Latin Mass Project

Your browser does not support the audio element. Podcast (20m52s): Play in new window | DownloadProper and Ordinary Sung Texts There are, in fact, 10 texts in a Sunday Mass that are sung by the people and the choir. Five of these texts change from week to week, and these are called the sung propers or the proper chants, five remain the same, and these are called the ordinary chants.The proper chants are: The IntroitThe GradualThe Alleluia (or tract in Lent)The OffertoryThe CommunionThe ordinary chants are:The Kyrie (Lord, have mercy)The Gloria (Glory to God in the highest)The Credo (I believe in One God)The Sanctus-Benedictus (Holy, holy, holy)The Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)These are texts of the Mass usually all or in part drawn from the Psalms, the Church's "prayer book." The proper chants are generally comprised of an antiphon and/or verse, and can take on different musical characters. For example, the Gradual tends to be "melismatic" (having many notes for certain syllables in the text; more "ornam