The Historical Reality of Religious Songs—from Antiquity to the Middle Ages

Abstract

Expressing oneself before God through singing religious songs has been characteristic of people of all cultures and nationalities since time immemorial. It seems that this is particularly the case with those who have been singing to praise Christ the Lord since the dawn of Christianity.

This paper presents various definitions of a religious song as well as its types, sources and ways in which it developed in the period between antiquity and the Middle Ages. An important aspect of this study is the fact that it attempts to determine the role performed by religious songs in Christian worship over centuries. Besides looking at the oldest vocal relics of the Roman Catholic Church, the paper outlines the idea that motivated those who created sacred songs, which—as time went on—became more and more popular with Catholics, and, as a result, deserved to be used in the liturgy. Less sacred, other songs which did not meet the strict requirements existing at those times were called extra-liturgical songs or religious songs.

Irrespective of how liturgical and extra-liturgical songs are defined, it is indisputable that there is a common thread to all the types of religious songs created in the period between antiquity and the Middle Ages, namely, love for God, to whom they are dedicated.