A Palm Sunday Thought About The Singing of The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Palm Sunday begins Holy Week. How many Palm Sundays does this mark in our lives? Perhaps "many" is the answer.

If many, let's not let this be "just another Palm Sunday." Sometimes a long string of anything diminishes the thing itself into just a kind of bead on a string. But Palm Sunday cannot be just a bead. 

Indeed, it could be our last Palm Sunday. No matter our age, we never know when God will send Sister Death (St. Francis of Assisi's term) to take our hand and escort us from this Valley of Tears into His Presence - He Who sat on the donkey's back on this Palm Sunday.

Those of us who are privileged to attend Palm Sunday in the Vetus Ordo will perhaps hear one of Holy Mother Church's most beautiful chants when the Gospel is sung - the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Matthew. If done according to tradition, three priests will sing.

Having been blessed to grow up until my teens attending the traditional Mass, I heard this sung every Palm Sunday. The melody of this chant never left my memory, even after many years of not hearing it again. Its melody is unique in the canon of chants.

(If you have never been present to hear the Passion sung in this way, you might be able to find it online.)

Indeed, the same melody will grace the singing of the Passion on Good Friday - this time the Passion according to St. John.

Since those years, I have had the privilege of attending the singing of the Passion on several occasions, both in English and in Latin. (Of course, it was always in Latin growing up.) While the Latin does flow a bit more easily, it's one of the rare instances where the English doesn't seem to strain the beauty of the chant - at least to these ears. Still, the Latin does sound best.

Back to growing up: The narrator's part - the one that required the most singing - was always sung by Father Lennon, one of our parish priests. He had a wonderful voice. I can still hear it. 

The melody is so beautiful, it can stand singing by a lesser voice and the beauty will still come through. But Father Lennon made it all the more memorable. That voice stuck with me through all the years I was not able to hear it again, as the traditional Mass was suppressed and unavailable. They couldn't suppress the memory of Father Lennon's voice.

The brilliance of Holy Mother Church's traditional Liturgy cannot be underestimated. The suppressing of this both then and, sadly and incredibly, now cannot possibly be justified when one hears this beautiful chant melody.

So beautiful is this chanting of the Passion, that our local parish - which celebrates the Novus Ordo - has in recent years had professional singers sing the Passion according to St. John on Good Friday. A huge "Thank you!" to our pastor. (He clearly has some ears that have not been thoroughly soaked beyond repair in the current Church "music.")

Do others recall this beautiful chant with the same wistful emotions? There must be some. 

And do others attend the traditional Mass where - if it is a sung High Mass - this beautiful chant will ring out again? We know there are some.

And, finally, wouldn't it be wonderful if this chant would be restored to all our churches some day - never mind good traditional Catholic music rather than the stuff that's offered these days in so many churches?

Well, before we get sidetracked, no matter the music, not matter whether the Passion is sung, it remains Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. In the end, that's most important.

Have a blessed Holy Week!

Happy Palm Sunday!