梵蒂岡第二次大公會議之前，由於天主教彌撒禮儀（感恩祭）中拉丁語的限定使用，使得信眾在彌撒中的全心參與產生了某種程度的侷限。直至《禮儀憲章》的頒佈，這樣的限制才正式獲得了紓解。歌唱頌揚天主是基督徒禮儀的開端與核心，透過歌詠，豐富了禮儀的內在本質。因此，如何在禮儀中藉由音樂與本地語言的實質結合，以喚起教友對於禮儀本質的感知，成了梵二後禮儀音樂改革的重點之一。本文首先從西方所倡導的天主教禮儀音樂改革歷史背景談起，主要著重於教廷禮儀音樂改革文件頒佈之脈絡。接續闡述台灣天主教教會官方在「中文」禮儀音樂發展的過程與結果。最後，依據作者進行之相關訪談、調查及觀察，針對台灣中文禮儀音樂的未來發展進行討論並提出可行之建議。

Latin was used as the official language of the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council, creating a participation gap for people in a liturgy. This gap was bridged through the promulgation of Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy). Praising God through singing is the beginning and core of Christian liturgy. It forms an integral part of the liturgy and enriches the ritual event. Therefore, an important issues of liturgical reform was how to combine music and words in order to enhance the congregations’ perception of the nature of the liturgy. This paper begins by elaborating the historical background of liturgical music reforms in the West, especially those dealing with liturgical music. The second part describes Chinese liturgical music reform and its results in Taiwan. Finally, the future development of liturgical music in Taiwan is discussed.