Editing Psalms (section)

====Catholic usage====
{{see also|Responsorial psalmody}}
[[File:Überführung der Bundeslade durch den singenden und tanzenden König David.jpg|thumb|A singing and dancing David leads the [[Ark of the Covenant]], {{circa|1650}}.]]
The Psalms have always been an important part of [[Catholic liturgy]]. The [[Liturgy of the Hours]] is centered on chanting or recitation of the Psalms, using fixed [[melodic formula]]s known as [[psalm tone]]s. Early Catholics employed the Psalms widely in their individual prayers also; however, as knowledge of [[Latin]] (the language of the [[Roman Rite]]) became uncommon, this practice ceased among the unlearned. However, until the end of the Middle Ages, it was not unknown for the laity to join in the singing of the [[Little Office of Our Lady]], which was a shortened version of the Liturgy of the Hours providing a fixed daily cycle of twenty-five psalms to be recited, and nine other psalms divided across Matins.

The work of Bishop [[Richard Challoner]] in providing devotional materials in English meant that many of the psalms were familiar to English-speaking Catholics from the eighteenth century onwards. Challoner translated the entirety of the Little Office into English, as well as Sunday Vespers and daily Compline. He also provided other individual Psalms such as 129/130 for prayer in his devotional books. Bishop Challoner is also noted for revising the [[Douay–Rheims Bible]], and the translations he used in his devotional books are taken from this work.

Until the [[Second Vatican Council]] the Psalms were either recited on a one-week or, less commonly (as in the case of [[Ambrosian rite]]), two-week cycle. Different one-week schemata were employed: most [[secular clergy]] followed the Roman distribution, while [[regular clergy]] almost universally followed that of [[St Benedict]], with only a few congregations (such as the [[Benedictine]]s of St Maur<ref>{{Cite book |last=Little |first=Lester K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NRC_fLiVUJgC&dq=+regular+clergy+almost+universally+followed+that+of+St+Benedict,+with+only+a+few+congregations+(such+as+the+Benedictines+of+St+Mau&pg=PR11 |title=Benedictine Maledictions: Liturgical Cursing in Romanesque France |date=1993 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-8113-0 |language=en}}</ref>) following individual arrangements. The [[Liturgy of the Hours|Breviary]] introduced in 1974 distributed the psalms over a four-week cycle. Monastic usage varies widely. Some use the four-week cycle of the secular clergy, many retain a one-week cycle, either following St Benedict's scheme or another of their own devising, while others opt for some other arrangement.

Official approval was also given to other arrangements<ref group=Notes>See [http://kellerbook.com "Short" Breviaries in the 20th and early 21st century America] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060118115359/http://www.kellerbook.com/ |date=18 January 2006 }} for an in-progress study</ref> by which the complete Psalter is recited in a one-week or two-week cycle. These arrangements are used principally by Catholic contemplative religious orders, such as that of the [[Trappists]].<ref group=Notes>See for example [https://newmelleray.org/schedule/psalm-schedule/ the Divine Office schedule at New Melleray Abbey]</ref>

The ''General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours'', 122 sanctions three modes of singing/recitation for the Psalms:
* directly (all sing or recite the entire psalm);
* [[antiphonal]]ly (two choirs or sections of the congregation sing or recite alternate verses or strophes); and
* [[responsorial]]ly (the cantor or choir sings or recites the verses while the congregation sings or recites a given response after each verse).
Of these three the antiphonal mode is the most widely followed.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

Over the centuries, the use of complete Psalms in the [[Mass (liturgy)|liturgy]] declined. After the [[Second Vatican Council]] (which also permitted the use of vernacular languages in the liturgy), longer psalm texts were reintroduced into the Mass, during the readings. The [[Mass of Paul VI|revision]] of the [[Roman Missal]] after the Second Vatican Council reintroduced the singing or recitation of a more substantial section of a Psalm, in some cases an entire Psalm, after the first Reading from Scripture. This Psalm, called the ''Responsorial Psalm,'' is usually sung or recited responsorially, although the ''General Instruction of the Roman Missal'' 61 permits direct recitation.