This is part 1 of 8 on Chapter VI “Sacred Music” taken from the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium solemnly promulgated by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on December 4, 1963. Please also read Vatican II and Sacred Music by Kurt Poterack, Ph.D found in the Spring 1999 issue of Sacred Music.
It is a pretty good guess that just about every person in this world loves some type of music. Whether it be rock, hip/hop, rap, pop, classical, country, blues, jazz, techno, or any kind for that matter. Just as much as we all love music, the Church also loves music. The Church loves music so much so that she has her own music. There are two categories of music: sacred and secular.
What makes music “sacred”? Sacred is “the holy or divine.” The sacred is that which pertains to God, as distinguished from what pertains to human beings; that which is eternal, in contrast with the temporal; the heavenly as opposed to the earthly; the mysterious and therefore not the rationally explainable; the infinite and not the finite. In all religions, the sacred is the Absolute, which does not change, whereas the profane is the relative, whose essence is to change.”[i]
Sacred comes from the Latin sacrare, which means to set apart or consecrate. There is music set apart or consecrated for use within liturgy. This music, which is set apart, is called sacred. This sacred music is for use within the church.
What is secular music? Secular is “that which belongs to this life, in contrast with the sacred, which pertains to the life to come. The secular, therefore, is the earthly and not celestial; the human and not the divine; the created and not the uncreated; the temporal and not the eternal; the visible and not the spiritual; the humanly rational and explainable and not the mysterious and ineffable; the relative and therefore changeable with time, place, and circumstances, and not the absolute, which is immutable because and insofar as it is assorted with the unchangeable God.”[ii]
What is the difference between sacred and secular music? The following chart is helpful in seeing the difference between sacred and secular music:
| Sacred | Secular |
| Pertains to God | Pertains to Human Beings |
| Eternal (Heaven, Spiritual) | Temporal (Earth, Physical) |
| Does not change | Changes |
| Used within the church | Used outside the church |
[i] Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., Modern Catholic Dictionary, Page 479
[ii] Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., Modern Catholic Dictionary, Page 496
[iii] Sacrosanctum Concilium; Chapter 6, Section 116