Can a medieval dirge make you feel better? Well, some experts believe that listening to Gregorian chants, specifically, can put you in a calmer state of mind. You don’t even have to be especially pious to benefit from listening to this beautiful music!
But this is not a new idea. According to Calmradio.com, many people in the Early Middle Ages believed that the chants had physical healing powers, as well as giving the listener tremendous spiritual blessings.
Gregorian chant is a form of monophonic, sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. It was developed mainly in western and central Europe during the 9th and 10th centuries. It is traditionally sung by choirs of men and boys in churches, or by men and women of religious orders in their chapels.
Dr. Alan Watkins, a neuroscientist at Imperial College of London, has shown that listening – and presumably singing -- Gregorian chant can lower blood pressure and help reduce anxiety and depression.
And the American Heart Association found that patients with coronary heart disease who practiced meditation and chanting in general had nearly 50 percent lower rates of heart attack, stroke, and death compared to non-meditating subjects.
Audio artists: Benedictine Monks of the Abbey of Saint-Maurice & Saint-Maur, Clervaux, Luxembourg