How Sacred Music Leads Us to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus

Are all forms of music appropriate for the worship of God? Does it make a difference whether the faithful begin Holy Mass with a timeless Gregorian melody based on the Introit of the Mass or with Dan Shutte's immensely popular Here I am, Lord composed in 1979? Is it not just a matter of personal preference in styles of worship? After all, if a particular song stirs up the emotions of some of the faithful and makes them feel good at Mass, isn't that a good thing? Isn't that enough? Is not liturgical music, after all, supposed to reflect the joy of our identity as followers of Christ? Or are there certain norms that the Church specifically requires for music to be considered appropriate to use in the sacred liturgy? The answers to these questions might surprise some Catholics today.

Because of the crucial importance of the sacred liturgy in the life of Faith of a believer, the Catholic Church has never allowed a free-for-all, "anything goes" type of approach to liturgical music. In fact, because of the important principle of Lex orandi, lex credendi (the way in which we pray reflects and informs what we believe: literally, the Law of Praying is the Law of Believing), the Catholic Church has — from the very beginning — laid down precise rules that must be followed in regard to what music is allowed at Holy Mass. The complete disregard for these rules over the last 50-60 years in Catholic parishes, chapels, and monasteries does not in any way invalidate the Church's teachings on the matter — just as the total defiance of the Church's teaching on Latin as the sacred language of worship at Mass does not make that teaching any less valid. To this effect, this article will endeavour to present the Church's real teaching on sacred music and show the rationale that underlies it.

The most authoritative Church document on sacred music is without a doubt the 1903 Motu Proprio of Pope St. Pius X entitled Tra le Sollecitudine ("On Sacred Music"). In this text of the Church's Magisterium, the holy Pope shows how the Church understands sacred music, its role and purpose in the holy liturgy (of the Mass, the Divine Office, and the Sacraments), and what qualities are required for the Church to consider a particular style of music to be appropriate for use in the liturgy.

The Holy Father lays down three characteristics that any music deemed to be sacred must possess:

Sacred music must possess in the highest degree the qualities proper to the liturgy itself, namely: holiness, goodness of form (artistic quality), and universality. (Tra le Sollecitudine, para. 2)

Holiness refers to it being prayerful, conducive to contemplation, and devoid of worldly sounds, rhythms, and melodies. Goodness of form means that it should be noble and spiritually uplifting (it should raise the soul to God). And universality means that sacred liturgical music should belong to the whole Church and not be limited to any one particular culture, region, or time period. The Pope goes on to say, in the same document, that liturgical music

must be holy, and therefore exclude all profanity, not only in itself but also in the manner in which it is presented and performed.

Music that is worldly, theatrical, or irreverent must therefore be excluded, because it detracts from the sacredness and mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist. What is essential is that sacred music draw attention to the Altar, where the Holy Sacrifice is taking place, and not to the individual or choir that is performing the music. (This, by the way, is also why choirs should not be situated at the front of the church, in or even near the sanctuary). Holy Mass is not a concert or a show but the re-enactment of the Holy Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.

When all these characteristics of sacred music are taken into account, one form of music stands out from the rest and presents itself as the purest and most worthy expression of sacred music: Gregorian Chant.

Gregorian Chant has always been regarded as the supreme model of sacred music: [...] and so it is fully legitimate to lay down the following rule: the more closely a composition for church approaches in its movement, inspiration, and savour the Gregorian form, the more sacred and liturgical it becomes; and the more out of harmony it is with that supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple [of God]. (Tra le Sollecitudine, para. 3)

The above quotation shows that the Church clearly considers Gregorian Chant to be the Gold Standard for sacred music. Let us explore more closely what it is precisely about Gregorian Chant that sets it apart from every other musical form and makes it so worthy of being the model of sacred music par excellence.

All music has three principal elements to it: words, melodies, and rhythms. All three of these elements make Gregorian Chant supremely suitable for the sacred liturgy. Its words are not the words of men, made up by some artist but the very words of God Himself. Most of the antiphons and hymns of Gregorian Chant are either directly taken from biblical texts or else are very closely based on them, being the fruit of the Church's meditation on these same texts. When not directly biblical, they are composed by the holy authors of the Church's Sacred Tradition and confirmed by the Church's magisterial discernment.

However, it is not just the words of Gregorian Chant that make this form of music so eminently suitable for the liturgy. The melodies of chant also lend to the sacred atmosphere created by this form of music. And the rhythms attached to the melodies do the same. The rhythms used and melodic intervals employed in Gregorian Chant are not designed primarily to excite the passions or emotions of man, as often is the case with contemporary secular music. They appeal, instead, to the higher parts of man's soul, moving the intellect and the will to an ever greater union with God. Modern musical compositions, often based on a highly secularized view of human nature, are often designed primarily to entertain or to emotionally manipulate their listeners. The sacred music of chant, however, was conceived from the bosom of Holy Mother Church herself, rising organically into existence from the very heart of the Catholic Church's ancient prayers and contemplation of the Holy Mysteries. When sung well, Gregorian Chant does not draw attention to its performers but directly to the presence of God to Whom the souls of the faithful are lifted up. However, it's important to note that, while the goal of sacred chant is not primarily to excite the passions of man, Gregorian Chant does not treat man in a stoic manner either: it does in fact stir up the "feelings" of its listeners, but in a good way. Passions are not evil in and of themselves; they just need to be used in a way that is ordered to a higher purpose, which is to move the soul to God.

This latter point is the precise reason why Gregorian Chant is such a powerful complement to the Eucharistic mystery. Sacred Chant draws the soul into the very heart of the mystery of God, really and truly present in the Sacrifice of the Altar and within the Tabernacle: the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus Himself. Whether heard during Holy Mass, solemn Benediction, or otherwise silent Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Gregorian Chant serves as a type of spiritual bridge that unites Heaven and earth.

Gregorian Chant also serves to unite the faithful from one generation to the next in the same Faith, for the melodies and chants sung by a Gregorian choir in 2025 are the same as those sung by our forefathers in the Faith many centuries before. This is what Pope St. Pius X means by the universality of sacred chant. It is consoling to sing or hear sung the Tantum Ergo before Eucharistic Benediction in a parish church today, knowing that the Dominican friars of the 13th century would have heard and sung the exact same melody with the exact same words when they were blessed by the Blessed Sacrament back then. The timelessness of sacred chant and its power to unite the faithful of every culture across space and time is one of the reasons why this form of sacred music is so perfectly suited for divine worship even today.

Contemporary music tends to be very specific to a particular culture, people, or time period. Who could hear On Eagles' Wings being sung in a parish church today without having spiritual flashbacks (nightmares?) to the late 1970s when it was composed? Popular songs of this kind — alas, still so prevalent in our '70s and '80s throwback-style parishes today — are very dated and do not speak to the youth or average person today: not because these songs are not "catchy" (though, in all honesty, they often are not) but because we are no longer living in the '70s and '80s, and what spoke to people back then no longer has the power to speak to the heart today. Why? For the simple reason that such music is dated: it is linked to a specific culture in one specific period of time. It is also often linked to a worldview that is no longer valid today because it was based on an ideology that has changed and evolved, as all ideologies are prone to do.

The words and melodies of sacred Gregorian Chant, on the other hand, transcend the confines of space and time. To use a simple analogy from literature, it is like the difference between a Harlequin romance — that you read once and then immediately discard forever — and a timeless classic, such as the Nobel Prize-winning literary masterpiece Kristen Lavransdatter that one can read over and over again. The latter is timeless and never grows old; while the former is barely good enough for one quick, speedy read-through (if even that). Church music — and especially music that is designed for use in the sacred liturgy of the Holy Mass or the Divine Office — needs to be timeless in order to reflect adequately the eternal timelessness of God Himself, the eternity of Heaven.

Gregorian Chant is also the most appropriate form of sacred music because it is "silence made melody," as the famous Benedictine Abbot and expert in the sacred liturgy, Dom Prosper Gueranger, so poetically stated. When liturgies are celebrated in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament (such as Holy Mass or the Divine Office chanted in choir), this quality of Gregorian Chant is especially beneficial. Gregorian Chant sings the Word of God, but it also leads to a profound, interior silence. This is because the Divine Word is the Logos (which is God Himself) and the language of God is silence. Silence is the language of love, and God is love. It is in the silence of love that the Real Presence of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament becomes more perceptible to the man of Faith. Silence allows the faithful to enter into a holy heart-to-Heart with God: our human heart communing silently with His Eucharistic Heart in the Blessed Sacrament. A form of music that is characterized by noise, excitation, and constant stimulation of the senses cannot be conducive to such an intimate heart-to-Heart communion of love.

There is one last point about Gregorian Chant, and why it is the Supreme form of liturgical music, that I would like to make in this article. It is an aspect of sacred music that is rarely spoken about today: namely, that sacred music chases away demons! Perhaps you have heard the expression, "The Devil hates Latin." This does not just apply to the Latin language when spoken, but even more so to Latin when it is sung in praise of God. Latin is the sacred language of sacred music (Gregorian Chant), and this sacrality is what causes the spirits of evil to flee. Evil cannot stand to be in the presence of what is sacred and holy. Contemporary, popular church songs such as Gather Us In are ineffective at casting out demons (and some may even say that they summon them, because of their profanation of what should be holy!); whereas the demons flee in terror wherever Gregorian Chant is sung. And lest you think that this is simply my own private opinion, I invite you to research what well-reputed exorcist priests have said in this regard. The devil does indeed hate Latin, and he especially hates sung Latin in the form of sacred chant. Here is a short video that testifies to this truth, a video by an exorcist priest that recounts a personal experience of how powerful Gregorian Chant can be:

Power of Chant

Another, more lengthy interview with another well-known exorcist priest can be viewed here:

Demons Hate Chant

And finally, a third video link, this one containing Gregorian Chants that you can play in your own home, all of which have exceptional power against the forces of evil:

Chant Playlist

The power of Gregorian chant against the demonic is the primary reason why the recent attacks on sacredness in the Church's liturgy have spent so much effort in trying to completely eliminate Gregorian Chant from our parish liturgies and substitute it almost universally with saccharine, feel-good songs: songs and music that have no power to cast out evil — let alone raise the soul to God. Sacred Chant is intolerable in the eyes of many parish liturgy committees because its mere presence is a reminder of the truth that evil is real and that the sacred liturgy has the ability to exorcise the demonic. To sing sacred music is, in a certain sense, a type of act of exorcism. The modern church does not like concepts such as sin and the devil; and so it seeks to eliminate from the modern liturgy any such references that could serve as a reminder of these spiritual truths to the faithful. The mysterious, the transcendent, the overtly sacred... these are the things that modern liturgists fear the most today.

Sacred Gregorian Chant is not a luxury that is nice to have but that we could equally well do away with without much loss. Sacred Chant is a spiritual weapon that is necessary, because it is given to us through Holy Mother Church under the inspiration of Almighty God. This is why we must fight to restore it, for the good of souls. If we want future generations of Catholics to truly love and adore the Holy Eucharist in spirit and in truth, then we must expose them to, and teach them how to sing, the sacred words and melodies that have been used by the Church to adore and worship God from the very beginning, even almost all the way back to Apostolic times.

The Church's liturgy on earth is meant to mirror the liturgy of the Angels and Saints in Heaven. And the sacred music employed must therefore be worthy of the majesty and glory of Heaven. A form of music that is banal, excessively emotive or that solely evokes the passions and emotions; a music that is conducive to only one culture or time period; or even simply a form of music that is just too profane (secular) has no place in the venerable Divine Liturgy of Holy Mother Church. After all, such music cannot give glory to God or raise the soul to a deep love for the Blessed Sacrament. No one who hears the dreaded Take and Eat song at Communion thinks within himself as a consequence: "Oh, how majestic and glorious is the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar!" But hearing the Pange Lingua or the Ave Verum does often have that very effect on the soul. True sacred music must be holy because it points the soul to the God who is Himself Thrice Holy: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus! Authentic sacred music alone can give to divine worship the nobility and dignity that it deserves.

In the words of the Mellifluous Doctor, St. Bernard of Clairvaux:

There is something about sacred chant that softens the heart, draws down the Holy Spirit, and invites the soul to contemplate the things of Heaven.

Jesus Christ is truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. God Himself is right there upon our Catholic Altars and in our Catholic Tabernacles! And that is the primary reason why the Church, His Mystical Bride, sings to Him using the most sublime and beautiful melodies known to mankind. The very songs of the Angels have become the songs of men: Cantus Angelicus fit Cantus Hominum!