LEGION OF CHRIST COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES

Why Does Music Help to Pray?

Ivan Virgen Manzano, L.C.

 INTRODUCTION.

Art is a profitable means for getting closer to the Mystery of the Divine, an agent
which conveys a sensible experience of beauty and divinity into human hearts. For, every work
of genuine art gets us closer to the Artist par excellence. Over the centuries, humanity has
regarded music as one of the principal ways of artistic expression. Thus, the Catholic Church
has confirmed this thought with words like these: "The musical tradition of the Universal
Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art (...) ."1
Daily life sometimes hinders prayer. Nevertheless, the language of music can put a person into a
prayerful environment. Music also has a effective pastoral application: “the language of music
also represents a pastoral resource with a particular bearing on the liturgy and its renewal.” 2

In this paper, we will get into those elements of Sacred Music that support and
enliven prayer, those elements that make music a means of experiencing the Divine Presence
hidden in the beauty of the harmonious combination of notes and voices. We will use one of the
masterpieces of the well-known Renaissance composer Josquin des Prez called Ave Maria,
Virgo Serena (Hail Mary, Quiet Virgin). This paper will have three parts: the first one is about
the human and religious elements of music that help to pray; the second part is an analysis of
the author himself and the lyrical, and musical elements of the song. and how these features
help to pray and the third part brings some reflections about how the features of the song can
help us to get a prayerful experience through contact with the Quiet Virgin.

I. HOW DOES MUSIC HELP TO PRAY?

1. Human.
Music has physicological components. Not only do the inherent qualities of music sway
our perceptions about the music itself, but there are also very human factors that hold the musical
perception. As humans, we perceive and judge things through our senses, and music is no
different. Before the stimuli evoke of a musical piece, our organism begins a process of
analyzing, relating, and assuming a determined tune to produce a certain emotion as a result.

1
CONC. VAT. II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 112.
2
FRANCIS, Christus Vivit, no. 226.
Below, there are eight types about our emotional response and its mechanism to produce an
emotion taken from the book The power and Value of Music3:

1) Brain stem reflexes (responding to potentially important or urgent acoustical signals, which
applies to sudden, loud, dissonant, or fast temporal patterns).
2) Rhythmic entrainment (powerful external rhythm synchronizing bodily rhythms such as heart
rate or respiration).
3) Evaluative conditioning (frequently pairing a musical piece with other positive or negative
stimuli).
4) Emotional contagion (interior mimicking of a perceived emotional expression).
5) Visual imagery (conjuring up a visual image while listening to music).
6) Episodic memory (evoking specific emotionally charged events of the past linked to music).
7) Musical expectancy (responding to music violating, delaying, or confirming the listener’s
expectation about the continuation of the music).
8) Cognitive appraisal (responding to music fulfilling or not an expected function) .4

The appreciation of music follows an intricate and integral process that involves human beings in
musical appreciation. Listening to music relates the physical, cognitive skills, and emotions. For
that reason, music supports prayer and foster full participation in the liturgy, because when you
sing or listen to sacred music your whole self is involved in that process. We should say that he
who sings prays three times, for he who uses music to worship God uses his body, his mind, and
his soul.

2. Religious.
The Catholic Church estimates the value and power of music highly. There are three
main reasons for the importance of music in Catholic tradition: Music approaches us to the
Creator, can lift up our souls, and thus it supports the liturgy.

"Every genuine art form in its own way is a path to the inmost reality of man and the
world. It is, therefore, a wholly valid approach to the realm of faith, which gives human
experience its ultimate meaning." 5 Art is the fruit of reason, which is the intrinsic characteristic
of man. Art comes from man using thought and harmony to express his ideas. No other living
being can produce art. Animals produce necessary elements to survive. But man also produces
elements which portrait his illusions, bliss, sadness, ideas, or other feelings. Man is able to
produce expressive beauty, which is the approach to the Creator who made everything good
(Gen. 1:31). Moreover, "music is among the many and great gifts of nature with which God, in
3
KRAMARZ, The Power and Value of Music, p. 422.
4
NOTE. The author also includes the Aesthetic experience within the types.
5
JOHN PAUL II, Letter to the artists, no. 6.
Whom is the harmony of the most perfect concord and the most perfect order, has enriched men,
whom He has created in His image and likeness”6.

Music can elevate the mind and soul due to the overwhelming power that embraces all
those who listen to it carefully7. With a simple set of notes and harmony, music is able to express
itself and takes us into a reflection based on its own features. Music has the ability to lift up
souls, for music, involves physic, spiritual, and psychological skills that make listening to music
an ascent of our minds and souls. This ascent supports prayer.

Considering the invitation of the Second Vatican Council to a "fully conscious, and
active participation in liturgical celebrations,"8 music has been essential for liturgical
development and participation. The Church grants music an inestimable value and recognizes its
sacrality because it is an approach to the Creator and a means of recollection. "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, […] In this way, they participate in the purpose of the
liturgical words and actions: the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful". 9 The Church
also sees in the development of music the desire of rendering higher worship to God. 10 Thus,
music occupies a preeminent place in the liturgical action of the entire Church and propitiates the
active participation fostered by the Second Vatican Council.11

Finally, there are three positive principles that have guided the use of music in the liturgy.
Through them, we can identify which elements really help to pray with music. Music must be
holy, true art, and universal.12

II. FEATURES OF VIRGO SERENA.

1. The Author.

6
PIUS XII, Musicae Sacrae, no. 4.
7
PIUS XII, Musicae Sacrae, no. 31.
8
CONC. VAT. II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 14.
9
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, no. 1157.
10
Cf. PIUS XII Musicae Sacrae no. 17.
11
FRANCIS, Address to Participants in the International Conference on Sacred Music , March 4, 2017, no. 2.
“that they [artist] are able to incarnate and translate the Word of God into song, sound, and harmony capable of
making the hearts of our contemporaries resonate, also creating an appropriate emotional climate which disposes
people to faith and stirs openness and full participation in the mystery being celebrated”.
12
PIUS X, Motu Proprio promulgated on November 22, 1903.
 Virgo Serena by Josquin des Préz (c.1450/1455 – 27 August 1521) is an invaluable song
because it is considered one of his masterpieces. Des Préz was a prolific composer because he
wrote around 18 masses, 100 motets, and 70 secular pieces. He was well known during his
lifetime and even after his death, unknown artists attributed to him their compositions for gaining
fame. There are not many records about his life, but we know that he was a singer. He sang in
renown choirs such as the choir of René of Anjou, the papal choir, and the chapel choir of Ercole
d'Este for the Duke of Ferrara. Des Préz marked a starting point between the Late Middle Ages
and the Early Renaissance. Two styles converge in his compositional style: the Gothic with "the
ability to create a universal expression out of a multiplicity of individual elements, with that of
the Renaissance, the idea of creating art for its own sake."13 He was able to unify his imagination
with the spirit of the text within a complex musical structure. Moreover, his imagination did not
have boundaries, for he could maneuver with amusing profane songs, such as the famous Il
Grillo and deep spiritual chants, such as De Profundis. Even though he wrote many songs, each
song has its own patterns for communicating a specific message. Martin Luther rightly said: “He
[Josquin] is master of the notes, which must do as he wishes; other composers must do as the
notes wish.”14

2. Text analysis
We can identify this song as a Marian song by the lyrics. From the beginning, Josquin
uses the Latin greeting of Arcangel Gabriel to Mary. The first three phrases of the song imitate
the classic Catholic prayer (Ave Maria) until he introduces the phrase which gives the work the
title, Virgo Serena.

Each paragraph in between the first and the last one begins with the Latin salutation Ave,
but each one tells of different stages of Mary's life. It starts with her conception, then her birth,
followed by the Annunciation. In the fifth paragraph,the purification which we can associate to
the Cross. Then he mentions her Assumption and finally ends with his plea which begs our Lady
to remember him.

While the first phrase begins with ten syllables in each verse, the rest of the paragraphs
have eight syllables, except the last one, which only has five.

13
SIEGMEISTER, The New Music lover’s edition Handbook, p. 233.
14
Ibid.
 The rhyme does not follow an established sequence, but there is always rhyme between
the two linked phrases; both phrases are linked in order and meaning. I found a relationship
between the last three paragraphs that share the B rhyme pattern. In the first verse, it makes a
reference to an event of Mary’s life, while in the second one it associates that event to our

I Ave Maria, gratia plena, A
Dominus tecum, ZVirgo
serena A
Ave cujus conceptio,
II Bsolemni plena gaudio,
Bcelestia, terrestria, Cnova
replet letitia. C
Ave cujus nativitas, Dnostra
fuit solemnitas, Dut lucifer lux
III oriens Everum solem
preveniens. E
Ave pia humilitas, Dsine
IV viro fecunditas, Dcuius
annunciatio Bnostra fuit
salvatio. B
Ave vera virginitas,
V Dimmaculata castitas,
Dcuius purificatio
Bnostra fuit purgatio B
O Mater Dei, Gmemento
VII
mei. GAmen.
Ave, preclara omnibus
VI Fangelicis virtutibus,
Fcujus fuit
assumptio Bnostra
glorificatio B

salvation.

3. Musical Analysis.
This song is a motet. The key signature is C major and is written for four voices. Josquin
employs a simple quadruple meter (4/2) for most of the piece, with brief periods of 6/2, 3/2 and
2/2. Since Josquin was a singer, he was aware of how important the relationship between text
and music was. For this reason, he used some resources to express the text clearly. Thus, this
piece has changes of textures and interchanges of voices, which are characteristic features
throughout the song and they allow the listeners to appreciate the lyrics. He used melisma only
sparingly and repetitions of important phrases as well.

The first paragraph opens with an imitative texture, which means that each voice, one by one,
is repeating a similar tune as the previous one. In the second paragraph, a pair of the highest
voices sing the first line, while the rest imitates them. In the rest of the verses, the four voices
sing a homorhythmic texture. There is a melismatic segment principally in the third and fourth
verse. Three voices finished the paragraph in D, but the contratenor voice repeats the word
Letitia melismatically.
The third paragraph starts with only the highest voices. Then, the other two voices answer with
the next verse. The third verse is again an imitative texture voice by voice and finally ends with
all voices singing a homorhythmic texture.
The fourth paragraph consists of a question-answer section between the two high voices singing
intercalary with the other two low voices.
In the fifth paragraph, three voices start singing a homorhythmic texture while the fourth voice
starts a little bit later. In the fourth verse, the last voice is paired with the others. Again, three
voices finish all in “D”, but the contratenor does a melismatic arrangement.
The sixth paragraph does again an imitative section with two lower voices following the patterns
of the higher ones. In the third and fourth verses, the voices start imitatively but finish with three
voices singing a homorhythmic texture.
Finally, the song ends with all the voices singing the last sentence in a homorhythmic texture that
asks the Virgin to remember him.15

III. Praying with the song.

This motet fulfills the ecclesiastical principles of appropriateness for the liturgy and therefore
to pray. The lyrics are holy because they tell the stages from the life of Mary, and takes elements
from Sacred Scriptures and Tradition. Moreover, it is a good work of art itself. The
complementary relationship between text and music is its greatest achievement. Music conveys
and accompanies the sacrality of the text by allowing the comprehension of the words. Thus,
there are changes in voices and textures, which makes the song fluid and the text understandable.
Finally, Virgo Serena is also universal. The language of the text is valid in the Catholic context
every time and everywhere for it is Latin. Latin can unify different cultures and epochs in itself
associating the historical legacy of its use in the Church with them.

Nevertheless, the response of the human body to the song merges the sacrality of this piece
with its own interpretation of the song. Hence, it allows our soul, mind, and body to have a
prayerful experience.

The song starts with the greeting of the angel to Mary. Each voice repeats the same melody
as if each one were greeting Our Lady. It is a good introduction because you feel and perceive
the peacefulness of the song. The chord in the phrase Virgo Serena fills our ears with peace and
quietness.

In the second paragraph, when the song says: Celestia, terrestria, nova replet Letitia (heaven
and earth are filled with joy), all voices are singing. This moment, you can glimpse every
creature singing the glory of Mary. Also, the word Laetitia is one of the most melismatic words
and has one of the most complex polyphonic structure of the song, reflecting this joy. In the end,
15
NOTE. One can find in this link a didactic website for analyzing the song.
https://wwnorton.com/college/music/ilg/ENJ_12/JosquinAveMaria.html
the contratenor echoes this joy without end while the other voices stay on the same note, the
tenor one octave higher.

Then in the fifth paragraph, there is a change of rhythm making the song more fluent. This
change makes you enter again in the piece when the lyrics make reference to the chastity of Our
Lady. What made Mary different from other creatures was her purity, and this is why this part is
different from the other parts of the song. Cuius purificatio, nostra fuit purgatio (Which
purification was our cleansing), with all voices singing these words in a more accelerated way,
Josquin shows us the core of the Marian devotion: Mary brought the savior in her immaculate
womb, the savior who was our cleansing. Again, the contratenor echoes the last word purgatio
highlighting the importance of this mystery for our lives.

In the sixth paragraph, the two lower voices join the higher ones in imitative polyphony,
similar to the first paragraph. The text says Ave, preclara omnibus angelicis virtutibus. It is as if
the song was trying to greet Mary like in the beginning, but now angelic virtues join the greeting
after the travel of Mary through her life. With the words Cuius assumptio (whose assumption)
the first voice is going up recreating this event.

Finally, the last phrase crowns the song. The four voices, singing homorhythmically,
syllabically, slowly, say: My mother, remember me. After praising Our Lady the choir all
together, this petition comes out from a personal point of view with the solist. After
contemplating all the glory of Mary the singer prays for remembrance.

CONCLUSION
Music can take us into a prayerful experience due to its spiritual and human devices.
When a song fills the liturgical requirements and associates our body into a serene tune, it
becomes a means for prayer. The characteristics of Des Prés's Virgo Serena invite us to have an
encounter with the Serene Virgen and allow our mind to propitiate an appropriate environment in
order to have this experience. Knowing this, may music be a means for bringing people into a
vivid experience of the beauty and goodness of God. Let us finish this work with the same words
of the song: Mater Dei, Memento mei.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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PIUS X, Motu Proprio promulgated by Pope Pius X on November 22, 1903, Rome.

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