The Gospel Acclamation

The gospel acclamation accompanies the movement of the Book of Gospels from the altar to the ambo and prepares us to hear the proclamation of the Gospel.

The gospel acclamation should be sung at every Mass. It doesn’t need an accompaniment. All that is needed is a single person to start it off and people will join in. If you have a cantor who can sing the verse that is wonderful. If you don’t, the verse can be said or omitted altogether.

More background

Start here:

Start with a simple alleluia or the Lenten equivalent that can be sung unaccompanied. Once people know it they will sing.

Here are two very simple acclamations to get you started.

Simple Gospel acclamationsDownload

Other easy settings that may also be accompanied can be found in your hymn book – try Celtic Alleluia or Taizé VII. An easy Lenten acclamation by James Walsh can be found at CFE #415 or Laudate #184

Taking it further:

Your hymn book will have many suggestions for the gospel acclamation. Here is a list of just some of the gospel acclamations in Celebration for Everyone and Laudate. The Taize books also contain a lot of settings.

Where can I find further resources?

The two big publishers of Catholic music in the USA are OCP and GIA.

Decani Music’s Glory to God book.

For those who primarily use guitars, you may wish to look at Mike Anderson, Music for Mass and CJM music.