Mass shift: Christmas eve trumps day liturgy

http://www.osv.com/tabid/7621/itemid/8810/Mass-shift-Christmas-eve-trumps-day-liturgy.aspx


“The day was organized around the Mass,” he said. “Not the Mass fitting in wherever it was most convenient.”
Making time for Mass on Christmas Day, especially for families, would send a message to children about what’s most important at Christmas.
Plus, he said, going to Mass Christmas Eve, especially when the readings for midnight or Christmas Day Masses are used, cuts into what could be a sacred sense of anticipation. .."

Schola: January Calendar

At OLPH
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up at 7:40)
Jan. 7, 21

Kyrie XVII
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Corde Natus ex Parentis (1/7)
Manducaverunt (1/21)
Alma Redemptoris Mater



At Resurrection Church
Satruday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
Jan. 14, 28

Kyrie XVII
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Corde Natus ex Parentis (1/14)
Manducaverunt (1/28)
Alma Redemptoris Mater



Children's Schola

First Friday Mass at OLPH
Jan. 6, 8:15 AM (warm up starts at 7:45 AM)

Puer Nobis Nascitur in English (prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Communion chant in Engliish
O Salutaris Hostia (Benediction)



Wednesday Mass at St. Paul
Jan. 4, 11, 18, 25, 8AM

Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Communion chant

Alma Redemptoris Mater

The Spectacular Success of the New Missal Translation

http://www.chantcafe.com/2011/11/spectacular-success-of-new-missal.html
by Jeffrey A. Tucker

"As much time as I had spent reading the new translation of the Missal, looking over the differences with the old translation, even saying the new prayers aloud and writing extensively about them, nothing could have prepared me for what I experienced today. The experience was beyond anything I believed would come in my lifetime. I found myself nearly overcome with a kind of controlled glee from the beginning of the Mass until the end...."

On New Translation

http://catholicdefense.blogspot.com/2011/11/jesus-makes-national-catholic-reporter.html

"....But this change in the English translation isn't just more faithful to the Latin text. It's what Jesus said, as reported in Scripture. Here's how His words are reported in Mark 14:23-25,

Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

And from Matthew 26:27-29,

Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father.”...

At OLPH
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up at 7:40)
Dec. 3, 17, 31

Kyrie XVII
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Creator alme siderum (12/3)
Veni, Veni Emmanuel (12/17)
Alma Redemptoris Mater, Palestrina (12/31)
Alma Redemptoris Mater



At Resurrection Church
Satruday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
Dec. 10

Kyrie XVII
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Creator Alme siderum
Alma Redemptoris Mater



Children's Schola

First Friday Mass at OLPH
Dec. 2, 8:15 AM (warm up starts at 7:45 AM)

Ave Maria (prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Veni, Veni Emmanuel
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Communion chant in Engliish
O Salutaris Hostia (Benediction)

Immaculate Conception at St. William of York
Missa Cantata, Dec. 8, 8 AM (warm-up at 7:30 AM)

Introit: Gaudens Gaudebo
Gradual: Benedicta es tu (women)
Alleluia:Tota pulchra es
Offertory: Ave Maria (women)
Offertory Motet: Alma Redemptoris Mater, Palestrina
Communion: Gloriosa
Communion Motet: Ave Maria, Ravanello (small group)
Alma Redemptoris Mater

Mass setting IX and Credo I

Schola: November Calendar

At OLPH
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up at 7:40)
Nov. 5, 19

Kyrie XI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Lux Aeterna (11/5)
Panis Angelicus (11/19)
Salve Regina


At Resurrection Church
Satruday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
Nov. 12, 26

Kyrie XI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Lux Aeterna (11/12)
Panis Angelicus (11/26)
Salve Regina



Children's Schola

First Friday Mass at OLPH
Nov. 4, 8:15 AM (warm up starts at 7:45 AM)

In Paradisum (prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Ave Maria
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Jesu Rex Admirabilis (communion)
O Salutaris Hostia (Benediction)

Schola: October Calendar

At OLPH
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up at 7:40)
Oct.1, 15, 29

Kyrie XI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Panis quem ego(10/1)
Jesu, Rex Admirabilis (10/15)
Panem de Caelo (10/29)
Salve Regina


At Resurrection Church
Satruday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
Oct. 8, 22

Kyrie XI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Jesu, Rex Admirabilis (10/8)
Panem de Caelo (10/22)
Salve Regina



Children's Schola

First Friday Mass at OLPH
Oct.7, 8:15 AM (warm up starts at 7:45 AM)

Ave Maria(prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Bless the Lord, O my soul(offertory)
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Adoremus in Aeternum(communion)
O Salutaris Hostia (Benediction)

Authentic Liturgy and Chant: Some Considerations

...Pope Benedict XVI has introduced two notions into the liturgical discussion which make me think that the Ordinary Form of the Mass is not actually the point of departure for these discussions at all. The concept of the hermeneutic of continuity, which has been a theme of this pontificate, stresses the fundamental unity across both rites. Also the concept of liturgical pluralism and the equality of rites, introduced in SP, also stresses their fundamental unity. Therefore, any discussion about the liturgy and music of the Roman Rite must have as its point of departure the Roman Rite as a whole, Ordinary and Extraordinary, seen in a continnum insofar as possible. Even more than that, the point of departure is not the General Instruction of the Roman Missal of Paul VI, but the answers to the more basic questions about liturgy, music and the life of the Church, as well as the shared and sharable patrimony of the Roman Rite.


More here,
http://www.chantcafe.com/2011/09/authentic-liturgy-and-chant-some.html

Petition for Sacred Music during Madison’s Youth 2000 Retreat

To Whom It May Concern:

As you might know, many have attended the Youth 2000 retreats since they began here in Madison in 2009. Thank you for all of the work that you have put into these retreats. But, as you may know, one of the frustrations that many have stems from the music used during the weekend. It seems quite clear that the church consistently asks us for something higher, something more reverent than rock music during the Holy Mass (rock music is being used in a more general sense, for the sake
of this discussion).
Of course, this is not a new problem. For example, in 1905, Pope Pius X covered nearly the same issue

(with added emphases):
“[2.] It must be holy, and therefore avoid everything that is secular, both in itself and in the way in which it is performed. It must really be an art, since in no other way can it have on the mind of those who hear it that effect which the Church desires in using in her liturgy the art of sound.
“But it must also be universal in this sense, namely, that although each country may use in its ecclesiastical music whatever special forms may belong to its own national style, these forms must be subject to the proper nature of sacred music, so that it may never produce a bad impression on the mind of any stranger who may hear it.”
—Tra Le Sollecitudini, 1905

Now, as recently as 2005, this has been recognized as a problem yet again, except this time around, the music in question is rock music, instead of opera and theater music. But the effect and consequences is still the same as in 1905: introducing secular-styled music distorts the liturgy.
[with emphases added]
“[61.] The faithful need to know the standard Gregorian chants, which have been composed to meet the needs of people of all times and places, in virtue of their simplicity, refinement and agility in form and rhythm. As a result, the songs and hymns presently in use need to be reconsidered.
[. . .]
“[62.] A few responses made particular mention of music and singing at Youth Masses. In this regard, it is important to avoid musical forms which, because of their profane use, are not conducive to prayer.”
—Synod on the Eucharist, 2005

In addition to this, our Holy Father, in his many moves to bring more dignity and reverence to his Masses, has raised Gregorian chant to its rightful pride of place at the Masses he celebrates, which are a model for the world—a model for us to follow. But this is not just happening during his Masses in the Vatican City. Recently, encouraged by our Holy Father, all of the Masses in English at World Youth Day (WYD) in 2011 in Madrid featured the chanted Latin propers and ordinary, and following the proper chants, some traditional hymns. Sacrosanctum Concilium, the
Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy repeatedly stressed the importance and pride of place of chant in the liturgy, as well as innumerable other documents. [emphases added]
“[116.] The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services. But other kinds of sacred music, especially polyphony, are by no means excluded from liturgical celebrations, so long as they accord with the spirit of the liturgical action, as laid down in Article 30.”
—Sacrosanctum Concilium, 1963

In his first post-synodal apostolic exhortation, the Holy Father adds [emphases added]:
“[42.] Finally, while respecting various styles and different and highly praiseworthy traditions, I [Benedict XVI] desire, in accordance with the request advanced by the Synod Fathers, that Gregorian chant be suitably esteemed and employed as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy.”
—Sacramentum Caritatitis, 2007

All this seems to be reinforced even more by the change in language in the new English translation of the GIRM from song to chant in most places, but at the same time, still differentiating between a chant and a hymn. The church desires chant in the liturgy, because it is integral to the liturgy.
Even the founder of WYD, Blessed John Paul II, reiterated the need for sacred music in his 2003 chirograph on that very topic.

Regarding the propers of the Mass, the USCCB’s 2007 document Sing to the Lord, speaks quite highly
of the proper chants of the Mass.
“[117.] The proper antiphons from the liturgical books are to be esteemed and used especially because they are the very voice of God speaking to us in the Scriptures [. . .]”
—Sing to the Lord, 2007

Interestingly, the 1958 document, De Musica Sacra, makes a clear difference between religious music and liturgical music. Both are good, both can even be called sacred music, but both have distinctly different uses. [emphases added]

[5.] Gregorian chant, which is used in liturgical ceremonies, is the sacred music proper to the Roman Church; it is to be found in the liturgical books approved by the Holy See.
[. . .]
[9.] Hymns are songs which spontaneously arise from the religious impulses with which mankind has been endowed by its Creator. [...] Even such music can, at times, be admitted to liturgical ceremonies.
[. . .]
[10.] Religious music is any music which, either by the intention of the composer or by the subject or purpose of the composition, serves to arouse devotion, and religious sentiments. Such music "is an effective aid to religion". But since it was not intended for divine worship, and was composed in a free style, it is not to be used during liturgical ceremonies.
-De Musica Sacra, 1958

It other parts of the document, it states clearly that chant, polyphony, organ, and some other forms of music constitute liturgical music, and that there is also a separate genre of music called religious music, which is still important, but not appropriate for the liturgy. So called “Praise and Worship” music seems to fall under the categorization of religious music.

Based on the above points, and because the church has clearly stated on numerous occasions that Gregorian chant is “especially suited to the Roman Liturgy,” we, the undersigned, request the consideration of using, in Latin or English, chanted ordinaries and traditional Catholic hymns, or if at all possible, chanted ordinaries and propers at the Masses during the 2011 Youth 2000 retreat in Madison.

Signed,
[Signatures will be inserted here]

http://musicasacra.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=5530&page=1#Item_3

Schola; September calendar

At OLPH
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up at 7:40)
Sept.3, 17

Kyrie XI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Hoc Corpus (9/3)
Panis quem ego(9/17)
Salve Regina


At Resurrection Church
Satruday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
Sept.10, 24

Kyrie XI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Hoc Corpus (9/10)
Panem quem ego (9/24)
Salve Regina

At St. William of York

Feast of St. Michael, the Archangel
Sept 29, Thursday, 7 AM (warm -up 6:45 AM)

Introit: Benedicite Dominum
Gradual: Benedicite Dominum
Alleluia: Sancte Michael
Offertory: Stetit Angelus
Motet after the Offertory: Jesu, Rex Adimirabilis

Communio: Benedicite Omnes Angeli
Hymn after the communio: Adoro te Devote

Recessional hymn: Salve Regina

Ordinaries: setting VIII, credo I




Children's Schola

First Friday Mass at OLPH
Sept. 2, 8:15 AM (warm up starts at 7:45 AM)

Ace Maria(prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Veni Creator (offertory)
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Adoro te Devote (communion)
O Salutaris Hostia (Benediction)

Index Of Forbidden Songs

Index Of Forbidden Songs (Music Issue, Pt. I).
Well, here is the first installment. This is not an in depth analysis, but rather my own personal and cursory take on them. See below for the key-code for the reason for their banishment. If you want a clarification, feel free to ask for it in the combox.

Numbers 301-350:

302-Gather Us In: HH, DTD, DO ("Not in the dark of buildings confining, not in some heaven, light years away"? A little SF is a dangerous thing.)
303-What Is This Place: H ("What is this place, where we are meeting?" An icon of heaven, doofus.)
304-Gather The People: DS
306-Let Us Go To The Altar: DS
310-Table of Plenty: DS, DO (It is an ALTAR.)
315-We Gather Here To Worship: NAU (We, we, we....)
322-Song Of The Body Of Christ: HH, NAU (We come to tell HIS story.)
324-To Be Your Bread: HH, DO
325-Gift Of Finest Wheat: DTD (Nice song, but give it a rest. Also, can I have an article please?)
329-Bread of Life: H, NAU (No, Jesus is the Bread of Life.)
333-God's Holy Gifts: DS (Not bad for a DS song actually.)
340-Look Beyond: DTD
341-I Am The Bread Of Life: C, SIGV
345-I Am The Living Bread: HH, SIGV
349-Eat This Bread: SIGV

Sigh, this is going to take longer than I thought.


C=Castrated, DO= Dubious Orthodoxy, DS=Dan Schutte, DTD=Done To Death, H=Heretical, HH=Haugen&Haas, NAU=Not About Us, SIGV=Singing In God's Voice(i. e. we are not God)
Posted by Fr. Erik Richtsteig at 6:31 PM

http://orthometer.blogspot.com/2011/08/index-of-forbidden-songs-music-issue-pt.html

Sound is the by-product of Awe and Wonder

Awe and wonder are the only true vehicles for music making. Great music, by its very composition, is infused with awe and wonder. But its sonic beauty will never be realized unless the choir sings through the door of awe and wonder. Arrival into and at the state of aesthetic fantasy, and ultimately a heightened state of aesthetic reality, should be one of the over-riding and compelling objectives of any warm-ups or rehearsal. Sound is the by product of awe and wonder.

James Jordan, from 'Evoking Sound'

Chant Notation: Its Advantage

When an infant learns to walk, you can often see him kind of leering down at his feet, thinking, "Okay, now I need to move this foot right here, on to that spot on the ground right there." And then he does that, and then he pauses, and says, "Okay, now I need to move this other foot here, on to that other spot right there." And his mind is always on one foot at a time, and knowing exactly where it's going to be placed.

But when an adult walks, he doesn't even care where exactly his feet are going, only that both feet are somewhere under him, and that his weight is distributed over them, and that they are propelling his weight forward without toppling him. So his mind is actually conscious of much more about the relationship between his two feet and how they affect his movement, but he doesn't always know or even much care about which foot he moves or where exactly it lands.

Like learning to walk, modern notation is concerned with the real value of where you are pitchwise at any moment. "Right now I'm singing an A, and now a B-flat, and now a G, and now..." You lose sight of how any one note is actually related to the next. If you get all the pitches right, then the melody will be right.

But like walking, chant notation is ultimately most concerned with moving the phrase forward. It is defined in terms of making the melody. If modern notation is constantly saying, "and now, and now," then chant notation is always saying, "and next, and next." And next I'll be going up a fourth. And next I'll be going down a second. And next I'll sing to pitches right where I'm at."

I like the feeling of knowing that I'm shaping a phrase, not just singing a note. And that's why, even though people may be resistant to neumes, I think it's highly important that people accept that modern notation isn't in the cards for learning to chant. I suspect that if this aspect of chant notation is made clear to people, they'll actually be less resistant to it.

There is a certain strike against your pride in being well educated musically and suddenly finding yourself unknowledgeable about what you're trying to sing, but ultimately I, for one, have found it very rewarding. I just wish I could have seen the reward coming. I hope that people teaching others the neumes make it clear to them why chant notation is important and what they'll gain from it, and how to conceptualize why it works.

Seth G
http://www.chantcafe.com/2011/07/reaction-to-sep.html#IDComment177499311

Schola: August Calendar

At St. William of York

Feast of St. Dominic
August 4, Thursday, 7 AM (warm -up 6:45 AM)

Introit: Os justi
Gradual: Justus ut palma florebit
Alleluia: Justus germinabit
Offertory: Veritas mea
Communio: Fidelis servus
Motet: O Bone Jesu
Recessional hymn: Salve Regina

Ordinaries: setting VIII, credo I


At OLPH

The Trasnfiguration of the Lord
August 6, Saturday, 8:15 AM

Introit (Entrance Proper from Graduale Romanum) : (schola)
My heart declared to you:
Your countenance have I sought:
I shall ever seek your countenance, O Lord:
do not turn your face from me.

Kyrie (363-A)

Gloria (364)

Responsorial Psalm:
The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth

Gospel Acclamation:
This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,
listen to him.

Sanctus (370-A)

Mysterium Fidei (371-A)
Mortem tuam annuntiamus Domine,
et tuam resurrectionem confitemur, donec venias

(We proclaim Thy death, O Lord, and we confess
Thy resurrection, until Thou comest.)

Doxology: Amen

Agnus Dei (375-A)

Communio (Communion Proper from Graduale Romanum): (schola)
Tell no one about the vision you have seen
until the Son of Mas has risen from the dead.

Communion Motet: O Bone Jesu
O good Jesus, have mercy upon us,
for thou hast created us.
Thou hast redeemed us by thy most precious blood

Recessional Hymn: Salve Regina (894)


Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up at 7:40)
August 20

Kyrie XI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Aima Christi
Salve Regina


At Resurrection Church
Saturday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
August 13, 27

Kyrie XI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Anioma Christi
Salve Regina


At St. Martin's (Little Sisters of the Poor)
Twenty-first Sunday Ordinary Time
August 21, 10:30 AM (warm-up at 10AM)

Introit (Entrance Proper) : (schola)
Listen, Lord, and answer me. Save your servant who trusts you.
I call to you all day long.
have mercy on me, O Lord.

Kyrie (857)

Gloria (858)

Responsorial Psalm:
Lord, your love is eternal;
do not forsake the work of you hands.

Gospel Acclamation:

Offertory Proper: (schola)
He put a new song into my mouth,
praise of our God.

Sanctus (859)

Mysterium Fidei (priest)
(all)
Mortem tuam annuntiamus Domine,
et tuam resurrectionem confitemur, donec venias
(We proclaim Thy death, O Lord, and we confess
Thy resurrection, until Thou comest.)

Doxology: Amen

Agnus Dei (862)

Communion Proper: (schola)
Lord, the earth is filled with your gift from heaven;
man grows bread fron earth, and wine to cheer his heart


Communion Hymn: Be Thou My Vision (391)

Recessional Hymn: Salve Regina (708)

Norwalk student singing group bound for Madrid

While many kids these days are listening to Justin Bieber on their iPods, there is one group of Fairfield County youth who are gearing up to sing Gregorian chant at the 2011World Youth Day in Madrid this August, the gathering of the world’s Catholic youth, for prayer, adoration, catechism, and entertainment with Pope Benedict XVI.

This unique group of young adults, ages 9 to 18 from St. Mary Parish in Norwalk, Connecticut, has been singing together for nearly three years as the St. Mary’s Student Schola , formed by organist and choirmaster David J. Hughes. A schola differs from a church choir, in that they are dedicated to the teaching and practice of chant, the music Pope Benedict calls the “supreme model of sacred music.”

Chant is a form of music that is making a comeback in the Catholic Church. With Pope Benedict’s recent lifting of restrictions in the celebration of the 1962 Traditional Latin Mass, churches in Connecticut , and nationwide have begun to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass, including the music that is specific to it, Gregorian chant, with its unmatched purity and timeless beauty. While chant is making a slow turn toward mainstream, David Hughes admits it is not something that the youth at World Youth Day may readily recognize. Then why sing it?

Hughes believes, as many popes including John Paul II and Benedict XVI have written, that chant, unlike any other genre, aids in the spiritual formation of all Catholics. “Chant is prayer taking shape in the form of song,” he says. “Chant is not a sonic overlay to prayer, but rather is prayer itself.” Hughes is certain it will reach the youth at World Youth Day, and lead them deeper into praying the Mass. "I have every confidence that the intrinsic prayerfulness of chant… will be experienced by the youth that hear these children sing."

Continue reading on Examiner.com Norwalk student singing group bound for Madrid - Hartford Catholic | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/catholic-in-hartford/norwalk-student-singing-group-bound-for-madrid#ixzz1SlTcYL2w

“If I kneel before God I can stand before any man.”

At one level “human respect” seems a good thing. After all we ought to respect, honor and appreciate one another. What then is meant by the “sin of human respect?”


Here

Schola: July Calendar

At OLPH
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up at 7:40)
July 2, 16, 30

Kyrie XI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Qui Manducat (7/2)
Introibo ad Altare (7/16)
Adoro te Devote (7/30)
Salve Regina


At Resurrection Church
Saturday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
July 9, 23

Kyrie XI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Introibo ad Altare
Salve Regina


At St. Martin's (Little Sisters of the Poor)
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 17, 10:30 AM (warm-up at 10AM)

Introit (Entrance Proper) : (schola)
God himself is my help. The Lord upholds my life.
I will offer you a willing sacrifice; I will praise your name,
O Lord, for its goodness.

Kyrie (857)

Gloria (858)

Responsorial Psalm:
Lord, you are good and forgiving.

Gospel Acclamation:
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom.

Offertory Proper: (schola)
Sweeter are they than honey, than honey from the comb.
In them your servant finds instruction.

Sanctus (859)

Mysterium Fidei (priest)
(all)
Mortem tuam annuntiamus Domine,
et tuam resurrectionem confitemur, donec venias
(We proclaim Thy death, O Lord, and we confess
Thy resurrection, until Thou comest.)

Doxology: Amen

Agnus Dei (862)

Communion Proper: (schola)
The Lord keeps in our minds the wonderful things he has done.
He is compassion and love; he always provides for his faithful.

Communion Hymn: In His Temple Now Behold HIm (609)

Recessional Hymn: Salve Regina (708)

Dear P&WPerson

5 days ago @ Chant Cafe - "We don't know why wha... · 0 replies · +2 points

Dear P&WPerson - I became a Christian back in the '70s, as the "Jesus Movement" was picking up serious speed (Remember Explo '72? or are you too young?). We used to sit around in the basement of the Methodist Church where I grew up, singing to guitar music. Later, when the coffeehouse movement got going, I was involved. That venue is actually the birthplace of what you think of as praise and worship music.

Its purpose was two-fold - one to entertain (right there you've got a problem from a Catholic Liturgy point of view) and the other to emotionally manipulate (oh, yeah also a serious issue).

Because it had to entertain, it had to scud the surface to reach the greatest number of people. Coffeehouse geeks generally don't want to exert enough energy to grasp Manly Hopkins' translation of an Aquinas hymn, ya know what I mean? That means a lot of repetition of style, pattern, images, etc. And that is what "banal" means. Go back and look at the old Maranatha! albums/songs - I just had to play Karen Lafferty's "Seek Ye First" for Mass a week or so ago, so they're still floating around. Maranatha! was the #1 source of all that became known as Praise & Worship music.

Now - P&W is RELIGIOUS music, meaning it has religious themes and content... but it is not SACRED music. Its purpose is to entertain, as I said above, while sacred music has far more complex purposes: to turn the mind toward God, to set in the mind that God is Other, and not "our buddy Jesus," to TEACH us how properly to worship (attribute Worth), and in many ways to catechize.

As religious music, it is acceptable for personal devotions. Heck, I still pull out the old Second Chapter of Acts stuff from time to time, even now. But I wouldn't dream of trying to pull even "Easter Song" out for the Liturgy. Religious music is inadequate for sacred Liturgy - which has a universal and eternal quality and character.

Hope that makes sense.
http://www.chantcafe.com/2011/06/we-dont-know-why-what-we-are-doing-is.html#idc-container

A Case for Life-Teen Music: Your Response?

Paul Weber
"...but he problem with his thinking is that all religious experience must occur within the context of the Mass. This, as we all know, is untrue. Pius XII gave the distinction between Sacred-liturgical and Religious-recreational music in his encyclical of 1955, and both are good. It's a matter of using the right tool for the right job. Music destined for the Sacred Rites must be appropriate for them by being derived from them, which is how the music achieves holiness and universality (artfulness is another matter). The nature of art destined for the universal Sacred Rites cannot have as its point of reference the individual. This is the problem with the following justification of Life Teen music's supposed liturgically-appropriate holiness:
"Which means the musicians who are going to be interpreting this composition have to have holiness as the center of their life. The people receiving the music have to have a passion to be holy. Sacred music rises or falls in its sacred dignity on whether or not holiness is at the center. Let it be so, because if you start with a holy seed, you’ll get holy fruit. And as music serves the worship, so will it serve holiness if it starts in holiness and is brought by holiness."
It isn't up to the composer, the performer or the individuals of a congregation to determine whether they feel holiness. For that matter, holiness is hardly a matter of objective feeling (that's piety). Holiness is a quality conferred upon the liturgy by God, and through the liturgy to Sacred Art by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit through Sacred Tradition. What's wrong with using Life Teen music for extra-liturgical prayer (Holy Hours, festivals of praise, retreats, etc.) and maintaining an elevated form of music and art appropriate for a supremely elevated task: the Sacred Liturgy. Religious music, as Pius XII teaches, is uniquely powerful in moments of catechesis and evangelization among the young and within families, but this does not displace the singular expression required for the Mass. Use the right tool for the right job.

http://www.chantcafe.com/2011/05/case-for-life-teen-music-your-response.html#idc-container

Do Women Have a Role in the Liturgy and in the Church?

Posted by Revd Fr Christopher Smith

"...There are thus two different sacred powers associated with two different sacraments which were instituted by Christ for the salvation of souls. But they both are intimately related to the sacrificial offering and priesthood of Christ, although in ways irreducible one to the other. These two distinct powers mark the difference between the ministerial priesthood of Christ the Head conferred by Ordination and the common priesthood of the members of Christ’s Body conferred by Baptism. Just as Christ’s Body and Head are distinct, but cannot live one without the other, so too the priesthood and the laity are distinct and cannot live one without the other.

Note that in none of this discussion has the difference between the two types of priesthood been described in terms of function. The difference is not functional, but sacramental. Furthermore the two are not parallel to each other as adversaries, but mutually complementary to such a degree as to be impossible one without the other. Thus we understand why Blessed John Henry Newman, when asked what he thought of the laity, responded, “We’d look foolish without them!” Just as a head would look foolish without a body.

If the Mass is the sacramental re-presentation of the self-offering of Jesus Christ to the Father, the sacramental distinction between ministerial and common priesthood is logical. But once we begin to see the Mass as a sacrifice of praise given by a community to God, it is hard not to transform our idea of the priesthood from a sacramental one to a functional one. Once the functional trumps the sacramental, the ministerial priest becomes one elected among the assembly of the faithful who presides over them by gathering them together and organizing their common prayer. The common priest is then one who participates in any way in such a common prayer. Then the question arises: if the priesthood (common or ministerial) is merely a question of function, Who decides who fulfills those functions?..."

http://www.chantcafe.com/2011/05/do-women-have-role-in-liturgy-and-in.html

A Great New CD by the St. Gregory's Academy

http://www.digstation.com/AlbumDetails.aspx?albumID=ALB000077535

Simple English Propers

Ricardo Mutti on Church Music

Posted by Jeffrey A. Tucker

From Catholic Culture:

The music director of the Chicago Symphony has thrown his support behind the drive by Pope Benedict XVI to revive the tradition of sacred music.

''The Pope is right when he says it is necessary to bring our great musical heritage back into churches,'' said Ricardo Muti. The Italian conductor said that the revival in church music “cannot happen outside the great traditional path of the past, of Gregorian chants and sacred polyphonic choral music.”

Muti said that he has no objection to the composition of new sacred music, but resents the use of pop tunes. “When I go to church and I hear four strums of a guitar or choruses of senseless, insipid words, I think it's an insult,” he said. Offering mediocre music, when the Church boasts a priceless treasury of compositions, shows “a lack of respect for people’s intelligence,” he said.

Schola June Calendar

At OLPH
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up at 7:40)
June 4

Kyrie XI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Cantate Domino
Regina Caeli


At Resurrection Church
Satruday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
June 11, 25

Kyrie XI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Veni Creator Spiritus (11)
Qui Manducat (25)
Salve Regina


Ascension Thursday at St. William of York

Missa Cantata (Traditional Mass)
June 2nd, 7AM (warm-up at 6:45AM)

Introit: Viri Galilaei

Alleluia I: Ascendit Deus
Alleluia II: Dominus Sina

Offertory:Ascendit Deus

Communio;Psallite Domino

Regina Caeli

(Ordinary parts, Mass setting I, Credo I)


Children's Schola

At OLPH
First Friday Mass, June 3, 8:15 AM (warm up at 7:45 AM)

Regina Caeli(prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Ametur(offertory)
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Gustate et Videte(communion)
O Salutaris Hostia (Benediction)

At St. Paul
Wednesday June 1, 8 AM (warm-up at 7:45)

Veni Creator Spritus (prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Agnus Dei XVIII
Gustate et Videte(communion)
Regina Caeli

Why the Catholic Church needs to be distinctly Catholic

"Because, for one reason, there are people out there making powerful, though flawed, arguments like the ones in the video below. The video reminds viewers that you “don’t need a church to GIVE” and encourages people to “give DIRECTLY to a cause dear to your heart, essential to your community and worthy of your support.” Causes that don’t “manipulate the penitence of their disciples.” The implication in the video is that religion is just an unnecessary type of middleman that gets unfair tax breaks and skims the top off of charitable giving for its own enrichment...."


http://www.ncregister.com/blog/why-the-catholic-church-needs-to-be-distinctly-catholic?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NCRegisterDailyBlog+National+Catholic+Register#When:13:32:14Z

Traditional Mass, Universae Ecclesiae, New Translation, Homeschoool

This past Thursday, I attended two Traditional Masses.(7AM and 11 AM). My boys were doing double duties as altar boys.

The 7 AM Mass has been growing since the priest started as his private Mass, and now we had a first communion last week. The boy and the family decided to it at the Traditional Mass. (The boy is in my children's schola, and he commented that the music he got a CD for the communion at the Novus Ordo were not very inspiring to him.:-) Since he is a homeschooling boy there were many homeschooling families at the Mass. Many of them had never attended the Traditional Mass before. They were so impressed by the beauty of the Mass that they decided to invite the priest this week to the homeschooling group and had the Traditional Mass. We had to move chairs and the table around in the sanctuary, and give a brief instruction to the families and the children before the Mass. It was like a miracle! The Mass was celebrated beautifully, and the children were following the Mass amazingly well. (It took a couple of years for me.) It was a low Mass, and the congregation did the dialogues and Ordinary parts from 'the red book'. The group wants to continue to have the Traditional Mass at least once a month when they meet together, but there are only two priests we know available to do so. (one has to drive about 40 minutes.) And the other priest is a pastor for two parishes, extremely busy. I really wish there are more priests who can celebrate the Traditional Mass. (there is another homeschooling group I teach chants also wants to have Traditional Mass, but don't have a priest who knows how to do it.)
I found out in the class on the new translation I attended yesterday that many people, even devout Catholics, really don't have much knowledge on liturgy, and they were so happy now that they have a class on liturgy and the prayers. People were asking many questions about the liturgy and made lots of positive comments, such as the Mass is not about me, faith isn't based on feelings, appreciate the riches and reverence in the new translation and not so casual dialogues in the Mass especially in 'And with your Spirit." ... My pastor who is very careful with introducing Latin in Mass even repeated a few times that they all have been in Latin already, and very enthusiastic about the richness of the forthcoming translation, and people started to feel the importance of the tradition and the root of our faith. Because of the misunderstanding of Vatican II and the absence of the Tradition, the tradition which was almost wiped out in celebrating Novus Ordo in many parishes, especially in this area, many Catholics are so confused and at loss in terms of celebrating the Mass. Mostly we just did what others did during Mass without thinking. The experience and the knowledge of Traditional Mass can be truly valuable for many Catholics to understand and appreciate the Mass and deepen their faith through it.

Today, may 13th, the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae (UE) has been released.

"The will of the Pope in the Motu Proprio included that people who don’t know the older form actually come to be exposed to it. The older, Extraordinary Form is a gift for all, not just those who know about it. For all. Every Catholic of the Latin Church – and also in the whole of the Catholic Church – has the Extraordinary Form as part of their heritage. It belongs to all of us...

The Instruction, in line with the Motu Proprio, does not regard only those who desire to continue to celebrate the faith in the same way by which the Church substantially did for centuries; the Pope wanted to help all Catholics to live the truth of the liturgy in order that, by knowing and participating in the old Roman form of celebration, they might grasp that the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium wanted to reform the liturgy in continuity with tradition."

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/05/must-read-msgr-pozzos-comments-on-the-instruction-universae-ecclesiae-in-losservatore-romano/

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/05/wdtirs-universae-ecclesiae-21-drilling-into-the-latin-and-english-training-of-priests-and-seminaries/

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2011/05/13/vatican-tells-bishops-give-priests-the-option-of-learning-extraordinary-form/

"A new Vatican instruction calls on local bishops and pastors to respond generously to Catholics who seek celebration of the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal.

The instruction, issued today, said pastors should approve such Masses for groups of faithful, even when such groups are small or are formed of people from different parishes or dioceses. These faithful cannot, however, contest the validity of the modern Mass or the authority of the Pope.

“In deciding individual cases, the pastor or the rector, or the priest responsible for a Church, is to be guided by his own prudence, motivated by pastoral zeal and a spirit of generous welcome,” it said.

The instruction said that, depending on pastoral needs, bishops should make sure seminarians are trained in celebrating the Extraordinary Form of the Mass..."

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/new-guidelines-for-tridentine-mass-10-key-facts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+catholicnewsagency%2Fdailynews+%28CNA+Daily+News%29

"Vatican City, May 13, 2011 / 10:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Local dioceses should give a “generous welcome” to any laity who wish to attend Mass in the “extraordinary form” and to priests who wish to say it..."

We live in a very exciting time in the history of the church. I only wish we can help our children to cherish the Holy Mass as the center of their life by our examples and the teachings of authentic Catholic faith. The church needs lots of saints. The Mass is the 'font' of our faith, and the holiness truly flows from the Mass where we experience God and His true love and Holiness. This is the most extra ordinary event in our daily life. If the Mass is celebrated in a casual manner with casual music, casual dialogue, casual manner..., how the children can take the Mass seriously? We need to learn to celebrate the Mass properly, so we can help ourselves and children truly experience God and deepen our faith through the Mass.

Happy to hold hands, but no kneeling?

I had to drive a distance this morning to a Traditional Mass to hear Gregorian Propers and be 're-connected' to Catholic tradition after I attended the Vigil Mass at a local parish where the liturgy had almost zero authentic liturgical music, broadway style singing, commercial piano tunes, plus girls in the sanctuary in cassocks.... Some people are lucky to have the liturgy that is connected to Catholic tradition and faith.. but others sadly don't. In the absence of the Church's tradition, and the celebration of the liturgy that tries to connect to God directly without the connection to 2000 years of the Church, I couldn't experience and share the Catholic faith that I cherish and converted for.

They are happy to join hands during 'Our Father,' but no one remembers to kneel when we receive our Lord anymore. No matter the explanations there are, to my common sense, it doesn't make much sense.(the historical explanation of receiving communion in standing at some time or in some other rites are,to me, taken out of contexts) It would be nice if priests encourage people to show gestures of humility to our Lord first, then we can truly feel united, whether we hold hands with each other or not. I don't think those social gestures, holding hands, shaking hands, hugging and kissing during the sign of peace, don't mean much, if we don't show the utmost humility to our Lord when we receive HIm.

I just thank God, we still have Traditional Mass where I can experience God and learn His true humility and charity. (I don't think I was able to get up 5AM all by myself without being tired at all after the late night. God is good. He truly provides us what we need.)

Vatican Redefines Divine Mercy Sunday

http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/vatican-redefines-divine-mercy-sunday/

Schola: May Calendar

At OLPH
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up at 7:40)
May 7, 21

Kyrie XI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Ego Sum
Regina Caeli


At Resurrection Church
Satruday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
May 14, 28

Kyrie XI
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Ego Sum
Regina Caeli


At St. Martin's (Little Sisters of the Poor)
Fourth Sunday of Easter May 15, 10:30 AM (warm-up at 10AM)

Introit (Entrance Proper) : schola
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord;
by the word of the Lord the heavens were made, alleuia

Kyrie (857)

Responsorial Psalm:
The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want

Gospel Acclamation:
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my sheep, and mine know me.

Offertory Proper (schola)

Sanctus (859)

Mysterium Fidei (priest)
(all)
Mortem tuam annuntiamus Domine,
et tuam resurrectionem confitemur, donec venias
(We proclaim Thy death, O Lord, and we confess
Thy resurrection, until Thou comest.)

Doxology: Amen

Agnus Dei (862)

Communion Proper: (schola)
The Good Sheperd is risen! who laid down his life for his sheep,
who died oft his flock, he is risen, alleluia

Communion Hymn: I know that my Redeemer lives (609)

Recessional Hymn: Regina Caeli (172)


Children's Schola
(classes at St. Paul on Monday & at St. Michael's Academy on Thursday)

At OLPH
First Friday Mass, May 6. 8:15 AM (warm up starts at 7:45 AM)

Regina Caeli(prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Ametur(offertory)
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Star Above the Ocean (communion)
O Salutaris Hostia (Benediction)



At St. Alphonsus
2nd Thursday Mass, May 12, 11 AM (warm up at 10:30 AM)

Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Ametur(offertory)
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Star Above the Ocean (communion)
Regina Caeli

No Eulogies During Funeral Mass

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/03/bp-morlino-affirms-prohibition-of-eulogies-as-night-follows-day-liberals-whine/

[The "recent" mandate was already made in 2000, GIRM 382: "At the Funeral Mass there should, as a rule, be a short homily, but never a eulogy of any kind."]

Immutemur Habitu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDuR1Xrr0zM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H79MXM0xas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR_CxUPcma8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTZTfyVPAcU&playnext=1&list=PL8D50C82BE135D726

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7zzRFvUvSU

Colloquium XX

Sacred Music Colloquium (CMAA) from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

Schola: April Calendar

At OLPH
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up at 7:40)
April 2, 16, 30

Kyrie XVII
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Parce Domine
Pascha Notsrum (April 30)
Ave Regina Caelorum
Regina Caeli (April 30)


Holy Hour for Vocations and Benediction
St. Benedict April 9, 5 PM


1. Anima Christi (Children; during Preparation of the Holy Hour)

2. O Salutaris Hostia (everyone)

Prayer

3. Adoro te devote (children and men)
4. O Panis Dulcissime (children)
5. Ave verum Corpus (women and children)
6. Jesu Dulcis Memoria (Adults)

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 3:8 – 10

7. Veni Creator Spiritus (children)
8. Ubi caritas (adults & children)
9. Adoramus te Christe (Adults)

Prayer for Vocations

10. Salve Regina (Solemn tone, women)
11. Ave Regina caelorum (Solemn tone, men)

Scripture Reading: Matthew 4:18 - 22

12. Ave Maria (Mode VI, children)
13. Ave Maria (Mode I, children)
14. Immutemur Habitu (adult)

Benediction

15. Tantum Ergo (everyone)

Priest: Panem de caelo praestitisti eis
Response (all): Omne delectamentum in se habentem

Prayer (priest)

Divine Praises (chanted by cantor/everyone.
Music and words are at the end of this packet.)

Final chant (schola)

16. Christus vincit



At Resurrection Church
Satruday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
April 9

Kyrie XVII
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Parce Domine
Ave Regina Caelorum


At Resurrection Church
Good Friday
April 22, 7:30 PM (warm-up at 7PM)

Ecce Lignum
Vexilla Regis
Reproaches
Adoramus te Christe



Children's Schola
(classes at St. Paul on Monday & at St. Michael's Academy on Thursday)

At OLPH
First Friday Mass, April 1
8:15 AM (warm up starts at 7:45 AM)

Ave Maria(prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Attende Domine(offertory)
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
O Panis Dulcissime


At St. Alphonsus
2nd Thursday Mass,
April 14 11AM (warm up at 10:30 AM)

Ave Maria(prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Attende Domine (offertory)
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
O Panis Dulcissime(communion)
Salve Regina

Traditional Mass in Our Area; how it started and kept

I thought I should write about the Thursday Traditional Mass that has been offered now for 2 years before I forget and take it for granted.

One of the young priest started Traditional Mass on Thursdays in Glen Burnie as his private Mass a couple of years ago and was able to invite people by words of mouths. One of the priest I have known told me about it, and I started to attend it with my homeschoooled boys. I thought it would be wonderful for my boys to experience the Traditional Mass, The Sacrifice of the Holy Mass, since they are also learning about it at home. It is pretty early, 7AM and we have to get up by 6 and just go, but we kept going. When this priest became the pastor of St. Agnes, he continued this Mass in the small chapel in the new church in Catonsville. It was very small, and he was quite busy, but one of his friend priest who specialized in liturgy and studied in Rome came to rescue. He made this Thursday Mass regular, and we ddidn't have to skip weeks any more. The amazing thing is that my boys picked up a prayer card at the Glen burnie church for who was ordained a couple of years ago, and they prayed for him for a year in the 'year of priests' without knowing who he was. After the year, they still kept the prayer card near their beds, and finally they got to meet him.
This is the priest who came to help with the Thursday Traditional Mass. Now my boys are being trained to serve, and celebrating the Mass with him. What a joy and miracle for us.

The main server is a convert of 3 years. He said he went to a very anti-Catholic unversity, but while he was getting a Master's degree in history, he found out that Catholic church is the true church and converted. Now he learned all the Latin prayers and serving the Traditional Mass, and he is quite busy with young people introducing the beauty of The Traditional Mass. One of his friends who was not so thrilled to go to Mass which is only in Latin at the beginning is now joined FFSP seminary.

We also had a beautiful Missa Cantata for Epiphany in a small chapel this year. As the number of attendees grew, the priest was able to move us to a bigger church which still had a high altar. Now we have a big church and can invite more people. On the first day, we had to move the altar table that is used for Novous Ordo on Sundays, but still altar severs couldn't use steps to the high altar, because a big wooden plank has convered the steps. We thought it was bolted, but found out that we could actually remove it. And voila! there were steps. My boys and the main server, Matt cleaned out all the dust, and now they can actually use the steps and have space to receive communion. The high altar and the steps probably have not been used for 40 years(pretty sad). But it is cleaned and dusted now. It seems to me that the glory and the beauty of this church has returned. We still have to put everything back after the Mass, but we are quite happy that we can still have this beautiful Traditional Mass in this beautiful church. After a few generations, will people find out how we kept this traditional Mass? I do surely hope so, and I hope they treasure this Traditional Mass as we did.
Deo Gratias.

Cardinals: liturgical abuse weakens the faith

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2011/03/03/cardinal-bad-masses-weaken-the-faith/

By Cindy Wooden on Thursday, 3 March 2011
Cardinals: liturgical abuse weakens the faith

A weakening of faith in God, a rise in selfishness and a drop in the number of people going to Mass can be traced to liturgical abuse or Masses that are not reverent, two Vatican cardinals and a consultant have said.

US Cardinal Raymond Burke, head of the Vatican’s supreme court, said: “If we err by thinking we are the centre of the liturgy, the Mass will lead to a loss of faith.”

Cardinal Burke and Spanish Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, spoke yesterday at a book launch in Rome.

The book, published only in Italian, was written by Fr Nicola Bux, who serves as a consultant to the congregations for the doctrine of the faith and for saints’ causes and to the office in charge of papal liturgies.

The English translation of Fr Bux’s book title would be, How to Go to Mass and Not Lose Your Faith.

Cardinal Burke told those gathered for the book presentation that he agreed with Fr Bux that “liturgical abuses lead to serious damage to the faith of Catholics”.

Unfortunately, he said, too many priests and bishops treat violations of liturgical norms as something that is unimportant when, in fact, they are “serious abuses”.

Cardinal Cañizares said that while the book’s title is provocative, it demonstrates a belief he shares. “Participating in the Eucharist can make us weaken or lose our faith if we do not enter into it properly,” and if the liturgy is not celebrated according to the Church’s norms, he said.

“This is true whether one is speaking of the Ordinary or Extraordinary form of the one Roman rite,” the cardinal said.

Cardinal Cañizares said that at a time when so many people are living as if God did not exist, they need a true Eucharistic celebration to remind them that only God is to be adored and that true meaning in human life comes only from the fact that Jesus gave his life to save the world.

Fr Bux said that too many modern Catholics think the Mass is something that the priest and the congregation do together when, in fact, it is something that Jesus does.

“If you go to a Mass in one place and then go to Mass in another, you will not find the same Mass. This means that it is not the Mass of the Catholic Church, which people have a right to, but it is just the Mass of this parish or that priest,” he said.

Schola Calendar: March

Memorial Mass for Anna Agnello at OLPH
March 7 (Monday) at 10 AM (warm-up at 9:15AM)

Introit : Requiem Aeternam

Kyrie XI

Responsorial Psalm:
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Gospel Acclamation:
Come, you who are blessed by my Father, says the Lord;
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Offertory: Ave Maria

Sanctus

Mysterium Fidei (priest)

Mortem tuam annuntiamus Domine,
et tuam resurrectionem confitemur, donec venias

(We proclaim Thy death, O Lord,
and we confess Thy resurrection, until Thou comest.)

Doxology: Amen

Agnus Dei

Communio: Lux Aeterna

Recessional : In Paradisum and Chorus Angelorum


At OLPH
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up at 7:40)
March 5, 19

Kyrie XVII
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Gustate et Videte (March 5)
Joseph fili David
Ave Regina Caelorum


At Resurrection Church
Satruday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
March 12, 26

Kyrie XVII
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Attende Domine
Ave Regina Caelorum



At St. Martin's (Little Sisters of the Poor)
Second Sunday of Lent
March 20, 10:30 AM (warm-up at 10AM)

Introit (Entrance Proper) : schola
My heart has prompted me to seek your face;
I seek it, Lord; do not hide from me

Kyrie (857)

Responsorial Psalm:
Lord, let your mercy be on us,
as we place your trust in you.

Gospel Acclamation:
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ,
King of endless glory!

Offertory Proper (schola)

Sanctus (859)

Mysterium Fidei (priest)

(all)
Mortem tuam annuntiamus Domine,
et tuam resurrectionem confitemur, donec venias

(We proclaim Thy death, O Lord,
and we confess Thy resurrection, until Thou comest.)

Doxology: Amen

Agnus Dei (862)

Communion Proper: (schola)
This is my Son, my beloved,
in whom is all my delight: listen to him.

Communion Hymn: Lord, Throughout These Forty Days (136)

Recessional Hymn: Salve Regina (708)




Children's Schola
(classes at St. Paul on Monday & at St. Michael's Academy on Thursday)

At OLPH
First Friday Mass, March 4
8:15 AM (warm up starts at 7:45 AM)

Ave Maria(prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Veni Creator Spiritus (offertory)
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Adoro Te Devote

At St. Alphonsus
2nd Thursday Mass, March 10
11 AM (warm up at 10:30 AM)

Ave Maria(prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Attende Domine (offertory)
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Adoro Te Devote (communion)
Salve Regina

Children's schola class: Blessings

Hi, everyone,

I just wanted share what we've been doing in our chant class.
Last few weeks have been especially rewarding for me to see what they've learned in the class.

Some of the highlights;
My youngest student who joined the class this year with a special permission :-), Faith (61/2 years old) on Monday class sang Ave Maria perfectly from memory and most beautifully with everything I taught for the proper singing, good singing posture, deep breathing, creating space inside the mouth and beautiful pure vowels. (It was so beautiful, I had to blink my eyes quickly to stop tears.)

Anna N. on Thursday class who used to be one of my youngest until last year , memorized Veni Creator and lead the class in singing it.

Peter, who think singing chant is actually fun and always full of energy, calmly explained the different bows on Jesus name and Holy Trinity, especially when we sing chants.

The high school students, like Emma (Monday) and Madeline (Thursday) are excellent in explaining the meaning of the chant.

Gregorian Hymns, such as Adoro te Devote by St. Thomas Aquinas, are truly uplifting. They are of course more than 'safe hymns' to sing because they are accepted by the Church and the tradition. As you might have noticed there are many modern hymns with questionable texts and musical styles to be used in Holy Mass and have not gone through the test of the time. Music can be a powerful tool, and we need to be careful about 'what and how' we sing.

We started to read notes ("reading notes' in music means be able to sing the notes ) in solfege from the music in the chant book and compare modern notation and chant notation. They are catching up very quickly, and I am very pleased with their progress.

I won't go though the progress of each student here, but all the children in the class are truly working hard, and I feel very blessed.

Thank you so much for all your support.

Mia

The Gather Hymnal Redux

Sorry for this.

Confessions of a Former Contemporary Music Minister

http://catholicphoenix.com/2011/02/17/confessions-of-a-former-contemporary-music-minister/

There is a lot of potential division in our Church today, and predominantly over liturgical norms in Divine Worship. No one ever said that re-uniting is an easy act. It’s messy business! Consequently, expressing thoughts on this matter can be messy, too. A recent “Catholic Answers Live” interview with Francis Cardinal Arinze, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, is the source of my inspiration to tackle this topic now.



Program host Patrick Coffin posed:

There is a sad irony here, Your Eminence, in which people who are attached to the Traditional Latin Mass often get into fractious arguments with people who prefer the Novus Ordo, so it’s almost like the mass itself, in a sense, is a source of division. Is there a way for it to bring all the members of the Body of Christ together, and does the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum signal a kind of turn toward the future of greater reverence and greater unity?

Cardinal Arinze answered:

Yes, the Pope’s document is a great help to get all of us better together. We should accept and recognize that when we say “Latin Mass” it can be the traditional way of saying (it) up to Vatican II. It can also be the way of celebrating the mass now in the last 40 years. The way we say mass now can all be done in Latin today so that if perhaps some use the term Tridentine Mass, even though the term is not so exact, because that mass had that form even before the Council of Trent. So Pope Benedict has given it the two terms, the Extraordinary and Ordinary form of the Latin Rite. Both are of the Latin Rite. And the Holy Father, by giving out that document (i.e. Summorum Pontificum), wants to give people freedom. If people find their spirituality better nourished by the traditional celebration of the form that is what we call now Extraordinary, very good, let them not be denied that. If people find themselves nourished by the present way of celebrating mass, what some call Novus Ordo, which the Holy Father calls Ordinary Form, so be it. The main thing is to follow what Holy Mother Church has laid down. Indeed, if every priest who celebrated the mass according to Novus Ordo were to follow the books exactly, add nothing, subtract nothing, not project yourself, celebrate in Latin sometimes, you will find that most of that tension would be gone.

Revised Roman Missal: Understanding the reasons for the changes

“We are beggars before God,” said Father Stravinskas. “We are not his equals. He’s not our buddy. He is our Creator, and as his creatures we owe him adoration. We haven’t come to Mass to give orders, but to receive orders. The current texts have blocked that distinction.”

All this matters, of course, because in the journey to holiness, humility is a must.


http://www.osv.com/tabid/7621/itemid/7529/Revised-Roman-Missal-Understanding-the-reasons-fo.aspx

Catholic Identity and the New Translation

Those who have been reading for the last couple months will be familiar with my “New Translation Monday” column. Well, it seems that this week is turning into “New Translation Week.” The last four posts have dealt directly with the upcoming changes to the Roman Missal, and this will make five.
It is well known now that the entire Missal is available at Wikispooks. Of course, the Ordinary has been available for some time, but there have been rumors, versions, and rumors of versions about what the Proper texts will look like in the end. It seems that we now know. (Thought I have to admit, in this day and age of the internet, it would not at all surprise me to find out that this is not the “final final” text, and that last minute changes will be made before it is sent off to the publisher ... I will, however, give the reports the benefit of the doubt for now, reports that claim this is the version that has been sent to the publishers. It certainly appears to be.)
Being the geek that I am, I couldn’t help be download all the files and begin looking through several of the Collects. Merely because of its place in the liturgical year, and therefore in the Missal itself, I began looking through the Advent Collects. (As a side note, in the new translation they are actually referred to as “Collects” rather than “Opening Prayers.” In previous posts on why vocabulary matters I went into why the term “Opening Prayer” is not appropriate. In short, the prayer is a “closing” of the Introductory Rites; it “collects” the this portion of the Mass into a single prayer. Similar occurrences are found at other points during the Mass.)
As I glanced at the Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, I nearly fell off my chair. Before giving you the new text, let’s take a gander at what we heard this past year:

Lord,
fill our hearts with your love,
and as you revealed to us by an angel
the coming of your Son as man,
so lead us through his suffering and death
to the glory of his resurrection,
for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Now, we could go through the Latin and point out the deficiencies in this translation, but there is something larger at stake here. To see it, let’s look at the Latin, but more importantly the new translation. The Latin text reads,

Gratiam tuam, quaesumus Domine,
mentibus nostris infunde,
ut qui, Angelo nuntiante,
Christi Filii tui incarnationem cognovimus,
per passionem eius et crucem
ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur.

Some people may already see the connection I am hinting at. For the rest of us, myself included, reading the new translation brought the whole thing to light:

Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord,
your grace into our hearts,
that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son
was made known by the message of an Angel,
may by his Passion and Cross
be brought to the glory of his Resurrection.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

The Angelus (1857–59) by Jean-François Millet
The above is the familiar prayer from the close of the Angelus. The Angelus is the prayer of the Incarnation that has been recited by Catholics throughout the centuries three times daily: 6:00 am, noon, and 6:00 pm. The prayer itself goes back at least 700 years, but probably even to the eleventh century or earlier. In times past, it was one of the most familiar and celebrated prayers in our Catholic heritage, and as such it provided a distinctive mark of Catholic identity. A priest friend of mine has often recalled the story of his family’s restaurant/bar on the east side of Columbus. Growing up, every day when the noontime bells rang out from the Catholic Church across the street, everyone in the bar dropped what they were doing and said the Angelus. Even those who were not Catholic sat in silence during the recitation of the prayer because they know if they didn’t, they would not be served. This story is an illustration of Catholic identity. If the same bells were to ring today, how many Catholics would know why, let alone be able to rattle off the words to the Angelus?
Having the Collect from the last Sunday of Advent taken from this timeless prayer is important for establishing the link between the ritual liturgy and the lived liturgy. In the spirit of lex orandi, lex credendi, if congregations were to hear the Angelus Collect in the context of Mass, those familiar with it would be immediately placed in the presence of the three-times-daily ritual. Conversely, if the Collect were to be used, more people would become familiar with the Angelus prayer itself.
Unfortunately, until now, the prayer has been disguised beneath a mistranslation. I am someone who is very familiar with the Angelus, yet I never realized that the Advent Collect was one and the same. Of course, there are others who have. It only took a quick Google search to turn up and article from Fr. Zuhlsdorf written in 2004 (and reprinted in 2006) on precisely this issue.
I am not one to debate these chicken-and-egg questions. Has the mistranslation led to an abandonment of the Angelus, or was the Angelus abandoned long before, and therefore the “retranslating” of the traditional words for the purpose of the Mass Collect was not seen as such a big deal? Quite frankly, it is probably both. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the loss of the Angelus is both a symptom and a cause of the loss of Catholic identity, and recovering the translation in the Roman Missal can go a long way towards the process of its restoration. At the very least, it provides an impetus for a stellar homily. (Imagine, actually, if the priest on this Sunday were to give a homily that begins with the Angelus and ends with an explanation of the term “consubstantial.”)
Let’s put it this way. When I read the words for the corrected translation of the Collect from the First Sunday of Advent, my eyes “perked” up from line one: “Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord...” Imagine how much more will my ears do the same when, blessed be God, they hear the glorious recitation of this prayer on December 18, 2011. Who knows, maybe they’ll even hear the ever faint echo of the Angelus bells accompanying the text.
Posted By Jake Tawney at 3:00 PM
Labels: Liturgy, New Translation of the Roman Missal


Comment:

B. said...

Nick,

I have to admit that I have a hard time understanding exactly what your comment is responding to. On the one hand, this post was not about local traditions but the expression of the universal Catholic faith as the common link between the holy Mass and in the devotional life by which the Liturgy is extended through life.

On the other hand, perhaps you were responding to Mr. A. Layne. In any case, I think that the substance of your comment is correct: the universal Church is both ontologically and existentially prior to the particular Church, as J. Cardinal Ratzinger rather conclusively demonstrated in his article, "The Local Church and the Universal Church: A Response to Walter Kasper" (America, Nov. 19, 2001). This of course was already a defense of the official CDF document "Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of the Church as Communio" (May 1992). So, in this much, I think you raise a very good point.

On the other hand, the universal Church is "made flesh" so to speak in the particular Churches spread throughout the world. Thus, while there will certainly be local traditions that authentically express the nature of the Church (an authentic kind of inculturation), these traditions should grow organically from the great Tradition of the Church. I recommend that you read carefully the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on Revelation (Dei Verbum), particularly nn. 7-10. I think you will find that Tradition, which is one of the two means by which the fulness of Revelation is transmitted to all the Faithful of all time, is not opposed to Jesus (as you seem to suggest), but is rather the working out of what Christ our Lord promised (Jn 16:12), namely, that the Spirit of Truth (the Holy Spirit) would continue to guide the Church into understanding the fulness of what He did and taught. Thus, Tradition itself is guided and developed by the Holy Spirit. Local traditions, then (which is already a rather ambiguous term), must be consonant with both sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture since the local/particular Church is an expression of the one-subject, universal Church. There does exist, then, an objective measure of local "expressions" as you term them.

Finally, specifically on the point where you say, "The Church has the power to change the form of the Mass." I can agree that this is true, but not as unqualifiedly as you put it forth. The Church certainly does have the power, given by Christ, to be guided by the Holy Spirit in regulated the outward expression of the sacred Liturgy. However, as Ratzinger has also said, this power is not absolute and certainly cannot be exercised arbitrarily. In fact, the Church is a servant of the Liturgy because she lives from it and expresses the truth of her being in it (see JP2, Ecclesia de Ecuharistia). Thus, any change and development should grow organically from what was before. In the recent past, this has not always happened. Cardinal Ratzinger observed in the Preface he wrote to Msgr. Klaus Gamber's book, "The Reform of the Roman Liturgy" that the 1970/1MR does not seem to be an expression of the organic growth of the Liturgy. Thus, not every exercise of the Church's power is authentic simply because those who have the power do it. This is a very complex topic but I invite you to consider these things.

Nick, thank you for your thoughtful engagement and, as you suggest, let us keep our eyes fixed on Christ, Who shows us His face only in and through the Church, His Bride and Body.

Peace,
B.
January 27, 2011 9:56 AM

http://causafinitaest.blogspot.com/2011/01/catholic-identity-and-new-translation.html

And with Your Spirit

Posted by Jeffrey Tucker

For me personally, the least controversial aspect of the new translation is the restoration of "And with your spirit" as opposed to the street-talkin' "And also with you." In fact, I was disappointed that we are not to say, "and with thy spirit" because this is the phrase one hears most commonly in literature and legend. In any case, the transliteration of the Latin is most welcome.

But does it make sense? This is the question that got us in such trouble in the first place, for it implies a kind of liturgical rationalism and a mandate to come to understand and thereby approve -- construct -- every aspect of the liturgy. The rationalist project requires that we throw out as ancient cruft all that strikes us as odd and only retain that which makes sense to us in our generation. Here we have a serious problem because the liturgy itself is larger than one generation. It stretches back into a history the details of which grow foggier the early we go. More than that, there is an element of the divine at work in the development of liturgy, and this means that ultimately it might include words, rubrics, and even music that is beyond human comprehension. This is why a good rule is: defer to tradition. Changing things risks doing violence to a divine thing.

In any case, and understandably, people do want an explanation for the modern move to "and with your spirit," and Fr. Austin J. Milner has provided a beautiful one today. The phrase is an ancient greeting, unique to Christianity, and intended to underscore our conviction that the spirit of God exists in every human person. This is certainly in contrast to the belief in the ancient world, which lacked this kind of mystical universalism at its ethical core.

This is such a beautiful explanation, one that helps underscore ideas that we too often take for granted: the dignity of the human person, the universality of human rights, the breath of God as the source of rationality, and much more. All of these were the great contributions that Christianity made to the world. I'm happy to read this explanation so that I can say these words with greater appreciation - and this is precisely the best use of these kind of studies, not to call into question a tradition but to shed light on its meaning and implications.

This article should certainly be shared with all Catholics.

By the way, this was apparently Fr. Milner's last article that he wrote before he
died.

http://www.chantcafe.com/2011/01/and-with-your-spirit.html

Tu es Petrus

http://www.chantcafe.com/2011/01/tu-es-petrus.html

Comments:
Anonymous said...

Well, it's a fine music and maybe was a 'pastoral' decision for the occasion. To me it's rather too dramatic (or theatrical). Remind me of big old movies, like Quo Vadis? Sort of music that accompanies the Roman emperor entering a theatre. I would have appreciated a bit humble, but dignified and quiet music.
January 28, 2011 4:54 AM


Keith Fraser said...

What you get is the awe and the majesty befitting the man commissioned by Christ to lead his church, majesty passed to his successors. The awe, the terror of that commission, juxtaposed by the quiet, polyphonic resolution of the piece just after the timpnoy and before it went to the Introit, Dignus est Agnus.

I thought it was amazing.
January 28, 2011 4:59 AM


Anonymous said...

Although drastic shift of the fine music can be amazing, I have a reservation for too much of dramatic contrast for the music in Mass. I think this has to be done carefully so not to be overdone.
The spiritual experience of Gregorian chant is very sublime with the subtle beauty that avoids the extreme of emotional turmoil by its nature of hiring musical concepts that avoid extreme range, volume, tempo..., so the emotion and feelings are moved naturally, not as if forced by external elements, which can be appropriate and needed in other places.

By the way I'm a fan of all your postings. I guess just this one I have a bit of disagreement. Thank you for all your work.
January 28, 2011 7:14 AM


Dad29 said...

The awe, the terror of that commission, juxtaposed by the quiet, polyphonic resolution of the piece

Precisely what I heard! "You will suffer" at the beginning, "unsettled" music illustrating 'the gates of Hell', and a gentle, loving, "I will give you the keys"--as if to say "I will love and support you" at the end.

Marvelous stuff.
January 28, 2011 11:10 AM

The "Easy" Life of Lay Clerk (Musically speaking)

http://www.chantcafe.com/2011/01/easy-life-of-lay-clerk-musically.html

Sacred Notation, Sacred Music

http://www.chantcafe.com/2011/01/sacred-notation-sacred-music.html

Score and audio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9j7y65wgx8&feature=related

a brief talk on the history of Solfege
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxkstaYPztM&feature=related

This is interesiting and beautiful singing in good accustics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1AbgbtKIJg

With Scott T (I'm there somewhere with some schola members.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-SAwQBFXZc&feature=related

Schola: February Calendar

At OLPH
Saturday Mass (8:15AM) (Warm - up at 7:40)
Feb.5, 19

Kyrie XVII
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Manducaverunt (Feb.5)
Gustate et Videte (Feb.19)
Ave Regina Caelorum


At Resurrection Church
Satruday Mass (9AM) (Warm-up starts at 8:30)
Feb. 12, 26

Kyrie XVII
Gospel Accl.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Manducaverunt (Feb.12)
Gustate et Videte (Feb.26)
Ave Regina Caelorum



At St. Martin's (Little Sisters of the Poor)
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Feb.20, Sunday, 10:30 (warm-up at 10AM)

Introit (Entrance Proper) : schola
Lord, your mercy is my hope, my heart rejoices in your saving power.
I will sing to the Lord for his goodness to me.

Kyrie (857)

Gloria (858)

Responsorial Psalm:
The Lord is kind and merciful.

Gospel Acclamation:
Whoever keeps the word of Christ,
the love of God is truly perfected in him.

Offertory Proper (schola)

Sanctus (859)

Mysterium Fidei (priest)

(all)
Mortem tuam annuntiamus Domine,
et tuam resurrectionem confitemur, donec venias

(We proclaim Thy death, O Lord,
and we confess Thy resurrection, until Thou comest.)

Doxology: Amen

Agnus Dei (862)

Communion Proper: (schola)
I will tell all your marvelous works.
I will rejoice and be glad in you,
and sing to your name, Most High.

Communion Hymn:

Recessional Hymn: Salve Regina (702)




Children's Schola
(classes at St. Paul on Monday & at St. Michael's Academy on Thursday)

At OLPH
First Friday Mass, FEb.4
8:15 AM (warm up starts at 7:45 AM)

Ave Maria(prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Veni Creator Spiritus (offertory)
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Anima Christi(communion)

At St. Alphonsus
2nd Thursday Mass, Feb. 10
11 AM (warm up at 10:30 AM)

Ave Maria(prelude)
Kyrie XVI
Gospel Accl.
Veni Creator(offertory)
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Anima Christi (communion)
Salve Regina

Question on choice of music for Mass

From http://musicasacra.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=4544&page=1#Item_3

* darrharis
* CommentTime2 days ago



Hello, I'm a non-musician and new here, so forgive my naivety and ignorance.

Would it be fair to say that most of the liturgical music that church choirs choose and sing (and aside from chant) is biased to what they personally like singing i.e. a reflection of their own tastes in music? If so, where does this priority sit in most people's minds in relation to more objective liturgical priorities such as providing music that will enrich the prayers of the congregation? There may be overlap between the two priorities of course, but
not necessarily, esp if the congregation are not enthused (or even distracted) by what is being sung.
#

* CommentAuthorchonak
* CommentTime2 days ago



Welcome to the forum, darrharis!

One weakness in most parishes' music can be summed up in the phrase: "Don't sing at the Mass, sing the Mass." In a lot of parishes, people sing four hymns (entrance, offertory, communion, recessional), but don't sing the ordinary parts of the Mass.

The Church actually sets objective priorities for us in her teaching about sacred music. The priest and the congregation should be singing their dialogues ("The Lord be with you"/"And also with you") and the major parts of the Mass ordinary (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei). The Mass is sort of designed to work well that way, and the Church's teaching about liturgical music urges us to sing those parts first of all. That's the kind of "active participation" Vatican II wanted, in which people are directly involved in their role as the congregation at the Mass.

Instead, many parish musicians have their choirs or congregations sing hymns, anthems, or songs. They may be good music or even great music (or maybe not-so-great music) perhaps, but they're not an official part of the Mass text, so they really are just being tacked onto the Mass at the parish. They're incidental to the Mass, and they're not really the prayer of the Church. It's lawful to use them (generally), but it's a poor second or third-choice, considering how wonderful it is for a congregation to sing the Mass itself.

When a congregation and priest do sing their respective parts of the Mass, the role of the choir makes sense: it's to sing the variable elements in the Mass -- the entrance antiphon, the psalm between the readings, the offertory antiphon, and the communion antiphon -- which require practice because the texts and melodies change from week to week.

I hope this is sort of along the lines you're thinking about.

Anyway, welcome: to find out more about what the CMAA is and does, watch the great video about our annual summer colloquium, produced by artist collaborative Corpus Christi Watershed.

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

This morning, for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, we sang Introit (in English) instead of a 'hymn.' (what I mean by 'hymn' here is one with the text of individuals.) Although it's not a Holyday of obligation, the church was full. In this parish people are used to spoken Entrance and Communion antiphones in daily Mass, so many people know what they are, but singing the Introit was a historical event in this parish. The celebrant was very happy that he can solemly process without carrying the hymnal and lead us to the Holy of Holies.

It was amazing!!! You can say I'm wrong, but I truly sensed that the silence in the church channel people to LISTEN to the Word, the text of the Proper in a beautiful music. It was a beautiful moment.

The schola sang Veni Creator before the Mass (Plenary indulgence) and Te Deum after the Mass (we invited people whoever wants to stay after the recessional hymn, Hail Holy Queen. I made copies of texts and music on the back of handouts of the Mass. Amazingly inspite it was first time sung, there were some people actually stayed for Te Deum.( I know indulgence for Te Deum was yesterday, but the schola wanted to sing it anyway. It was a tough one to learn.), and the celebrant joined us in singing it.
After the Mass a lady came and told us that she was from out of town but was so glad that she came. She said it was absolutely beautiful. It wasn't just a polite thank you, which is also nice to hear, but I can tell she was glowing with joy. I'm sure there were people who didn't like the way it was done, although I didn't hear any, but as we know we cannot satisfy everyone. Our schola was very very happy, and the priest and people told us it was beautiful. But most of all, I pray that it pleased God the most, because I believe what pleases God the most truly sanctifies us the most. After I started to sing Gregorian chant, that's what I learned. The more we focus on God, not on us, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, even a small sacrifice like conforming our taste to what the Church desires the most for the Church's liturgy, helps us to remember the sacrifice of our Lord on the cross which was offered in obedience to the Father with humility. We still have lots of difficulties and take small steps, but this is the goal of our schola and share that experience with others around us.
Happy New year to you all.