and meditate on the sacred words of the liturgy entrusted to the choir. If the renewal of liturgical music today is to bear lasting fruit, then each of us must cultivate a liturgical piety based on profound and prayerful meditation on the Word.