My Journey into Psalm Chanting (with the St. Bernard Breviary)
Chanting the Psalms in the parish setting is no small feat. It has been years, perhaps centuries, since it was a normative practice. This makes sense; as music has shifted from sacred spaces to secular ones, its purpose and perception have also shifted. We no longer hear chants in our daily lives or view them as “elevated” as our ecclesial ancestors once did. In this modern world, as with so many other aspects of worship, we often discard what we do not understand or feel is unnecessary. But perhaps, when we make changes because our reasoning faculties don’t easily grasp something, we risk missing out on a deep well of grace.
Discovering Chant
In 2016, our family worshiped in a tradition that had long ago succumbed to the idea that worship should be as familiar as possible, almost like the secular world, to feel inviting. I had never known anything different. By day, I’m a Functional Medicine Physician Assistant specializing in root-cause medicine, seeking to find the underlying dysfunction instead of simply treating symptoms. As part of my training for certification with the Institute of Functional Medicine, I studied secular approaches to chant, breathing, and meditation, marveling at the way these practices can alter physiology: lowering blood pressure, reducing cortisol (the stress hormone), stabilizing heart rate, building resilience, and improving other biomarkers. It was fascinating to see the science behind how such practices can actually change our bodies and minds.
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In one of these lectures, I wondered why such practices seemed absent from Christian worship. It was an eye-opening moment, revealing my own ignorance, as I later learned how chant had historically been integral to the Christian faith. Growing up in the Southern United States, I didn’t know any liturgical Christians. Sure, they were around, but not in my sphere of influence. A quick web search revealed that Christians had indeed been chanting for a very long time! The Holy Spirit used this discovery as a catalyst for an amazing journey, which eventually led our family to seminary at Nashotah House, where they chant the Psalms daily, and ultimately to my calling as a priest and Church planter in the Anglican Church in North America.
Worship Shapes Our Desires
Our parish today is mainly comprised of unchurched or de-churched families who, like me, were unaware of the depth of worship and how it proclaims the Gospel within a sacramental worldview that shapes our lives—not just our afterlife. As we began the hard and deep work of developing culture in our parish, I knew that chant and musical formation would be essential to who we are and what we offer our community. Not only for the sake of tradition but also because of the way it shapes us towards the good, beautiful, and true. Church Fathers like St. Basil the Great emphasized how music and worship help form our souls, drawing us into divine order and beauty.
What can be more blessed than to imitate on earth the choir of angels; to begin the day with prayer, and honor our Maker with hymns and songs; and as the day advances, to go to our work, always keeping in mind the prayer, seasoning our labors with hymns, as if with salt?
Basil the Great, Letter 2
In addition, the Caroline Divines Lancelot Andrewes and Jeremy Taylor understood that worship shapes our desires and aligns us with divine truth. Chant, in particular, helps focus the mind and foster spiritual attentiveness. St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that music is ordered to the promotion of the inner life, calming the passions and directing the soul to higher things (Summa Theologica, II-II, Q. 91, Art. 2). It is amazing to me how these doctors of the Church were so in alignment with modern neuroscience!
The Health Benefits of Chanting
Yes, research also supports the health benefits of chanting. For instance, an article published in the Journal of Religion and Health looked at multiple studies in conventional medical journals. They show that chanting can significantly reduce stress and anxiety by decreasing bio-markers and enhancing overall well-being. Additionally, chanting promotes heart health by improving heart rate variability, a key indicator of cardiovascular resilience. Of course, worship would not only glorify God, its primary aim, but also lead us to flourish! It is an amazing discovery for a world that has tried to disconnect the science of our lived experience from the God who created us.
Our attempts at chanting were intermittent during the first couple of years of planting. I’ll admit it was rough, educating and re-educating, encouraging, and struggling to find our voices. It didn’t sound beautiful, but we hoped it was at least a joyful noise unto the Lord! Beginning in Lent 2023, we decided to go all in on chanting the Psalms during Eucharist. Fr. Ben Jeffries provided us with the Psalter from the St. Bernard Breviary, and we committed fully. Lent felt like the perfect time to stretch ourselves in this way. The St. Bernard Breviary offers a gentle introduction to chant, explaining its benefits and giving a primer on how to begin. It is a wonderful resource for parishioners with no previous experience in chant or musical education.
Chanting the Daily Office
In addition to chanting the Psalms, the St. Bernard Breviary also includes the Daily Office, a series of prayer times throughout the day, which have been a cornerstone of Christian spiritual practice for centuries and a hallmark of Anglican spirituality. In alignment with the 2019 Book of Common Prayer, the breviary helps us establish regular prayer times, from morning to evening, aligning our daily rhythms with the ancient pattern of the Church.
This practice not only grounds us in continual prayer but also draws us into the seasons of the liturgical year. The Church Year, with its cycles of feasts, fasts, and ordinary time, offers a way for us to participate more fully in the life of Christ. By observing these rhythms, our community learns to inhabit time differently, seeing each day as an opportunity to journey deeper into God’s grace and to shape our lives around the story of Jesus. This has been transformative for our parish, inviting us to experience worship not as isolated moments but as a continuous offering that sanctifies our time and helps us grow spiritually.
The Fruits of Chanting
The chant tones are in Gregorian plainchant, a style used for nearly 1,500 years in Christian worship. This simple, meditative form of chant is easier to learn and has been shown to calm the nervous system, an effect well-supported by research on music and neuroplasticity. As neuroscientist Dr. Daniel Levitin explains, repeated musical practice creates structural changes in the brain (This Is Your Brain on Music).
Like so much of the sacramental life, the fruits of chanting aren’t necessarily immediate. The Church has long understood that habits “till the soil” of our hearts so the grace of Christ can flourish. St. Augustine writes, “The mind commands the body, and is instantly obeyed. The mind commands itself and meets resistance.” (Confessions, Book VIII, Chapter 9). We must discipline our minds through habit. We can think of chanting the Psalms, praying the Daily Office, and singing hymns as a sort of spiritual Crossfit. A functional fitness program that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, gives the Grace of Christ a place to flourish within us. Modern neuroscience supports this, showing that repetitive practices shape the brain, aligning mind and body through a process of neuroplasticity (Doidge, The Brain That Changes Itself).
A Hymnal of the Heart
The hymnal accompanying the St. Bernard Breviary is also a treasure that our Church plant has embraced. This hymnal, inspired by John Ahern’s essay The Case for Shorter Hymnals, recognizes that as a culture, we’ve lost the musical literacy that was once central to a Classical education. Aher argues that “Biblically, to know something is to memorize something. To have something in your heart, as a part of you, is to memorize it.”
Guided by this principle, a group of Anglican priests compiled a set of 100 theologically sound, easily singable hymns from the Anglican tradition. These hymns are arranged according to the liturgical calendar. The goal is that after three years of singing these hymns, a parish would not only be theologically grounded but also musically literate. It’s a tall order but an imperative one. We find ourselves in a culture that is constantly shaping us in its own image. As Christians, we’re called to shape the culture, not merely assimilate into it. Through our worship, we make the Kingdom of God known to those around us. As St. Basil encouraged,
“A psalm implies serenity of soul; it is the author of peace, which calms bewildering and seething thoughts. For it softens the wrath of the soul, and what is unbridled it chastens.”
Basil the Great, Homily on the Psalms
Andy Crouch also speaks to this in Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, teaching that the Church should be not merely counter-cultural in resistance but counter-cultural in offering an invitation to a different way.
The Help of the St. Bernard Breviary
Planting a Church that lives by the Prayer Book’s rule of life has been fruitful. We’ve learned much and still have much to learn. I’m grateful for the St. Bernard Breviary, which has helped us shape a new generation of Christians who see the importance of worship, primarily directed toward God, but in his love, also bringing healing to mind, body, and spirit. Chanting the Psalms has become for us a means of worship and a pathway to following and encountering Christ.
The St. Bernard Breviary beautifully simplifies the path into chanting. It provides everything needed in one resource—pointed psalms, chant tones, and hymns—allowing us to engage in this ancient practice without piecing together disparate materials. This cohesive structure lowers the barrier to entry, making chant accessible and inviting while supporting the transformative “neural work” required for lasting change. By addressing the heart of our worship experience, the breviary guides us into a rhythm that enriches both individual and communal spirituality.
Step Boldly into Chanting
If you consider bringing chant into your worship, I encourage you to take that step boldly. Chanting may initially feel unfamiliar, but it opens the door to a deeper experience of God’s presence, transforming individual hearts and entire communities. My music professor, Fr. Alex Pryor, taught us the importance of entrainment: when we chant together, we breathe together; when we breathe together, our hearts beat as one. Anyone who has been part of a Church on mission knows the importance of one beating heart declaring the Gospel in their community!
Chant is an invitation to participate in an ancient tradition that binds us to the generations of Christians who have gone before us, joining our voices with theirs in praise. May your journey into the beauty of chant be filled with grace, courage, and the joy of drawing closer to the heart of God.
Photo by Jacob Davis of the St. Bernard Breviary published by Anglican Liturgy Press.
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