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I attend the Ordinary form of the Mass. In it the entrance hymn is sung more often than the Gregorian introitus. I've been thinking about the reasons for this.

In the Extraordinary form we find no entrance hymns, I think. But the entrance hymn seems to fit the Ordinary form very well. It really does, although I have even been to Requiem Masses in the Ordinary form in which the Gregorian introitus was sung. It also worked very well.

Personally, I found that Gregorian chant works very well in the OF. Therefore, I don't know why in the Ordinary form people often choose the entrance hymn rather than the introitus in the OF.

What has been the argument for the entrance hymn in the Church? What does the Church officially say about this?

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    While it's true that the EF prescribes no hymns of the modern type, I have experienced an entrance hymn even in English, because it was argued that it was before Mass, which started with the Introit. The Introit was sung immediately after the hymn, which is actually what my community does in our OF mass.
    – Andrew Leach
    Oct 9 at 20:13
  • @AndrewLeach So the procession in the OF (during which the entrance hymn is sung) is considered "before"? Can we then argue that the final hymn accompanying the outward procession is also "after" the mass?
    – GratefulDisciple
    Oct 9 at 20:30
  • @GratefulDisciple Yes. The hymns help to get the clergy from A to B. The exit is certainly after Mass. The entry has the introit prescribed, and that can be lengthened if needed; but some latitude can be argued, as I indicated.
    – Andrew Leach
    Oct 9 at 20:34
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    The "Extraordinary Form" of the Roman Rite can have processional (entrance) and recessional (exit) hymns. They are often in the vernacular. Sometimes, the introit is used in the place of a processional hymn. Hymns during Mass are in Latin.
    – Geremia
    Oct 9 at 23:12

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