At the risk of sounding stupid, where do I find Rana Verbum? I am at my wits end with the question of length, almost to the point of tears.

Boy, do I feel dumb...

Seriously, I need to find some sort of documentation other than the MP to back up the idea that the chants cover liturgical actions. This has really been frustrating.

Ranae non clamabunt.

Google Translate is your friend, especially at the Vatican ATM.

I stop when the pastor says to stop. I'd check with yours and/or each presider, they all have a philosophy on this matter like we do. But I've found after almost 30 years of music ministry that you do what the boss wants. We do have a guest presider who waits until the last verse of the recessional chant before turning around to recess out. He made his desires known the very first time without a word having to be spoken!

Oh how I long for the reinstatement of the prayers at the foot of the altar...

Especially when incense isn't used, the Gregorian Introit can go on for an awkward amount of time if sung properly. While I agree the tract can often go on for a very long time, it's a completely different animal. It's meant to be a meditation chant. It IS the liturgical action, whereas the Introit ACCOMPANIES the liturgical action. It's my hope that these little disconnects are noticed and rectified little by little. I think it will happen...we've just got to be patient, but not just rest on our laurels. It can be hard to strike that balance sometimes. :-)

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal mentions the beginning and end of the entrance chant:

47. When the people are gathered, and as the Priest enters with the Deacon and ministers, the Entrance Chant begins.
(...)
50. When the Entrance Chant is concluded, the Priest stands at the chair and, together with the whole gathering, signs himself with the Sign of the Cross.

There are two observations:
1. The minimal length of the entrance chant is determined by the duration of the required actions between the start of the procession and the priest standing at the chair, i.e. the procession itself and the reverence to the altar.
2. The maximal length of the entrance chant isn't governed by the liturgical actions it accompanies. This indicates that the entrance chant is also a ritual action in itself, which is confirmed by what the GIRM has to say about its purpose:

47. (...) Its purpose is to open the celebration, foster the unity of those who have been gathered, introduce their thoughts to the mystery of the liturgical time or festivity, and accompany the procession of the Priest and ministers.

If the entrance antiphon with psalm verses is sung, at least the minimal length of the ritual text provided by the liturgical sources should be sung, i.e. the text of the antiphon alone (cf. De Musica Sacra 21b). When this doesn't cover the length of the procession and reverence to the altar, the entrance chant can be prolonged in one of the following ways (cf. Introduction to the Ordo Cantus Missae 1):
- add a single psalm verse provided by the Graduale Romanum and repeat the antiphon
- add a single psalm verse, repeat the antiphon, sing the Gloria Patri and repeat the antiphon one last time
- add multiple psalm verses, sung alternatively with the antiphon (which may be repeated after each verse or after every other verse), using the Gloria Patri as the final verse. However, the verses should be selected in such a manner, that they form one integral thought (cf. Foreword to the Graduale Simplex 19).

If a hymn is sung as the entrance chant, it should not become too protracted.

Thank you to those who posted. I always time the chant/hymn with the priest. I do not let him wait at the chair. Sometimes it takes only one verse (we have a small church and the aisle is short), and sometimes, for solemnities, it can go a lot longer. It just depends, but once the priest reaches the chair and is ready to say the opening prayer, I resolve the hymn.

Cutting stanzas of hymns is one of the first things an Episcopalian notices when visiting a Roman Catholic church. :) Probably noticed by Lutherans, too, and others. Perhaps besides being good traveling music, a hymn has its own integrity as a text: a prayer, poem, meditation. I do like Gavin's idea of lifting your hands if a hymn is expected to be cut off. :)

I bet it was a very edifying moment.

At my parish, the MD uses the hymn as a "prelude" of sorts. They sing every verse of the hymn, then the ministers process to the introit, which can of course fit the length of the liturgical action. Perhaps that could kill two birds with one stone?

Is he using incense at the beginning? That usually keeps them busy for a while.

Fifteen minutes for announcements!!! That would not go over well chez nous. Longer than the homily.

I would also have a sit-down with the pastor and bring forward your difficulties with his suggestions.

I would not play through the whole hymn as an introduction. I would give a brief introduction of four or so measures.

Consider beginning the hymn a couple of minutes prior to the normal start of the procession. Again, this would require a chat with Father. As Ben mentioned, it would solve a couple of problems.

I don't have a problem reducing the number of verses in a hymn, but that is just me. Our pastor asked we do the same. Because we are the last Mass of the morning, it can go overtime. The other Masses can't due to parking.

Our parish does not sing. It seems to me that the parish will sing when the pastor sings. But that is just my experience.

Thanks all. Will definitely be having a chat with Father.

@matthewj - Incense? Ha! He gets complaints from people who are "allergic". Probably the same people who complain about singing an extra verse. For Holy Week, we had to specially announce in advance that incense would be used on Holy Thursday and Easter Vigil.

@ Andrew Malton - Sometimes we even have Father make his announcements, followed by another speaker, and then followed by yet another speaker! (Everything is in the bulletin, of course, but who reads that, right?) Oh, and my pastor's homilies are regularly longer than 15 minutes.

@melofluent: It seems that the circumambulation plan presumes that: a) the sacristy is adjacent to the sanctuary (or otherwise at the front of the church), and b) the length of the aisle is long enough to allow an entire hymn/chant to be sung. Neither of these are true in our church. So, instituting this would require the procession to either walk really slowly (which is not a bad thing) or make an extra loop around the church.

make an extra loop around the church.

Good catch, soarmarc. I gotta counter tho'. Have you ever been to a three hour Russian Orthodox Divine Liturgy in Russia? As regard's loops, I don't think they think "extra" is a bad thing.

On the other hand, he wants me to engage the congregation in singing...

Our sympathies are with you! Presumably he's already heard hints about his example being the most influential thing that can be done for congregational singing.

...the risk of making the music more important than the act.

This seems to invite all sorts of silliness, unless one has an exaggerated estimation of the importance of covering 30 yards or so. If the congregation is being invited to 'enter' into worship by singing a hymn, then the music is the act.

Or one could just choose hymns with only 2-3 verses.

Aren't enough for the year? Commission Pluth or Wood to write some texts and pair them with classic tunes.

Is it thinkable to play an instrumental for the procession

Yes, but then that "Sing the Mass" stuff is not operative.

VII. The length of the liturgical chant
22. It is not lawful to keep the priest at the altar waiting on account of the chant or the music for a length of time not allowed by the liturgy. According to the ecclesiastical prescriptions the Sanctus of the Mass should be over before the elevation, and therefore the priest must here have regard for the singers. The Gloria and the Credo ought, according to the Gregorian tradition, to be relatively short.

23. In general it must be considered a very grave abuse when the liturgy in ecclesiastical functions is made to appear secondary to and in a manner at the service of the music, for the music is merely a part of the liturgy and its humble handmaid.

Thank you very much :)

Thank you for posting this quote. I was going to dig it up, myself. The problem is that the OCP and GIA planning guides almost always fail to take this into account.

Dear MMR, nice to have you posting again. It would have been good had Heitor mentioned the source for contextual purposes. "Planning guides," with the possible sole-exception of Gary Penkala/CanticaNova, are virtually useless and a dedicated musician would eschew all of them. However, in light of Heitor's citation, one would have to concede that much of the polyphonic/baroque/classical etc. Mass Ordinary settings would be subject to the same legal strictures. That's very problematic, unnecessarily so. Ecclesiastes Rule: there's a time for the ICEL/Jubilate Deo Mass, and there's a time for a Vierne orchestral Mass. Choose wisely.

My pastor waits up to two or three verses because he and the music director hate truncating hymns, so the Introit is timed to when he gets to the sanctuary or is incensing.

If you are in a place using a long polyphonic or orchestral Mass on a Sunday, I suspect you aren’t in too much of a hurry and that the priest will do as much as he can to work with the selections (even if he can’t say the Canon under the Sanctus, for instance).

@Paul_D: I didn't know that there existed published CCCB guidelines for liturgical music. You'd think they could make such things more readily available. Any idea where I could acquire a copy?

Too bad your parish did not acquire one. The CCCB has indicated that they will be republishing the guidelines updated according to the new GIRM. It will not be published as a companion to the CBW III so that it will be clearer that it does not apply to that hymnbook alone. Perhaps that publication will be the occasion of a conversation with your pastor.

I think a distinction needs to be made between proper and ordinary. Propers in general accompany an action. A Gregorian introit has psalm verses, which can be used if the procession and incensation of the altar has not been finished. The ordinary does not accompany anything else, but IS the liturgical action; it does not hold anythng up, because it is the only thing happening at that time. Thus, the ideal might be to cultivate the singing of the ordinary by the congregation and leave the proper to the choir. This of course is probably done only gradually.

Now for the flip side. What about the recessional? There continues to be a debate in my parish about how long this should be. My parochial vicar is of the opinion that the music should be long enough to cover his exit. We don't have to sing 17 verses of it. Even the Roman Missal is silent on this.