A VISIT TO SOLESMES
by Rev. Robert HayburnPart II
In the morning Father Fossatti and I returned to the monastery so that we could celebrate Holy Mass. Now as I entered the abbey church I could get a better idea of the building than last night in the dim light preceding Compline. The nave of the church was extremely high, and narrow. It was evident that the whole of the church had not been constructed at the same period of time. There were some arches higher than others along the side of the nave and these were of Romanesque style. The lower of these arches go back to the eleventh century. Others are traced to the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. On each side small chapels lined the walls, these were constructed by Dom Gueranger. Near the entrance door stands an ancient statue of St. Peter, the patron of the monastery.
As we walked down the aisle, a monk and his server came from the opposite direction to enter one of the chapels. These chapels have austere marble altars and stained glass windows in the ultra-modern style. The priest had his eyes cast down as he meditated on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which he was about to celebrate. His vestments were the Gothic or full type and came far down, almost to his feet. His amice had been placed on the top of his cowl and his hooded head reminded me of a gnome, because the back of his hood stood up in a stern point. As we continued down the aisle of the church we came to the transept and to the left and right were wonderful groups of statuary. These are called the "Saints of Solesmes" and are the joy of the abbey. In the right transept is the group depicting the burial of Christ. This dates from the end of the fifteenth century. The figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary is wonderful and those of St. John and Mary Magdalene are likewise impressive. This monument was made to serve as a resting place for a thorn of the Sacred Crown of Our Lord. This thorn is now preserved in the treasury of the monastery and is exposed for veneration each year on the Monday after Easter.
On the left transept is the chapel of Our Lady. This has majestic figures and monuments as does its counterpart in the right transept. This group was made about fifty years later than that in honor of Our Lord and cannot be said to be as fine a piece of work. The group in honor of Mary represents the last Communion of Our Lady from the hand of her Son. It also depicts the burial of Mary in her tomb, before and preparatory to the Assumption.
My friend, Father Fossatti, and I knelt in the pews and made our meditation and then in about a half hour the time for our Masses had arrived. The brother showed us to the sacristy. Here were many beautifully carved vestment cases and a variety of beautiful chalices and sacred vestments. The vestments are designed by the sacristan, Dom Laborde. The most important of them are made in Paris and Lyons. When I placed the chasuble over my head I noticed the thickness of the material and the fullness of the garment. If I lowered my arms the cloth at the sides would fall down to my knees, so full was it. One of the young men on retreat at the abbey was then assigned to me as my server and we proceeded to the side altar of the last chapel on the epistle side and commenced Mass. After my thanksgiving I returned to the Jeanne D'Arc for the typical European breakfast of roll and coffee. This completed, I quickly returned to the monastery for the Solemn Mass at 10:00 o'clock.
At the sound of the great monastery bell the monks filed again into their stalls. Then the ministers of the Mass proceeded from the sacristy into the sanctuary. There was the full complement of ministers and they walked with a singular grace and dignity. The acolytes in long albs with cords at the waist held the candles in the corner of their arms at the elbow, and they walked slowly and in step. Then came the thurifer and the master of ceremonies. The sub-deacon and deacon preceded the celebrant to the altar. Their heads were covered by the amices and they had that gnome-like look of the priest at Mass in the early morning. The vestments were of beautiful silk and were of the ample type.
These ministers of the Solemn Mass proceeded to the altar, genuflected, bowed to their brother monks, and then faced again towards the altar, and the Mass commenced.
The chant of the Mass was sung by the monks as they remained in their stalls. However, a select group called the schola performs the Proper parts of the Mass. These came to the center of the sanctuary, formed a semi-circle facing the altar, and began to sing the Introit. They were robed in their habits, and in addition they had very full surplices of immaculate linen. Dom Gajard, choirmaster of Solesmes, was in the center directing them. Their pure voices ascended in an odor of sweetness as the tones of the chant rolled gently down the nave of the venerable abbey-church. Then the whole community took up the Kyrie Eleison, and the volume was greater and more moving still. If a monk makes a mistake in choir, either in text or chant, he immediately falls to his knees, as an act of humility.
The schola forms this circle in the center at all High Masses, except on the Solemn Feasts. On these occasions they sing the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, and Offertory "in the stalls." The Communion is always sung in the stalls, as is the Tract, during Advent and Lent. In many other abbeys the Communion is sung in the middle of the sanctuary like the rest of the Proper. However, at Solesmes, this is not the case.
At the Communion of the Mass when some of the visitors approached the Altar-rail I wondered where the Blessed Sacrament is kept. However, I soon discovered something very interesting. The tabernacle is different, for it does not rest on the altar. The tabernacle at Solesmes is a dove-shaped receptacle which hangs above the altar on a bracket. It is covered by the customary tabernacle veil. The dove is made of silver and has eyes set in two large diamonds. There is a pulley and a motor to raise and lower the dove-shaped tabernacle when it is to be opened. The custom is an ancient one in the church and takes its form from the early practice of the church at Rome. When Dom Gueranger visited the abandoned abbey as a young man, he found the remains of the support for this type of tabernacle, as it had been traditional at Solesmes. When he returned as the first superior of the new community he restored this old custom of using a dove-shaped tabernacle.
The arrangement of the abbey church is such that as one kneels or sits in the pews in the body of the church he cannot see the monks. The choir, or sanctuary of the church, is new, having been built by Dom Gueranger in 1864. He built it in the style of the parts of the church built in the fifteenth century. It is like an extension to the original church. The ancient church up to this time ended at the part of the church where the lay-brothers sit at Mass, that is, by the door to the sacristy. This is immediately next to the transept. and towards the main altar and choir of the monks. This new part is wider than the body of the church proper and the stalls of the monks are set along the side walls and thus are hidden from view. The stalls themselves are of fine wood, beautifully carved, and date from the sixteenth century.
The present main altar was erected in 1927 and is of the liturgical type without gradines or extra decoration. The plain mensa is seen as supported by four pillars across the front. At the back there are six great candles and nothing more. Above the altar there is a large wooden cross extending almost to the ceiling. Until 1927 there were great windows above the altar and a set of wooden panels behind the altar. But with the new altar these were no longer part of the plan. The window is now covered and is hidden, and the wooden panels have been removed.
On the right side of the choir of the monks there is an enormous lectern built in the form of an eagle. The great book for Matins rests on the outstretched arms of the eagle. The lectern is used only at the greater feasts. At ordinary Matins a small lectern is substituted in the center of the sanctuary.
There are two pipe organs in the abbey church. The small organ used to accompany the singing of the monks is in the sanctuary choir on the left side above the entrance door. It has eleven registers, nine of which are independent stops. At the other end of the abbey in the choir loft above the main door is the
grande orgue. This instrument of forty-nine stops was built by Gonzales and Company of Paris. It is a very fine instrument and is well played by two of the monks, Dom Bonnett and Dom Gay, each taking their turns in order. The space for the organ was limited and the speaking room is not enough to allow the optimum effect. However, it is worthy of the monastery even though the placement is not the best.
The grand organ is used for all Sundays out of penitential season, and on the great feasts. The organ is played as the celebrant and his ministers enter from the sacristy. It is also played after the singing of the Offertory, after the Elevation and during the Communion of the faithful. On days of great ceremonies the organ commences as the Abbot and his company enter from the left on the cloister side of the church.
The small organ is used generally to accompany the singing of the monks at all the offices. However, during Advent, Lent, Ember days, Vigils, and Requiems the singing is unaccompanied. When the vestments are violet or black the organ is silent. As a rule the accompaniments are very discreet. They are scarcely noticeable. Normally, only the Bourdon 8' is necessary with the pedal Bourdon 16'. Sometimes it is only the Bourdon 8' and pedal coupler.
The type of playing heard at Solesmes is very modal. I recall some of the Sundays when Mr. Henri Potiron did the playing. It was of a polyphonic texture but the idiom always in one of the ecclesiastical modes. His style is restrained and liturgical, but interesting. Particularly interesting is his marvelous use of the modal cadences and modulations to various related modal groups.
The class in music at Solesmes takes place every afternoon at 3:00 P. M. It is held in the small reception house immediately inside the monastery gate. A large long room at the end of the group of parlors is used for this class. Here we repaired each day to sit at the table and listen to Dom Gajard as he spoke to us about the chant. He is a man who looks to be about sixty years of age, and is about five feet eight inches tall. He is bald and stocky. His hands are wonderfully expressive and with them he seemed to draw the chant from us as we sang. His eyes are bright and penetrating, and his French is spoken in a low fast voice. Needless to say, one must know French at this class, or he will be lost. However, if he is a priest he may fall back on his Latin and address his questions to the master in this tongue rather than in French.
The class numbers about twenty people in the summer, and very few in the winter. Those present are from widely separated points of the earth. There were four priests from Mexico, an Australian priest, an organist from Belgium, some French seminarians, two professors from Princeton, two American Benedictines, and myself from California.
The normal procedure is to come carrying a copy of the Liber Usualis. Then Dom Gajard takes his place at the end of the table and we open to a chant such as an introit or an offertory. We set to work. The liturgical significance of the particular chant is described, we sing the sol-fa names and then add the Latin. One of the most important points he makes is the counting of the groups of notes. He will never let us proceed until we clearly understand the grouping of the notes. In regard to the singing, he may repeat a phrase ten or fifteen times until he is pleased with the way we sing it. One of his favorite chants is the introit "Salve Sancta Parens". This we practiced until one felt that he had extracted some of the hidden beauty and the liturgical flavor to be found in it. Others were the Introit for the third Mass of Christmas, "Puer Natus", and Kyrie XI.
My reaction to the class was this. If I wished to go to Solesmes to learn the rudiments of the chant I would have been disappointed. One going to this class must know this before he comes. Solesmes is a finishing school for the church musician, not a place where one should start. Fortunately I had learned these rudiments at the Plus Tenth School of Music in New York City, and had put them into practice during my years in the seminary. But one coming to Solesmes without this background would be lost. The only way he might be compensated would be to have some private lessons with one of the monks, and this is not the regular order of things.
My wish is that some day a regular curriculum will be established at Solesmes similar to that given at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music at Rome, or the Pius Tenth School at New York, as well as the courses given at the Gregorian Institute of Paris. In such a case a graded approach would be made to the chant. And Solesmes would become the source of training for all the other schools of chant in the world. In addition, the students would have the practice of the chant before them each day as they were present in the abbey-church to hear the daily singing of the monks in the sacred offices of the church.
One of the most interesting days of my stay at Solesmes was that on which I was invited to take a tour of the monastery and to stay for dinner. This tour included the chapter room, the library, the study rooms of the monks, the organ loft and an hour playing the
grande orgue, and last, but not least, the room in which the work of Paleography is carried on. This is in the older section of the monastery, and is of unusual interest. There are thousands of manuscripts arranged in an orderly manner for quick reference. The monk in charge spent some time explaining the meaning of the various tables to me and the significance of the various kinds of notation and the various centers from which the manuscripts came. They are in photographic facsimiles and came from widely separated parts of Europe. At first all copies had to be made by hand, but when the use of photography was employed the task was made much easier as the time element was eliminated.
The visit to the refectory was also very interesting. The custom is to invite all male visitors, who are priests, to take at least one meal in the abbey. I was told to be present at Sext, that is at one o'clock in the afternoon. Immediately after the monks left the chapel I was taken into the private part of the monastery. As we approached the refectory the Father Abbot stood waiting to greet me, as well as other guests. The etiquette was to first greet the abbot by kissing the ring on his finger and genuflecting as you did this. However, I had not met an abbot before and missed the cue by shaking his hand as he offered it to me. It was a bit embarrassing when I saw the other guests kiss his ring and kneel before him as they did. (However, in California we do not have any abbots handy and thus my ignorance might be overlooked.) The next step was to dip your fingers in a bowl held by one of the other monks and then dry your hands on the towel hung over his arm. I managed to perform this operation carefully and correctly.
The refectory itself was extremely interesting as it has beautiful pointed arches and a high ceiling. The walls have fine frescoes on the sides, and above the table of the abbot there is an excellent one of the Last Supper. The custom is that the abbot eats alone at a small table with his back to the wall. The other monks sit at large tables with their backs to the wall also, and the great number completely line the four walls of the refectory. The interesting part, too, is that the visitors are placed at tables in the center of the room and they eat with the men and boys who are on retreat. The monks tucked their napkins immediately below their chins and some even pinned them at the sides to insure the immunity of their habits from any stray portions of food which might fall by chance upon them. A cleric approached the pulpit-like lectern and read the assigned portion from the Bible. Then he proceeded to read the current spiritual book in a clear voice, but without any inflection. The effect was strange and somewhat monotonous. But the parts were easy to hear and the use of monotone eliminates interpretation on the part of the lector.
The food was good and plentiful. The fare was cold meat, hot potatoes and vegetables, preceded by wonderful broth. The dessert was fruit, and the beverage was a cider which had a biting taste and a clear golden color. The meal ended with a selection from the lives of the saints, and then the prayers of thanksgiving.
We now took a walk about the private part of the monastery property. And of course it meant a visit to the cemetery and the grave of Dom Mocquereau. A simple wooden cross marked his last earthly resting place. Then we descended to the crypt where Dom Gueranger is buried. This is below the abbey-church and is marked by a wonderful memorial tomb. The stone sarcophagus is of light pink stone and Abbot Gueranger is depicted in life-size effigy vested in full pontifical robes. He is wearing the mitre and holding in his hand the crosier. This beautiful tomb was the work of H. Charlier. The next morning I said Mass at the altar near this tomb. Each time I turned around to say "Dominus Vobiscum" the tomb was at my feet, and I recalled this liturgical giant and his famous work "The Liturgical Year." I recalled, too, the many wonderful things he had done for the church in France as well as the universal church, particularly the Roman Rite.
A visit to Solesmes is a rare privilege, indeed. This is a sort of island in the sea of life and turmoil. It is a place of peace and rest. It is a temple of praise and devotion to the Almighty. Here one is made mindful of the liturgy of the church as the purest praise of God that we mortal men can offer. The solemnity and dignity with which this praise is offered only help to stamp its inner meaning on the soul of the devout hearer. The voices of the monks in their daily round of praise of song impress the listener with the fact that they pray as they sing, and they sing as they pray.
The second in a set of two articles______________________________
Caecilia, Volume 82, Number 3 (March-April, 1955), pp. 87-90,92.
Related posts:
A Visit to Solesmes (Part I)Gregorian Chant Study Week in Solesmes, FranceCause for Beatification of Dom Prosper GuerangerOn Dom Gueranger and the Immaculate ConceptionPapal Legislation on Sacred Music
