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Pope at Audience: Sacred music is to glorify God and sanctify the faithful
During his Wednesday General Audience, Pope Leo XIV reflects on sacred music in the liturgy, praising it for giving voice to prayer and expressing the faith, always with the main objective of glorifying God and helping the faithful grow in holiness.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
“The ultimate purpose of sacred music is precisely that identified by Sacrosanctum Concilium: ‘the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful,” Pope Leo XIV said at his weekly General Audience in St. Peter’s Basilica this morning.
The Pope is continuing his series of reflections on the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. This week, he focused on the text’s sixth chapter, dedicated to sacred music.
During the catechesis, Pope Leo observed that the Constitution states that “the musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art.”
Sacred music, he said, is not an accessory to the liturgy, but belongs to the liturgical action itself, for “it gives voice to prayer, expresses the faith of the Church, fosters communion, and helps the faithful enter more deeply into the mystery being celebrated.”
Expression of prayer and of faith
The Pope observed that singing and playing sacred music in the liturgy “means to pray” and “means bringing one’s heart into harmony with that of one’s brothers and sisters and with God, through active participation in the mystery being celebrated.”
Recalling that music expresses the affective dimension of prayer, Pope Leo cited when St. Augustine said, “Cantare amantis est,” translated as “singing belongs to one who loves.”
The Pope greets crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica (@Vatican Media)
“This,” the Pope reflected, “is very important because it helps open the heart to God’s action through grace and allows the heart to be shaped by it.”
Moreover, the Holy Father recalled that singing fosters communion. “Through the symphony of voices,” he said, “it contributes to the union of hearts, overcoming differences between people and gathering everyone together in the praise of God. It thus becomes an epiphany of the Church, a sensible manifestation of the communion that belongs to Her very nature.”
High quality and drawing principally from Scripture
Pope Leo explained that, given the profound theological significance of sacred song as an integral part of the liturgical action, certain requirements must be met.
“First, beyond fashions or the particular sensibilities of individual composers,” he said, “music must correspond at every level to what is most appropriate to the liturgical moment being celebrated.”
The Pope said that its form, especially in its melodic dimension, “must at the same time be noble and simple, of high musical quality and easily performable, particularly when it is intended to be sung by the whole assembly.”
For the same reason, he reiterated that sacred song “should be appropriate, profound, and at the same time readily understandable, drawing principally upon Sacred Scripture, the liturgical books, and the spiritual tradition of the Church.”
Accordingly, the Pope said this requires careful discernment and emphasized how the Constitution reflects on the active participation of the faithful.
Gregorian chant and the organ held in high esteem
Pope Leo noted that the Council also attributes great importance to Gregorian chant, while not excluding other forms of sacred music from the celebration.
He also recalled that the Council insisted that the organ “be held in high esteem in the Latin Church because it is the traditional musical instrument whose sound can add splendour to the Church’s ceremonies and lift people’s minds to God and to higher things” and he acknowledged that other instruments may also be admitted, “provided that they are suitable or adaptable to sacred use…”
Purifying worship from ugliness and distasteful expressions
Sacred-music composers, the Holy Father also said, are “called to know and preserve the musical heritage of the Church, allowing it to inspire new compositions in the service of the liturgy while respecting contemporary sensibilities and the different cultural traditions.”
In this context, Pope Leo recalled that his predecessor, Pope Saint John Paul II, emphasized the need to “purify worship from ugliness of style, from distasteful forms of expression, from uninspired musical texts which are not worthy of the great act that is being celebrated,” so as to guarantee dignity and excellence to liturgical compositions.
At the same time, Pope Leo noted that the composer must remember that liturgical music cannot be judged solely according to artistic quality.
The Pope said that music intended for sacred rites must also correspond to the particular requirements of the liturgy, reiterating it must adhere closely to the text, correspond to the liturgical moment for which it is intended, and appropriately reflect the gestures and character of the rite.
Finally, he echoed the Council’s recommendation for adequate formation and practice of sacred music in seminaries, in the novitiate houses of studies for religious of both sexes, and also in other Catholic institutions and schools, while always ensuring that musicians and singers receive solid liturgical formation.
Pope Leo XIV concluded by recalling that Fathers of the Church held liturgical song in high esteem as a symbol of ecclesial communion, as he quoted St. Ignatius of Antioch, who in his Letter to the Ephesians, wrote: “you should also form yourselves into a choir,” so that “by your unity taking your key note from God, you may with one voice through Jesus Christ sing a song to the Father.”
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