Studia Pastoralne
Rocznik Wydziału Teologicznego UŚ

The role and meaning of ecclesial songs in making musical culture in parish community more widespread
Summary
Musical tradition of a whole church is invaluable, dominating over other artistic forms, mainly because church singing is connected withwords (lyrics) and is an integral part of a solemn liturgy. Sacral music has evaluated together with the whole Roman Catholic Church for over two thousand years. To enhance the effectiveness of prayers and liturgic activitives an emotional state of its faithful is essential and a perfect goal to achieve it is to choose a suitable music. Polish dictionary defines culture as a whole achievement of humanity created in historic development or in one particular epoch. In modern ethnology and anthropology as a main factor making a culture is human activity in a general context. Ecclesial song appeared in Poland onlywhen chorale stopped being considered as an elite phenomenon. It was then that the lower classes started to participate actively in a church mess and ecclesial music gained a huge popularity. Singing in Polish slowly and with difficulty made its way to a liturgy. Parishes, running different forms of cultural education, should provide for their believers’ needs, by professional preparations for liturgy where music and singing is an integral and inseparable part.