Gregorian chant has a peace and a drawl all its own. Anyone who has gone to a monastery for retreat or to celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours knows the instant stilling it can cause on the heart. It can bring you down about 300 rpms. There have been a number of times I have escaped to a monastery for retreat - mostly while in college to escape the fevered pitch of finals week - and been graced with the simple still services that can open the heart to vistas of calm and oceans peace. There are also the yearly retreats and days of silence that I attend. The chant has always been sign and symbol of transforming power. The power to be able to move from complete chaos into stillness - this is an awesome power.
One of the things that I always thought funny about non-liturgical peoples' perception of liturgy is that they say often "I would rather read the scriptures and hear a sermon instead of that liturgical stuff." Many feel liturgy runs against scriptural faith. Clearly in the need to build up a defense, some folks never do any research about what they are defending themselves against.
Any liturgy that I have ever been to in the Catholic, Anglican, or Orthodox Church/Tradition has been nothing but scripture and sermons peppered with some focused and valuable litanies or intercessions. Most liturgical structure is a singing, plain chanting, or a speaking of scripture text (a great percentage from the Psalms) and the teachings (sermons) of the Fathers of the Church.
This being said...let us open the Gregorian chants sung for us by John Michael Talbot and his community at the Little Portion Hermitage. Brother John Michael has given me permission to post a sampling of these chants here on the blog (I have posted them as a Rhapsody play list so you can listen for free - Rhapsody lets you sample 25 mp3s a month - but you may have to sign up for their free account, but you will not be able to download unless you purchase - this is copyrighted material). If you find it a valuable Lenten practice, go ahead and order the music from his hermitage - they are in the middle of a huge rebuilding project (after a monstrous fire) and would love the sales or donations. The link to buy the music is below the record album icon below.
What becomes vital in the practice of liturgical prayer is to create some sort of space that helps you break from the every day. Find an icon. Get a candle. Have a special chair or a special corner that sets the time apart, that says, "This time is different than all time. This space is different from all space. This act is special." Once you have a space created, then you must create the time. Make a certain, specific and separate time each day. The routine becomes enlivened by the practice daily, and will, at some point begin to habituate into an appendage to your soul. You will not be able to live without it. And that is beautiful.
Light a candle, dim the lights, light the incense and listen/pray the prayers the church has sung for over a thousand years....
Peace,
+Tom
