Liturgy of the Word: IN WHAT WAY SHOULD THE PSALM BE CONSIDERED RESPONSORIAL, AND IS IT SUPPOSED TO BE SUNG?

LITURGY OF THE WORD:
IN WHAT WAY SHOULD THE PSALM BE CONSIDERED RESPONSORIAL, AND IS IT SUPPOSED TO BE SUNG?
Allow me to cite two famous church fathers and a contemporary church document to answer your question. The notion that the psalm after the first reading is responsorial and that the congregation should “respond” to the cantor is found in the liturgical writings of St. Augustine in the early fifth century. But by the end of the sixth century it had become a virtuoso piece to be sung by the deacon only! Therefore, in 595, St. Gregory the Great forbade this solo singing. As choirs and scholas took over most of the people’s sung participation in the Mass, this psalm was reduced to a couple of verses (called the Gradual) and was regularly combined with the Alleluia before the gospel. The Introduction of the Lectionary for Mass cites this as an important, integral element of the Word of God and stresses that every means available should be used to facilitate the congregation’s singing. This Introduction states that the psalm is led by the cantor or psalmist from the lectern, which location shows its importance as part of the Liturgy of the Word.
The Lectionary for Mass presumes that the psalm is sung and offers two options. Either it is sung by the cantor with the congregation repeating the sung refrain after each verse or it can be sung straight through, either by cantor alone or by the congregation together. The only exception to this preferred practice is found in the same Introduction, which states that “when not sung, the responsorial psalm is to be recited in a manner conducive to meditation on the Word of God.”
Let me make a final comment on the psalm’s importance. The restoration of the proclamation of the scriptures at Mass in the vernacular is for the spiritual benefit of the whole church. In a literal and figurative sense, the Book of Psalms is the church’s prayer book. It contains the range of human emotions and reflects the spiritual ups and downs that believers always experience. The psalms are both Israel’s and Christian church’s sung prayer. They were originally set to music and should be sung. As a part of the Liturgy of the Word, one advantage of the sung psalm is that it provides a change from the spoken proclamation of the readings and offers the congregation the opportunity to reflect about what had been proclaimed through song and personal prayer.
In theory, the other sung parts of the Mass of the Roman Rite for Mass (Entrance, Offertory, and Communion) are taken from the psalms. In practice, however, to facilitate easier participation by the congregation, the American bishops allowed the use of other hymns or songs with which the people are familiar as a substitute for the singing of psalms at these parts of the liturgy. However, the Responsorial Psalm is not to be replaced by any other song (most recently reiterated in Sing to the Lord); because it may be the only psalm that the congregation sings and hears, it has even greater importance than if it were one of four psalms sung at Mass.
The bottom line? Follow Augustine and Gregory and you can’t go wrong!