GRADUAL

or GRAIL. The antiphonary which, before the Reformation, supplied the anthems or verses for the beginning of the Communion, the Offertory, ., was often called the Gradual, because some of the anthems were chanted on the steps ( gradus ) of the ambon or pulpit. The Gradual is also an anthem sung in the Roman Church immediately after the Epistle.— Jebb.