Antiphons
Introduction
Antiphons are short texts, usually taken from scripture, which are sung to accompany the processions at Mass. In the Roman Missal there are texts provided for the Entrance and Communion processions. The tradition is that the antiphons are interspersed by psalm verses.
Here you will find settings of the Antiphons from the Roman Missal in English. There are settings for all the Sundays and major feasts. Antiphons which may be sung on weekdays are currently being developed.
These settings use a different melodic formula for each season. The formula is adapted according to the text. The hope is that providing simple music that is repeated across a number of Sundays will enable congregational participation and also make it easier for the musicians. In a similar way for the psalm verses a 2-line tone has been used across a season. This is both to aid familiarity and flexibility. The settings are written for SATB but they are intended to be sung unaccompanied or accompanied, in 4 parts, a single cantor or by whatever is available.
Further details about the project and about performance can be found in the:
- Introduction (pdf)
The choice of psalm verses is based on the suggestions found in:
- The Processional (pdf)
A resource, prepared by the Society of St Gregory and endorsed by the Department for Christian Life and Worship, which gathers together antiphon texts and suggested psalm verses.
- Ordinary Time I (January–March)
- Ordinary Time II (June–July)
- Ordinary Time III (August–September)
- Ordinary Time IV (October–November)
- Solemnities & Feasts of the Lord
Ordinary Time has been broken up into 2 month groupings. This means that the Sundays 6–11 which can appear both before and after Lent–Easter have 2 settings. For other days there are two settings, such as Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe where there is a setting in the Solemnities booklet and Ordinary Time 4.