Mass Settings for the First Friday and Saturday
  • Anhaga
    Posts: 55
    I am planning sung Masses for the first Fridays and Saturdays. Children and teenagers will sing the ordinary and propers. (Boys started learning to sing the propers and girls will learn to sing the ordinary). Usually, Fridays and Saturdays have a small size of congregation and most of them are children and mothers. The musical demand is not as much heavy as Sundays. So I thought they are the good days for the children to start singing Gregorian chant for Masses.

    I choosed Mass XVI (For Ferias throughout the Year) for the Mass setting. I just want to make sure it is a right choice for the Mass setting. Can other Mass settings, such as Orbis factor, be used for weekday Masses? I welcome any suggestions or ideas.
  • Steve CollinsSteve Collins
    Posts: 1,021
    There are no rubrics that specify which Gregorian Mass settings to be used. There were traditions, but even those changed over the centuries. Neither are there any rubrics against mixing and matching.
  • Steve CollinsSteve Collins
    Posts: 1,021
    P.S. Of course, you could reserve the more complex settings, with their Glorias, for whenever Feast days fall on the first Friday or Saturday.
  • Anhaga
    Posts: 55
    Thank you for the reply!
  • Felicity
    Posts: 77
    Working with both boys and girls (separately), I found the Kyrie from Mass VII and the Gloria from Mass XV were easily learned. These pieces sounded very modal and beautiful when the boys and girls sang them "in alternatim".
    Interestingly enough, one lady of the parish commented on how well the "girls" had sounded, not realizing that every other line had been sung by the boys.
    The children also sang the Sanctus and Agnus Dei from Mass X.
    The Propers were sung by the boys to psalm tones as given in Rossini's "PROPER of the Mass".

    Deo Gratias!
  • Chrism
    Posts: 868
    First Saturday, typically being a Marian Mass, would indicate Missa Cum Jubilo (IX). This is a bit more complicated, so you can work up to it, but still (like all chant) well within the competence of trained children.
  • Anhaga
    Posts: 55
    Thank you all for the suggestions and ideas! I am supportive of singing the ordinary "in alternatim".
    And I love Missa cum Jubilo. It is one of my favorite Mass ordinary settings for the feast of Our Lady, though it seems still challenging for the kids. I agree that it is better for the boys to start with psalm tone propers. I hope the boys can gradually move on to singing authentic chant propers for the first Fridays and Saturdays. Once they learn them, they can sing the same propers repeatedly depending on the liturgical seasons.
  • Felicity
    Posts: 77
    I pray that your endeavor will be blessed with great success.
    Please keep us informed of your progress.

    Deo Gratias!
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