Tract

Tract a psalm, or portion of a psalm, sung in the Latin mass instead of the Gradual, on fixed days; from Septuagesima to Easter, after the Epistle. At the time at which the Church is commemorating the passion of our Lord, this Tract is slowly chanted in lieu of the joyous Gradual. It is called the Tract, as some ritualistic writers affirm, because it is drawn out in a slow and solemn strain. It is said that the psalm or hymn chanted by one voice was the Tract, and when the singer was interrupted by the choir his part was known as the versicle, and the portions allotted to them were called responsories. See Lee, Gloss. of Liturg. Terms, s.v.; Walcott, Sac. Archaeol. s.v.