Sacred Music

What is sacred music? To answer that question, it is helpful to start with the word sacred. Sacred, when referring to created things, means set apart for the worship of God or for service to God. It means that it is something that is for God alone. So, for example, the vessels used for Mass (chalice, ciboria, etc.) are sacred vessels. Suppose you saw someone swigging beer out of a chalice in their backyard. This is repulsive to even think about because the chalice is a sacred vessel. Suppose someone put their lunch in the tabernacle – that is also repulsive to even think of; the tabernacle is a very sacred place, reserved for our Lord alone.

Does it make sense to have things that are sacred? Well if we say that “this” (whatever it might be) is set aside for this person alone, it says that that person is in some way special. When things are set aside for God alone, it says that He is someone special and when we set aside the best we have for Him, it says He is not just someone special, but the greatest, the most special, someone…which is true; this is the mindset we should have towards God. So yes, we should have sacred things because they not only express love of God but help to teach or express it to others as well. Having sacred things and treating the sacred as sacred is a necessary part of our worship of God; without it, we are only giving Him lip service. A sense of the sacred seems to be largely lost in our current times and if we are to have true reverence for God, it has to be reclaimed.

Sacred music, then, (something set aside for God) is not pop music (like what you might hear on the radio) or some sort of folksy music or country-western songs. Many of these are probably fine to enjoy, nothing wrong or immoral about them at all, there is a time and and a place for them; they are simply not sacred music. Sacred music is also not just something that invokes the emotions. That’s not to say that our emotions (which are a powerful thing) cannot be invoked in the worship of God or be brought out by sacred music; it is to say that a desired emotion is not the central, or first and foremost thing, or a defining characteristic in sacred music. Sacred music is meant to lift our minds to God, not turn us inward on ourselves; it should not get me to focus on me or my feelings but should rather should help me focus on God.

Sacred music is for the worship of God. What does that really mean? Fr John Hardon, in his definition for ‘worship’ given in his “Modern Catholic Dictionary,” states that: “Divine worship actually includes 3 principal acts, namely adoration (or the recognition of God's infinite perfection), prayer or the asking for divine help, and sacrifice or the offering of something precious to God.” The highest form of worship of God available to man here on earth is participation in the Son’s own worship of the Father, which is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In Mass, not only does Jesus make Himself physically available to us in the Holy Eucharist, He also makes His worship of the Father (the laying down of His own life) available to us as well, for the sake of allowing us to participate in that worship. Sacred liturgical music, then, is music that is fitting for this Holy Sacrifice, or more generally for liturgy and adoration. It must be consistent with what God has revealed and teaches in and through His Church, the Catholic Church. It should not contain anything that is even implicitly contrary to this teaching.

So what is Sacred Music? To summarize:

1. It is not:

• Ordinary, everyday music like pop, country-western, or folk – all of which might be fine to enjoy

• First and foremost something just to invoke my feelings or emotions

• Something that leads me to focus on me

• Something that contains error about what God has revealed and teaches in and through His Church

• Adds to, subtracts from, or in any way changes the words of the prayers for Mass

2. What it is or does do:

• It is “set aside” for God alone

• It is for the worship of God

• Turns or lifts my mind to God

• Offers praise, worship, adoration to God

• Is fitting for Catholic liturgy, especially Mass, and Adoration.

Diocese of Sioux Falls Webpage on Sacred Music. Includes links to numerous Church documents on Sacred Music.