Minor and Major Propers

A relative newcomer to Ordinariate-speak, though having attended services at a local Anglican parish throughout my later teenage years, two related terms have at times puzzled and engaged me: minor propers and major propers. Puzzled, because perhaps I should have paid closer attention to their use when I hung out with my Anglican buddies way back when I was transitioning out of the Untied Church of Canada (... spelling as intended).

Having better acquainted myself with the two terms since joining the Ordinariate and being captivated by the preeminence to which English chant (English Gradual/Burgess) gives to the Word of God, terms one might add in use for a considerable amount of time in Anglican and Anglo-catholic circles, they have become entirely useful to communicate in shorthand about particular sections of the Mass.

To quote one comment registered May 2018 at/in the Musicasacra forum:

(C)alling the lesser propers 'minor' or 'lesser' does not imply that they are of little or no importance, just that they are inferior to the greater or major propers. Both the lesser and greater propers have it in common that their texts are different for, or 'proper to' each Mass (that is why they are called 'propers'). Indeed, they are integral to the Mass(.)

I have discovered that among some pugilistic pundits who frequent shadowed corridors of the web, e.g., Music Sacra Forum and Reddit, there is considerable disdain associated with the use of the term 'minor propers'. Objections seem driven more by mere petulance and bigotry than real concern for custom true or false. For those who object to the use of the term 'minor proper(s)', when has the Roman Church abjured matter-of-fact verbiage to ensure liturgical precision? From what I've read at several forums, some agitate that the term(s) minor and major propers should be expelled from the Catholic lexicon because they are not Catholic enough. My words, not theirs, but accurate nonetheless. The same tradsters demand historical evidence to qualify the use of the terms. The demand for written evidence of usage is more a bullying tactic than a useful request for clarification.

Polemics aside, the terms 'minor' and 'major' applied to the term 'proper' (Latin: proprium), because they preserve and protect the inclusion of the prescribed texts, are appropriate and therefore should be retained.

Minor Propers: Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Tract, Offertory Verse, and Communion Chant

Major Propers: Collect; Readings; Prayer Over The Offerings; Post-Communion.

The (Saint Peter Gradual) is another step in supporting and preserving the Ordinariate’s patrimony of English Christianity, said Most Rev. Steven J. Lopes, Bishop of the Ordinariate. “What is significant or ‘patrimonial’ about this collection is not just that the Gradual preserves these chants (minor propers) for Catholic worship, but that it makes them available as the property of the people and not just a resource for the performance of expert choirs and cantors,” Bishop Lopes said. “These chants are for the faithful, fostering a rhythm of liturgical prayer by taking up threads of sacred Scripture at various points during the Eucharistic celebration and weaving them into a tapestry of praise for God, whom we worship in the beauty of holiness.” - J. Faber, Ordinariate Observer Fall 2018, p.19.

Where have all the propers gone?

Rare exceptions to the contrary, the loss or avoidance of the minor propers in the Novus Ordo Mass has become the status quo. When was the last time a Novus Ordo attendee heard the assigned Introit verse at a given Mass? Most diocesan parishes still work the four-hymn sandwich, completely ignoring the prescribed (proper) texts. By contrast, the proper texts are habitually included in Ordinariate Masses.

If the practice common in Novus Ordo parishes is any indication, the minor propers are expendable. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) - which governs the celebration of the Novus Ordo Mass and, with the Rubrical Directory, the Traditional English Mass of the Ordinariate - allows, in addition to the premium choice of the Missal or Roman Gradual text, three other options for the "Entrance", i.e., the Introit.

The Entrance

47. After the people have gathered, the Entrance chant begins as the priest enters with the deacon and ministers. The purpose of this chant is to open the celebration, foster the unity of those who have been gathered, introduce their thoughts to the mystery of the liturgical season or festivity, and accompany the procession of the priest and ministers.

48. The singing at this time is done either alternately by the choir and the people or in a similar way by the cantor and the people, or entirely by the people, or by the choir alone. In the dioceses of the United States of America there are four options for the Entrance Chant: (1) the antiphon from The Roman Missal or the Psalm from the Roman Gradual as set to music there or in another musical setting; (2) the seasonal antiphon and Psalm of the Simple Gradual; (3) a song from another collection of psalms and antiphons, approved by the Conference of Bishops or the diocesan Bishop, including psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms; (4) a suitable liturgical song similarly approved by the Conference of Bishops or the diocesan Bishop.

If there is no singing at the entrance, the antiphon in the Missal is recited either by the faithful, or by some of them, or by a lector; otherwise, it is recited by the priest himself, who may even adapt it as an introductory explanation (cf. no. 31).

Lamentation

Option Four has been stretched beyond a reasonable limit to include songs not necessarily approved by the Conference of Bishops or the diocesan Bishop. In practice, the choir director exercises a magisterial role in the selection of music and the design of the Liturgy in Novus Ordo parishes. Magisterial - as in a manner that allows him/her to appropriate to him-/herself the authority to impose any music s/he desires. Is there any need to provide written confirmation that the ubiquitous practice is the use of neutered hymns (in Canada, especially) and weak (often heterodox) texts set to trite tunes? The substitute texts/hymns routinely destroy the unity of the character of a given Mass.

An additional note about Option 4: a suitable liturgical song similarly approved by the Conference of Bishops or the diocesan Bishop. It hardly seems necessary to state that too often non-biblical and non-liturgical texts are used at Mass. Some songs are not merely heterodox but patently unchristian. The problem is amplified in the marriage ceremony to a degree of excess that should bewilder Catholics who, may it be reminded, are Eucharistic people who worship the Lord Jesus Christ. Far, far too many "Catholic" weddings witness pop songs introduced into the Mass that are lewd, crude or utterly cheap. Hearing "White Wedding" at a ceremony in the mid-1990s, a song by Billy Idol ostensibly about cocaine use, would have been laughable due to the degree of absurdity involved regarding its selection were it not for the fact its inclusion constituted an affront to God, Church and bride. The Novus Ordo has become a forum in which beauty, truth and goodness are customarily trampled upon by banality, absurdity and crassitude. One cannot imagine such abuse associated with Mass in the Ordinariate or Extraordinary Form.

More Catholic than Catholic?

That some should object to the use of the terms minor and major propers seems unfounded given that the usage among Anglicans and Anglo-catholics appears to have preserved the inclusion of the (minor) propers in their liturgies better than in other Roman Catholic circles. Perhaps the major/minor distinction has enabled the inclusion of the minor propers precisely because the minor propers have a name that distinguishes them as a necessary part of the Mass. Anyone who has had the opportunity to use the English Gradual (ed., Burgess), and its adaptation for the Ordinariate, i.e., the Saint Peter Gradual, can appreciate the importance of having a library of chants that are exactly attuned to the character of a particular liturgy.

Diocesan Roman Catholics may not use the terms 'minor and major propers' as Ordinariate Roman Catholics do, but now that the Ordinariate has brought into the Church the venerable liturgical heritage preserved by Anglicans, a Catholic musical heritage that grew for centuries among those amazing Anglican choirs, perhaps resistance will soften and (diocesan) hardliners will appreciate the gift of the minor propers and works such as the Saint Peter Gradual which better enable the congregation to raise their hearts and minds and voices to God. Better, that is, than limp texts and sugary tunes that, because the minor propers have been considered expendable, amount to shabby cosmetics that obscure the true face of the Liturgy.

Postlude

There have been several attempts by well-intentioned competent musicians to bridge the divide between Latin and English texts. The Simple English Propers (Bartlett) come to mind. The SEPs are, in terms of textual authenticity, the primacy given to the biblical text, ease of learning, and appropriate reverence, head and shoulders above the adult contemporary and praise and worship fare to which most diocesan Catholics are exposed. That said, the SEPs and other attempts (e.g., John Ainslie's English Proper Chants) to render liturgical texts in the vernacular with, in some cases, the stated intention of moving people closer to the Latin repertoire, while noble, miss the obvious advantage of the Saint Peter Gradual that is closely patterned on the English Gradual (Burgess). The last two works offer a tried and true means by which English speaking Catholics can add their voices to the solemn and beautiful sung celebration of the word of God. The Saint Peter Gradual (SPG) faithfully preserves a musical heritage that is decades if not a century ahead of (...beyond, deeper than) current attempts that attempt to restore dignity to the music of the Mass.

Note:

(A) Table of Correspondence at the front of the SPG, which compares the Introit and Communion verses in Divine Worship: The Missal with those in The Roman Missal provides a vehicle whereby parishes that worship in the Ordinary Form might avail themselves of The St. Peter Gradual. - National Catholic Register 23JAN2019

Diocesan (Ordinary Form) Catholics can tap into the practice of singing the biblical texts in hieratic English by engaging the Saint Peter Gradual. The rubrics for presentation are easily learned. The formulas will become familiar to congregations in short order and, as Ordinariate congregations are well aware of, the congregation will require no condescension from choir directors who insist on robbing precious meditation time before Mass by rehearsing the Psalm (Gradual/Responsorial Psalm) in order to bully the congregation into "active participation".