Baronius Press beautiful new edition of the Knox Bible

Some very smart people I know use the Knox translation often, even daily. As a matter of fact, two of the smartest people I know use it all the time. One of them told me “It’s THE most beautiful translation of the Bible in the English language.”  Fulton Sheen used the Knox version when quoting.

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/10/baronius-press-beautiful-new-edition-of-the-knox-bible/

Singing the Theology of Christmas

Dr. Bert Polman, Ordinary Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Department at Calvin College, writes

...If you take a few moments to page through the Christmas carols and hymns in almost any hymnal, you’ll find that narrative and folksy, sentimental lyrics easily outweigh songs with a theological treatment of the meaning of Christ’s incarnation. We’re served with “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night,” “Silent Night, Holy Night,” and their many equivalents, for better or for worse. The theological profundity of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” is rare among our Christmas songs.

After you’re done paging through the Christmas section of your hymnal, I invite you to take a look at the Easter section too—just for comparison. In that section you’re likely to find numerous theological convictions about the resurrection of Christ, relatively few narrative Easter hymns, and no sentimental ones. While you’re at it, recall the kinds of Christmas cards you receive and send out, and contrast those with the Easter cards you may have seen. Most likely you’ll notice a similar pattern there: the Easter cards are far more likely to focus on theological themes than are the Christmas cards.

I believe we could use a few more theologically exact lyrics for Christmas...

 Posted by Kathleen Pluth
 http://www.chantcafe.com/2012/11/singing-theology-of-christmas.html

Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles: Amazing Music

Contemplative Nuns Secure Worldwide Distribution with Decca Classics through De Montfort Music for Advent Album

16-track CD available Nov. 20

ATLANTA, OCT. XX, 2012 – They are young. They are hidden. They are extremely musical. And now they have a worldwide album distribution deal. But they don’t set foot beyond Northwest Missouri’s rolling farmland. Why? Because they are contemplative sisters who live an austere yet joyful life set apart from the world.

But on Nov. 20, Decca and De Montfort Music will release their voices to the world in ADVENT AT EPHESUS. The album features 16 tracks – a dynamic variety of traditional English and Latin hymns, polyphony, Gregorian chants and medieval harmonies. The album also includes Adjuvabit Eam, an original work of the sisters.

http://www.chantcafe.com/2012/10/benedictines-of-mary-queen-of-apostles.html

Worship God in Song

 Vivace! 108 November 2012 


... A people united in prayer is wonderful to behold and this is what music, far more than words, can achieve. There are many fine hymns with inspirational texts - but many parishes are content with pap and nursery rhyme ditties. Appropriate seminary education is once more the key. The young priest should have at his/her fingertips a comprehensive knowledge of the best liturgical music plus the ability to teach and sing it. Positive leadership is needed so that the potential joy of congregational singing can be realized. Obviously, standards within a parish will vary, weather and atmosphere are not always conducive to good singing. This is the natural order of things.

Parish singing should be a priority and the occasional Songs of Praise where musicians and choirs get together for a celebration of hymn-singing - perhaps on an ecumenical basis - can be of immense help. I would like to see parishes arrange such a service on an annual or regular basis. This will raise the profile of parish music and give people a pride and joy in their singing. Let’s get together and worship God in song.


Colin Mawby KSG


http://www.music-for-church-choirs.com/

Schola: November calendar

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

Kyrie VIII
Alleluia.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Lux Aeterna
Panis Angelicus
Salve Regina


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


Kyrie VIII
Alleluia.
Sanctus XVIII
Mysterium Fidei and Amen
Agnus Dei XVIII
Lux Aeterna
Panis Angelicus
Salve Regina

Requiem Mass, Missa Cantata at the Our Lady Center, Ellicott city
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 6PM (Warm-up starts at 5:30 PM)
Nov. 10, 24


Introit: Requiem Aeternam
Gradual:  Requiem Aeternam
Tract:  Absolve Domine
Sequence:  Dies Irae
Offertory:  Domine Jesu, Christe
Communio:  Lux Aeterna
Responsory: Libera Me



Children's Schola
First Friday Mass at OLPH (All Souls)
Nov. 2  8:15 AM (Warm-up starts at 7:45 AM)

 

Kyrie XVI
Alleluia
Offertory: Eternal Rest

Sanctus (English, ICEL)
Mysterium Fidei (English, ICEL)
Agnus Dei XVIII
Communion:  Lux Aeterna (Perpetual Light)

O Salutaris

Thursday Masses at St. Paul 
8:00 AM (Warm-up starts at 7:45 AM)

Kyrie XVI
Alleluia
Offertory: Eternal Rest

Sanctus (English, ICEL)
Mysterium Fidei (English, ICEL)
Agnus Dei XVIII

Communion:  Ubi Caritas

Whither Latin?

 

"The Pope’s idea to establish a new Pontifical Academy is an important sign of renewed focus on the significance of Latin. Fr. Nicolini – who distributed ten thousand copies of a free introductory booklet to the Latin language in middle schools and is sending out an appeal for it to be included again in school curriculums – stated: “Latin teaches us to show respect for beautiful things and it also teaches us to value our roots.”

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-1hP_ps6JiE

 

 

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/08/a-new-pontifical-academy-for-the-latin-language-so-it-seems/

The Liturgy is a dialogue with God; He has given us the right words to address Him

Posted by Adam Bartlett

Pope Benedict XVI gave a catechesis on "The liturgy as a school of prayer" in his general audience today. While he didn't address sacred music directly, his theological reflection has immense and compelling implications for the nature of the music of the liturgy.

Here are a few highlights with added emphasis and commentary on the report from VIS:

Vatican City, 26 September 2012 (VIS) - The liturgy as a school of prayer, as a "special place in which God addresses each one of us ... and awaits our response", was the theme of Benedict XVI's catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in St. Peter's Square.

... 

Quoting again from the Catechism of the Catholic Church the Pope affirmed that "a sacramental celebration is a meeting of God's children with their Father, in Christ and the Holy Spirit; this meeting takes the form of a dialogue, through actions and words'. Thus", he explained, "the first requirement for a good liturgical celebration is that it be prayer and dialogue with God, first listening then responding. ... Sacred liturgy offers us the words, it is up to us to enter into their meaning, absorb them, harmonise ourselves with them. ... One fundamental and primordial element of dialogue with God in the liturgy is concordance between what we say with our mouths and what we carry in our hearts", he said.

What the Holy Father describes here is perhaps one of the strongest theological arguments for Gregorian chant and authentic sacred music: The entire form of the liturgy is a dialogue; its form is antiphonal. As participants in the liturgy, our first task is to listen, and then to respond. The words that we use are not of our own creation or selection – they are offered to us by the sacred liturgy itself. Our participation in responding to God with the words of the liturgy is to enter deeply into them, harmonizing our minds, hearts and voices into one. 

Could there be a better description of what Gregorian chant DOES, and enables the Church to do in her celebration of the sacred liturgy?

...

Our hearts, the most intimate part of us, must open meekly to the Word of God and join the prayer of the Church, in order to be oriented towards God by the very words we hear and pronounce".

"We celebrate and experience the liturgy well", the Pope concluded, "only if we maintain an attitude of prayer, uniting ourselves to the mystery of Christ and to His dialogue of a Son with His Father. God Himself teaches us to pray. ... He has given us the right words with which to address Him, words we find in the Psalter, in the great prayers of sacred liturgy and in the Eucharistic celebration itself.

Our proper disposition in the liturgy is one of openness and receptivity. We are not the creators of our liturgical prayer, or of our liturgical song. Our job is to open ourselves to the presence of God and enter into the prayer of the Church that is taking place in our midst. 

Note that the Holy Father does not list first the texts of the Order of the Mass, or even the Ordinary, but lists the Psalter – the primary source for the Proper of the Mass. These are the prayers that God through His Church has given us to pray. They are not of our own invention or inspiration. They have been given to us, and our role is to receive them, to make them our own, and to allow the Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray through them.

In conclusion, the Holy Father says:

Let us pray to the Lord that we may become increasingly aware of the fact that the liturgy is the action of God and of man; a prayer that arises from the Holy Spirit and from us; entirely addressed to the Father in union with the Son of God made man".

Amen. This is what active participation in the liturgy is. Thank you, Holy Father, for your clear and beautiful teaching on the sacred liturgy.


Please read the entire piece at VIS.

http://www.chantcafe.com/2012/09/the-liturgy-is-dialogue-with-god-he-has.html