The Recovering Choir Director

The section on the chants between the readings concludes with the options that are given to the chant before the Gospel, both at Sunday Mass and at Masses during the week.

62. After the reading that immediately precedes the Gospel, the Alleluia or another chant indicated by the rubrics is sung, as required by the liturgical season. An acclamation of this kind constitutes a rite or act in itself, by which the assembly of the faithful welcomes and greets the Lord who is about to speak to them in the Gospel and professes their faith by means of the chant. It is sung by all while standing and is led by the choir or a cantor, being repeated if this is appropriate. The verse, however, is sung either by the choir or by the cantor.

a. The Alleluia is sung in every season other than Lent. The verses are taken from the Lectionary or the Graduale.

b. During Lent, in place of the Alleluia, the verse before the Gospel is sung, as indicated in the Lectionary. It is also permissible to sing another psalm or tract, as found in the Graduale.

The Graduale Simplex (and, by extension, By Flowing Waters) offers all three Lenten options outlined in 62b: the verse before the Gospel, the second responsorial psalm, and the tract. The verse before the Gospel is to be sung either by the cantor/choir alone or antiphonally with the assembly. The longer tract can be sung communally or it can be reserved for the cantor/choir (as Dr. Paul Ford indicates in the BFW performance notes). The second responsorial psalm is self-explanatory. The Lenten options outlined above are very rich and can serve as the basis for differentiating Lent from all other seasons.

63. When there is only one reading before the Gospel,

a. During a season when the Alleluia is to be said, either the Alleluia Psalm or the responsorial Psalm followed by the Alleluia with its verse may be used;

b. During the season when the Alleluia is not to be said, either the psalm and the verse before the Gospel or the psalm alone may be used;

c. The Alleluia or verse before the Gospel may be omitted if they are not sung.

The Graduale Simplex provides us with settings of the Alleluia psalm mentioned in 63a (the equivalent of the Lenten second responsorial psalm, but with “Alleluia” as the response). (An example of the Alleluia psalm in the contemporary idiom is David Haas‘ “Psalm 118: Alleluia, Alleluia”.) My untrained liturgical mind intuits that these can be done more effectively during the Easter season, and especially within the Octave of Easter.

Articles 63b and 63c are self-explanatory in that they are the options most commonly used at Mass during the week.