The three-hour session conducted at St Mary’s of the Divine Mercy Church in Sibu
By Neil M, ERLC LMC
Jul 13 2023
SIBU, Sarawak – Forty choir members from various parishes in Sibu Diocese came together at St Mary’s of the Divine Mercy Church on Corpus Christi Sunday afternoon, 11 Jun 2023, for a three-hour session to introduce the new Sing Your Praise to God (SYPG) hymnal.
Neil Mah, a member of the Liturgical Music Committee (LMC) of the Episcopal Regional Commission for Liturgy (ERLC) for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (CBCMSB) that worked on the hymnal for seven years, facilitated the session.
Mah, who happened to arrive here earlier to attend the 9th Episcopal Regional Commission for Family, Laity and Life annual meeting from 11-13 Jun 2023, offered to conduct the briefing session.
Upon the invitation from the Liturgy Commission for Sibu Diocese, choir members, made up of singers and musicians, from the Sacred Heart Cathedral, St Mary’s of the Divine Mercy Church, and St Theresa Church in Sibu, St Michael Church in Sibu Jaya, St Francis Xavier Church in Kanowit, St Peter and Paul Church in Mukah, Christ the King Church in Bintangor, St Bernard Church in Dalat, and St Charles Church in Selangau, responded and attended this very first session held in the diocese on the SYPG Hymnal.
In the short span of three hours, Mah shared the history of the Hymnal dated back to 1970 when it was first published by CBCMSB to meet the needs of the faithful to come together to worship God in spirit and in truth at every Mass.
He also shared that over the years, more hymns, devotions and prayers were added to it. Since there were no further updates since the publishing of the second edition in 1985, in 2014, CBCMSB mandated the ERLC to undertake the task of revising and improving it.
Mah then went on to inform the participants of the LMC formed to carry out this endeavour, how the Committee re-visited the liturgical and co-related documents of the Second Vatican Council, and with constant consultations with the bishops of the CBCMSB, formulated the guiding principles for determining the hymns to be included, as well as adding the Mass Antiphons and music notation. He also explained another important role that the Committee undertook that was to acknowledge all copyright owners of all hymns selected and sought permission for their use in the Hymnal.
He then introduced the content of the Hymnal which include the Order of Mass, Antiphons and hymns in English. Mah also showed the elaborate index listings that aid the user to search for hymns by title, first liner, and also by the various liturgical seasons.
Participants were then led to better understand the guiding principles used in the Hymnal through the showing of appropriate and inappropriate hymns for the various parts of Mass.
Mah also elaborated the significance of including the Antiphons into the Hymnal, and demonstrated the proper technique of chanting the Ordinaries of the Mass.
Since time was not sufficient, Mah proposed for a separate workshop at another time to teach in depth the technique of chanting to the delight and hope of the participants.
Testimonies from participants of the SYPG session
The session taught new and old church choir groups how to select appropriate hymns for mass and the liturgical seasons, and also it taught us how to chant properly. – Jenny Pau, St Joseph Choir group from St Mary’s Divine Mercy Church of Sibu
The session led the participants to a fresh and deep appreciation of the Hymnal. We found all sections of the Hymnal, not only the hymns, interesting. This session was very timely held, and we believe more references will be made to it in the future. We look forward to the Accompaniment Edition, and to future seminars. – St Thomas’ Singing Group from St Theresa Church, Sibu
An awe-inspiring session to awaken the spirit of awareness in the legalization of the Hymnal and its significance to the solemn celebrations of Catholic Masses. We no longer see the Hymnal as heavy and burdensome. We began to appreciate the rich tradition of the Gregorian Chant, learned the proper technique to chanting and other important elements of sacred music in the liturgy. – St Mary’s Main choir, St Mary’s of the Divine Mercy Church, Sibu, Sarawak
