Editing Gradual (section)

==History==
[[File:Archive-ugent-be-15F17B58-1C27-11E5-AB8E-CF31D53445F2 DS-496 (cropped).jpg|thumb|352x352px|Excerpt from the manuscript of the gradual of the abbey of St.-Baafs in [[Ghent]]. Made in 1469.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Graduale van de St.-Baafsabdij te Gent[manuscript]|url=https://lib.ugent.be/viewer/archive.ugent.be:15F17B58-1C27-11E5-AB8E-CF31D53445F2#?c=&m=&s=&cv=5&xywh=-1062,0,9866,5508|access-date=2020-08-26|website=lib.ugent.be}}</ref>]]
The Gradual, like the Hallelujah and Tract, is one of the [[responsorial]] chants of the Mass. Responsorial chants derive from early Christian traditions of singing choral refrains called ''responds'' between [[psalm]] verses. According to the [[Catholic Encyclopedia]], it (and the associated Hallelujah or Tract) is the oldest of the chants of the [[Proper (liturgy)|Proper]] of the Mass, and, in contrast to the [[Introit]], [[Offertory]], and [[Communion (chant)|Communion]], the only one that was not sung to accompany some other liturgical action, historically a procession. Until about the fifth century, it included singing a whole [[psalm]]. They were sung in the form of a ''psalmus responsorius'', i.e. the whole text was chanted by a reader appointed for this purpose. For some time before [[Pope Gregory I]], to sing these psalms was a privilege of [[deacon]]s at Rome, a privilege he suppressed in 595. The people answered each clause or verse with an acclamation. This apparently dates back to the [[synagogue]] tradition, and can even be seen in the structure of some Psalms (such as 136|135). Originally, there was a psalm sung between each reading, of which in the fifth century there were three ([[Nevi'im|Prophets]], [[Epistle]], and [[Gospel]]). When the Old Testament reading was later dropped, the other two psalms became the Gradual and [[Hallelujah]], ordinarily sung one after another, until the 1970 [[Missal]] restored the three readings on Sundays and [[Solemnity|Solemnities]].

The modern Gradual always consists of two psalm verses, generally (but not always) taken from the same psalm. There are a few Graduals that use a book of scripture other than the Psalms (for example, the verse for the Feast of the [[Immaculate Conception]] is from the [[Book of Judith]]), or even non-scriptural verses (for example, the first verse in the [[Requiem Mass]]).

The Gradual is believed to have been so named because it was sung on the step ([[Latin (language)|Latin]]: ''gradus'') of the altar, or perhaps because the deacon was mounting the steps of the [[ambon (liturgy)|ambo]] for the reading or singing of the [[Gospel]].{{ref|ref01}} However, early sources use the form ''gradale'' ("graded" or "distinguished"), and the ''Alia Musica'' (c. 900) uses the term ''antiphona gradalis'' for the [[Introit]].{{ref|ref02}}