Copyright © 1995, 2003 by

Rick Swenton
106 Melinda Lane
Bristol, CT 06010-7199
All Rights Reserved

Permission is granted for use of this work in parish liturgy or music programs in a non-commercial setting provided that no fee is charged and that this copyright notice remains on all copies.

Cantor Formation and Education 

As a group, cantors posses a varying degree of church knowledge. Sometimes I forget that we are all at different levels. In this issue I will cover the Liturgy Documents. Some of you are familiar with the documents, so this may be a basic review for you. For others, this may be breaking new ground.

It is always good to know why we do things the way we do. If you don’t know, the next best thing is to know where to find the information. Every person involved with liturgy should be familiar with the Liturgy Documents. It is not light reading. The book is a reference document. While you may not be able to quote from them, you should at least know what they are and what they contain. Some day you will know exactly where to look for your next answer about liturgy.

The Liturgy Documents

The Liturgy Documents include the following major documents:

• Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy

• General Instruction of the Roman Missal

• Appendix to the General Instruction for Dioceses of the United States

• Introduction to the Lectionary

• General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar

• Directory for Masses with Children

• Environment and Art in Catholic Worship

• Music in Catholic Worship

• Liturgical Music Today

The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (CSL) was the initial document outlining the reforms of Vatican-II. It covers Principles for the reform of the sacred liturgy, clarification on the celebration of the Eucharist and the other sacraments, the Divine Office (continual offering of prayer), the Liturgical Year, Sacred Music, Art and church furnishings.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) is the opening section to the Sacramentary. This is the big red book used by the presider at Mass when praying from the presider’s chair or the altar. The Sacramentary contains the prayers needed for celebration of the Eucharist. The General Instruction is like an atlas or road map of the eucharistic celebration. Each of the eight chapters gives a different perspective of the celebration including celebrations for particular occasions.

The Appendix to the General Instruction for Dioceses of the United States is a series of notes created by the National Council of Catholic Bishops concerning the GIRM.

The Introduction to the Lectionary is the opening section to the Lectionary. This is the other big red book (or the one with the ceremonial gold ornate cover) used by the readers, deacon and presider that contains the scripture passages. The Introduction is another road map describing the processes used during the Liturgy of the Word.

The General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar is the document which outlines the church’s seasons, solemnities, feasts, memorials and holy days of obligation. This is how we know when to start Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and so on.

The Directory for Masses with Children defines the process to adapt the liturgy to the special needs of children.

Environment and Art in Catholic Worship is a document which addresses the application of space, art and symbols in worship. It not only covers the church building, furnishings and decor. It also covers the interactions of the celebrating assembly as a diversity of age, sex, ethnic and cultural background. As such, the document outlines their important role as liturgical planners and interpreters of the beauty of today’s art. The document helps us define "beauty."

Music in Catholic Worship and Liturgical Music Today are the main documents used to implement liturgical music in the church. MCW is based on the original work from Vatican-II: The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (CSL). MCW takes the music sections from CSL and expands upon them. For example, it offers three main principles for determining the appropriateness of music for use in worship. This "acid test" for music is trustworthy and works all the time.

Liturgical Music Today (LMT) is considered to be a companion document to MCW. It mainly addresses issues not covered in MCW and offers questions to help us proceed to the future. In LMT, you will find more coverage of the issues surrounding music during the Eucharist.

To give you a time line regarding the relevant music documents:

Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (CSL, from Vatican II) was written around 1964. Music in Catholic Worship (MCW) was written around 1972. Liturgical Music Today (LMT) was written around 1982. Each document builds upon the strong foundation of the previous one.

To give you an idea of some of the "rare gems" you will find in the Liturgy Documents, here is a quote from Liturgical Music Today:

What motivates the pastoral musician? Why does he or she give so much time and effort to the service of the church at prayer? The only answer can be that the church musician is first a disciple and then a minister. The musician belongs first of all to the assembly; he or she is a worshiper above all. Like any member of the assembly, the pastoral musician needs to be a believer, needs to experience conversion, needs to hear the Gospel and so proclaim the praise of God. Thus, the pastoral musician is not merely an employee or volunteer. He or she is a minister, someone who shares faith, serves the community, and expresses the love of God and neighbor through music. LMT 64

The Liturgy Documents is a single publication available from Liturgy Training Publications. It contains all the individual documents cited here in addition to several more.

There are many other church documents not found in The Liturgy Documents book (such as INSTRUCTION ON MUSIC IN THE LlTURGY - Musicam Sacram 1967) which are available as separate books or as computer files over the internet.