What is the Gradual?

The liturgical term Gradual generally refers to the verses that are customarily chanted between the reading of the Old Testament and the Epistle during the Divine Service. They are part of the Propers and change each week to match the other readings. The verses are typically from the Psalter.

They are meant to give the hearers a chance to reflect upon what they have just heard and also to prepare them for what they are about to hear. The music and the text together is meant to serve the ear in a way that is parallel to how manuscript illuminations served the eye.

Reverence demands that when God speaks, when the Scriptures are read, His people respond. Besides having a catechetical purpose for the hearers, the Graduals are also meant to give the hearers a way to respond appropriately to God with praise, thanksgiving, and confession, thus the use of the Psalter. There is the idea in the Liturgy that we don’t simply rush from one thing to the next. We want to hear the Word of God reverently, taking a moment to contemplate and pray about and in response to what God has said.