§ 1. That the custom of celebrating the divine praises with song was most ancient can be doubted by no one who has read Exodus 15: that the children of Israel, after Pharaoh was drowned, when they had crossed the Red Sea, divided into choirs and sang thanks together to God, not with the voice alone but also with drums and musical instruments.
§ 2. The Israelites imitated them thereafter, especially after David and Solomon prescribed the orders and turns of the singers. When their devotion had vanished, the Essenes succeeded them, concerning whom Philo, in On the Contemplative Life, relates in these words:
When all have risen, two choirs are formed in the middle of the dining-hall, one of men and the other of women; over each is placed its own leader, eminent in honor and skill in singing. Then they sing hymns composed for praise in various kinds of meters and songs, now with one voice, now in alternation, not without becoming and religious gestures and accents, at one time standing, at another moving their step forward and backward, just as the matter demands. Then, after each choir has completed its part separately, delighted by these pleasures as if drunk with divine love, they form one mixed choir, in imitation of the one established long ago when the sea, at God’s command, brought salvation to the one party and destruction to the other, with Moses leading the men and Miriam the prophetess the women.
§ 3. The same custom of singing was transferred into the Church immediately with the very beginning of the faith. For thus Paul, Colossians 3: “Let the word of Christ dwell abundantly in you, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God.” He also admonishes the same things in Ephesians, chapter 5. We have as a witness of the Christians’ songs Lucian the apostate, in the Philopatris, for night and day they persevered in that kind of piety; and also the persecutor Pliny, book 10, letter 97, who testifies to Trajan that he found no offense among the Christians except that they celebrated assemblies before dawn and sang praises to Christ. Justin Martyr, in his oration to Antoninus, and Clement of Alexandria, in the address to the gentiles, are witnesses to the same custom.
§ 4. Indeed, Basil, against the heretics, letter 69, teaches that there were despisers of sacred song even long ago:
But concerning that for which we are accused on account of the psalmodies, by which especially those who traduce us terrify the simpler people, I have this to say: namely, that the rites which have now prevailed agree and harmonize with all the Churches of God. For by night the people rise and, before dawn, seek the house of prayer; and there, after confession to God has been made with toil and tribulation and unfailing tears, at last, rising at the signal, they are set to psalmody. And now, divided into two parts, they sing antiphonally, taking up the song by turns; and by this they at the same time strengthen their exercise and meditation in the utterances of God and supply to their hearts a more attentive firmness, having cast away the vain thoughts of the mind. Then, when to one of them has been given this office, that he should first begin what is to be sung, the rest take it up; and thus, amid variation in the psalmody and prayers interposed from time to time, they pass the night. When day is already dawning, all together, as if with one mouth and one heart, offer to the Lord a psalm of confession, and each professes repentance in his own words. If on their account you flee from us, you will at the same time flee from the Egyptians; you will flee from both Libyas, the Thebans, the Palestinians,
the Arabs, Phoenicians, Syrians, those who dwell by the Euphrates, and—to say it once—all among whom vigils, prayers, and common psalmodies are held in esteem.
Thus far Basil. Innumerable testimonies of the holy Fathers would have to be adduced to this effect, but for the sake of brevity we restrain ourselves. Hence, what is read in the life of Damasus—“He established that Psalms should be sung day and night through all the Churches,” and “he commanded this to presbyters, Bishops, and monasteries”—must be understood not of the first institution, but of a general precept by which the churches which had not yet begun to do it were also to be instituted. For under the Emperors Valentinian and Valens, after the persecution of Constantius and then of Julian, the Churches flourished again, so that singing could be done publicly.
§ 5. The ancient psalmody and hymnody were more convenient for the people and the clergy; certainly the people responded to the priest, as Ausonius shows:
And celebrating the harmonious songs of tuneful David,
He strikes the air with voices that will answer, “Amen.”
At Rome also “Amen” re-echoes in the likeness of heavenly thunder, as Jerome is witness in book 2 of the commentary on the letter to the Galatians. As the multitude of the faithful increased, when the Churches often resounded with discordant voices and unformed howling—a thing which impeded devotion, stirred laughter, and offended unbelievers—the Bishops applied themselves with great labor to this end: that the chant should be perfected with religious gravity and measures suited to piety. This was so not only in the Church, but also in the agapae, that is, the feasts of charity; thus Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus, book 2, chapter 4, and Tertullian, Apology, chapter 39. Therefore, in order that it might be corrected and recalled to modesty, the arrangement was that this province should be entrusted to definite and skilled persons.
In the Council held under Pope Martin it is established that no one may sing psalms in the pulpit who has not been ordained a reader by the Bishop. And in Distinction 92, chapter 2, the order of the singers is established:
In the holy Roman Church a very reprehensible custom arose long ago, that certain persons should be chosen as singers for the ministry of the sacred altar and, constituted in the order of the diaconate, should be devoted to the modulation of the voice, although it was fitting that they should have leisure for the office of preaching and the pursuit of almsgiving. From this it generally happens that, while a pleasing voice is sought for the sacred ministry, the search for a fitting life is neglected, and the minister who is a singer provokes God by his morals while delighting the people with his voice. Concerning this matter, therefore, by the present decree I establish that in this See the ministers of the sacred altar ought not to sing, but should perform only what belongs to the office of the Gospel reading among the solemn rites of the Masses. But the psalms and the remaining readings I judge should be performed by subdeacons or, if necessity demands, by the minor orders. If anyone attempts to act against this decree of mine, let him be anathema.
§ 6. The song of the Church is corrupted in three ways. First, when one sings with the voice, not with the mind; when God is celebrated with the lips by those whose heart is far from God. Attention, moreover, is necessary either to the words, the meaning, or God who is entreated; if it is directed to all, however, it is best. Yet, because of the weakness and wandering of the human mind, it is not easily actual at all times; it is sufficient that it be virtual, as the Theologians teach by consensus: St. Thomas with his interpreters, II–II, question 83, article 13; Suárez, treatise 4 On Religion, and books 3, 4, and 5; Lessius, On Justice and Right, book 2, chapter 34, doubt 11; Valentia, II–II, disputation 6, question 2, point 10; Reginaldus, book 18 of the Penitential Forum, chapter 12, section 1; and likewise others; Navarrus, in the Enchiridion, chapter 25, number 105. For the voice is empty if the mind is distracted elsewhere and God is honored by the lip alone.
Second, when the modulation is broken lightly, loosely, and indecorously. Jerome on Ephesians, chapter 5:
Let the young men hear these things; let those hear whose office it is to sing psalms in the Church. One must sing to God not with the voice but with the heart; nor must the throat and jaws be smeared with a sweet medicament after the manner of tragedians, so that theatrical melodies and songs may be heard in the Church, but one must sing in fear and deed, in the knowledge of the Scriptures. Although someone may be—as they are accustomed to call it—κακόφωνος, “ill-voiced,” if he has good works he is a sweet singer before God. Let the servant of Christ sing in such a way that not the voice of the singer but the words which are read may please; so that the evil spirit which was in Saul may be cast out from those who are similarly possessed by him, and not be introduced into those who have made the house of God a stage for the peoples.
Third, when things are sung whose recitation is contrary to good morals. Such were the songs devised by the Donatists themselves; thus Augustine, letter 119:
Concerning this thing, so useful for moving the mind piously and kindling the affection of divine love, there is a varied custom, and very many members of the Church in Africa are sluggish, so that the Donatists do not reproach us for soberly singing in the Church the divine canticles of the Prophets, while they themselves inflame their drunken revels to the song of Psalms composed by human ingenuity, as if to trumpets of exhortation.
In this matter, indeed, our own sluggishness must also be lamented with tears, because although the Anabaptists, Lutherans, Calvinists, and Arians proclaim with such great vehemence their hymns opposed to morals and the faith, we respond in many Churches with negligent and languid singing. And yet ecclesiastical song, as Justin teaches, arouses the mind by a certain pleasure and makes it burn with desire for that which is celebrated in song; it quiets the affections and concupiscences of the flesh; removes evil thoughts arising at the suggestion of enemies whom one cannot see; waters the mind for the fructification of divine goods; makes those who contend for piety noble and brave through constancy in adverse circumstances; and brings to the pious a remedy for all things which occur in life that are sad and mournful.
Corruptions of songs of this sort existed long ago among the Arians, composed by the Heresiarch himself in Sotadic measures, concerning which St. Athanasius speaks in oration 2 against the Arians. The Meletians imitated these men, singing hymns with profane clapping of hands and a kind of dancing. Paul of Samosata also had taught women to sing praises to him in the Church in place of Psalms. Thus the Synod of Antioch to Dionysius of Rome. Apollinaris of Laodicea afterwards attempted similar things by composing impious psalms—as Epiphanius relates, heresy 67—and the Synod of Laodicea reports this in chapter 59. The sects of our time vigorously imitate them; for there is scarcely one which does not sing its own orgies and propagate impiety by sweetness of voices, as though by Enthusiasm. Hence they have introduced all the allurements of singing into their assemblies, so that they may exterminate the hymns and psalmody of the ancient Church.
§ 7. All musical instruments are rightly and lawfully employed in ecclesiastical song. For the Psalms frequently admonish us to sing with lyres, with well-sounding cymbals, with strings and organ, upon the ten-stringed psaltery. Nevertheless, the Church did not make great use of them at the beginning of the Gospel, both because that little flock generally met in private houses and because the obscenities of the gentiles as well as idolatry had polluted all those kinds of organs and stringed instruments—so much so that song seemed scarcely honorable if instruments were added, whose use at that time was almost wholly in wantonness.
The provincial Council of Siena commands that the holy use of organs be maintained: “The Church received the use of organs
from the Fathers for divine worship and service. Therefore we do not will that an immodest or lascivious melody be played upon instrumental organs in the Church, but an altogether sweet sound which represents nothing besides divine hymns and spiritual canticles.”
§ 8. The utility of singing is manifold; Chrysostom expounded it in homily 41 on the Psalms:
Nothing equally raises the soul and in some measure makes it lofty, frees it from the earth, releases it from the bonds of the body, affects it with the love of wisdom, and brings it to despise all things pertaining to this life, as does measured verse, a divine song composed in rhythm. Certainly our nature is delighted with songs and poems to such a degree, and has so great an affinity and congruity with them, that even infants hanging at the breasts, if they weep and are distressed, are soothed in that way. Indeed, nurses who carry them in their arms, often going away and returning and singing certain childish songs to them, thus lull their eyes to sleep.
For this reason travelers driving yoked animals at midday also often do this, singing and consoling the weariness of the journey with those songs. And not only travelers, but also farmers treading grapes in the winepress, those gathering the vintage and tending vines, and those performing any other work, often sing. Sailors driving the oars do this as well. Indeed, women too, while weaving and separating tangled threads with the shuttle, very often sing, sometimes individually and sometimes all together in concord, one particular melody. Women, travelers, farmers, and sailors do this because they wish to console with song the labor received from performing the work, since the soul, if it hears poems and a song, will bear troublesome and difficult things more easily.
Therefore, because this kind of delight is very closely related and familiar to our soul, lest demons, by introducing wanton and meretricious songs, overturn all things, God constructed the Psalms so that pleasure and utility might be received from them at the same time.
And after many things concerning the utility of singing psalms, he adds these:
I say these things not so that you alone may praise, but so that you may teach your sons and wives to sing such canticles, not only while weaving or performing another work, but especially at the table. For when the Devil most commonly lies in wait with insults, using the aid of drunkenness, gluttony, profuse laughter, and a relaxed mind, then especially, both before the table and at the table, one ought to fortify oneself with the protection of the Psalms and, rising from the banquet together with wife and children, to sing sacred hymns to God.
Would that sacred songs succeeded in the place of light, foolish, and filthy ditties among all people. Would that at least upon the feast-day the piety of those singing psalms were heard.
§ 9. Nevertheless, the Church does not reject the sacred hymns of the holy Bishops or Doctors. In the time of Pope Honorius I there were some who rejected them. The Fourth Council of Toledo, chapter 2, approves and receives them:
Concerning the singing of hymns, we also have the example of both the Savior and the Apostles. For the Lord himself is reported to have recited a hymn, as Matthew the Evangelist testifies: “And when the hymn had been said, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” And the Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians, saying: “Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual canticles.” And because certain hymns are known to have been composed by human study in praise of God and of the triumphs of the Apostles and martyrs—such as those which the most blessed Doctors Hilary and Ambrose published, which nevertheless certain persons particularly reject because they do not exist from the Scriptures of the sacred Canons or Apostolic tradition—let them therefore also reject that hymn composed by human beings which we recite daily in the public and private office at the end of all the Psalms: “Glory and honor to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, for ages of ages. Amen.”
For ecclesiastical Doctors composed the remaining words which follow there even in that hymn which the Angels sang when Christ was born in the flesh: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to human beings of good will.” Therefore, are those words themselves not to be sung in the Churches because they are not found in the books of sacred Scripture? Masses are composed—whether prayers, orations, commendations, or impositions of hands—and if none of these is sung in the Church, all ecclesiastical offices are empty. The Apostle admonishes that these things be done and exhorts Timothy, saying: “I beseech, therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be made for all human beings, for kings, and for all who are in high station.” Therefore, just as prayers, so let none of us hereafter disapprove hymns composed in praise of God; rather, let them celebrate them in like manner in Galicia and Spain. Those who have dared to reject hymns are to be struck with excommunication.
§ 10. Therefore, it was most rightly established by the Church long ago that we should employ a definite form of singing psalms in the Church. Thus the Fourth Council of Toledo, chapter 2, commands that one manner of praying and singing psalms be retained. Thus the Council of Braga, chapter 10, which was celebrated during the reign of Ariamir; the Council of Vannes under Leo I, chapter 15; that of Gerona under Hormisdas, chapter 1; and that of Épaone under Gelasius I, chapter 4. Finally, the Council of Trent commanded that all things be reduced to the best order. The Council of Siena, chapter 17, also speaks excellently:
And since psalmody is commanded to be sung in the Churches of God so that the devotion of the faithful may be aroused, for this purpose let the night and day office and the solemn rites of Masses be sung continually by the clergy and people with a measured tenor and distinct gradation, so that they may take pleasure in that same distinctness and be delighted by the measuredness. Therefore we command that in the churches the musical chants be distinct and discrete, moving the heart to devotion and compunction. Furthermore, under the pretext of musical song, public and lascivious ditties are not to be heard in the Churches. For, as Jerome says, the throat and jaws must not be softened with a medicament after the manner of tragedies, lest, while a pleasing voice is sought, a fitting life be neglected.
§ 11. The Fifth Council of Milan contains distinguished instructions concerning ecclesiastical song, which flowed from the most holy soul of Charles Borromeo. It admonishes, first, that every Canon or other minister whatsoever who is bound to the offices of the choir should train himself in the discipline of the choir with a certain zeal for inward piety, whose splendor should also shine outwardly.
Before he assembles there, however, let him reflect attentively with himself for a little while upon the sanctity of that place, the cause of assembling, and the offices of divine praise—which are the duty of Angels and ought to be celebrated most chastely by all.
Firmly adhering to this very thought, he will not even conceive in his mind and soul anything alien to the religious character of that place, much less do anything which would offend the eyes of God.
Therefore let him prepare himself again and again, diligently, by holy meditation in the inward soul and by religious prayer, so that he may perform the outward worship of the divine offices salutarily.
While he puts on the surplice, which is a garment made from white linen cloth, let him consider what person he sustains—namely, one pure from filth and stain, such as that vestment indicates.
When a Canon places upon his shoulders or arms, according to custom, the fur almuce, which is the insignia of Canons, let him take up this thought: that the affections and desires for worldly things ought to be extinguished and altogether dead in himself, as is signified by that skin of a dead animal which he puts on according to custom.
But if, as is the institution or custom in very many Churches, he puts on a cope which covers his shoulders and as it were binds his arms, let him understand from this garment that he ought to keep his appetites restrained, as though bound, and accommodate his whole self to the will of God.
Therefore, when, clothed in the vestments of the choir, he covers the other clothing which he uses outside and thus bears another person in his apparel, let him beware lest, even in the sacristy, he do or admit anything which does not rightly agree with the action on account of which he put on that apparel.
Indeed, let him not occupy himself with conversations alien to that action, unless he presides over a duty which necessarily requires it.
Let him always abstain—but especially while clothed in the vestments of the choir, wherever he may be, whether in the sacristy or another place—from jokes, ridiculous or witty sayings, loud laughter, and futile and empty words which are poured out rashly and imprudently.
Let him not approach the choir hastening as though incited by gain from the distributions, but with a grave step.
And while he proceeds to the choir, although another companion is joined to him, let him approach as though alone, fixed in this meditation: let him reflect within himself that he is approaching the choir—that is, the holy of holies, as an ancient canon provided—and the sacrifice of public prayer.
When he is in the choir, let him withdraw his soul and mind, insofar as it can be done, from all cares, disturbances, and thoughts alien to the sanctity of the matter being performed, and gather his whole self into the worship of God.
Let him also consider for what reason he has betaken himself there; then let him establish for himself that he is in the sight of almighty God and in the company of innumerable Angels and Saints.
In this thought let him see and continually consider that he stands in that place in order to offer most holy worship and veneration to God and to entreat from him every good thing both for himself and for others.
But let him consider God himself as a most loving father and redeemer, most good, most wise, and most merciful, who beholds all things and is everywhere and always.
Then let him suppliantly seek from God purity of heart and the gift and grace of praying well, and let him direct the sacrifice of his prayer, together with the merits of Jesus Christ and of the saints—especially of the saint whose memory the Church celebrates on that day—to the glory of the holy and undivided Trinity and to the utility of himself and his neighbors.
When one must sing psalms, first let him conceive in his mind and soul the subject of the psalm.
Let him observe, moreover, who speaks in the psalm: whether God, the Church, a penitent, or one aspiring to perfection.
Let him likewise attend to the salutary affection to which the psalm especially refers.
When he has thus prepared himself religiously, let him accommodate himself with great attention of soul to the words and sentiments of the psalm, so that he praises, groans, and trembles with fear, just as the expressions of the psalms indicate; and, finally, let him first conceive in his soul what he brings forth with his mouth.
Then let him note the individual words and diligently attain their interpretation, whence his mind and soul may be kindled toward some salutary affection.
Let him also join to the words in his soul a thought either of love, reverence, or humility. And let him indeed arouse some affection in this way: if he brings forth the words of a psalm concerning virtue, let him be kindled with a desire to imitate it; if they concern sins, let him grieve inwardly that he himself, or certainly his neighbor, has been in that condition. And so likewise concerning the other things which are signified by the Psalm.
Moreover, let him endeavor to renew and arouse that attention at the beginning of each psalm, prayer, and other part of the divine office, and then of each canonical hour, especially while he pronounces those words which have power to kindle the spirit of holy prayer: “O God, come to my assistance,” and so forth.
Let him do the same when he notices that he is distracted elsewhere by his thoughts.
At the end of each psalm also, let him arouse himself by those words, “Glory be to the Father,” and so forth.
Likewise, at the conclusion of the prayers, when it is said, “Through our Lord Jesus Christ,” let him strengthen himself with holy hope toward him who is the author of our redemption.
And because attention is very greatly aroused if each person rightly understands what he utters, for this reason let him be continually engaged above all in an exposition of the psalms which is not varied, but is wholly occupied in arousing and exercising holy affections.
But since a great part of the fruit of singing psalms consists in the affections of the psalms, whether one prays in the choir or privately, with a subdued or a loud voice, for this reason let him define for himself certain topics of the Psalms in which this whole method is comprehended.
Let the chief topics beyond the rest be these, from which salutary affections arise: the praise of God, the memory of our good things, the commemoration of our misery, and the rebuke of those who act wickedly.
When the goodness of God is proclaimed in the words of the Psalms, let him kindle himself with his whole soul toward love of him and thanksgiving for the benefits which proceed from divine benignity. When his infinite wisdom and power are commemorated, let him be affected with admiration; then let him inwardly rejoice when something well accomplished by God’s aid is related.
When the memory and recollection of good things is aroused by the words of the Psalms, let him conceive a certain desire to obtain them for himself and for others; then let him seek those same things from God, and then take up hope in God in his soul that by his divine aid he will not only obtain those things which are good and salutary, but avoid those which are evil and bring destruction.
Sometimes also let him rejoice inwardly in the Lord that, with God’s help, he has obtained good things and avoided evils.
From the commemoration of miseries let him conceive fear, grief, and humility when he recognizes his infirmities.
From the rebuke of those who do evil, let him recognize zeal for divine vengeance and indignation against wickedness. And thus indeed from these salutary affections he will obtain the richest fruit of singing psalms.
When the Psalms have been prayed through and the office of the canonical hours completed, let him remain silent for a little while and, with knees bent, entreat pardon for negligence, distraction, or any other fault which he committed in that office of prayer. Then let him pray that, through the merits of Christ and the whole Church, the homage and ministry of his prayer may be pleasing and acceptable.
In that office of singing psalms, just as attention of mind and salutary affection are required, so is a becoming disposition of the body.
Therefore, in addition to the things established in the first Council concerning bending the knees, inclining the head, standing, sitting, and the other parts, we also forbid certain things in the choir which, as being less becoming and alien to the worship of that place, ought to be avoided. These things are described upon a tablet which will be published by our care and shall be permanently affixed in each sacristy of the Churches, cathedral, collegiate, and parochial.
Moreover, let these very admonitions, described upon another tablet, likewise be kept in each sacristy.
Not only in sacristies and upon tablets, however, but upon the fleshly tablets of the heart; for to what end is all the ornament of churches and apparatus of ceremonies,
unless God is served with upright souls? But if it shall seem good to prelates to hang these admonitions also in the choir, they will bring incitements to the pious and instill shame into the negligent and those disdainful of sacred things. At the same time, they will easily restrain those who most shrewdly hunt after free benefices and fruits without a burden.
§ 12. For this reason the first Council gravely admonishes the person who presides over the choir concerning his office:
In cathedral and collegiate Churches, let him who presides over the choir watch diligently lest anything be omitted in the institution or progress of the divine office, or in the remaining things which pertain to the approved manner of the Choir, or in the other things which are prescribed by common or particular constitutions in the performance of the divine offices. And let nothing be done absurdly, indecorously, or in an inverted order. If any do not satisfy their office, let him rebuke them gravely and lovingly; if they do not come to their senses, let him command the attendance-marker to record them in the book and report them to the Bishop, to whom they shall pay worthy penalties. But if he himself has been negligent in the performance of his duty, let him be punished by the Bishop or by another who presides over the Church.
But if any Church does not have a person specifically placed over this duty, or if it has such a person but he is not present in the choir, let the person who then sits in the first place in the choir among those who possess dignities or Canonries in that Church discharge the office of presiding.
§ 13. The Council of Basel instructed all no less carefully in session 21:
If someone who is about to petition a secular prince endeavors to compose himself in word, with honorable apparel, becoming gesture, utterance not hasty but distinct, and an attentive mind, how much more diligently ought one who is about to pray to almighty God in a sacred place take care to do all these things? The holy Synod therefore establishes that in all cathedral and collegiate Churches, at the due hours, after the signals have first been rung with a suitable peal, the praises of the divine majesty shall be reverently discharged by all at each hour, not rapidly and hastily, but slowly and deliberately, and with a becoming pause, especially in the middle of each little verse of the Psalms, making the due difference between the solemn and ferial office.
Let those who are to recite the canonical hours enter the Churches wearing an ankle-length tunic and clean surplices extending below the middle of the shins, or copes, according to the diversity of times and regions; wearing not hoods upon their heads, but almuces or birettas. When they are in the choir, let them preserve the gravity which both the place and office demand, not conversing or speaking there at the same time with others, or reading letters or other writings. And since they assemble there for the sake of singing psalms, they ought not to keep their lips joined and closed, but let all—especially those who discharge the greater honor—cheerfully sing Psalms, hymns, and canticles to God.
When “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit” is said, let all rise. When that glorious name Jesus, at which every knee of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth is bent, is named, let all incline the head. Let no one there, while the hours are publicly sung, read or say the office privately. For he not only withdraws the service which he owes to the choir, but disturbs the others singing psalms. Let the Dean, or the person upon whom the burden rests, watch diligently over the due observance of these things and of the other things pertaining to the performance of the divine office and the discipline of the choir, looking about on every side lest anything be done in disorder. Transgressors of these things shall be punished by loss of the distribution for that hour in which they offended concerning the aforesaid things, or by another greater penalty, as the gravity of the transgression demands.
If prelates seriously take care of these things as they ought, at peril of eternal salvation, we shall in a short time behold another form of the Church.
§ 14. In the same session it also taught concerning attendance in the choir those things whose neglect has ruined the clergy and invited new heresies:
Whoever at Matins has not been present at the divine office before the end of the Psalm “Come, let us exult,” at the other Hours before the end of the first Psalm, and at Mass before the last Kyrie eleison, and has not remained until the end—unless perhaps, when necessity compels, he must depart after requesting and obtaining permission from the President of the choir—shall be considered absent for that hour, without prejudice to the customs of Churches, if any happen to be stricter concerning this. Let the same be observed regarding those who have not remained in processions from the beginning all the way to the end. For the execution of this, let someone be deputed who has the burden of noting the individual persons who do not assemble at the established time; being bound by oath, he is to act faithfully and spare no one.
This holy Synod also commands that in Churches in which definite distributions are not established for the individual hours, they shall nevertheless be assigned even from the gross fruits, if necessary, so that each person may receive more or less emolument according to the measure of his labor. It thereby removes entirely that abuse by which one who is present at only one hour appropriates the distributions of the whole day, and that abuse by which Provosts, Deans, or other officials receive the daily distributions solely because they are officials, although they are not actually absent for the utility of the Church.
From this we certainly infer:
First, that those persons offend gravely who, although they live—and often live sumptuously—from the Church, regard the duties of singing and celebrating the praises of God in the Church as beneath their dignity and delegate them to poorer Priests, vicars, students, and hired singers. David, singing to God by nights and days, did not act thus; nor Charlemagne, who himself handed down the modes of singing; nor the greatest and holiest Pontiffs, who together with kings and emperors endowed the Churches most munificently so that the divine majesty might be worshiped publicly by the most learned and illustrious men.
Second, that the custom and opinion of those who possess ecclesiastical benefices but judge that the church is to be approached only rarely, or boast that mere presence suffices for receiving revenues, is damnable. For since a benefice is given on account of an office, one cannot make its fruits his own by idleness alone, much less by business which is worse than idleness. For who would believe either that it was the intention of the founders or that God has any care for the most corrupt custom of those who are intent upon empty tales in the portico or the Church itself while others sing the divine offices? Do you not have houses, covered walks, and gardens for walking and talking, that you despise the Church of God? The Church of God, from which it is provided for you that you can talk idly? With what countenance, moreover, do you see your fellow citizens, who maintain the Churches by tithes and contributions, praying and singing psalms in that church which resounds with your tales?
A Priest, Canon, or Deacon, laughing and chattering in the sight of the Angels, amid the Psalms and the tremendous mysteries, in the middle of the church and in the presence of the Holy Eucharist—although their office is to give examples of modesty, devotion, and reverence toward the Church to all—is present to the great scandal of everyone and perhaps treats of trifling secular business. If he sometimes speaks of piety, nevertheless, because it takes place in a place not granted for it, it is not free from blame, because he makes the house of prayer and sanctuary of the Lord’s body a house of business, recreation, wandering discourse, and trifles.
Third, that the cause of so many evils has arisen from this, because the house of God is despised by its own ministers. In Haggai 1:2 God says that neglect of sacred things is the cause of evils:
This people says: “The time for the house of the Lord to be built has not yet come.” And the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the Prophet, saying: “Is it time for you to dwell in paneled houses while this house is desolate?” And now the Lord of hosts says these things: “Set your hearts upon your ways. You have sown much and brought in little; you have eaten and have not been satisfied; you have drunk and have not become drunk; you have clothed yourselves and have not become warm; and he who gathered wages put them into a bag full of holes.” The Lord of hosts says these things: “Set your hearts upon your ways. Ascend the mountain, carry timber, and build the house, and it will be acceptable to me and I shall be glorified,” says the Lord. “You looked for more, and behold, it became less; and you brought it into the house, and I blew it away. For what reason?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because my house is desolate, and each of you has hastened to his own house. On account of this the heavens above you were forbidden to give dew, and the earth was forbidden to give its produce; and I called drought upon the earth and upon the mountains, upon the wheat and the wine and the oil, upon whatever the ground brings forth, upon human beings and beasts of burden, and upon every labor of the hands.”
But now the house of God is not only not built; rather, one already built is turned to profane uses. Therefore, where evil morals have grown so strong that they cannot be corrected by ordinary power, the clergy which despises its own church will be rooted out—a thing which has already happened in many places.
Fourth, reformation is easy if those who ought to will it are willing. For who, if he sees that a thing from which there is no emolument displeases his superiors, would dare shamelessly to offend in it? Next, just as an absent man is deprived of distributions, so let those wanderers be punished with a double fine, so that they both lack their distributions and pay an expenditure for the fabric of the Church. For the religious magnificence of our forefathers erected such great churches not for license, but for devotion. But our discourse will return again to this error, because that which is often committed must often be reproved.