I am with you, Charles. An electronic organ still beats the alternatives - guitars, bongos, etc. For many smaller churches to obtain a pipe organ requires years of planning and commitment, and also a willingness to start small. Many priests and organists likely won't be there long enough to see such a plan through, at least in a Catholic parish.

I can't believe many of us are discussing instruments during Lent again. My aging body has barely recovered from Christmas. I am not even discussing whether or not I use the organ this year. If you are not there, you won't know or care. I may think of your wrangles and jeremiads about Lenten instruments as I enjoy some dark chocolate - a perfectly acceptable Eastern Christian fasting food - and meditate on the glorious resurrection to come.

Mia...

Bare branches?

The church says no instruments during Lent. So what is there to talk about? Really?

You either follow the instructions or you do not. There is no wiggle room.

In the Roman Catholic parish that you are in charge of the music at, do you use instruments during Lent or not. It's a simple question.

Jam, are you into meditative and spiritually uplifting lenten dark chocolate for the Great Fast? ;-)

No quotes from Canon Law, but this is how I understand (and implement) it:

The church says no instruments during advent and lent, except to support the singers where a complete a capella performance would not be feasible. It also says the same thing about All Souls Day and Masses for the dead...However, because of the loophole, we should not be letting our singers bemoan their inadequacy and plead for the organ accompaniment.

At my parish, only the organ is allowed during pre-lent (no orchestral instruments from Septuagesima onward), then bare bones 8' on lent 1,2 & 3 (that is to say as soft as possible for the ordinary and hymns and then, only to support the singers, as the congregation sings hymns and the gregorian ordinary with the choir). Our schola works their butts off to be able to hold their own w/o the organ on the propers during Lent, so I take a seat. No solo music or improvisation at any time during lent, including communion, preludes and postludes. On Rose Sundays, the organ plays at prelude, postlude, offertory and communion, and accompanies the propers - sort of a lenten hump-day. We try to program unaccompanied polyphonic masses and motets during lent to further minimize the already minimal organ playing.

After that, it's back to the lenten fast - no organ except for the congregational bits (even the responses are a capella). The organ has one last Hurrah at the Fanfare of the Gloria on Holy Thursday, then I pack it in and turn the instrument off for the weekend. During this time, it's no organ - no exceptions! Not even organ practice between the Gloria of Thursday and the Vigil. It's the only time I feel good about not practicing for 3 days! At the vigil, the intonation of the Gloria is the next time we hear the organ. After the intonation from the celebrant, it's fanfare and blazing reeds while the church is lit and the altar is re-dressed. Now we're back in business!

If your choir can handle the absence of any foundational support without faltering, the absence of the organ makes for a magnificent lent. Our choir looks forward to the tradition. In addition, many beautiful unaccompanied choral works have been written for lent and holy week. An organ-free lent is a beautiful time to experience those great masterpieces. Plus, Benediction is always accompanied by the organ even during lent, so people get their organ fix outside of mass.

Just my two cents...

I have been so sad about the music at my parish this lent for the mass I attend. I am the sacristan for this particular mass and can't go to another mass. The music leader is not Catholic and has turned the music into a jazz performance. Yesterday, in addition to the bass and electric guitar, flute, piano, and drums, she brought in a jazz saxophonist to play. They play so loud that the singers are drowned out and during our morning prayer gathering, with all of the liturgical ministers, the drummer (also not Catholic as well as most of the musicians) bragged that they were going to "blow the roof off" with the music today. The celebrant said only..."I thought this was Lent". The congregation doesn't sing and would be drowned out if we did.

It is not as though I don't have any musical or choral training because I sand with the Cathedral choir at my home parish for 20 years before we moved and the music was absolute wonderful and seasonally appropriate. I hate go to go mass on Sundays.

The French have always gone their own in way in many things ecclesiastical... Maybe beautiful, but doesn't make it right.

Serenity

tell them to take their show on the road. They would be very welcome in CA.

Donna

Once more priests stop looking away and address the abuse head on, the nonsense will begin to fade away. Pray for strength of character for our priests.

Concerning the microphone, the American bishops' document Sing to the Lord has some very useful comments; this document is eclectic and uneven, but here it is quite good.

WHAT. Why do they assume priests will be using microphones? Shouldn't the norm be NO microphones?

So, if the GIRM is:

In Lent the playing of the organ and musical instruments is allowed only to support the singing. Exceptions are Laetare Sunday (Fourth Sunday of Lent), Solemnities, and Feasts.

Why do so many not follow this?

How can we expect a reform of the liturgy when so many fail to even follow this plain and simple instruction?

The one thing for certain about this topic, is that someone will still be commenting on it during Advent. ;-) Lent, it's nearly over. Let us bless the Lord and give him thanks!

The interior materials in the church matter as well: e.g., carpeting.

The traditional solution is that in a good acoustic, singing carries the text perfectly. We used to sing a High Mass at the Stanford Memorial Church (which seats about 1200), and our aging priest would pull himself together and sing his heart out--you could hear every word from the back of the church. We still needed to provide him a microphone for the sermon!

That one is well put. The art of using a mic is a clumsy one at best. The less the better.

Acapella Triduum?
Can anyone provide a resource (USCCB or GIRM or Sing to the Lord) with directives
on ‘acapella only’ from Holy Thurs GLORIA to Easter Vigil GLORIA.
For YEARS, I’ve silenced the accompaniment Gloria to Gloria, but did a pastor tell me - did I learn it at a workshop - where did I get this from? Is it a ‘suggested / recommended’ practice or an actual Church document directive? Thanks for sharing your expertise, knowledge, and experience!!!

The Roman Missal's rubrics for Holy Thursday's Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper state this:

7. The Gloria in excelsis (Glory to God in the highest) is said. While the hymn is being sung, bells are rung, and when it is finished, they remain silent until the Gloria in excelsis of the Easter Vigil, unless, if appropriate, the Diocesan Bishop has decided otherwise. Likewise, during this same period, the organ and other musical instruments may be used only so as to support the singing.

So there is no directive nor even an official recommendation in the Missal that the music between Glorias during the Triduum be unaccompanied.

That doesn't mean that the music between Glorias can't or shouldn't be unaccompanied; just that there's no mandate nor instruction to do that.

Thank you so much!!

Can we (or have the bishops) define " a suitable reason, "?

Let's not. If the bishops' conference were to work out a list of specific suitable reasons, it would inevitably include a catch-all clause for cases not covered by the other items in the list, so it would (overall) not be different in substance from the current instruction.

What about Confirmation Mass during Lent? Our diocese has instructed us to use the ritual Mass for Confirmation and that includes the Gloria. Does that mean we also allow instrumental music in this case? Or is the Gloria just the exception here and everything else still follows Lenten protocol? We've never had Confirmation in Lent prior to this.

Thanks for the answer. That was my inclination, but I like to double check things. Usually I refer such questions to the diocesan director of liturgy, but he passed away a couple weeks ago.

I have had one wedding in Lent before. The bride said she didn't like flowers anyway.

The old question, "Can I play the organ during Lent?"

"I don't know. Can you play the organ when it isn't Lent?"

And in Passiontide, do you play parallel augmented fourths?