Post intelligent and civil comments. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the NLM
I'm a musician and cantor. I've been an itinerate church musician for thirty years and, believe me, I've seen it all. I still sing in both Epsicopal and Catholic churches though I converted ten years ago. The state of the music and liturgy in most Catholic churches is still comforting compared with the rest of the places I've been. You might find some interesting reading on my blog, at the URL listed as homepage. I've titled it "Alienated in Church."
"The texts intended to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine; indeed they should be drawn chiefly from holy scripture and from liturgical sources." From Sacrosactum Concilium
Amazing Grace... what a wretch am I...
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 Art. 30.
117. The typical edition of the books of Gregorian chant is to be completed; and a more critical edition is to be prepared of those books already published since the restoration by St. Pius X.
It is desirable also that an edition be prepared containing simpler melodies, for use in small churches."
Sacrosanctum Concilium
I applaud everything in this piece. There is only one thing I didn't get:
"And in the Eucharistic Prayer, the words “Take this all of you..” are NOT directed to the congregation, so when you say those words, Father, DO NOT look at the people."
I'm curious what the reasoning is here.
Fr,
That was brilliant. You soothe the "inner Evelyn Waugh" in all of us.
Dear "Vatican II Catholic",
You seem to be wishing to make a comment, but at present I'm not certain what you wish to say.
You are of course quoting from very pertinent, wonderful sections of Sacrosanctum Concilium. What are your thoughts?
5. The Anglican, Methodist, and Lutheran traditions have given us an extraordinary treasury of hymnody, most of which can be used in the Catholic liturgy with very little adaption. This music has proven itself to be durable, effective, and sacred. Do not be afraid of using hymns from this patrimony because they are “Protestant”. In truth, these texts are far more orthodox and “Catholic” than most of the tripe published by Catholics in the past two generation.
The document on the Sacred Liturgy from Vatican II states Gregorian Chant must be given "pride of place" in the liturgy. This means to most people who think in line with what these words mean (without having them "trumped" by what other parts of SC state) that the ordinaries of Holy Mass, at the minimum, should be sung, at least in plain chant. I would posit the Credo, Gloria, Agnus Dei, Sanctus, Mysterium Fidei, Kyrie, as the MINIMUM required by a strict reading of SC, if a true "reform of the reform" is to occur according to the mindset of the Council Fathers (NOT taking into consideration post-Conciliar documents on the reform.
With this being the case, (I would posit the Pater should be sung in Latin as well) shouldn't this be the minimum NORM per guidelines established by SC AND Pius XII and Pius X in their determination in restoring the Church's music? And then after the Ordinaries are done in chant, shouldn't the Congregation learn Panis Angelicus, Ave Verum, Salve Regina and others at a minimum?
Paul VI published a book of simple plain chant, distributed to all the bishops of the world for them to use. What happened to it?
And another question, if this should be the NORM according to Vatican II, shouldn't some elements of this be used at daily Mass as well? Why cannot the congregation sing the Agnus Dei, the Kyrie, the Sanctus, the Mysterium Fidei and the Pater at daily Mass? If they are regular daily Mass goers, then they should learn this even more quickly than the Sunday only crowd.
I am a Vatican II Catholic seeking for a reform of the 1962 Missal per those outlined in Sacrosanctum Concilium.
And what about ad orientem? Nothing mentioned here whatsoever... Nothing mentioned in ANY post-Conciliar document advocating Mass facing the people. Isn't this being disobedient to the Church and to the Council?
A fantastic article. Fr. Newman gets my vote for a mitre and new position as head of the appropriate Roman dicastery that deals with liturgics! Axios!
Excellent! Printed out for "the files"!
FYI: "Uncle Diogenes" on CWN just linked to Father Jay's article.
' "And in the Eucharistic Prayer, the words “Take this all of you..” are NOT directed to the congregation, so when you say those words, Father, DO NOT look at the people." '
The priest is quoting the words of Christ in the context of a prayer to the Father. He is not play-acting.
Another Episcopalian convert says, Beautiful. Three quick comments.
1) Hymnal: As a d/m I too have used the Episcopal hymnal. When confronted with someone calling it a protestant hymnal, I have responded that the denominational affiliation of an author is independent of the orthodoxy of his text. If this were not so, a Catholic author's merely being Catholic would make his text Catholic, which it all to often isn't.
2) Singing the liturgy: Where only a very few attend a weekday mass, wouldn't saying the whole thing be better than trying to sing with inadequate numbers? And is there really any need for a homily at a weekday mass? Note that the Council calls singing a necessary part of the _solemn_ liturgy. Not every liturgy is solemn. The conciliar document, or maybe it is the 1967 Musicam sacram, clearly envisions low mass without singing.
3) Candles on mensa: I presume you would go for candles on a retable, if such is available?
Bravo!!
1) Hymnal: As a d/m I too have used the Episcopal hymnal. When confronted with someone calling it a protestant hymnal, I have responded that the denominational affiliation of an author is independent of the orthodoxy of his text. If this were not so, a Catholic author's merely being Catholic would make his text Catholic, which it all to often isn't.
How about doing what Vatican II advises and draw upon the vast wealth of Catholic music? Or does SC NOT know what it is talking about? I am pretty sure that the Catholics at the time of Luther would not be happy to enter a Catholic church today and hear "How Great Thou Art" blaring from the rafters. Pretty sure about their attitude on this one...
2) Singing the liturgy: Where only a very few attend a weekday mass, wouldn't saying the whole thing be better than trying to sing with inadequate numbers? And is there really any need for a homily at a weekday mass? Note that the Council calls singing a necessary part of the _solemn_ liturgy. Not every liturgy is solemn. The conciliar document, or maybe it is the 1967 Musicam sacram, clearly envisions low mass without singing.
"Latin is to be retained in the Latin rite." Sacrosanctum Concilium
Does a weekday Mass completely in the vernacular fulfill this Council edict? Spoken or sung? More congregants does not mean better singing.
From Anonymous:
"And in the Eucharistic Prayer, the words “Take this all of you..” are NOT directed to the congregation, so when you say those words, Father, DO NOT look at the people."
I'm curious what the reasoning is here.
That's because these words were, as prayed by the celebrant, the words Jesus directed to his Disciples:
He broke the bread, gave it to his Disciples, and said:
TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU AND EAT IT...
Peace,
BMP
To "Vatican II Catholic":
On point 1, use of Catholic music resources, I agree with you. But at my last post I had no access to such resources. I had only one singer who could even read music. I also have no music education. I do the best I can with what I have. See article at link below. It may surprise you.
On point 2, I said nothing about the vernacular. I would prefer that all masses be in Latin, and that if they be sung, it be with pipe organ, chant, and polyphony.
A plaque I remember in the sacristy at Holy Name (yes, the Holy Name in the Una Voce article) that said:
PRIEST OF GOD,
SAY THIS MASS AS IF IT WERE
YOUR FIRST MASS,
YOUR LAST MASS,
YOUR ONLY MASS
BMP
Joseph Mansfield:
What is a "retable"?
Retable: A shelf on the wall behind the altar, or built into a decorative structure behind the altar, to hold candles, flowers, etc., so as not to clutter up the working area of the altar itself. Can be integral with the altar or behind a free-standing altar.
Additional background info;
http://www.adoremus.org/97-11 gft.htm
A 2004 statement by Cardinal Mahony;
http://www.the-tidings.com/2004/...910/
liturgy.htm
james in L.A.
Sorry for the Adoremus typo...its
http://www.adoremus.org/97-11_gft.htm
It is a review & comment on the Cardinal's pastoral "Gather Faithfully Together, 1997 "
james
"restrict the service of the altar to boys and young men". I recently helped out at a Mass when they were lacking servers, and I was later told that I'm too old, at 28. Maybe I am. *blush*
Norman,
That's unfortunate. I head up altar servers at a Cathedral, and we are a mixture of ages.
I find this actually is helpful to young servers, particularly young boys and teenage boys. Part of the reason is they see older servers who can role model appropriating serving behaviour.
Additionally, however, as boys get into their teens, if they are always the oldest, they eventually feel more awkward about serving than they might even under normal circustances. They believe they are beyond it, doings kids work. To that end, they end up leaving.
I find that if there are men in their 20's particularly, this helps the teens feel more comfortable and the boys to have role models. As for those beyond their 20's they can also serve as role models -- though obviously not all do.
In my church, (Russian Orthodox) older men (20-60+) as well as boys serve at the altar.
Some men also serve as ordained readers, which is an office that's considered the first step towards priesthood.
The more the Western liturgy regains its older practices (as opposed to the nearly Protestantized post-Vatican II masses now), the closer east and west can come together. For instance, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic church liturgies and practices are almost identical to the traditionalist Russian Orthodox. I saw a documentary about them on EWTN - they seem to have a wonderful spiritual life and are beginning to have a positive effect on their communities which are still recovering from godless atheism. Alas, there are still east/west differences...
What's confusing to many Christians today (of whatever denomination) is that Christian services in many churches have lurched into make-it-up-as-you-go-along. This makes for worship disunity and give place to egotism or meaninglessness. Protestants, particularly, suffer from this and their services are very secularized. Too many Catholics today seemed to have lost their identity and I think much of this loss has occurred because of the decline of their liturgy and the importance once attached to it.
Some more westernized Orthodox churches are making liturgical compromises in the same way and all that does is secularize the sacred until the sacred has no place or meaning. Does anyone need more secularization in this world? Hasn't life been flatten and trivalized enough already? A beautiful and Divine Liturgy reminds us that Life should be soaring and profound.
I would like to see Christians of both the eastern and western churches grow in their understanding and appreciation for liturgy. But even more than that, I hope we all can find and enter into the Spirit of the liturgy, for without the Spirit, a beautiful liturgy can still be an empty ritual.
Thanks for this blogsite.
I couldn't seem to find anything about insense (not sure if that's spelled correctly) but I always liked the smell of insense. If the Liturgy is to entail all five senses for worship then shouldn't insense be included every Sunday? Does anyone know about any rules/rubrics regarding insense?
Andrew--
try this site on explaining incense
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/...then/
07716a.htm
"Tripe music". This can only mean one thing: Oregon Catholic Press (OCP). The snappy, jazzy music these people inflict on us is truly disturbing. I wish the Bishop up there would reel OCP in. They are doing no good for the Church.
Jeff,
don't forget all that Haugen/Haas/Cooney crap up at GIA.
BMP
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