Andrew Motyka has eloquently answered this question. He has composed a complete set of communion antiphons for choir/congregation. On his website, he has a page dedicated to teaching you how to use communion antiphons. So that I don’t have to reinvent the wheel, I’m just going to post the relevant portion of his answer here:

The Gradual has traditionally been the book from which the music for the Mass is used. It contains all of the propers: Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, and Communio for the entire church year. The most recent Graduale was published in 1974 and is still in force. The current Missal (which will, of course, be replaced in Advent 2011) was completed in 1975, and when it was being published the powers that be conducted a poll as to whether they should include the Introit and Communio verses for the priests in the Missal for when there was no music and Mass was spoken. The answer was a resounding yes, and so the antiphons were included. Many of them were too long, or for whatever other reason, many of the antiphons were changed from the ones included in the Gradual. This is why there is a discrepancy between the Gradual antiphons and the Missal antiphons.

Andrew goes on to explain that his Communion Antiphons (which we will utilize at the 6PM Mass beginning in Advent) are derived from the Graduale.

The Companion Missal that we have used up to this point always included only the Missal antiphons, and didn’t print the antiphons that appear in the Graduale. That meant that for the 7:30 folks, your antiphons were always in the Missal, but if we sang propers at other Masses, they needed to be printed separately in the liturgy program. In fact, almost nobody prints the Graduale antiphons.

Our new hymnal, the Vatican II Hymnal, on the other hand, doesn’t print the Missal (spoken) antiphons, but only the Graduale (sung) antiphons. Why? Because according to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, singing at these times is the standard, and speaking is the exception (cf. GIRM 47-48; 86-87). While the Missal antiphons can be sung, the Graduale antiphons represent the standard for what to sing. Andrew again:

There are several reasons that these antiphons [i.e., the ones he composed] use the Gradual as their basis. First, these English versions retain a musical connection to the Gregorian originals, which are not contained in the Missal at all. Second, the antiphons in the Missal were meant for speech, while the Gradual antiphons are meant for song. Third, the translations of the Missal are wont to change. The Gradual has no official translation, and so will endure changes without a complete rewrite of the repertoire.

So what does this mean?

For the 7:30 AM folks, it will soon be much easier to find the antiphons you need! No more frantic shuffling through the missalette, only to get there barely in time for the last three words of the antiphons. Instead, just pick up the program and it’s right there.

For everyone else, you can find the antiphons (when they are sung) with the readings. For more information about when the antiphons will be sung at each of the Masses, seethis page.

• All Parts
• Soprano
• Alto
• Tenor
• Bass

• All parts
• Soprano
• Alto
• Tenor
• Bass

The electronic strings & guitar for accompaniment are a little cheesy, but it should still be helpful!

• All voices
• Primus part emphasized
• Secundus part emphasized
• Tertius part emphasized

The only down side (for women) is that all of these videos are recorded in the lower (men’s) register. However, it should still be helpful for practicing.

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