PROCEDURES FOR LEADERS OF SONG (CANTORS and PSALMISTS)

1. Remote Preparation:
   1. Read any materials on your craft that are given to you.
   2. Read over and reflect upon the lyrics of the psalms and hymns you are to lead. Remember St. Augustine's words: "To sing is to pray twice".
   3. Be sure to have the Music Schedule in your hands at least 5 days before your scheduled Mass.
   4. Set up a practice time with the accompanist at a time other than the day of the Mass. Practice should not occur in the same venue where a sacrament is being celebrated, e. g., while the Sacrament of Reconciliation is being celebrated.
   5. Practice on your own before meeting with the accompanist to get some idea of the music, particularly if it is new to you.
2. Immediate Preparation:
   1. Be present for a warm-up session at least thirty (30) minutes before your scheduled Mass to go over any musical or logistical changes that may have occurred since the planning of the Mass.
   2. Read over the Announcements as part of your warm-up session. It is your enthusiasm and clarity that will get the message of the announcements across to the people. We want them to hear, understand, and participate in whatever is being announced.
   3. Turn on the speaker system 3-5 minutes before Mass.
3. At Mass:
   1. Find a friendly face and make all introductions and page number annoincements confidently and clearly.
   2. Be present to the assembly by standing tall, looking into their faces (those eyeballs again), and inviting them into God's presence by your attitude of prayerfulness, as well as by your musicality. Remember, we are the leaders of sung prayer first and foremost.
   3. You've heard it said that "timing is everything." Pour yourself into the ritual action. There is no room for a "jack-in-the-box"– one who is so busy looking for the next piece of music, taking a drink of water in full view of the assembly, jumping up between the readings without pausing to reflect on them, looking down at the music instead of up at the Presider during the Eucharistic Prayer, singing through Communion without partaking of the Gift of Christ Himself (yes, the people can and will sing without you as you receive the Body and Blood of Christ). All we have is the present moment to give to and receive from the Lord.
   4. The Leader of Song (Cantor or Psalmist) is a person who possesses a pleasant voice, who can articulate the words clearly, who can invite us to come into God's presence singing along with him or her.

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