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Why is there music at liturgies, and what kind of music must it be to be suitable for liturgy?
Where words are not enough to praise God, music comes to our aid.
When we turn to God, there is always something ineffable and unsaid left over. Then music can help out. In rejoicing, language becomes song - that is why the angels sing. Music in a worship service should make prayer more beautiful and more fervent, move more deeply the hearts of all in attendance and bring them closer to God, and prepare for God a feast of melody.
How does the liturgy affect time?
In the liturgy time becomes time for God.
Often we do not know what to do with our time - we look for a pastime. In the liturgy, time becomes quite dense, because every second is filled with meaning. When we celebrate the liturgy, we experience the fact that God has sanctified time and made every second a gateway into eternity. (YOUCAT questions 183-184)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (1156-1158) and other references here.
Part 2: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (1066 - 1690)
Section 1: The Sacramental Economy (1076 - 1209)
Chapter 2: The Sacramental Celebration of the Paschal Mystery (1135 - 1209)
Article 1: Celebrating the Church's Liturgy (1136 - 1199)
II. HOW IS THE LITURGY CELEBRATED? ⇡
Singing and music ⇡
"The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as a combination of sacred music and words, it forms a necessary or integral part of solemn liturgy."20 The composition and singing of inspired psalms, often accompanied by musical instruments, were already closely linked to the liturgical celebrations of the Old Covenant. The Church continues and develops this tradition: "Address ... one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart." "He who sings prays twice."21
20.
SC 112.
21.
Eph 5:19; St. Augustine, En. in Ps. 72,1:PL 36,914; cf. Col 3:16.
Song and music fulfill their function as signs in a manner all the more significant when they are "more closely connected ... with the liturgical action,"22 according to three principal criteria: beauty expressive of prayer, the unanimous participation of the assembly at the designated moments, and the solemn character of the celebration. In this way they participate in the purpose of the liturgical words and actions: the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful:23 How I wept, deeply moved by your hymns, songs, and the voices that echoed through your Church! What emotion I experienced in them! Those sounds flowed into my ears distilling the truth in my heart. A feeling of devotion surged within me, and tears streamed down my face — tears that did me good.24
22.
SC 112 § 3.
23.
Cf. SC 112.
24.
St. Augustine, Conf. 9,6,14:PL 32,769-770.
The harmony of signs (song, music, words, and actions) is all the more expressive and fruitful when expressed in the cultural richness of the People of God who celebrate.25 Hence "religious singing by the faithful is to be intelligently fostered so that in devotions and sacred exercises as well as in liturgical services," in conformity with the Church's norms, "the voices of the faithful may be heard." But "the texts intended to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine. Indeed they should be drawn chiefly from the Sacred Scripture and from liturgical sources."26
25.
Cf. SC 119.
26.
SC 118; 121.