Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2023 3:29:09 GMT
There seems to be a practice in certain solemn Holy Masses and Divine Liturgies - in both Orthodox and Catholic settings - for a priest or lay musical director to "conduct" the congregation during the singing of the creed in Latin or Old Church Slavonic / Greek.
I first noticed it in a video of a Divine Liturgy celebrated by the Patriarch near Moscow, and subsequently found that it appears this is the usual practice in hierarchical Divine Liturgies in the Russian Orthodox Church. In that case, a priest turns to face the believers, and chants "Veruyu" ("Credo" in Church Slavonic) to set the tone for the creed, and then uses his hands to conduct the faithful during the singing of the creed, in order to keep the tempo constant.
I have also noticed it is a common practice at Notre Dame de Paris (when it was still used) for a lay director in a robe or cassock to conduct the singing of the creed in much the same way, although in that case the intonation was led by the celebrating Archbishop. In the Byzantine rite, the creed is sung by the congregation just before the anaphora, when the aer is being waved over the gifts, so most of the priests are occupied at that point, hence a single priest or deacon leads the recitation of the creed. In other Divine Liturgies, it appears the choir just sings the creed without the lay faithful.
I have not noticed this before at any of the churches I have attended. Is this a common practice in some parts of the world?
I first noticed it in a video of a Divine Liturgy celebrated by the Patriarch near Moscow, and subsequently found that it appears this is the usual practice in hierarchical Divine Liturgies in the Russian Orthodox Church. In that case, a priest turns to face the believers, and chants "Veruyu" ("Credo" in Church Slavonic) to set the tone for the creed, and then uses his hands to conduct the faithful during the singing of the creed, in order to keep the tempo constant.
I have also noticed it is a common practice at Notre Dame de Paris (when it was still used) for a lay director in a robe or cassock to conduct the singing of the creed in much the same way, although in that case the intonation was led by the celebrating Archbishop. In the Byzantine rite, the creed is sung by the congregation just before the anaphora, when the aer is being waved over the gifts, so most of the priests are occupied at that point, hence a single priest or deacon leads the recitation of the creed. In other Divine Liturgies, it appears the choir just sings the creed without the lay faithful.
I have not noticed this before at any of the churches I have attended. Is this a common practice in some parts of the world?