Repertoire 5: The Penitential Rite
In the present revised form – the “Ordinary” form - of the Roman Liturgy, the initial Sign of the Cross and greeting are followed immediately by the Penitential Rite, which consists of a general acknowledgment of sin and concludes with the Priest's absolution. It is not meant to be, nor can it be, a substitute for the individual reception of the Sacrament of Penance (Confession). Rather it is intended as a fitting act of humility and contrition in preparation for the Mass, in which we also receive the grace of forgiveness for whatever venial sins we might have committed since our last Confession.
Gustave Doré: Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, ca. 1832-1883.
The Priest begins with the following words:
Brethren (brothers and sisters) let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
After a brief period of silence, the congregation is led in praying one of three possible forms: 1.) the Confiteor (“I confess to almighty God...”), 2.) a brief set of penitential petitions in dialogue with the Priest, or 3.) a set of invocations (usually three) directed to Christ by the Deacon or Priest, to which the people respond with “Lord, have mercy”, “Christ, have mercy”, and again “Lord, have mercy”.
After these prayers have been completed, the Priest recites or chants:
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.
To which the congregation responds with their Amen.
Now to what extent might it be appropriate to sing this brief though important part of the Mass? Our first indispensable guide is to look at the rubrics of the Roman Missal. In the current edition (Third Typical, promulgated in 2000 by Pope John Paul II), we see that chant melodies are provided for the second and third alternatives, but not for the first – the Confiteor. In the Extraordinary form, a longer version of the Confteor is recited by the Priest and acolytes at the beginning of the Mass, and sung (specifically for a “Pontifical” Mass) by the Deacon prior to the reception of Communion by the faithful. The melody for this chant is found in the Liber Usualis [i], the authorized book of Gregorian chant settings for the Mass and Divine Office in their traditional Latin Form.
From this perspective, we see that there are precedents for singing a penitential rite, as well as melodies in the most recently promulgated Missal which we are invited to sing. But this leads to a more fundamental philosophical question: is it really fitting to sing a text which requires us to focus our attention on something negative and un-holy: namely, our sins? Does this text actually call us to do this? No! Rather, it calls us to acknowledge our sins, which is quite different from a faulty previous English translation which read “let us call to mind” our sins. The original Latin word in this passage of the Missal, then and now, is agnoscamus, from the verb agnoscere meaning “to recognize, identify; to acknowledge; to own up to, admit to.” [ii]
A text that drew attention to the nature of our particular personal sins would be not only inappropriate to sing, it would also be inappropriate to recite in the Liturgy. For by nature the Mass and Divine Office help us to look away from ourselves, so as to worship God in spirit and truth, and to love him with all our “heart, soul, strength, and mind.”
El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos): The Penitent Magdalene, ca. 1580-1585.
In the Sacrament of Penance we must indeed remember and confess our particular personal sins, with resolve to sin no more and to do penance, so as to receive forgiveness and renewed grace to walk in friendship with God. But in the Mass, while we might be still conscious of these confessed personal sins and failings, the point of the Penitential Rite is to lead us beyond these faults – even the most grievous ones - to loving communion with God, the angels and saints, and all our fellow worshipers. And so here, to “acknowledge” and to “confess” our sins is to publicly articulate, with humility and contrition, our radical need for God's forgiveness and mercy, so as to be free to worthily “celebrate the sacred mysteries.” Such an act, made in sincerity of mind and heart, can be something true, good, and beautiful.
But still, one might consider this part of the Mass to be the last thing that one would ask anyone to sing: don't we want to get through this as easily and quickly as possible, so as to focus on the more obviously positive aspects of the Liturgy? From the vantage point of learning to sing the Mass one step at a time, it might be reasonable to wait to learn the Penitential Rite until the clergy, congregation, and choir have already established confidence in singing many of the other more prominent parts of the Ordinary. However, when considered from the perspective of our reasons for singing anything in the Mass, we see that the chanting of this part can also be of significant benefit to all.
So let's look again at five of the most important reasons for singing the Mass:
By its nature, singing allows us to engage ourselves more fully – heart, soul, strength, and mind - in the loving worship of God. Analogously, we don't just say “happy birthday” to someone we love – we sing it!
Singing a text on repeated occasions has an amazing power to help us learn this text well “by heart” - to memorize it, and to make it our own.
This memorization of the text in turn allows us to meditate upon it more fully, so as to deepen our understanding and application of the words which are being sung.
From the perspective of church musicians, singing is also a consecrated and effective means to draw those present into the contemplative dimension of the Mass, through the iconographic beauty [iii] of their singing the sacred texts.
Interwoven with the above reasons, we have a strong precedent in our Christian heritage for singing the entire Liturgy, going back to antiquity, in all the Rites of the Catholic Church, and in all the Orthodox Churches.
Seen in this light, our singing of the Penitential Rite, at least at certain chosen moments throughout the liturgical year, can help us to enter more fully into its meaning, and to communicate our love – in its dimensions here of humility and contrition – more fully to God.
In the sung Mass which we are presently listening to, the Confiteor is sung, in English, by the entire congregation and choir. Again, the score for this music is included below. While the melody is very simple, there are also easy complementary harmonies included for those who wish to sing them. Let's listen to this piece now, which is also found at 6:33 on the YouTube video, click here.
In my next blog, we will be looking at the Lord, have mercy (= Kyrie eleison) which comes directly after the conclusion of the Confiteor. We will see that while being closely related to the Penitential Rite, its meaning goes far beyond the acknowledgment of our sins, to humbly call upon God's mercy in every aspect of our lives, and for the temporal and eternal welfare of all people.
[i] see “Toni Communes Missae” on page 110.
[ii] From The New College Latin and English Dictionary, John C. Traupman (New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1966)
[iii] The principle of “iconographic” or “iconic” beauty is important to an understanding of traditional sacred music and all the sacred arts. See my previous blogs “Adoration and Aesthetics” and “An Overview of All the Congregational Parts” for a further discussion / explanation of this principle.