Communion practicalities
  • JazFenn
    Posts: 8
    What is the most efficient way to handle communion? Our musicians are up in the choir loft. We are moving towards chanting the antiphons, but we aren't there yet.

    Right now, the cantor and accompanist start the hymns right away, and then the priest or deacon brings communion up to the loft after everyone else has received. Father doesn't quite like how there is a awkward lull while he brings communion up, or waits for the deacon to return so that he can purify the vessels. However, our musicians can't go down to receive first and make it back up to the loft with enough breath to start the hymns in time.

    How do you handle this at your parishes? We also have a choir which sings occasionally, and how should we handle that?

  • TCJ
    Posts: 1,043
    Depending on the Mass and attendance we do it multiple ways:

    1. Choir sings the antiphon and then goes down to receive. I play organ meanwhile. I can receive at a different Mass.

    2. Choir receives after Mass.

    3. Someone comes up to the loft at the same time others are receiving Communion. The short time between the antiphon and Communion is either filled with organ or there's a bit of silence.
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen Abbysmum tomjaw
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,523
    GIRM #86 treats the Communion Rite (within Mass) - and takes normative precedence over Father's dislike:

    86. While the priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion chant is begun. Its purpose is to express the communicants' union in spirit by means of the unity of their voices, to show joy of heart, and to highlight more clearly the "communitarian" nature of the procession to receive Communion. The singing is continued for as long as the Sacrament is being administered to the faithful. If, however, there is to be a hymn after Communion, the Communion chant should be ended in a timely manner.

    Care should be taken that singers, too, can receive Communion with ease."


    (emphases added)

    That would mean it's neither the priest's nor music director's normative authority to prevent or discourage choristers from receiving during Mass (choristers could freely choose to receive after Mass, and should be accommodated if they freely make that choice). Having a deacon able to go to the loft is a great blessing. Silence can remind us that the Mass does not have a constant soundtrack. That said, psalms and canticles with antiphons/responsories are very handy.
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen Roborgelmeister Abbysmum
  • rvisser
    Posts: 86
    If I am the cantor/organist (Sat nights), I chant the antiphon, sing a few verses of the hymn, and then walk down to the communion rail to receive. This means there is silence during communion for a few minutes.

    On Sundays when the choir sings, I typically do not receive communion (I attend daily Mass with my students four days a week, so this is a sacrifice I have chosen to make). I sing the Gregorian antiphon while the choir receives, giving them plenty of time to walk up the stairs and catch their breath before starting the hymn or motet.

    I've been at several parishes which all handle this situation differently, and I think my current set up is the most effective, given that my pastor has chosen not to send a deacon up to the loft to distribute. We do not have EMHCs. My singers are appreciative of receiving during Mass.
  • davido
    Posts: 1,170
    The Eucharist should stay in the sanctuary. The organ gallery is a musical workspace. When choristers going down to receive, there can be silence, or organ music. Or they should receive after mass.
    GIRM 86 is a flowery bit of dreaming that has little basis in reality or good musical taste. Communion takes 8-10 minutes at my place. What music form can maintain interest for that long?
    Thanked by 2tomjaw Chant_Supremacist
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 3,326
    I am in a context where there’s no choice, and sometimes we’re going to have a delay, or the choristers can’t receive, but David is right. GIRM 86 is ridiculous on its face. The musicians, or some of them, should go first when possible.
    Thanked by 2tomjaw Chant_Supremacist
  • Chaswjd
    Posts: 303
    There are any number of ways to handle it. If you are a Novus Ordo parish, you could have an extraordinary minister bring communion up to your loft.

    You could have the choir start down to line up for communion after the Agnus is done while you keep a cantor in the loft to start the antiphon. The choir receives first before the rest of the congregation while the antiphon is sung. When the choir is back, the cantor goes down to receive.

    There are surely other ways to do it.
    Thanked by 1Roborgelmeister
  • Felicia
    Posts: 149
    If the cantor or 1-2 singers from the choir are comfortable singing the antiphon a capella, they could do so while the other singers and the organist receive. Then, they can receive communion once the larger group is back. Obviously, this would work better if the antiphon is followed by a congregational hymn rather than a choral piece.

    At the Mass I usually play (Saturday vigil), the cantors prefer to be accompanied. When we have a group of singers who want to sing harmony on the hymn, we do the antiphon first, receive communion, and then do the hymn. It does mean there is break in the singing. But if it's one cantor plus myself, we are often the last ones to receive.
    Thanked by 1Roborgelmeister
  • LexOrandi
    Posts: 2
    Forgive the long response here...I'm new here and I have a lot to say!!

    Short answer @JazzFen - based on the conditions you have outlined, in my opinion the choir should receive after Mass or go down to receive after the Agnus Dei with a minute to catch their breath on returning to the choir loft.

    I direct music at two Masses each Sunday, one EF and on NO. In the traditional Mass the choir goes down from the choir gallery immediately after chanting the Agnus Dei so they are the first to receive Communion. When they return to the gallery we begin the Communion motet and the Communion chant. In the NO (which is at a different church) a priest or an EMHC brings the Eucharist to the choir gallery and the choir receive Communion after they sing. My preference is for the first option.


    There are, of course, several considerations:

    - While the GIRM states that the Communion chant should be begun as the celebrant receives the Eucharist, it is referring (in the ideal, at least) to the "Communion chant" i.e. the proper Communion antiphon for the day. My reading of the relevant section, is that this is the reason why the Communion chant is distinguished from the hymn which may also be sung (i.e. the Communion chant is not an "ordinary" hymn). In most parishes (in my experience) the proper antiphon is rarely sung, so I would ask the question: If the proper antiphon is not being sung at all, is there any obstacle to the choir receiving Communion first?


    - The notion of a priest / deacon / EMHC bringing Holy Communion up to the choir in the choir loft seems inappropriate to me. Firstly, GIRM 160 says that the communicants, as a rule, approach in procession - not that the Eucharist is brought out of the sanctuary and to the people or to the choir. In addition to this, choir-loft staircases can often be tricky to navigate, and there is the danger - as I have unfortunately witnessed - of the priest / deacon / EMHC falling and spilling hosts from the ciborium. In addition to this, in a former parish where I worked, an EMHC used to bring Holy Communion up to the gallery - some perfectly mobile people in the pews at the back of the church, knowing that an EMHC would be making their way to the choir gallery, would not approach the sanctuary for Communion, but would stay in their places until the EMHC passed by them...In other words, it cultivated a notion in some people that absolutely nothing is demanded of them when receiving Communion - they didn't even have to leave their pew!


    - Another consideration is the age-profile of the choir, particularly if there are mobility issues. It might be difficult enough for some choir members to get up to the choir gallery and back down once, never mind having to do so before or after singing at Communion. If this is a concern, I think receiving Communion after Mass would be better. If choir-members are not relatively fit, there will likely be a lot of huffing and puffing if they are required to sing after returning to the choir gallery.


    - Clearly the GIRM shows concern for musicians being able to participate fully in the Mass, and in my experience, the question of when the choir should receive Holy Communion has only every been an issue in the NO. However, it seems to me that the GIRM makes the reception of Communion by the choir logistically difficult (particularly in a big church) if they are expected to chant the Communion antiphon for as long as the Sacrament is being distributed and then go to receive...And the primary reason for this, according to the GIRM 86, is to "express unity" and highlight "the communitarian nature" of the procession to Communion - in fact, unity in silent procession could be said to express the very same thing! The primary reason, of course, for any of our music at Mass, is to glorify God - a far more important consideration than highlighting the "communitarian nature" of a procession.


    - A final consideration, and an argument I would make for the choir receiving Communion after Mass (particularly if one is intent on following the GIRM to the letter, no matter how impractical it may be) is this: Choral singing is very demanding, particularly if your parish has a Sung Mass each Sunday - choir members are always looking ahead to what they're going to be singing next. It is my experience that it can be very difficult to enter spiritually into that profound moment of receiving Our Lord when one has to focus on what's coming next on the music-list. If the choir receives first, they often need to begin singing straightaway after returning to the gallery; if they sing first and receive after, they may not feel they have had time to prepare spiritually for Holy Communion. If the choir receives after Mass they are no longer under pressure, will perhaps be better disposed towards receiving the Eucharist, and they will be able to spend as much time as they wish in thanksgiving.
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,930
    "Qui bene cantat bis orat," or "Qui enim cantat laudem, non solum laudat, sed etiam hilariter laudat"

    "To sing is to pray twice"
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