The significance of plainchant to the monks of Glenstal Abbey.
Glenstal Abbey is home to a community of Benedictine monks in Murroe, County Limerick. The monks assemble together for prayer several times a day, and plainchant, a body of chants used in the liturgies composed in Latin text, plays a significant part. They also run a boarding school for boys, a farm and a guesthouse on the abbey site.
Dom Bernard O'Dea OSB (Order of Saint Benedict) explains that the origins of plainchant are probably Grecian and Hebraic. He believes the 9th and 10th century were the golden age of plainchant.
Most of the manuscripts from this golden age came from the Abbey of Saint Gall in Switzerland founded by Saint Columbanus so,
There's an Irish background at least there.
After the golden age, plainchant fell from favour until the 19th century when it was restored by Pope Pius X.
Many people still find an austerity about plainchant, it allows a meditative approach to worship that it would be a pity if it were lost completely.
Plainchant has evolved so it should be able to adapt from Latin to other languages. The Glenstal monks have tried singing in English but
When it comes to a solemn feast, we all feel more at home with plainchant.
While they make concessions for the boys attending their school, the monks frequently use plainchant. On the greater feasts such as All Souls Day they have a completely Latin liturgy.
Accompanying scenes of Glenstal Abbey and its surroundings, the monks sing two plainchant pieces from mass and the liturgy for All Saints Day. The opening is joyous while the offertory is quieter and perhaps more meditative.
'This Day’ was a magazine series on religious matters and more from around the country, with an emphasis on happenings in rural areas. It was presented by Jim Sherwin with Nodlaig McCarthy and Noel Purcell. Beginning on 29 September 1973, ‘This Day’ alternated with ‘Encounter’ on Sunday evenings.
This episode of ‘This Day’ was broadcast on 11 November 1973. The presenter is Nodlaig McCarthy.
