At OLPH (practice on Mondays at 7:30)
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up starts at 7:40)
Sept. 5, 19
Kyrie XI
Alelluia
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Anima Christi
Salve Regina
At St. Martin's (Little Sisters of the Poor)
Sept.20, Sunday, 10:30 (warm-up at 10AM)
Ave Maria(Prelude)
Come. Now Almighty King (721)
Gloria VIII
RP. The Lord uphold my life
Offertory Proper (schola)
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Communion Proper (schola)
O Lord, I'm Not Worthy (513)
Salve Regina (702)
At Resurrection Church (practice on Tuesdays at 7:30 PM)
Satruday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
Spet. 12
Kyrie XVI
Sanctus VIII
Alleuia
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei IV
Anima Christi
Salve Regina
Children's schola (practice on Mondays at 1:30 at OLPH)
First Friday Mass, Sept. 4
OLPH 8:15 AM (warm up starts at 7:45 AM)
Ave Maria (prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Alelluia
Veni Creator Spiritus (offertory, vs 1, 4, 6, 7)
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Adoro te dovote (communion, vs. 1, 2,5, 7 )
Monday, August 17, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Music at St. Peter's: The Transformation
Music at St. Peter's: The Transformation by Jeffrey Tucker
It was my pleasure to enjoy a long chat with Fr. Pierre Paul, director of music at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. He has held this position since 2008, having been director at the North American College. After leaving that position, he came back to home in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, only to be called back to head the music program at St. Peter's under the guidance of Benedict XVI.
Since then, he has embarked on a spectacular program that amounts to the musical application of the principle of the hermeneutic of continuity. What was holy then is holy now. He has infused the entire program at the Vatican with a new love of excellence and idealism by embracing the program legislated by the Second Vatican Council, taking seriously the call for Gregorian chant to assume the primary role in liturgy.
This has meant, in the first instance, and above all else, using Gregorian ordinary settings for all Masses. For ordinary time, he is using Mass XI or Obis Factor. For Advent and Lent he is using Mass XVII (Kyrie Salve), switching out the Kyrie for respective seasons.
For Easter, he chooses Mass I (Lux et Origo), along with Mass IV (Cunctipotens Genior Deus) for the Feast of the Apostles. He also uses Credo I, III, and IV, and, periodically, the whole of Mass IX (Cum Jubilo). He is trying minimize the use of Mass of the Angels, though it is still programmed for large international Masses since this is the one that most people know. These are all huge advances, and he is thrilled to hear that people are singing with gusto! Actually, people are singing as never before. He is careful to print large booklets for every Mass with translations. He is dedicated to making sure that he does not use modern notation in the booklets. He believes in neumes, the notation of the Church, because he regards them as easier to sing than modern notes and because they convey the sense that the music of the Church is different from other forms of music
The biggest advances have been made in the area of propers, which had long been displaced by hymns that are extraneous to the Mass. The Introit of the day is sung at every Mass as the celebrant approaches the altar, following a hymn or organ solo. The communion chant is always sung with Psalms from Richard Rice's editions posted at MusicaSacra.com.
This is a major step and a restoration of a very early practice for Papal Masses. The offertory antiphon is also sung periodically and increasingly so as more and more singers can handle the material. For the Psalm, St. Peters is alternating the use the of the Gradual Psalm from the Graduale Romanum and the simpler Psalms from the Graduale Simplex.
Just now, the choirs are moving into the polyphonic repertoire of the Italian masters such as Palestrina and Victoria, and will be increasingly exploring polyphonic propers along with new compositions.
Other major changes made by Fr. Paul include instituting rehearsals on Wednesday nights. Yes, you read that right. The choir didn't used to rehearse. Now they do. What's more, he invites Dom Saulnier from Solesmes, now living in Rome and teaching at the Pontifical Institute for Sacred Music, to teach weekly chant training seminars. This is a complete switch from the past. The new closeness between Solesmes and St. Peters will intensify later this year when Solesmes releases an in-print version of the first volume of the Antiphonale for the Liturgy of the Hours, which will then be used in published form for Vespers at the Vatican.
Fr. Paul has instituted new standards for visiting choirs. As he says, "it cannot be just any choir. It must be a liturgical choir." This means the he listens to recordings of their work before any guest choir sings at St. Peters. They must clear the repertoire in advance. And whatever they sing must fit in with the musical structure as it is developing at St. Peters. So if there is a motet to sing, it can only be sung following the propers of the Mass.
This change has made a huge difference in not only advancing the music in the Vatican but in encouraging the right trends in all parts of the world. It is an honor to sing at St. Peter's and Fr. Paul's work to raise the standards are having an effect.
Several aspects of this extended talk surprised me. One was how much time Fr. Paul spends doing programs. He is constantly online download material, scanning material, and dragging and dropping graphics and worrying about things like image resolution and spacing. He has nowhere near the level of help one might expect. In other words, his job is pretty much like that of every parish musician.
Another surprise to me is how he, in an entirely humble way, seems not entirely sure about the influence of what he is doing at St. Peter's and what the long-term implications are. But of course the truth is that what happens here serves as a model for parishes and cathedrals around the world. The trends at the Vatican eventually come to pervade the whole Church, and this is where his long-term influence is going to be felt most profoundly. Essentially, what he is doing is progressing toward a unity of the present with the past heritage of Catholic music, preserving while re-invigorating, and innovating toward the restoration of an ideal.
For his wonderful work in this area, all Catholics the world over are very much in debt to Fr. Paul!
There are surely bumps along with the way and some opposition to deal with, though Fr. Paul doesn't speak about these aspects. For his part, what inspires him is that it is a well-known fact that the Pope himself is thrilled with the great progress he is making and can't be happier about the direction of change. He works every harder toward the goal, hardly ever going to sleep before midnight and then rising at the crack of dawn to work some more.
The singers are excited by the new emphasis on excellence above all else, and are willing to work harder than ever. They are coming to rehearsal ready to sing and happy for the privilege of doing what they are doing. The same is true of the cantors, who are given new responsibilities and are held to higher standards.
The glorious thing that is happening here comes down to this: the program is giving back to Catholic their native music and freeing up the universal musical voice of the faith. This amounts to a major step toward the unity of the faith all over the world. Nothing could be more essential in a secular culture defined by its aesthetic fracturing. We need this major step to help us pray together and come together in one faith. He is not only a humble visionary but a man of great courage with an eye to the future of sacred music.
From New Liturgical Movement
Posted Monday, August 10, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
What did our Holy Father say?; from Pope Benedict XVI on Sacred Music
Active Participation
Wherever an exaggerated concept of "community" predominates, a concept which is (as we have already seen) completely unrealistic precisely in a highly mobile society such as ours, there only the priest and the congregation can be acknowledged as legitimate executors or performers of liturgical song. Today, practically everyone can see through the primitive activism and the insipid pedagogic rationalism of such a position which is why it is now asserted so seldom. The fact that the schola and the choir can also contribute to the whole picture, is scarcely denied any more, even among those who erroneously interpret the council's phrase about "active participation" as meaning external activism. ("In the Presence of the Angels..." Adoremus Bulletin, Vol. 2, Nos. 6-8, Oct-Dec. 1996).
Silence
We are realizing more and more clearly that silence is part of the liturgy. We respond, by singing and praying, to the God who addresses us, but the greater mystery, surpassing all words, summons us to silence. It must, of course, be a silence with content, not just the absence of speech and action. We should expect the liturgy to give us a positive stillness that will restore us. Such stillness will not be just a pause, in which a thousand thoughts and desires assault us, but a time of recollection, giving us an inward peace, allowing us to draw breath and rediscover the one thing necessary, which we have forgotten. That is why silence cannot be simply “made”, organized as if it were one activity among many. It is no accident that on all sides people are seeking techniques of meditation, a spirituality for emptying the mind. One of man’s deepest needs is making its presence felt, a need that is manifestly not being met in our present form of the liturgy. For silence to be fruitful, as we have already said, it must not be just a pause in the action of the liturgy. No, it must be an integral part of the liturgical event. [The Spirit of the Liturgy, (SF, CA: Ignatius, 2000), p. 209]
Popular and Rock Music
On the one hand, there is pop music, which is certainly no longer supported by the people in the ancient sense (populus). It is aimed at the phenomenon of the masses, is industrially produced, and ultimately has to be described as a cult of the banal. “Rock”, on the other hand, is the expression of elemental passions, and at rock festivals it assumes a cultic character, a form of worship, in fact, in opposition to Christian worship. People are, so to speak, released from themselves by the experience of being part of a crowd and by the emotional shock of rhythm, noise, and special lighting effects. However, in the ecstasy of having all their defenses torn down, the participants sink, as it were, beneath the elemental force of the universe. The music of the Holy Spirit’s sober inebriation seems to have little chance when self has become a prison, the mind is a shackle, and breaking out from both appears as a true promise of redemption that can be tasted at least for a few moments. [The Spirit of the Liturgy, (SF, CA: Ignatius, 2000), p 148]
Sacred vs. Performance
Whether it is Bach or Mozart that we hear in church, we have a sense in either case of what Gloria Dei, the glory of God, means. The mystery of infinite beauty is there and enables us to experience the presence of God more truly and vividly than in many sermons. But there are already signs of danger to come. Subjective experience and passion are still held in check by the order of the musical universe, reflecting as it does the order of the divine creation itself. But there is already the threat of invasion by the virtuoso mentality, the vanity of technique, which is no longer the servant of the whole but wants to push itself to the fore. During the nineteenth century, the century of self-emancipating subjectivity, this led in many places to the obscuring of the sacred by the operatic. The dangers that had forced the Council of Trent to intervene were back again. In similar fashion, Pope Pius X tried to remove the operatic element from the liturgy and declared Gregorian chant and the great polyphony of the age of the Catholic Reformation (of which Palestrina was the outstanding representative) to be the standard for liturgical music. A clear distinction was made between liturgical music and religious music in general, just as visual art in the liturgy has to conform to different standards from those employed in religious art in general. Art in the liturgy has a very specific responsibility, and precisely as such does it serve as a wellspring of culture, which in the final analysis owes its existence to cult. [The Spirit of the Liturgy, (SF, CA: Ignatius, 2000), pp. 148]
Not every kind of music can have a place in Christian worship. It has its standards, and that standard is the Logos. If we want to know whom we are dealing with, the Holy Spirit or the unholy spirit, we have to remember that it is the Holy Spirit who moves us to say, “Jesus is Lord” (~Cor 12:3). The Holy Spirit leads us to the Logos, and he leads us to a music that serves the Logos as a sign of the sursum corda, the lifting up of the human heart. Does it integrate man by drawing him to what is above, or does it cause his disintegration into formless intoxication or mere sensuality? That is the criterion for a music in harmony with logos, a form of that logike latreia (reasonable, logos-worthy worship)… [The Spirit of the Liturgy, (SF, CA: Ignatius, 2000), p. 151]
Latin in Liturgy
I would be in favor of a new openness toward the use of Latin. Latin in the Mass has come meanwhile to look to us like a fall from grace. So that, in any case, communication is ruled out that is very necessary in areas of mixed culture... Let's think of tourist centers, where it would be lovely for people to recognize each other in something they have in common. So we ought to keep such things alive and present. If even in the great liturgical celebrations in Rome, no one can sing the Kyrie or the Sanctus any more, no one knows what Gloria means, then a cultural loss has become a loss of what we share in common. To that extent I should say that the Liturgy of the Word should always be in the mother tongue, but there ought nonetheless to be a basic stock of Latin elements that would bind us together. [God and the World, SF, CA: Ignatius, 2002, pp. 417-18]
Wherever an exaggerated concept of "community" predominates, a concept which is (as we have already seen) completely unrealistic precisely in a highly mobile society such as ours, there only the priest and the congregation can be acknowledged as legitimate executors or performers of liturgical song. Today, practically everyone can see through the primitive activism and the insipid pedagogic rationalism of such a position which is why it is now asserted so seldom. The fact that the schola and the choir can also contribute to the whole picture, is scarcely denied any more, even among those who erroneously interpret the council's phrase about "active participation" as meaning external activism. ("In the Presence of the Angels..." Adoremus Bulletin, Vol. 2, Nos. 6-8, Oct-Dec. 1996).
Silence
We are realizing more and more clearly that silence is part of the liturgy. We respond, by singing and praying, to the God who addresses us, but the greater mystery, surpassing all words, summons us to silence. It must, of course, be a silence with content, not just the absence of speech and action. We should expect the liturgy to give us a positive stillness that will restore us. Such stillness will not be just a pause, in which a thousand thoughts and desires assault us, but a time of recollection, giving us an inward peace, allowing us to draw breath and rediscover the one thing necessary, which we have forgotten. That is why silence cannot be simply “made”, organized as if it were one activity among many. It is no accident that on all sides people are seeking techniques of meditation, a spirituality for emptying the mind. One of man’s deepest needs is making its presence felt, a need that is manifestly not being met in our present form of the liturgy. For silence to be fruitful, as we have already said, it must not be just a pause in the action of the liturgy. No, it must be an integral part of the liturgical event. [The Spirit of the Liturgy, (SF, CA: Ignatius, 2000), p. 209]
Popular and Rock Music
On the one hand, there is pop music, which is certainly no longer supported by the people in the ancient sense (populus). It is aimed at the phenomenon of the masses, is industrially produced, and ultimately has to be described as a cult of the banal. “Rock”, on the other hand, is the expression of elemental passions, and at rock festivals it assumes a cultic character, a form of worship, in fact, in opposition to Christian worship. People are, so to speak, released from themselves by the experience of being part of a crowd and by the emotional shock of rhythm, noise, and special lighting effects. However, in the ecstasy of having all their defenses torn down, the participants sink, as it were, beneath the elemental force of the universe. The music of the Holy Spirit’s sober inebriation seems to have little chance when self has become a prison, the mind is a shackle, and breaking out from both appears as a true promise of redemption that can be tasted at least for a few moments. [The Spirit of the Liturgy, (SF, CA: Ignatius, 2000), p 148]
Sacred vs. Performance
Whether it is Bach or Mozart that we hear in church, we have a sense in either case of what Gloria Dei, the glory of God, means. The mystery of infinite beauty is there and enables us to experience the presence of God more truly and vividly than in many sermons. But there are already signs of danger to come. Subjective experience and passion are still held in check by the order of the musical universe, reflecting as it does the order of the divine creation itself. But there is already the threat of invasion by the virtuoso mentality, the vanity of technique, which is no longer the servant of the whole but wants to push itself to the fore. During the nineteenth century, the century of self-emancipating subjectivity, this led in many places to the obscuring of the sacred by the operatic. The dangers that had forced the Council of Trent to intervene were back again. In similar fashion, Pope Pius X tried to remove the operatic element from the liturgy and declared Gregorian chant and the great polyphony of the age of the Catholic Reformation (of which Palestrina was the outstanding representative) to be the standard for liturgical music. A clear distinction was made between liturgical music and religious music in general, just as visual art in the liturgy has to conform to different standards from those employed in religious art in general. Art in the liturgy has a very specific responsibility, and precisely as such does it serve as a wellspring of culture, which in the final analysis owes its existence to cult. [The Spirit of the Liturgy, (SF, CA: Ignatius, 2000), pp. 148]
Not every kind of music can have a place in Christian worship. It has its standards, and that standard is the Logos. If we want to know whom we are dealing with, the Holy Spirit or the unholy spirit, we have to remember that it is the Holy Spirit who moves us to say, “Jesus is Lord” (~Cor 12:3). The Holy Spirit leads us to the Logos, and he leads us to a music that serves the Logos as a sign of the sursum corda, the lifting up of the human heart. Does it integrate man by drawing him to what is above, or does it cause his disintegration into formless intoxication or mere sensuality? That is the criterion for a music in harmony with logos, a form of that logike latreia (reasonable, logos-worthy worship)… [The Spirit of the Liturgy, (SF, CA: Ignatius, 2000), p. 151]
Latin in Liturgy
I would be in favor of a new openness toward the use of Latin. Latin in the Mass has come meanwhile to look to us like a fall from grace. So that, in any case, communication is ruled out that is very necessary in areas of mixed culture... Let's think of tourist centers, where it would be lovely for people to recognize each other in something they have in common. So we ought to keep such things alive and present. If even in the great liturgical celebrations in Rome, no one can sing the Kyrie or the Sanctus any more, no one knows what Gloria means, then a cultural loss has become a loss of what we share in common. To that extent I should say that the Liturgy of the Word should always be in the mother tongue, but there ought nonetheless to be a basic stock of Latin elements that would bind us together. [God and the World, SF, CA: Ignatius, 2002, pp. 417-18]
A letter to a priest
Pope Benedict to Catholics: Kneel For Communion:
http://newsblaze.com/story/20090801065749zzzz.nb/topstory.html
Dear Father,
I'm sure you already know about this, but I found this is well writen. I hope many Catholics are informed about this, as much as we were informed about Archbishops' suggestion of emerency 'on-hand Communion' happened a few month ago. I understand the nature of the urgency in our diocese required all the pastor to inform the message of the Archbishop, but I also feel that the urgency of restoring sacredness and the Pope's message to the Catholics should also be sent to local Catholics. Ultimately the faithful will make their decision since it's not mandated, but I would think we all should be informed about it. Surprisingly average Catholics don't hear much about the Church and what our Pope does, lack of interest or lack of encouragement?
I know you always try to teach us the right thing. I hope this is also an addtion to your endeavor.
(I pray that our church will bring out kneeler for communion. That would definitely encourage people to follow the Pope's wish.)
God Bless,
Mia
(This is good also)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeiE-lznSYE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efacebook%2Ecom%2Fhome%2Ephp&feature=player_embedded
http://newsblaze.com/story/20090801065749zzzz.nb/topstory.html
Dear Father,
I'm sure you already know about this, but I found this is well writen. I hope many Catholics are informed about this, as much as we were informed about Archbishops' suggestion of emerency 'on-hand Communion' happened a few month ago. I understand the nature of the urgency in our diocese required all the pastor to inform the message of the Archbishop, but I also feel that the urgency of restoring sacredness and the Pope's message to the Catholics should also be sent to local Catholics. Ultimately the faithful will make their decision since it's not mandated, but I would think we all should be informed about it. Surprisingly average Catholics don't hear much about the Church and what our Pope does, lack of interest or lack of encouragement?
I know you always try to teach us the right thing. I hope this is also an addtion to your endeavor.
(I pray that our church will bring out kneeler for communion. That would definitely encourage people to follow the Pope's wish.)
God Bless,
Mia
(This is good also)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeiE-lznSYE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efacebook%2Ecom%2Fhome%2Ephp&feature=player_embedded
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Pope's message to Catholics: Kneel and tongue only
"Whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and of the Blood of the Lord... For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord" - 1 Corinthians 11:27,28
Pope Benedict to Catholics: Kneel and Receive on the Tongue Only
Pope Benedict XVI does not want the faithful receiving Communion in their hand nor does he want them standing to receive Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. According to Vatican liturgist, Monsignor Guido Marini, the pope is trying to set the stage for the whole church as to the proper norm for receiving Communion for which reason communicants at his papal Masses are now asked to kneel and receive on the tongue.
The Holy Father's reasoning is simple: "We Christians kneel before the Blessed Sacrament because, therein, we know and believe to be the presence of the One True God." (May 22, 2008)
According to the pope the entire Church should kneel in adoration before God in the Eucharist. "Kneeling in adoration before the Eucharist is the most valid and radical remedy against the idolatries of yesterday and today" (May 22, 2008)
The pope's action is in accord with the Church's 2000 year tradition and is being done in order to foster a renewed love and respect for the Eucharist which presently is being mocked and treated with contempt. The various trends and innovations of our time (guitar liturgy, altar girls, lay ministers, Communion in the hand) have worked together to destroy our regard for the Eucharist, thus advancing the spiritual death of the church. After all, the Eucharist is the very life and heartbeat of the Mystical Body around which the entire Church must revolve.
Kneeling also coincides with the Church's centuries old ordinance that only the consecrated hands of a priest touch the Body of Christ in Holy Communion. "To priests alone has been given power to consecrate and administer to the faithful, the Holy Eucharist." (Council of Trent) This teaching is beautifully expressed by St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica: "Because out of reverence towards this sacrament, nothing touches it, but what is consecrated; hence the corporal and the chalice are consecrated, and likewise the priest's hands, for touching this sacrament."
It is for reason that Pope Paul VI in his May 1969 pastoral letter to the world's bishops reaffirmed the Church's teaching on the reception of Communion, stating that: "This method on the tongue must be retained." (Memoriale Domini) This came in response to the bishops of Holland who started Communion in the hand in defiance of the centuries old decree from the Council of Rouen (650 A.D.) where this practice was condemned as sacrilegious. "Do not put the Eucharist in the hands of any layperson, but only in their mouths." To date this prohibition has never been overturned legally. Today Communion in the hand is carried on illegally and has become a major tool of the enemy to destory the Faith throughout the world. For this practice serves no other purpose than to warp our conception of Jesus Christ and nourish a contempt for the sacred mysteries. It's no wonder St. Basil referred to Communion in the hand as "a grave fault." That is to say, Communion in the hand is not tied with Catholic tradition. This practice was first introduced to the Church by the heretical Arians of the 4th century as a means of expressing their belief that Christ was not divine. Unfortunately, it has served to express the same in our time and has been at the very heart of the present heresy and desecration that is rampant throughout the universal Church. If we have 'abuse' problems today it is because we're abusing the Sacrament - it's backfiring on us!
Thanks to Communion in the hand, members of satanic cults are now given easy access to come into the Church and take the Host so that they bring it back to their covens where it is abused and brutalized in the ritualistic Black Mass to Satan. They crush the Host under their shoes as a mockery to the living God, and we assist it with our casual practice? Amongst themselves the satanists declare that Communion in the hand is the greatest thing that ever happened to them, and we do nothing to stop it?
Hence, the Holy Father is doing his part to try to purge the Church of abuse and we as members of Christ are called upon to assist him. For your encouragement we include the following quotation from Cardinal Llovera, the new prefect for the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments speaking to Life Site News on July 22, 2009: "It is the mission of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments to work to promote Pope Benedict's emphasis on the traditional practices of liturgy, such as reception of Communion on the tongue while kneeling."
Also worth considering is the recent decree from Cardinal Caffarra, the Archbishop of Bologna Italy, forbidding the practice of Communion in the hand: "Many cases of profanation of the Eucharist have occurred, profiting by the possibility to receive the consecrated Bread on one’s palm of the hand... Considering the frequency in which cases of irreverent behavior in the act of receiving the Eucharist have been reported, we dispose that starting from today in the Metropolitan Church of St. Peter, in the Basilica of St. Petronius and in the Shrine of the Holy Virgin of St. Luke in Bologna the faithful are to receive the consecrated Bread only from the hands of the Minister directly on the tongue." (from his decree on the reception of the Eucharist, issued April 27, 2009)
Technically all bishops and clergy are bound to follow the Holy Father's directive on this issue, but in the meantime the faithful are not obliged to wait for the approval of their bishop in order to kneel for God. The directives of the Holy Father are not subject to the veto or scrutiny of the bishops and therefore all pastors and laity have a right and duty to put these directives into practice for the edification of their communities.
Our Lady's Workers of Southern California"
David Martin
jmj4today@att.net
"In the name of Jesus every knee should bend" - Philippians 2:10
From Newsblaze
Comment on this story, by email mailto:comment@newsblaze.com?Subject=Comment:20090801065749zzzz.nb&body=Comment%20on%20story%20http://newsblaze.com/story/20090801065749zzzz.nb/topstory.html
Pope Benedict to Catholics: Kneel and Receive on the Tongue Only
Pope Benedict XVI does not want the faithful receiving Communion in their hand nor does he want them standing to receive Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. According to Vatican liturgist, Monsignor Guido Marini, the pope is trying to set the stage for the whole church as to the proper norm for receiving Communion for which reason communicants at his papal Masses are now asked to kneel and receive on the tongue.
The Holy Father's reasoning is simple: "We Christians kneel before the Blessed Sacrament because, therein, we know and believe to be the presence of the One True God." (May 22, 2008)
According to the pope the entire Church should kneel in adoration before God in the Eucharist. "Kneeling in adoration before the Eucharist is the most valid and radical remedy against the idolatries of yesterday and today" (May 22, 2008)
The pope's action is in accord with the Church's 2000 year tradition and is being done in order to foster a renewed love and respect for the Eucharist which presently is being mocked and treated with contempt. The various trends and innovations of our time (guitar liturgy, altar girls, lay ministers, Communion in the hand) have worked together to destroy our regard for the Eucharist, thus advancing the spiritual death of the church. After all, the Eucharist is the very life and heartbeat of the Mystical Body around which the entire Church must revolve.
Kneeling also coincides with the Church's centuries old ordinance that only the consecrated hands of a priest touch the Body of Christ in Holy Communion. "To priests alone has been given power to consecrate and administer to the faithful, the Holy Eucharist." (Council of Trent) This teaching is beautifully expressed by St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica: "Because out of reverence towards this sacrament, nothing touches it, but what is consecrated; hence the corporal and the chalice are consecrated, and likewise the priest's hands, for touching this sacrament."
It is for reason that Pope Paul VI in his May 1969 pastoral letter to the world's bishops reaffirmed the Church's teaching on the reception of Communion, stating that: "This method on the tongue must be retained." (Memoriale Domini) This came in response to the bishops of Holland who started Communion in the hand in defiance of the centuries old decree from the Council of Rouen (650 A.D.) where this practice was condemned as sacrilegious. "Do not put the Eucharist in the hands of any layperson, but only in their mouths." To date this prohibition has never been overturned legally. Today Communion in the hand is carried on illegally and has become a major tool of the enemy to destory the Faith throughout the world. For this practice serves no other purpose than to warp our conception of Jesus Christ and nourish a contempt for the sacred mysteries. It's no wonder St. Basil referred to Communion in the hand as "a grave fault." That is to say, Communion in the hand is not tied with Catholic tradition. This practice was first introduced to the Church by the heretical Arians of the 4th century as a means of expressing their belief that Christ was not divine. Unfortunately, it has served to express the same in our time and has been at the very heart of the present heresy and desecration that is rampant throughout the universal Church. If we have 'abuse' problems today it is because we're abusing the Sacrament - it's backfiring on us!
Thanks to Communion in the hand, members of satanic cults are now given easy access to come into the Church and take the Host so that they bring it back to their covens where it is abused and brutalized in the ritualistic Black Mass to Satan. They crush the Host under their shoes as a mockery to the living God, and we assist it with our casual practice? Amongst themselves the satanists declare that Communion in the hand is the greatest thing that ever happened to them, and we do nothing to stop it?
Hence, the Holy Father is doing his part to try to purge the Church of abuse and we as members of Christ are called upon to assist him. For your encouragement we include the following quotation from Cardinal Llovera, the new prefect for the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments speaking to Life Site News on July 22, 2009: "It is the mission of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments to work to promote Pope Benedict's emphasis on the traditional practices of liturgy, such as reception of Communion on the tongue while kneeling."
Also worth considering is the recent decree from Cardinal Caffarra, the Archbishop of Bologna Italy, forbidding the practice of Communion in the hand: "Many cases of profanation of the Eucharist have occurred, profiting by the possibility to receive the consecrated Bread on one’s palm of the hand... Considering the frequency in which cases of irreverent behavior in the act of receiving the Eucharist have been reported, we dispose that starting from today in the Metropolitan Church of St. Peter, in the Basilica of St. Petronius and in the Shrine of the Holy Virgin of St. Luke in Bologna the faithful are to receive the consecrated Bread only from the hands of the Minister directly on the tongue." (from his decree on the reception of the Eucharist, issued April 27, 2009)
Technically all bishops and clergy are bound to follow the Holy Father's directive on this issue, but in the meantime the faithful are not obliged to wait for the approval of their bishop in order to kneel for God. The directives of the Holy Father are not subject to the veto or scrutiny of the bishops and therefore all pastors and laity have a right and duty to put these directives into practice for the edification of their communities.
Our Lady's Workers of Southern California"
David Martin
jmj4today@att.net
"In the name of Jesus every knee should bend" - Philippians 2:10
From Newsblaze
Comment on this story, by email mailto:comment@newsblaze.com?Subject=Comment:20090801065749zzzz.nb&body=Comment%20on%20story%20http://newsblaze.com/story/20090801065749zzzz.nb/topstory.html
Monday, August 3, 2009
Unity in our Liturgy
I think so much emphasis on “multiculuralism,” can lead to more diversity than unity and even become a distraction in our worshipping God as one community of faith. When we can worship together in our liturgy as one family of God in unity, we can also respect different ethnic groups and cultures on a personal level and see them as brothers and sisters in one family.
True liturgical music fosters the sense of sacredness of the Holy Eucharist, and any music that fosters our attitude of casualness towards the Holy Eucharis is not in the right direction of ministering the faithful and deepen our Catholic faith. True liturgical music is not about pleasing people and their taste of individuals. It is about God and pleasing Him, and when we sing the Church’s music with humility and giving up individuals’ taste, God will be most pleased, and we will receive more grace.
Aren’t humility and sacrifice what our Christ showed us in His love? If we insist on what we like and don’t like in our worship, how can we go out and show true Christ’s love?
I’d like to add the followings, not just because “the Church says so period”, but because the respect for the Church and the Pope and following their instruction is basis of my Catholic faith, and also as one who experiences the beauty of sacred liturgy through sacred music.
"An authentic renewal of sacred music can only happen in the wake of the great tradition of the past, of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony" Pope Benedict XVI, 2006
"The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given first place in liturgical services." (Section 116, the Second Vatican Council, in its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy)
"Steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them." (Section 54, the Second Vatican Council, in its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy)
True liturgical music fosters the sense of sacredness of the Holy Eucharist, and any music that fosters our attitude of casualness towards the Holy Eucharis is not in the right direction of ministering the faithful and deepen our Catholic faith. True liturgical music is not about pleasing people and their taste of individuals. It is about God and pleasing Him, and when we sing the Church’s music with humility and giving up individuals’ taste, God will be most pleased, and we will receive more grace.
Aren’t humility and sacrifice what our Christ showed us in His love? If we insist on what we like and don’t like in our worship, how can we go out and show true Christ’s love?
I’d like to add the followings, not just because “the Church says so period”, but because the respect for the Church and the Pope and following their instruction is basis of my Catholic faith, and also as one who experiences the beauty of sacred liturgy through sacred music.
"An authentic renewal of sacred music can only happen in the wake of the great tradition of the past, of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony" Pope Benedict XVI, 2006
"The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given first place in liturgical services." (Section 116, the Second Vatican Council, in its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy)
"Steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them." (Section 54, the Second Vatican Council, in its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy)
Why Latin in our Liturgy
(This is posted as a comment to the publisher who had concern on "multiculturalism."
As an immigrant who is not a Latino and Afro-American, I feel that the emphasis on those two ethinic gruops (the publisher specified songs of those groups) make other groups excluded and resembles the superficial political agenda. The importance of the Latin in the Litrugy is stated in Sing to the Lord in length, especialy in # 61, 62, #63 ... To the greatest extent possible and applicable, singers and choir directors are encouraged to deepen their faniliarity with the Latin language.
I help my children learn Latin for the reason stated above, and there are no Catholic schools around here teaches Latin (maybe some high schools as an elective., while most of those schools only focus on learning Spanish instead. (My boy who learned Latin first for 3 years is now learning Spanish in high school, and he is learning it much faster than others.)
The emphasis on Latin is especially true in gatherings of multicultural groups, because it foster the sense of unity as a community of the faith, than emphasizing the diversity. Learning different languages and cultures are important in our society, but in worshipping God the sense of unity should be fostered, then our appreciation of different cultures will be more genuine in our lives, becuase we believe we are one family in GOd.
#12. Participation in the Sacred Liturgy must be "internal, in the sense that by it the faithful join their mind to what they pronounce of hear, and cooperate with heavenly grace. Even when listening to the various prayers and readings of the Liturgy or to the singing of the choir, the assembly continues to participate actively as they "unite themselves interiorly to what the cultural and spiritual milieu of their communities, in order to build up the Church in unity and peace."
One more item, maybe the publisher can help is #20. Seminaries and other programs of priestly formation should train priests to sing with confidence and to chant those parts of the Mass assigned to them. It is very clear that the Church desires Sung Mass with priest chanting and conggoreagation sing responses and Ordinaries (with the goal of singing in Latin #61, #74) and singing Propers. I believe that is important part of "commitment to the Church's vision of liturgical music." I believe reflecting muticulturalism is not the end itself, but a step toward fostering the true unity and active participation of the faithful with active interior participation lest those efforts don't end up becoming a mere "lip-worship."
Here is what the saint of the day teaches us...
“The Eucharist is the life of the people. The Eucharist gives them a center of life. All can come together without the barriers of race or language in order to celebrate the feast days of the Church. It gives them a law of life, that of charity, of which it is the source; thus it forges between them a common bond, a Christian kinship” (Peter Julian Eymard).
As an immigrant who is not a Latino and Afro-American, I feel that the emphasis on those two ethinic gruops (the publisher specified songs of those groups) make other groups excluded and resembles the superficial political agenda. The importance of the Latin in the Litrugy is stated in Sing to the Lord in length, especialy in # 61, 62, #63 ... To the greatest extent possible and applicable, singers and choir directors are encouraged to deepen their faniliarity with the Latin language.
I help my children learn Latin for the reason stated above, and there are no Catholic schools around here teaches Latin (maybe some high schools as an elective., while most of those schools only focus on learning Spanish instead. (My boy who learned Latin first for 3 years is now learning Spanish in high school, and he is learning it much faster than others.)
The emphasis on Latin is especially true in gatherings of multicultural groups, because it foster the sense of unity as a community of the faith, than emphasizing the diversity. Learning different languages and cultures are important in our society, but in worshipping God the sense of unity should be fostered, then our appreciation of different cultures will be more genuine in our lives, becuase we believe we are one family in GOd.
#12. Participation in the Sacred Liturgy must be "internal, in the sense that by it the faithful join their mind to what they pronounce of hear, and cooperate with heavenly grace. Even when listening to the various prayers and readings of the Liturgy or to the singing of the choir, the assembly continues to participate actively as they "unite themselves interiorly to what the cultural and spiritual milieu of their communities, in order to build up the Church in unity and peace."
One more item, maybe the publisher can help is #20. Seminaries and other programs of priestly formation should train priests to sing with confidence and to chant those parts of the Mass assigned to them. It is very clear that the Church desires Sung Mass with priest chanting and conggoreagation sing responses and Ordinaries (with the goal of singing in Latin #61, #74) and singing Propers. I believe that is important part of "commitment to the Church's vision of liturgical music." I believe reflecting muticulturalism is not the end itself, but a step toward fostering the true unity and active participation of the faithful with active interior participation lest those efforts don't end up becoming a mere "lip-worship."
Here is what the saint of the day teaches us...
“The Eucharist is the life of the people. The Eucharist gives them a center of life. All can come together without the barriers of race or language in order to celebrate the feast days of the Church. It gives them a law of life, that of charity, of which it is the source; thus it forges between them a common bond, a Christian kinship” (Peter Julian Eymard).
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Schola: August Calendar
At St. Mary's, Alexandria, VA
August 15, 10 AM (practice at 9:15)
Assumption, Traditional High Mass
(all the responses)
Kyrie VIII
Gloria VIII
Credo III
Offertory Hymn: Salve Mater (after the proper)
Sanctus VIII
Agnus Dei VIII
Ave Verum Corpus by Mozart (after the communio)
Hail Holy Queen
At OLPH (practice on Mondays at 7:30)
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up starts at 7:40)
August 29
Kyrie XI
Alelluia
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Anima Christi
Salve Regina
At St. Martin's (Little Sisters of the Poor)
August 16, Sunday, 10:30 (warm-up at 10AM)
Ave Maria(Prelude)
All People that on Earth Do Dwell (313, vs 1,2,3)
Gloria VIII
Salve Regina (offertory, 702)
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Communio (schola-communion proper)
O Lord, I am not Worthy (513)
O God, Our Help in Ages Past (448, vs.1,2,5)
At Resurrection Church (practice on Tuesdays at 7:30 PM)
Satruday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
August 8, 22
Kyrie XVI
Sanctus VIII
Alleuia
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei IV
Anima Christi
Salve Regina
August 15, 10 AM (practice at 9:15)
Assumption, Traditional High Mass
(all the responses)
Kyrie VIII
Gloria VIII
Credo III
Offertory Hymn: Salve Mater (after the proper)
Sanctus VIII
Agnus Dei VIII
Ave Verum Corpus by Mozart (after the communio)
Hail Holy Queen
At OLPH (practice on Mondays at 7:30)
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up starts at 7:40)
August 29
Kyrie XI
Alelluia
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Anima Christi
Salve Regina
At St. Martin's (Little Sisters of the Poor)
August 16, Sunday, 10:30 (warm-up at 10AM)
Ave Maria(Prelude)
All People that on Earth Do Dwell (313, vs 1,2,3)
Gloria VIII
Salve Regina (offertory, 702)
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Communio (schola-communion proper)
O Lord, I am not Worthy (513)
O God, Our Help in Ages Past (448, vs.1,2,5)
At Resurrection Church (practice on Tuesdays at 7:30 PM)
Satruday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
August 8, 22
Kyrie XVI
Sanctus VIII
Alleuia
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei IV
Anima Christi
Salve Regina
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