The Solution To Singing Introits

The Catholic Church is a bold, beautiful Church, if it wants to be.  Problem is, most of us music ministers in the Church have opted to downplay the beauty so as to increase congregational participation.  Instead of singing the introits as written in the Roman Gradual, whose words are taken directly from the Scriptures, and are in an unknown tongue, and in a melody that is foreign to our music culture, we opt instead for hymns and songs, which are easier to sing, understandable to the congregation, and can be as rooted in Scripture.

I don’t wish to get involved in the Church music wars.  As I see it, the decisions as to what music to sing is one made by the Pastor, not the Church musician.  For the musician to follow the Pastor is an act of humility and patience.  So for those parishes that opt to have the congregation to sing from the hymnal/missallette, how can we honor the directive to sing the introits, while still involving the congregation?

My answer is quite simple:  take the introit text, and fashion it into a verse of a well-known hymn (preferably one whose melody is in the public domain).

The first thing I do is count the number of “notes” a line would need, for each phrase in the introit.  See if you can fashion a consistent number throughout.   (Example: 11.11.11.11)

Next: I would go to the back of your hymnal/missallette resource, and find all songs/hymns that carry a melody with that same meter.

Finally, I would experiment with melodies until the right one fits.  Use the introit as the second verse, so people would have the chance to hear the melody and sing along with it.

If the song is in the public domain, you can print out copies of the hymn, with the revised introit text, without permission.

The best benefit of this is that you get the best of both worlds: a singing congregation that has learned to incorporate the Scripture-based introit text, in a format that best fits the vision the Pastor has laid out.

ETA: Orin Johnson, a church musician from St. Louis and I had a spirited exchange on Facebook, where he wished me to clarify a few matters.  (1) The introit translated text is copyrighted from ICEL, and if you were to use their text you would have to purchase permission–or–you could possibly get around that by using a public domain church-approved translation of the base Scriptural text (e.g. Douay Rheims) as the basis of your hymn.  (2) This would not be the actual singing the introits, but a congregational hymn, albeit one that incorporates the text, not unlike how many hymnals/resources have selected hymns based on specific liturgical weeks.

To be fair, he also brought to my attention that there are many introit melodies that have been crafted over the years, much of which were crafted before the new English translation came into effect.  Fair enough.  As I stated above, the decision to incorporate a new music resource within the congregation is a decision made by the pastor, based upon the needs the pastor foresees his congregation has, and the finances that this church has available.  My post is for the vast majority of congregations, in which the hymnal/missallette status is final.  (But if this does not apply to you, kudos!).