For the Sunday vigil this weekend, we will have the opportunity to sing an English chanted Mass. The Second Vatican Council was emphatic in its statements that chant should be given “pride of place” in the liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 116). It describes the importance of music in the liturgy in the following paragraph:
   112. The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as sacred song united to the words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy. (emphasis mine)
   What this means is that the Church considers Her musical tradition to be more valuable and beautiful than even the tallest cathedrals, the most stunning paintings, or the most jewel-studded chalices she has
produced. This is hard for us to comprehend, and it’s especially difficult if we don’t particularly like chant. To that end, I want to reflect briefly on what exactly beauty is.
    According to St. Thomas, beauty is “that which pleases upon being seen.” Another definition is that beauty is “the splendor of the form.” If the form is the idea of the thing, beauty is that idea being made clear to us. The reason that the Mona Lisa is beautiful is not only because of the technical skill required to produce it, but also because it reveals to us something true about the subject of the painting. When we see something beautiful, it is pleasing because the mind sees something true being revealed to it.
   The first reason that chant is beautiful is because of the texts it proclaims. These are the texts that the Church puts on the lips of her children to pray at every liturgy. We didn’t choose the words for ourselves, but our mother the Church knows what her children need to pray in order to form their hearts. Human parents must teach their children to say “please”, “thank you,” “I’m sorry,” and “I love you.” As any parent can attest, some of these words are harder to work into a child’s heart than others (“Why do I have to apologize?!”). So too does Mother Church try to teach us the words we need to pray with to convert our hearts to God.
   The second reason that chant is beautiful is because of the melodies it uses to proclaim the text. It’s noteworthy that the order of importance is first the text, and then the melody. We often flip this as moderns. How many times have we caught ourselves humming along to a catchy tune, only to realize how obscene the words of the song we’re listening to are? Or have we kicked ourselves for singing an earworm that we don’t even like, but that is stuck in our head? The melody is supposed to be a vehicle for the idea being conveyed, like presenting a fine meal on a silver platter.
   Because we are both body and soul, the Lord in His goodness has given us bodily means of encountering Him. One of these is music, and the primary musical avenue for Roman Catholics to encounter the Lord is Gregorian chant. But wait, there’s more! 2,000 years ago, the Lord took on human flesh and became man so that we could behold His face. Not wanting to deprive anyone of this wonderous gift, He instituted the Holy Eucharist so that even today we can go into the chapel and behold His Eucharistic face. It makes Him clear to us. What could be more beautiful than that?