When I arrived at the Episcopal parish I currently work in, they were singing a (random) Hymn in the place I know of as "the Gospel Acclamation." As a guest to their denomination, I did not want to simply walk all over their traditions and customs, but I thought the practice was odd. It was made odder to me by the fact that they called this hymn "the Gradual."
I dutifully read the current BCP. No mention of either an Alleluia as I know it nor of this thing they called a Gradual. I was pretty sure I knew what a Gradual was, but (as I know many Anglican practices are "take-offs" of pre-Concilliar RC practices) I did my best to research what a Gradual was in the Rite now called the Extraordinary Form. I also looked into several Books of Common Prayer that predate the current one in use. No mention of this practice in the ones I could find.
The closest thing I could find is that, in the current BCP, there is a rubric that says that a suitable Hymn or Song may be sung AFTER any of the lessons.
The clergy were of little help on this point. They were happy to support any decision I made, but they couldn't offer any guidance. They simply were unaware of any practice out side their own, and were somewhat surprised by the way that their custom differed from the official Prayer Book.
So anyway, I replaced it with a Gregorian Alleluia (Mode VI... and yes I know that's for Easter. But I thought it had the greatest chance of being familiar). We do it accapella and I chant the proper verse (finding the same each week, given the difference between the Rev. Comm. Lectionary and the Catholic Lectionary, being a minor irritant each week). Everyone likes it, and it is one less piece of music to pick out and rehearse each week.
But!
I have recently watched (on the internet) and attended a handful of Episcopal (US) and Anglican (in England) Masses, and the practice of singing a Hymn seems prevalent. To make matters even more confusing for me, some places like to call this thing a "Sequence" or a "Sequence Hymn." None of my local Episcopalians seem to have any idea what I'm getting at when I ask about it- and indeed often seem somewhat incensed that I'm suggesting that they are doing something different than what is in their beloved Book of Common Prayer (which they dutifully hold during services, but never open- the same being used primarily as a clipboard for their printed programs).
For all my heresies and liberalism, at heart I'm a rubrics guy. I like to do liturgy correctly. But I'm kind of stymied here. My working hierarchy of rubrical rule-following for my current job goes something like:
1. Does the current BCP say anything? If no, go to:
2. Does a previous ECUSA BCP say anything? If no, go to:
3. What is the accepted practice in the Church of England (based on their BCP)? If no answer, go to:
4. Is there a precedent in another Chruch within the Anglican Communion? If no, go to:
5. What is the current Roman practice? If no precedent, go to:
6. What was the Roman practice before the reform? If still no answer:
7. What do I feel like doing? // What have I been told to do? // What are they currently doing?
I hardly ever get all the way to number 7.
The problem arises because there seems to be some kind of unwritten additional set of rubrics and traditions that accompany the Prayer Book.
(For another example, they sing "Praise God From Whom all Blessings Flow" after the Offertory Hymn, every single Sunday. And a local composer who wrote a Mass setting for his parish included that text in his setting- so the assumption seems to be that this is done. But I can find no precedent for it on paper, and didn't see it when I attended services at Trinity Episcopal in Boston).
Keeping in mind that "ask the priest" isn't a viable option in this case (they love me, they will support whatever I do, but other than a "High-ish" Church preference, they can offer little guidance on the matter of historical liturgical praxis)... Does anyone have any suggestions for how one proceeds?
I'm particularly curious about the Gospel Acclamation thing (although, practically, it doesn't matter since we've already made the change). I'm also curious about the Doxology after the Offertory. And generally, curious about this phenomenon and how one handles it.
I dutifully read the current BCP. No mention of either an Alleluia as I know it nor of this thing they called a Gradual. I was pretty sure I knew what a Gradual was, but (as I know many Anglican practices are "take-offs" of pre-Concilliar RC practices) I did my best to research what a Gradual was in the Rite now called the Extraordinary Form. I also looked into several Books of Common Prayer that predate the current one in use. No mention of this practice in the ones I could find.
The closest thing I could find is that, in the current BCP, there is a rubric that says that a suitable Hymn or Song may be sung AFTER any of the lessons.
The clergy were of little help on this point. They were happy to support any decision I made, but they couldn't offer any guidance. They simply were unaware of any practice out side their own, and were somewhat surprised by the way that their custom differed from the official Prayer Book.
So anyway, I replaced it with a Gregorian Alleluia (Mode VI... and yes I know that's for Easter. But I thought it had the greatest chance of being familiar). We do it accapella and I chant the proper verse (finding the same each week, given the difference between the Rev. Comm. Lectionary and the Catholic Lectionary, being a minor irritant each week). Everyone likes it, and it is one less piece of music to pick out and rehearse each week.
But!
I have recently watched (on the internet) and attended a handful of Episcopal (US) and Anglican (in England) Masses, and the practice of singing a Hymn seems prevalent. To make matters even more confusing for me, some places like to call this thing a "Sequence" or a "Sequence Hymn." None of my local Episcopalians seem to have any idea what I'm getting at when I ask about it- and indeed often seem somewhat incensed that I'm suggesting that they are doing something different than what is in their beloved Book of Common Prayer (which they dutifully hold during services, but never open- the same being used primarily as a clipboard for their printed programs).
For all my heresies and liberalism, at heart I'm a rubrics guy. I like to do liturgy correctly. But I'm kind of stymied here. My working hierarchy of rubrical rule-following for my current job goes something like:
1. Does the current BCP say anything? If no, go to:
2. Does a previous ECUSA BCP say anything? If no, go to:
3. What is the accepted practice in the Church of England (based on their BCP)? If no answer, go to:
4. Is there a precedent in another Chruch within the Anglican Communion? If no, go to:
5. What is the current Roman practice? If no precedent, go to:
6. What was the Roman practice before the reform? If still no answer:
7. What do I feel like doing? // What have I been told to do? // What are they currently doing?
I hardly ever get all the way to number 7.
The problem arises because there seems to be some kind of unwritten additional set of rubrics and traditions that accompany the Prayer Book.
(For another example, they sing "Praise God From Whom all Blessings Flow" after the Offertory Hymn, every single Sunday. And a local composer who wrote a Mass setting for his parish included that text in his setting- so the assumption seems to be that this is done. But I can find no precedent for it on paper, and didn't see it when I attended services at Trinity Episcopal in Boston).
Keeping in mind that "ask the priest" isn't a viable option in this case (they love me, they will support whatever I do, but other than a "High-ish" Church preference, they can offer little guidance on the matter of historical liturgical praxis)... Does anyone have any suggestions for how one proceeds?
I'm particularly curious about the Gospel Acclamation thing (although, practically, it doesn't matter since we've already made the change). I'm also curious about the Doxology after the Offertory. And generally, curious about this phenomenon and how one handles it.