By Cantor
Over the past few weeks, we have been talking about the chants found in Ordinary Time, from Monday after Epiphany to the day before Ash Wednesday and Monday after Pentecost to the day before the first Sunday of Advent. However, the word “ordinary” (which refers to “an ordering” in the liturgical definition) means something quite different to many of us when used in everyday language such as “commonplace” or even “humdrum.” We have certainly seen that the chants of Ordinary Time are anything but dull!
Here I was in an everyday, “ordinary” circumstance and what was I hearing but chant. It’s no revelation that chant has been a source of inspiration for centuries of composers, but it struck me that chant occurs not only in everyday time but everyday events. That realization is one which I will treasure. It reminds me that chant does not just impact our liturgies but also our daily lives.
