Due to COVID....singing restrictions ... Alleluia and verse
  • HollyO
    Posts: 7
    So, I know that the GIRM says that if the alleluia is not sung, it may be omitted. I’ve read some discussions here. We are speaking it, because of COVID, the assembly in our diocese is not singing and the cantor is only allowed to sing the Introit and Communion antiphon. I know this does not follow progressive solemnity. Here is the question, the lector IS saying the Alleluia and verse, in this case does the lector say it, then the people respond(speaking), then the lector says the verse, then all respond( saying alleluia) ? Does the lector say it as written with no response from the people? Where would one look to find this information?

    I know it’s a peculiar situation, but sometimes obedience is the point and we all strive to do the best we can.

    Thank you for your consideration,
  • Andrew_Malton
    Posts: 1,184
    In paragraph 63 it's clear that the option to omit the Alleluia altogether is only available for ferial Masses ("quando una tantum habetur lectio ante Evangelium").

    (At the Sunday Mass I attended yesterday evening, the very careful and tradition-minded priest, who also may not sing, read the Introit and the Communio from the Missal, as the rubric says, but omitted the Alleluia. So ymmv.)

    In paragraph 62 the verb is always canere, so that some people say the Alleluia must be sung on Sundays and Solemnities. (I think this.) At any rate, there is no rubric governing how to say the Alleluia without singing it.

    I would say that the best thing to do on Sundays, if singing is actually forbidden, is what you say you are doing above, namely speaking the Alleluia and verse using the same method as for singing.
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,460
    The Introduction to the Lectionary seems quite emphatic. But of course it predates the current GIRM.
    c Acclamation before the reading of the Gospel
    23, The Alleluia or, as the liturgical season requires, the verse before the gospel, is also a ‘rite or act standing by itself.’(41) It serves as the assembled faithful’s greeting of welcome to the Lord who is about to speak to them and as an expression of their faith through song.
    The Alleluia or the verse before the gospel must be sung and during it all stand. It is not to be sung only by the cantor who intones it or by the choir, but by the whole congregation together.(42)
    Since I pointed this out in a previous parish about 25 years ago, the words Alleluia, .. have always been intoned by the reader, demonstrating that anybody can sing. (Feria or Feast, to the triplet purloined from Easter Lauds, at least whenever I visit)
  • CCoozeCCooze
    Posts: 1,259
    It is not to be sung only by the cantor who intones it or by the choir, but by the whole congregation together.(42)

    Can you force the PiPs to sing along?
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,086
    Vee haf ahr vaze.

    Alternatively: "If the congregation sings enthusiastically, Fr Droanon will cut [5] minutes from his homily."
    Thanked by 2CharlesW veromary
  • HollyO
    Posts: 7
    Just to clarify, the assembly in our diocese is currently not allowed to sing. Inside or outside, the Priest is not allowed to sing either, only the cantor.
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,460
    speaking the Alleluia and verse using the same method as for singing

    That's pretty general in the UK, even though the rubrics deprecate it.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,211
    Same here. It's common for lectors or priests at weekday Masses or even at Sunday Masses without music to speak the Alleluia in the way HollyO describes:

    Lector (speaking): Alleluia.
    People: Alleluia.
    Lector: [speaks the verse]
    All: Alleluia.

    That doesn't seem to follow the norms, but church authorities have tolerated it for so long, they apparently consider it harmless.

    Perhaps the best solution would be to interpret the diocesan directive as implicitly allowing people to omit the alleluia altogether. Your diocesan Office for Worship could confirm if that's a reasonable interpretation.
  • Nathan_the_Organist
    Posts: 438
    At my church (congregational singing prohibited), the alleluia is being sung by just the cantor accompanied by the organ. At daily masses, our pastor just reads the verse omitting the alleluia refrain.
  • Chris Garton-Zavesky
    Posts: 6,902
    This article (see link) from (of all places) Church Militant sheds some light on the question of singing and the Wuhan Flu.

    https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/new-research-exposes-bishops-choral-fiasco
    Thanked by 4tandrews ServiamScores Chrism stulte
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