New Liturgical Movement

Stop complaining and start singing

jeffrey.a.tucker@gmail.com (Jeffrey Tucker) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:47:00 +0000

Everyone knows that Catholic music needs dramatic improvement. The only viable path is toward the music that is intrinsic to the Roman Rite: Gregorian chant. How and where to learn it? The Winter Chant Intensive: January 4-8, 2010, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Charleston, South Carolina, Instructor: Scott Turkington.

There are six open spots in a conference that is strictly limited. You can be a complete beginner and leave ready to direct your own schola.

Zenit Launches Spirit of the Liturgy Column

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:13:00 +0000

The Catholic news service, Zenit, announced yesterday that it is beginning a "Spirit of the Liturgy" column "which will periodically present various themes of liturgical theology by expert theologians, liturgists and canonists." This year it proposes to explore themes related to the priesthood and the sacred liturgy, thereby tying into the Year for Priests.

The first article in this series is by a priest some of you may recognize from past NLM articles (see here and here for instance), Father Mauro Gagliardi, a consultor for the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff. He writes on the topic of The Priesthood and the Mass.

In Fr. Gagliardi's article, he ties into Benedict XVI's discourse for the Year for Priests: "Benedict XVI brought this light [the importance of the priesthood], citing still other words of the Curé d'Ars, which refer in particular to the office of celebrating the Holy Eucharist. The Pope writes that the saint "was convinced that the fervor of a priest's life depended entirely upon the Mass: 'The reason why a priest is lax is that he does not pay attention to the Mass! My God, how we ought to pity a priest who celebrates as if he were engaged in something routine!'"

He likewise makes note of the two forms of the Roman Missal and their co-existence: "The possibility of a serene and harmonious coexistence of the two forms of the one Roman Rite also has been indirectly affirmed by the presence of both "Ordines Missae" (of Bl. John XXIII and Paul VI) within the very recent "Compendium Eucharisticum," published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments."

Finally, Fr. Gagliardi speaks a bit further on the intention of this series: "Through these periodic articles... we will try to present the role and the task of the priest in the various parts of the Mass in a clear and accessible way, with respect to both missals. The hope is that these articles will help priests take advantage of the opportunity for reflection and conversion offered by the Year for Priests and move them to a care that is always more attentive to the 'ars celebrandi' (art of celebrating)." [NLM emphases]

Pope Benedict XVI Meets with Artists in Sistine Chapel

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:16:00 +0000

This morning in the Sistine Chapel, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, met with artists, in an event sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Culture in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of John Paul II's Letter to Artists of April 4, 1999, and also on the 45th anniversary of Paul VI's address to artists of May 7, 1964.

The Holy Father delivered the following discourse.

Dear Cardinals,
Brother Bishops and Priests,
Distinguished Artists,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

With great joy I welcome you to this solemn place, so rich in art and in history. I cordially greet each and every one of you and I thank you for accepting my invitation. At this gathering I wish to express and renew the Church’s friendship with the world of art, a friendship that has been strengthened over time; indeed Christianity from its earliest days has recognized the value of the arts and has made wise use of their varied language to express her unvarying message of salvation. This friendship must be continually promoted and supported so that it may be authentic and fruitful, adapted to different historical periods and attentive to social and cultural variations. Indeed, this is the reason for our meeting here today. I am deeply grateful to Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture and of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Patrimony of the Church, and likewise to his officials, for promoting and organizing this meeting, and I thank him for the words he has just addressed to me. I greet the Cardinals, the Bishops, the priests and the various distinguished personalities present. I also thank the Sistine Chapel Choir for their contribution to this gathering. Today’s event is focused on you, dear and illustrious artists, from different countries, cultures and religions, some of you perhaps remote from the practice of religion, but interested nevertheless in maintaining communication with the Catholic Church, in not reducing the horizons of existence to mere material realities, to a reductive and trivializing vision. You represent the varied world of the arts and so, through you, I would like to convey to all artists my invitation to friendship, dialogue and cooperation.

Some significant anniversaries occur around this time. It is ten years since the Letter to Artists by my venerable Predecessor, the Servant of God Pope John Paul II. For the first time, on the eve of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, the Pope, who was an artist himself, wrote a Letter to artists, combining the solemnity of a pontifical document with the friendly tone of a conversation among all who, as we read in the initial salutation, "are passionately dedicated to the search for new ‘epiphanies’ of beauty". Twenty-five years ago the same Pope proclaimed Blessed Fra Angelico the patron of artists, presenting him as a model of perfect harmony between faith and art. I also recall how on 7 May 1964, forty-five years ago, in this very place, an historic event took place, at the express wish of Pope Paul VI, to confirm the friendship between the Church and the arts. The words that he spoke on that occasion resound once more today under the vault of the Sistine Chapel and touch our hearts and our minds. "We need you," he said. "We need your collaboration in order to carry out our ministry, which consists, as you know, in preaching and rendering accessible and comprehensible to the minds and hearts of our people the things of the spirit, the invisible, the ineffable, the things of God himself. And in this activity … you are masters. It is your task, your mission, and your art consists in grasping treasures from the heavenly realm of the spirit and clothing them in words, colours, forms – making them accessible." So great was Paul VI’s esteem for artists that he was moved to use daring expressions. "And if we were deprived of your assistance," he added, "our ministry would become faltering and uncertain, and a special effort would be needed, one might say, to make it artistic, even prophetic. In order to scale the heights of lyrical expression of intuitive beauty, priesthood would have to coincide with art." On that occasion Paul VI made a commitment to "re-establish the friendship between the Church and artists", and he invited artists to make a similar, shared commitment, analyzing seriously and objectively the factors that disturbed this relationship, and assuming individual responsibility, courageously and passionately, for a newer and deeper journey in mutual acquaintance and dialogue in order to arrive at an authentic "renaissance" of art in the context of a new humanism.

That historic encounter, as I mentioned, took place here in this sanctuary of faith and human creativity. So it is not by chance that we come together in this place, esteemed for its architecture and its symbolism, and above all for the frescoes that make it unique, from the masterpieces of Perugino and Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Rosselli, Luca Signorelli and others, to the Genesis scenes and the Last Judgement of Michelangelo Buonarroti, who has given us here one of the most extraordinary creations in the entire history of art. The universal language of music has often been heard here, thanks to the genius of great musicians who have placed their art at the service of the liturgy, assisting the spirit in its ascent towards God. At the same time, the Sistine Chapel is remarkably vibrant with history, since it is the solemn and austere setting of events that mark the history of the Church and of mankind. Here as you know, the College of Cardinals elects the Pope; here it was that I myself, with trepidation but also with absolute trust in the Lord, experienced the privileged moment of my election as Successor of the Apostle Peter.

Dear friends, let us allow these frescoes to speak to us today, drawing us towards the ultimate goal of human history. The Last Judgement, which you see behind me, reminds us that human history is movement and ascent, a continuing tension towards fullness, towards human happiness, towards a horizon that always transcends the present moment even as the two coincide. Yet the dramatic scene portrayed in this fresco also places before our eyes the risk of man’s definitive fall, a risk that threatens to engulf him whenever he allows himself to be led astray by the forces of evil. So the fresco issues a strong prophetic cry against evil, against every form of injustice. For believers, though, the Risen Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. For his faithful followers, he is the Door through which we are brought to that "face-to-face" vision of God from which limitless, full and definitive happiness flows. Thus Michelangelo presents to our gaze the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End of history, and he invites us to walk the path of life with joy, courage and hope. The dramatic beauty of Michelangelo’s painting, its colours and forms, becomes a proclamation of hope, an invitation to raise our gaze to the ultimate horizon. The profound bond between beauty and hope was the essential content of the evocative Message that Paul VI addressed to artists at the conclusion of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council on 8 December 1965: "To all of you," he proclaimed solemnly, "the Church of the Council declares through our lips: if you are friends of true art, you are our friends!" And he added: "This world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair. Beauty, like truth, brings joy to the human heart, and is that precious fruit which resists the erosion of time, which unites generations and enables them to be one in admiration. And all this through the work of your hands . . . Remember that you are the custodians of beauty in the world."

Unfortunately, the present time is marked, not only by negative elements in the social and economic sphere, but also by a weakening of hope, by a certain lack of confidence in human relationships, which gives rise to increasing signs of resignation, aggression and despair. The world in which we live runs the risk of being altered beyond recognition because of unwise human actions which, instead of cultivating its beauty, unscrupulously exploit its resources for the advantage of a few and not infrequently disfigure the marvels of nature. What is capable of restoring enthusiasm and confidence, what can encourage the human spirit to rediscover its path, to raise its eyes to the horizon, to dream of a life worthy of its vocation – if not beauty? Dear friends, as artists you know well that the experience of beauty, beauty that is authentic, not merely transient or artificial, is by no means a supplementary or secondary factor in our search for meaning and happiness; the experience of beauty does not remove us from reality, on the contrary, it leads to a direct encounter with the daily reality of our lives, liberating it from darkness, transfiguring it, making it radiant and beautiful.

Indeed, an essential function of genuine beauty, as emphasized by Plato, is that it gives man a healthy "shock", it draws him out of himself, wrenches him away from resignation and from being content with the humdrum – it even makes him suffer, piercing him like a dart, but in so doing it "reawakens" him, opening afresh the eyes of his heart and mind, giving him wings, carrying him aloft. Dostoevsky’s words that I am about to quote are bold and paradoxical, but they invite reflection. He says this: "Man can live without science, he can live without bread, but without beauty he could no longer live, because there would no longer be anything to do to the world. The whole secret is here, the whole of history is here." The painter Georges Braque echoes this sentiment: "Art is meant to disturb, science reassures." Beauty pulls us up short, but in so doing it reminds us of our final destiny, it sets us back on our path, fills us with new hope, gives us the courage to live to the full the unique gift of life. The quest for beauty that I am describing here is clearly not about escaping into the irrational or into mere aestheticism.

Too often, though, the beauty that is thrust upon us is illusory and deceitful, superficial and blinding, leaving the onlooker dazed; instead of bringing him out of himself and opening him up to horizons of true freedom as it draws him aloft, it imprisons him within himself and further enslaves him, depriving him of hope and joy. It is a seductive but hypocritical beauty that rekindles desire, the will to power, to possess, and to dominate others, it is a beauty which soon turns into its opposite, taking on the guise of indecency, transgression or gratuitous provocation. Authentic beauty, however, unlocks the yearning of the human heart, the profound desire to know, to love, to go towards the Other, to reach for the Beyond. If we acknowledge that beauty touches us intimately, that it wounds us, that it opens our eyes, then we rediscover the joy of seeing, of being able to grasp the profound meaning of our existence, the Mystery of which we are part; from this Mystery we can draw fullness, happiness, the passion to engage with it every day. In this regard, Pope John Paul II, in his Letter to Artists, quotes the following verse from a Polish poet, Cyprian Norwid: "Beauty is to enthuse us for work, and work is to raise us up" (no. 3). And later he adds: "In so far as it seeks the beautiful, fruit of an imagination which rises above the everyday, art is by its nature a kind of appeal to the mystery. Even when they explore the darkest depths of the soul or the most unsettling aspects of evil, the artist gives voice in a way to the universal desire for redemption" (no. 10). And in conclusion he states: "Beauty is a key to the mystery and a call to transcendence" (no. 16).

These ideas impel us to take a further step in our reflection. Beauty, whether that of the natural universe or that expressed in art, precisely because it opens up and broadens the horizons of human awareness, pointing us beyond ourselves, bringing us face to face with the abyss of Infinity, can become a path towards the transcendent, towards the ultimate Mystery, towards God. Art, in all its forms, at the point where it encounters the great questions of our existence, the fundamental themes that give life its meaning, can take on a religious quality, thereby turning into a path of profound inner reflection and spirituality. This close proximity, this harmony between the journey of faith and the artist’s path is attested by countless artworks that are based upon the personalities, the stories, the symbols of that immense deposit of "figures" – in the broad sense – namely the Bible, the Sacred Scriptures. The great biblical narratives, themes, images and parables have inspired innumerable masterpieces in every sector of the arts, just as they have spoken to the hearts of believers in every generation through the works of craftsmanship and folk art, that are no less eloquent and evocative.

In this regard, one may speak of a via pulchritudinis, a path of beauty which is at the same time an artistic and aesthetic journey, a journey of faith, of theological enquiry. The theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar begins his great work entitled The Glory of the Lord – a Theological Aesthetics with these telling observations: "Beauty is the word with which we shall begin. Beauty is the last word that the thinking intellect dares to speak, because it simply forms a halo, an untouchable crown around the double constellation of the true and the good and their inseparable relation to one another." He then adds: "Beauty is the disinterested one, without which the ancient world refused to understand itself, a word which both imperceptibly and yet unmistakably has bid farewell to our new world, a world of interests, leaving it to its own avarice and sadness. It is no longer loved or fostered even by religion." And he concludes: "We can be sure that whoever sneers at her name as if she were the ornament of a bourgeois past – whether he admits it or not – can no longer pray and soon will no longer be able to love." The way of beauty leads us, then, to grasp the Whole in the fragment, the Infinite in the finite, God in the history of humanity. Simone Weil wrote in this regard: "In all that awakens within us the pure and authentic sentiment of beauty, there, truly, is the presence of God. There is a kind of incarnation of God in the world, of which beauty is the sign. Beauty is the experimental proof that incarnation is possible. For this reason all art of the first order is, by its nature, religious." Hermann Hesse makes the point even more graphically: "Art means: revealing God in everything that exists." Echoing the words of Pope Paul VI, the Servant of God Pope John Paul II restated the Church’s desire to renew dialogue and cooperation with artists: "In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art" (no. 12); but he immediately went on to ask: "Does art need the Church?" – thereby inviting artists to rediscover a source of fresh and well-founded inspiration in religious experience, in Christian revelation and in the "great codex" that is the Bible.

Dear artists, as I draw to a conclusion, I too would like to make a cordial, friendly and impassioned appeal to you, as did my Predecessor. You are the custodians of beauty: thanks to your talent, you have the opportunity to speak to the heart of humanity, to touch individual and collective sensibilities, to call forth dreams and hopes, to broaden the horizons of knowledge and of human engagement. Be grateful, then, for the gifts you have received and be fully conscious of your great responsibility to communicate beauty, to communicate in and through beauty! Through your art, you yourselves are to be heralds and witnesses of hope for humanity! And do not be afraid to approach the first and last source of beauty, to enter into dialogue with believers, with those who, like yourselves, consider that they are pilgrims in this world and in history towards infinite Beauty! Faith takes nothing away from your genius or your art: on the contrary, it exalts them and nourishes them, it encourages them to cross the threshold and to contemplate with fascination and emotion the ultimate and definitive goal, the sun that does not set, the sun that illumines this present moment and makes it beautiful.

Saint Augustine, who fell in love with beauty and sang its praises, wrote these words as he reflected on man’s ultimate destiny, commenting almost ante litteram on the Judgement scene before your eyes today: "Therefore we are to see a certain vision, my brethren, that no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived: a vision surpassing all earthly beauty, whether it be that of gold and silver, woods and fields, sea and sky, sun and moon, or stars and angels. The reason is this: it is the source of all other beauty" (In 1 Ioannis, 4:5). My wish for all of you, dear artists, is that you may carry this vision in your eyes, in your hands, and in your heart, that it may bring you joy and continue to inspire your fine works. From my heart I bless you and, like Paul VI, I greet you with a single word: arrivederci!

Source: Vatican News Service

Fotografia Felici has some photos of the event.

Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:16:00 +0000

Within various liturgical calendars, we today celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or what is also called the Feast of the Entrance of the Most Holy Mother of God into the Temple in the Byzantine East (who also celebrate this feast today).

Presentation of the Theotokos

Here are some of the liturgical propers for this day from some different liturgical rites.

O God, who didst will that this day the ever blessed Virgin Mary, dwelling place of the Holy Ghost, should be presented in the temple: grant, we beseech Thee, that through her intercession, we may be worthy to be presented in the temple of Thy glory. (Collect found within the Usus Antiquior Romanus and the Dominican Missal)

* * *

Today is the prelude to God's munificence, and the announcement of salvation of men: in the Temple of God the Virgin is seen openly, foretelling to all the coming of Christ. Wherefore let us cry out to her with all our strength: "Joy to you, Fulfillment of the Creator's Plan!" (Troparion, Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

The most pure Temple of the Saviour, his most precious bridal chamber, the Virgin, sacred treasury of God's glory, enters today into the house of the Lord, bringing with her the grace of the divine Spirit. Wherefore the angels of God are singing: "Behold the Heavenly tabernacle!" (Kontakion, Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

* * *

Grant us, O Lord, to be protected by the prayers of the blessed Mary ever Virgin, that as we celebrate her venerable Presentation with humility we may be commended to Thee through her merits and prayers. (Collect, Carmelite Missal)

* * *

Hear the prayers of Thy servants, O God of mercy, so that we who have gathered together on the feast of the Presentation of the God-bearer and Virgin, may appease Thee who have been appeased by her prayers of intercession, and may we be brought out safely from the dangers that constantly surround us to Thee. (From the Usus Antiquior Ambrosianus, or Ambrosian Missal)

A Parish Without Gregorian Chant is a Tragedy: Dan Schutte

jeffrey.a.tucker@gmail.com (Jeffrey Tucker) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:00:00 +0000

An interesting interview with Dan Schutte:

“Sing to the Lord” is very clear that many different types of music, varieties of music, styles of music, and music from different ages and times in the Church’s history and tradition are all appropriate, and that includes contemporary styles of music. It also says very clearly that Gregorian chant has this place, they call it “pride of place.” I think what is happening is that the bishops of the United States have seen that with the renewal of the liturgy, and music being one part of that which has happened since the Second Vatican Council, they have noticed that many parish communities have given up Gregorian chant. My take on “Sing to the Lord” is simply that the bishops are saying don’t forget about this very important part of our Roman Catholic tradition. You walk into many parishes you never hear Gregorian chant. The bishops are saying that’s a tragedy if that happens. But they are also very clear to say that other styles of music, including contemporary styles of music, are also appropriate.

But of course the only way to experience Gregorian chant is to have scholas that practice and work on it and sing it as part of the liturgical life of the parish - the central music, in fact, because it is wedded to the rite in a way in which no other music is. It is there from the beginning through the Communion chant. And every bit of it is beautiful (not an exaggeration). Doing chant takes more than merely throwing it into the mix. It requires commitment and practice, something that musicians must take on with a greater degree of intensity than they would some other form.

Schutte is right here, and he says it even more forthrightly than the document he cites. It is a tragedy if the music of the Roman Rite is not part of the Roman Rite - and it must be part not just intellectually or in rhetoric but in weekly and daily experience.

How Should Catholics Market Catholicism?

jeffrey.a.tucker@gmail.com (Jeffrey Tucker) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:12:00 +0000

Some thirty years ago, evangelical Christianity threw itself heavily into the business of marketing itself with a series of hip slogans such as "I Found It" (a stranger is supposed to ask what this means, thereby opening an opportunity to share the Gospel). Along the same lines, there was the Good News Bible with a newspaper-theme cover. More recently there has been the WWJD campaign. Dozens of other kitschy campaigns have come and gone.

Part this new sensibility, even a core part, was the cultivation of a specific youth sector within the church. The idea is born of the baby boom: there is some kind of generation gap that makes it difficult for young people to comprehend things in the same way that older people do. Thus must we concoct special sales pitches to show the youth that Christianity is for them. Of course we need youth ministers too (an aging guy who wears jeans) and a host of programs to show off that Christianity is not just for stodgy fuddy-duddies.

This effort almost always means adapting the shape and form of existing secular youth culture -- which itself is a modern invention -- and baptizing it with Christian themes and messages. The rationale is that if we do not create a Christianized copy of the prevailing youth culture, we risk losing the youth entirely.

If the kids are going to attend rock concerts, better that they be Christian rock concerts. If they are going to go to rallies and parties and scream their heads off about crazy stuff, better that they be Christian rallies, parties, and scream fests. Better to get high on Jesus than methamphetamines. That's the rationale.

The "youth retreat" was born at some point in this process, and by "retreat," I don't mean a time of quiet contemplation, spiritual reflection, and careful discernment. The retreat almost always involves the display of a series of would-be teen idols who sing and speak and tell jokes, and eventually get around to presenting an emotional story of their own conversion. These eventually morphed into huge national conventions with massive commercial sectors within them, with teens encouraged by parents to travel hundreds of miles to experience the spiritual high that comes with huge religious gatherings.

The heady mixture of presence of Christian rock-stars, encountered in the context of a thorough mixing of boys and girls on out-of-town trips, can lead to strikingly emotional experiences. Kids return telling of their new-found commitment to religion and also of the intense new friendships they have developed with others on the trip. Parents feel a sense of relief that at least these kids are hanging around with other Christian kids and not fraternizing with the seedy sectors of life.

Catholics were late to this approach to "selling" their faith to the youth but with Mass attendance dramatically down from decades ago, more and more people are getting in on the act. In the digital age, this involves heavy use of film and video shorts that promote bacchanalian scenes of fun, laughter, loud music, and inspiration of some sort or another.
And it does all make difference. The kids return home with a new countenance, and a new love of God and a new love of their neighbor, though the young can be rather confused about how to sort it all out.

They report on their changed lives. And this effect lasts for about six months on average, at least that's my strong impression. In its wake follows some degree of disillusionment, failed romances, and the status quo ante.

In the worst case, the effects of an event like this can actually backfire. By comparison to the massive youth rallies, the home parish seems rather staid and dull. Where are the rock bands, the great speakers, the beautiful boys and girls aching for new relationships, the inspiration that the rally dump on us by the buckets? Clearly there is nothing in my hometown parish that can compare to that.

The eye begins to wander to other sects that can provide or at least attempt to provide that unrelenting stimulation that comes with youth rallies. They do a much better job of it than Catholics. It may not last there either and it might be just as superficial but at least they make a go of it. On this front, the Catholics can't compete. And if the basis of your spirituality is the longing for media stimulation and artificially inflated spiritual highs, Catholicism is going to be marginalized at some point in their quest.

For Catholics, this is a very serious matter. To be Catholic in today's world requires a great deal of social sacrifice. It nearly always has in the modern age. We don't have the right friends in the right circles. Our parishes don't have commercial venders selling lattes and we don't have health clubs. What's more, the Roman Rite doesn't lend itself to the unleashing of loud guitars and would-be rock star improvisations. There are no personality cults in the Roman Rite. The entire structure actually does the opposite. It buries the personality and directs attention toward eternity.

From a marketing angle, I wouldn't think that Catholics are going to fare very well in the long run with these attempts to forge a media-pumped youth culture. It might lead to instant profits for a handful of organizations, but I doubt that it will do much in the long run, simply because the form emphasizes experience over substance. The kids attending them do not return with a serious sense of liturgical decorum, for example. They have no chants they can hum. It is unclear what (or who) precisely they have fallen in love with. They aren't being given the truth about the glorious truth of what we Catholicism has to offer.

And what is that which we have to offer? The Catholic Church offers a sanctuary of beauty in world that can be very ugly. It offers a chance for quiet, for prayer, for intense seriousness, for reflection on topics that the world doesn't want us to think about, topics like death and salvation and sacrifice and spiritual discipline. It offers immense joy but a joy disciplined by rationality and truth. Rather than severe links with the past, Catholicism draws attention to them through the lives of the saints, the music of the first millennium, and an organized and orderly sense of prayer that strives to be a representation of the orderliness of creation.

The contrast is striking. As Benedict XVI puts it, at the culture of the youth rally in which rock music is central, people are "released from themselves by the experience of being part of a crowd and by the emotional shock of rhythm, noise, and special lighting effects. However, in the ecstasy of having all their defenses torn down, the participants sink, as it were, beneath the elemental force of the universe. The music of the Holy Spirit’s sober inebriation seems to have little chance when self has become a prison, the mind is a shackle, and breaking out from both appears as a true promise of redemption that can be tasted at least for a few moments." In contrast, "the encounter with the beautiful can become the wound of the arrow that strikes the heart and in this way opens our eyes, so that later, from this experience, we take the criteria for judgment and can correctly evaluate...."

Benedict further contrasts the spirit of Apollo vs. Dionysis.

"The Church’s Tradition has this in mind when it talks about the sober inebriation caused in us by the Holy Spirit. There is always an ultimate sobriety, a deeper rationality, resisting any decline into irrationality and immoderation. We can see what this means in practice if we look at the history of music. The writings of Plato and Aristotle on music show that the Greek world in their time was faced with a choice between two kinds of worship, two different images of God and man. Now what this choice came down to concretely was a choice between two fundamental types of music. On the one hand, there is the music that Plato ascribes, in line with mythology, to Apollo, the god of light and reason. This is the music that draws senses into spirit and so brings man to wholeness. It does not abolish the senses, but inserts them into the unity of this creature that is man. It elevates the spirit precisely by wedding it to the senses, and it elevates the senses by uniting them with the spirit. Thus this kind of music is an expression of man’s special place in the general structure of being. But then there is the music that Plato ascribes to Marsyas, which we might describe, in terms of cultic history, as “Dionysian”. It drags man into the intoxication of the senses, crushes rationality, and subjects the spirit to the senses. The way Plato (and more moderately, Aristotle) allots instruments and keys to one or other of these two kinds of music is now obsolete and may in many respects surprise us. But the Apollonian/Dionysian alternative runs through the whole history of religion and confronts us again today."

Thus does it pain me to see Catholic youth conferences promote themselves in the Dionysian spirit. It does damage, I believe, to the true spirit of Catholicism. Older people with real and sometimes painful experience with the difficulties of life are offended, and rightly so, by the pitch. I don't see how any serious priest can endorse these videos. Nor are these promotions or conferences really telling the truth about the faith. This is why I don't believe it amounts to much whether these youth conferences are attended by 500 or 20,000 people. The question is whether these people are going to leave with a temporary high or a new appreciation of the profound mysteries of the faith that they can understand with their minds and highest aspirations of their hearts.

Finally, we might ask what it is that leads the organizers of these huge events to believe that they are doing the right thing, and I have no doubt that they are sincere. Fundamentally, the motivation is fear: fear that they will otherwise lose the youth, fear that the doctrinal and aesthetic truths of Catholicism are not sufficiently compelling, fear that the world will beat the faith unless we adopt the worlds' forms, methods, and approaches and adapt the faith to fit them. In other words, for all the hopped-up propaganda, what's really behind this is a lack of faith. And this is a disservice to the youth and to the future of Catholicism.

The true "youth culture" of the Catholic Church is a culture that aspires to the same thing that the "adult culture" and the "children's culture" aspires to: to know the truth and to live it. That requires no marketing gimmickry and mass organizing. It requires a confident presentation of the doctrine, music, prayer, and art that is native to the Catholic faith. This is the best path to inspiring people of any age to live in truth.

Worth noting

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Thomas Kocik) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:51:00 +0000

Lest the occasion go unremarked, today is the 62nd anniversary of the promulgation of Pope Pius XII's encyclical Mediator Dei (20 November 1947), widely regarded as the magna carta of the 20th-century Liturgical Movement. Probably most NLM readers are familiar with this encyclical principally for its admonition against romantic antiquarianism, which took for granted (among other things) the versum populum posture of the priest-celebrant in the Early Church. In article 62, the Pope states:

Assuredly it is a wise and most laudable thing to return in spirit and affection to the sources of the Sacred Liturgy. For research in this field of study, by tracing it back to its origins, contributes valuable assistance towards a more thorough and careful investigation of the significance of feast-days, and of the meaning of the texts and sacred ceremonies employed on their occasion. But it is never wise nor laudable to reduce everything to antiquity by every possible device. Thus, to cite some instances, one would be straying from the right path were he to wish the altar restored to its primitive table form; were he to want black excluded as a color for the liturgical vestments; were he to forbid the use of sacred images and statues in churches; were he to order the crucifix so designed that the divine Redeemer's body shows no trace of His cruel sufferings; and lastly were he to disdain and reject polyphonic music or singing in parts, even where it conforms to regulations issued by the Holy See.

Like Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae, much of Mediator Dei has proven to be, if not prophetic, then prescient -- and worth reading, or re-reading, now that the Church has moved into another stage of liturgical renewal, consolidating gains and learning from mistakes.

Parishes Unite for Solemn Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rocky Mount

debmorlani@hotmail.com (Deborah Morlani) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:07:00 +0000

Penny Silvers, an NLM reader, let us know of a special Solemn Mass (usus antiquior) taking place at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina on Sunday, November 22nd. I wished to highlight an aspect of this event which I think is worth reporting and encouraging. Namely, the other parishes in this region who also celebrate the usus antiquior will be joining forces with them for this Mass, inclusive of the parish choirs and priests, in order that this solemn liturgical event may be offered. I think this is a great idea, as well as a wonderful way to encourage one other.

The choirs will be under the direction of Dr. Patricia Warren who directs Schola Vox Clara, a Gregorian chant schola serving the Diocese of Raleigh. The celebrant will be Fr. Tim Meares of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rocky Mount; acting as deacon will be Fr. Paul Parkerson of Sacred Heart, Dunn; and, as subdeacon, Fr. Walter Ospina, of St. Andrew's, Red Springs.

It strikes me that in so collaborating to bring together and celebrate a solemn form of our liturgical worship (which might not otherwise happen), it not only allows such events to take place (which also allows people to experience it and worship within it), it can further help to encourage one another and bring a tangible feeling of involvement in a historical movement within the Church; one that extends beyond the borders of our own particular parishes, belonging to Pope Benedict XVI's new liturgical movement.

Perhaps this is something other parishes may wish to consider. This could apply not only to the usus antiquior, but also to "reform of the reform" liturgy, to the celebration of parish vespers and so on.

Orientale Lumen: A Reminder of NLM Interest in Eastern Christian Articles

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:39:00 +0000

Four plus years ago, the NLM was founded on a vision which was sure to include the liturgical traditions and theology of the Eastern churches in its writings; indeed, how could it not? The liturgical theology and liturgical piety of the Christian East is both of interest in its own right and also has much relevance for those of us in the Western church as well.

For these and many other reasons, this area continues to be a significant point of interest, and one which I am interested in seeing recovered with a greater presence and regularity here, just as it had originally.

Accordingly, I would invite our Eastern Christian readers to consider the submission of guest articles on topics liturgical interest, but within the context of the Eastern Christian paradigm. This includes writings on the Eastern liturgical rites and history, iconography, architecture, and so forth.

Those who are interested in this possibility are invited to submit proposals and to discuss them.

I would further make a reminder that the NLM would eventually like to add one or two regular contributors who would be willing to write regularly or semi-regularly on these topics.

Please contact me if you would like to discuss any of these possibilities further, or if you have any questions.

Old Roman Chant, the manuscripts

jeffrey.a.tucker@gmail.com (Jeffrey Tucker) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:14:00 +0000

Richard Llewellyn has sent several samples of Old Roman chant manuscripts that are very interesting to look at in detail. As he explained in a comment box on another post, these manuscripts are modern discoveries and many people are working to realize them in some form with the hope of restoration.

And the youtube again, the one that made quite a splash here.

Another piece he sent is the Gradual Tecum Principium

Here is an audio version

More Chant in Kalamazoo

jeffrey.a.tucker@gmail.com (Jeffrey Tucker) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:20:00 +0000

It's really wonderful how Frs. Johansen and Grondz are keeping a regular series of chant workshops, spreading their knowledge and love of the Church's music. The next one is this Saturday, so please sign up if you are anywhere near and want to Sing Like a Catholic (yes, that link is a brazen attempt to promote my book, which, I'm happy to say, is now used in several university classrooms).

Also at Fr. Johansen's blog is documentary evidence of a Liturgical Tractor.

More on Pope Benedict's Catechesis on Faith, Art, Beauty and the Liturgy

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:33:00 +0000

Recently, we noted the Pope's Wednesday catechesis on the topic of Faith, Art, Beauty and the Liturgy with specific reference to the art and architecture of great European cathedrals.

The full text of this address is now available in English.

Here is an excerpt from Zenit's translation:

Dear brothers and sisters, I now wish to underline two elements of Romanesque and Gothic art, which are also useful for us.

The first: the works of art born in Europe in past centuries are incomprehensible if one does not take into account the religious soul that inspired them. Marc Chagall, an artist who has always given testimony of the encounter between aesthetics and faith, wrote that "for centuries painters have dyed their brush in that colored alphabet that is the Bible." When faith, celebrated in a particular way in the liturgy, encounters art, a profound synchrony is created, because both can and want to praise God, making the Invisible visible... [NLM emphasis]

The second element: the force of the Romanesque style and the splendor of the Gothic cathedrals remind us that the via pilchritudinis, the way of beauty, is a privileged and fascinating way to approach the Mystery of God. What is beauty, which writers, poets, musicians, and artists contemplate and translate into their language, if not the reflection of the splendor of the Eternal Word made flesh? ...

Dominus Dixit in several editions

jeffrey.a.tucker@gmail.com (Jeffrey Tucker) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:13:00 +0000

Lots of people interested in Gregorian chant have heard about the legendary debates about rhythm, and for some odd reason, many people feel the need to throw themselves into this great discussion, taking this side or that side and battling it out based on this set of old manuscripts and citing scholars and editions and authorities.

The debate has raged for half a century at least, and it might be said that the debate goes back 100 years to the original fight between the French and the Germans over which editions of chant to use. Or you could say that it goes back to Trent when the music books of the Church were rewritten to conform to prevailing notions about what chant is and what it should do. For that matter, we don't actually know if perhaps the debates go back to the first millennium, as prideful chant masters and scribes claim their territory and insisted that their way was the one way, complete with claims to antiquity as the final authority.

There is nothing unusual in these debates. The same occurs in every sector of music: Bach specialists disagree, and so too with Mahler specialists. It is probably the case with jazz and country too.

We might all have an easier time of it recognizing that music takes different shapes in different hands and that perhaps there is no need for a universal imposition of a single style or approach to rhythm and style and the mix of text and music.

With that in mind, I offer a few audios to you, the first of which comes from seminarians at St. Willibrord, de Tiltenberg, who have a new CD out. The style to my ear is what is often called "semiological" and I say that because of certain distinctive marks: speed, textual emphasis, no luxuriating on the melody, and fast glissandos through the melismatic passages.

Compare to this version from Milan, Italy. The difference concerns speed, attention to musical phrasing, and also a persistent underlying pulse with full love of the details within each melisma.

Now see how each compare with what we might consider the old standard of the height of the Solesmes approach with Dom Gajard's schola. I only have this audio file to offer.

Extending options further, here is the same chant sung in what is now considered the "Old Roman" style with minimal polyphony and a strong Eastern feel - obviously an imaginative recreation but nonetheless probably rooted in sincere interpretation of available evidence.

Each has a strength, and much good can be said about each. I would be thrilled to be in a parish in which of these were sung. That said, my own preferences are not unknown: Gajard's rendering settles my soul completely.

Msgr. Guido Pozzo, the Motu Proprio and the Reform of the Reform: An Interview in L'Homme Nouveau

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:45:00 +0000

Yesterday the French journal, L'homme nouveau, published an interview Monsignor Guido Pozzo, Secretary of the Ecclesia Dei Commission.

Much of what is said in this interview has been commented on before; the situation as it relates to the implementation of the motu proprio, the need for all to adopt a hermeneutic of continuity both in relation to the sacred liturgy and the Second Vatican Council, and so on. Accordingly, we shall leave those aside with these quick mentions. However, there were two questions which seemed to be of some interest to translate; the first being a comment on the long-expected interpretive document from the Ecclesia Dei Commission, and the second looking at the broader liturgical picture as it relates to the reform of the reform and how that relates to the motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum in Msgr. Pozzo's view.

Here are those excerpts in an NLM translation.

An interpretative document on the motu proprio was announced several months ago. Will it appear soon?

In Article 11 of the motu proprio it said, amongst other things, that "the Commission will have the form, duties and norms that the Roman Pontiff wishes to assign it." An instruction should follow at the appropriate opportunity to specify certain aspects concerning the competencies of the Pontifical Commission and the application of several normative provisions. That project is being studied.

[...]

On a more general note, how does your work fit in as part of a "reform the reform"?

The idea of a "reform of the liturgical reform" has been suggested on several occasions by the then Cardinal Ratzinger. If I recall correctly, he added that this reform would not be the result of the administrative work of a commission of experts, but it would require maturation in the life and very whole reality connected with the Church.

I think that at the point where one arrived from there, it is essential to act in the line which the Holy Father indicated in the explanatory letter of motu prorio on the use of the Roman liturgy prior to the reform of 1970, namely that "the two forms of usage of the Roman Rite can be mutually enriching" and that "what was sacred to previous generations remains sacred and great for us, and not a thing suddenly entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It is good for all of us to preserve the riches which have grown in faith and prayer of the Church, and give them their proper place. " Thus spoke the Holy Father.

To promote this line then means to contribute indeed to this maturation in the life and the liturgical conscience, which could be, in a not too distant future, a “reform of the reform”. What is essential today is to recover the deeper sense of the Catholic liturgy, in the two uses of the Roman missal, in the sacred character of the liturgical action, in the centrality of the priest as mediator between God and the Christian people, in the sacrificial character of the Holy Mass as an essential dimension from which derives the dimension of communion.

(This interview was found via the Italian blog, Messa in Latino.)

Deacon Sullivan at Newman's Littlemore

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:44:00 +0000

The most recent entry on the site of Newman's Cause regarding Deacon Sullivan's pilgrimage, was of a visit to Littlemore where Newman resided from 1842 to 1845, and where he was finally received into the Church.

I will let readers go there and read the whole story but I did wish to share this photograph which shows Newman's desk; a desk which was used by Blessed Dominic Barberi as an altar upon which to celebrate Mass after Newman's reception into the Church.

I am certainly hopeful that these continuing posts will help to increase your interest in and devotion to the soon to be beatified Newman. As part of that, I hope each of you will remember to ask the intercession of Cardinal Newman for your various intentions, and that you will likewise pray that he might be finally canonized. (Might I also recommend that you ask the intercession of Blessed Dominic for this same intention.)

Cardinal Newman has a great deal to say to us today; matters which are certainly pertinent to our purposes here.

GIA Then and Now

jeffrey.a.tucker@gmail.com (Jeffrey Tucker) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:14:00 +0000

From GIA's 1952 book, The Story of the Redemption for Children.

Gregorian Chant is the musical language of Holy Mother Church.

Can you tell the difference now between the music of plain chant and that of every day songs? The chant is heavenly, raising your mind to God. Worldly songs are just pretty sounds to enjoy.

About 600 years ago Holy Mother Church heard many worldly tunes come in and push out her beautiful chant. Then about fifty years ago the saintly Pius X made certain rules that would keep sacred music as it should be.

Compendium of the Reforms of the Roman Breviary, 1568-1961: Part 7.4 - The Breviary Reforms of St. Pius X (Continued)

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:20:00 +0000

The following is an appendix to our consideration of the breviary reforms pursued in the early 20th century by Pope Pius X. It concludes part 7.

For terms and their definitions, please see the associated Glossary which accompanies this compendium.

Compendium of the Reforms of the Roman Breviary, 1568-1961

by Gregory DiPippo
for publication on the New Liturgical Movement

Part 7.4 - The Breviary Reforms of St. Pius X (Continued)

Appendix

In addition to the changes made to the Psalter, and the application of the Psalter to the feasts of Saints (as described in the previous sections of part 7), the following changes were also introduced into the Breviary as part of the reform of St. Pius X.

1. In the Breviary of St. Pius V, as in its medieval predecessor, all of the responsories of Matins on a Saint’s feast day are of the Saint. If the feast is one that takes the readings of the first nocturn from the feria, these readings are nevertheless said with the responsories from the feast. In the reform of 1911, such readings are now said with the responsories from the feria, which had at that point fallen into almost total disuse.

2. The Hymn Te Deum laudamus, said after the last reading of Matins on all feasts and octaves, and most Sundays, was traditionally said to have been composed by Saints Ambrose and Augustine on the occasion of the latter’s baptism. In medieval illuminated Breviaries, it was often accompanied by a picture of Saint Augustine ’s baptism, and in the Breviary of St. Pius V, it is labeled “Hymnus Ss. Ambrosii et Augustini.” However, the truth of the story is not accepted by modern scholars on several grounds, for which reason, the hymn is relabeled “Hymnus Ambrosianus.”

(See the Catholic Encyclopedia article on the Te deum for details.)

3. In like manner, the Creed of Saint Athanasius Quicumque vult, being recognized as not actually by Saint Athanasius, is relabeled “Symbolum Athanasianum”. The recitation of this Creed is appointed by the Breviary of Saint Pius V at Prime on Trinity Sunday, and whenever the Office of the Sunday is said; this was the custom also of the Breviary of 1529. Retained on Trinity Sunday, it is otherwise restricted by the reform of 1911 to the Sundays “per annum”, i.e. those between the Octave of Epiphany and Septuagesima, and those between the Octave of Corpus Christ and Advent. It is also to be omitted even on these if there occur the commemoration of a duplex feast or an octave.

(See the Catholic Encyclopedia article on the Quicumque for details.)

4. The ferial Preces of Advent, Lent and the vigils of Saints are slightly modified. The Psalm said at the end (De profundis at Lauds, Miserere at Vespers) is omitted, and new invocations for the Pope and the local bishop are added.

5. The Breviary of St. Pius V had maintained from the medieval tradition the votive commemorations of the Saints, called “Suffragia” in the Roman Use. The edition of 1568 appoints four, of the Virgin Mary, of the Apostles Peter and Paul, of the local Patron Saint, and a suffrage for Peace; a suffrage of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church was added in the 19th century. To these are added on ferial days a suffrage of the Cross. They are omitted in Advent and Passiontide, and on any duplex feast or octave; in Eastertide they are substituted by a single suffrage of the Cross. Inexplicably disliked by liturgical scholars of the early 20th century, the suffrages of the Saints are reduced to a single one “of all the Saints”, which mentions by name the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, the Apostles and the local Patron Saint; the prayer “A cunctis” which was chosen for this suffrage is also frequently said at Mass when extra prayers are to be added. The suffrage of the Cross for Eastertide was left unchanged.

7. All obligations to the recitation of the Little Office of the Virgin Mary, the Office of the Dead, and the Gradual and Penitential Psalms are suppressed. The obligation to recite the Litany of the Saints on the Major and Minor Rogations remains. These supplementary offices are left in their tradition places in the text of the Breviary, and may of course always be recited as a matter of private devotion.

8. A few minor changes are made to some of the antiphons which are proper to the various liturgical seasons.

a. On the Saturdays of Advent, the psalms of Vespers are said with the proper antiphons from Lauds of the following Sunday; in the Breviary of St. Pius V and in medieval Breviaries, they were said with the common antiphons of Saturdays per annum.

b. A new set of antiphons is appointed for the Saturday before the vigil of Christmas; the ancient custom, by which the antiphons impeded on the feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle are transferred to that Saturday, is abolished.

c. Certain proper antiphons of Lauds are changed to account for the rearrangement of the Psalms: the fifth of Sexagesima Sunday, the third of the Third and Fourth Sundays of Lent, and the third and fifth of Holy Wednesday. In each case, the antiphon is changed because the psalm from which it is taken is no longer said on that day.

d. The three antiphons of Sunday Lauds per annum are increased to five, and the three antiphons of Sunday Lauds in Eastertide are reduced to one. It is not all clear why these changes were made, since the older antiphons would have fit just as well with the new arrangement of the Psalms. Likewise, the fourfold Alleluja of the minor hours in Eastertide is reduced to three Allelujas, for no discernible reason.

It should be noted that when the Monastic Breviary was reformed in 1915, none of the changes described above in b., c. or d. were received into it.

It should also be noted that, as a general rule, the same corpus of antiphons is used in both the Roman Breviary of St. Pius V and the Monastic Breviary of Paul V, where the two different arrangements of the psalms permit this. Thus, for example, on the Sundays per annum, all of the antiphons of the psalms from Lauds to Vespers are the same in the two breviaries; in the Monastic Use, there is simply one fewer psalm and antiphon at Vespers. However, the reform of St. Pius X introduces a very large number of new antiphons into the Psalter, even in places where there was no need to change the older antiphon, as, for example, on the Sundays per annum. The two Uses are thus separated even further from each other than they had been by the reformed hymnal of Pope Urban VIII, which was never adopted by any of the monastic orders.

9. The feast of the Holy Trinity is raised to the rank of double of the first class, so that its second Vespers cannot be impeded; the feasts of the Transfiguration and Dedication of the Lateran Basilica are raised to doubles of the second class.

10. In the Breviary of St. Pius V, the Office of the Dead is said with three nocturns on the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, in addition to the office of the octave of All Saints. This is now changed so that the Office of the Dead is the only office said that day, including all of the Minor hours. New readings are chosen for the three nocturns; in the first nocturn, three of the traditional readings from the Book of Job, in the second, readings from St. Augustine ’s book on the care to be taken for the Dead, in the third from First Corinthians, chapter 15. This conforms the office of this day to the pattern of the Tenebrae Offices.

11. A number of changes are made to the rubrics throughout the Breviary and Missal. These changes will be discussed as part of the next article in this series, in the light of further changes made by Pope Pius XII in 1955.

[This concludes part 7. In part 8, we will consider the reforms of 1955.]

-- Copyright (c) Gregory DiPippo, 2009

* * *
To read previous installments in this series, see: Compendium of the Reforms of the Roman Breviary, 1568-1961

Pope Benedict on Faith, Art, Beauty and the Liturgy

noreply@blogger.com (Gregor Kollmorgen) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:22:00 +0000

Following his recent catecheses about medieval theology, the Holy Father dedicated his catechesis at today's general audience to the Christian art of the Middle Ages, particularly in its architectural aspect manifested in the great Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals. Pope Benedict emphasised two elements of the art of that epoch which are useful to us today: First, this art is íncomprehensible without the religious spirit which inspired it, leading to an encounter of faith, in particular in the liturgy, and art which creates a profound synthesis, making visible the Invisible. This is the theme the Holy Father wants to share with the artists which he is going to encounter this coming 21 November. Second, the via pulchritudinis, the way of beauty, is a privileged and fascinating path to draw closer to the Mystery of God. Until an English translation of the whole catechesis becomes available, here is the Pope's summary in English:

My dear brothers and sisters,

I have been speaking in recent weeks about medieval theology, and would now like to turn my attention to how the Christian faith of the Middle Ages inspired some of the greatest works of art of all time: the cathedrals of Europe. Romanesque cathedrals are distinctive for their size and for introducing to churches beautiful sculpture, including the image of Christ as the Universal Judge and the Gate of Heaven. By entering through Him, as it were, the faithful enter a space and even a time different from everyday life, somewhere they can anticipate eternal life through their participation in the liturgy. Gradually, Gothic architecture replaced the Romanesque, adding height and luminosity to the previous style. The Gothic cathedral translates the aspirations of the soul into architectural lines, and is a synthesis between faith, art and beauty which still raises our hearts and minds to God today. When faith encounters art, in particular in the liturgy, a profound synthesis is created, making visible the Invisible, and the two great architectural styles of the Middle Ages demonstrate how beauty is a powerful means to draw us closer to the Mystery of God. May the Lord help us to rediscover that "way of beauty", surely one of the best ways to know and to love Almighty God.

All Souls Requiem, Blessed Sacrament Parish, Seattle WA

noreply@blogger.com (Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P.) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:09:00 +0000

I apologize for the delay in posting these images of the Solemn Requiem Mass according to the Dominican Rite celebrated at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Seattle WA on All Souls last. It has taken me some time to get them together. This is just a selection from the photographs taken and posted by Mr. Pat Bucy at this photo album.

The ministers for the Mass were: Fr. Daniel Syverstad, O.P., pastor and former prior provincial of the Western Dominican Province, priest; Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P., S.T.M., professor of Church history at Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, deacon; and Mr. Jesson Mata (an installed lector and acolyte), director of liturgy and music at Blessed Sacrament, subdeacon. Music was provided by the Tudor Choir, resident at Blessed Sacrament, under the direction of Mr. Doug Fullington, which sang the Requiem and Libera of Tomas de Vittoria. The church, which holds just over 700 was almost completely full, so attendance is estimated at about 650.

The High Altar of the church, dressed for the Mass; notice the black humeral veil for use later by the subdeacon, and the unbleached candles. Funds need to be raised for a violet tabernacle veil and for a proper altar frontal; the vestments you will see in the coming photos were a kind loan from Holy Rosary Dominican Parish in Portland; the catafalque candle sticks were from the attic of the local Episcopal parish. If you would like to help Blessed Sacrament purchase what is needed needed for regular celebration of Dominican Rite Masses, contact Mr. Jesson Mata at the parish about how to make a donation.

The catafalque, covered with a black pall, where the Absolution of the Dead will be performed during the singing of the Libera, following the Mass.

Members of the Dominican Community of Blessed Sacrament, in choir awaiting the beginning of Mass: from left to right: Fr. Raphael Mary Salzillo, O.P., parochial vicar (ordained last spring); Fr. Jordan Bradshaw, O.P., Director of the Catholic Newman Center, University of Washington; and Fr. Augustine Hartman, O.P., in residence and chaplain.

Prayers at the Foot of the Altar in the Dominican form. Note the very simple apparels on the albs, lace is not normally used in the Dominican Rite, especially at Requiems. The acolytes were Lawrence Lam and Thomas Fetz.

The ministers in the cross formation, waiting for Fr. Daniel to turn for the Dominus Vobiscum.

The priest and deacon read the Epistle, Responsorium, Tract, and Sequence quietly at the sedilla; they will stand in a moment to read the Gospel. The choir is singing the chants between the readings. Note the black "mappula" or "mappa" on the laps of all three major ministers, the Dominican form of the Roman gremial.

The subdeacon has taken the black humeral veil and is about to bring the chalice to the sedilla where it will be prepared. The choir continues the chants between the readings.

The Gospel Procession goes to the lectern.

The Offertory: the subdeacon has unveiled the already prepared chalice and the deacon has just passed it to the priest, saying "Imola Deo sacrificium laudis et redde Altissimo vota tua." The priest will offer up the host and chalice in a single oblation. Note the very simple apparels on the amices.

The Preface: the ministers are in position for the dialogue (they are coming up from bowing for "Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro"). They will also take this position for their reading of the Sanctus and Agnus Dei.

Ministers in position for the first part of the Canon. They will kneel in the triangular formation on the steps for the Consecration. The catafalque is visible in front.

The Elevations were not photographed out of respect for the Blessed Sacrament. This photo shows the deacon returning from placing the pall on the chalice and the priest with his arms extended in the cross position used by Dominicans after the Consecration.

Display of the Host for the Ecce Agnus Dei. This ceremony is not actually proper to the Dominican Rite. It is a Romanization imposed on the Rite in 1960 when, at the request of a General Chapter, our use of our Communion Confiteor was also suppressed by the Sacred Congregation of Rites in order to conform to Roman practice.

Fr. Daniel was recovering from back surgery a little over two weeks before the Mass -- as those present could clearly see. He did not distribute Communion. Here Fr. Raphael is assisted in distribution by the deacon.

Fr. Jordan is assisted by the subdeacon.

The senior acolyte assists Fr. Hartman.

The priest consumes the ablution of water and wine at the side of the altar, deacon and subdeacon hold the cruets, servers wait to retrieve them.

The Choir has chanted the Libera. As he silently recites the Pater Noster, Fr. Daniel, wearing the cope, sprinkles the catafalque with Holy Water. He will then incense it and sing the verses and collects. For this ceremony, Chris Hanzeli served as crucifer (in front), and James Bronoske was thurifer.

The procession departs. You can see the full pews on either side of the church.

I thank Mr. Jesson Mata for forwarding the link and photographs.

Gospel Canticles and O Antiphons (Simple, English)

jeffrey.a.tucker@gmail.com (Jeffrey Tucker) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:27:00 +0000

Fr. Sam Weber has sent in some simple and English O Antiphons that any parish can use, and also a full book of Gospel Canticles in English.

Brazilian Bishops Celebrate Versus Deum

noreply@blogger.com (Gregor Kollmorgen) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:51:00 +0000

By way of our friends at Salvem a Liturgia! comes this interesting image of the Bishops of the Southeastern part of Brazil, who are currently making their Ad limina visits in Rome, celebrating ad orientem at the altar of the Salus Populi Romani in the Pauline chapel of St. Mary Major. One may hope that such occasions help, as a first step, to raise awareness that celebration versus Deum is still a perfectly normal form of celebration in the Ordinary Form - indeed, as has been pointed out time and again, the preferred form.

Ad Te Levavi

jeffrey.a.tucker@gmail.com (Jeffrey Tucker) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:31:00 +0000

The words "Ad te levavi" have special meaning for Catholic musicians because this is always the first chant shown in every edition of the Graduale, every Graduale, from the earliest years of the Church. Many generations of Catholics over many hundreds of years all over the world have associated this chant with the beginning of the Church year. It can be sung and should be sung in any Roman Rite parish as a way of marking the beginning of Advent.

Advent Variations

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:00:00 +0000

This past weekend in the Roman rite, we observed the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time in the calendar of the usus recentior and the 24th Sunday after Pentecost in the usus antiquior. In short, we are into the final weeks of the liturgical year, anticipating, in two weeks time, the first Sunday of Advent on November 29th -- or, technically, with First Sunday Vespers on Saturday evening, November 28th.

However, while this is true for many of us, it is not so for all of us. The key is that we are speaking here of the Roman calendar, and this time of the year provides a very visible opportunity to remind ourselves of the fact that there are other expressions within the Western liturgical tradition. For instance, within the calendar of the Ambrosian rite, this past weekend actually marked their First Sunday of Advent. (See right. Image courtesy of Ambrosianeum) This is for the reason that the Ambrosian rite observes, not four Sundays of Advent as we observe within the Roman calendar, but rather six Sundays of Advent.

The Ambrosian rite is not alone in this, for likewise within the Mozarabic rite are six Sundays of Advent observed. This stands not only in the case of the more ancient forms of their respective liturgical books, but also in the post-conciliar editions as well I would note.

In fact, if you look historically at the season of Advent you will see various numbers mentioned in relation to the duration of its observance, from three, four, five to six Sundays of Advent, depending on time and place. (With three being debated.)

* * *

As a supplement, I would like to add this brief selection of quotations, primarily from Archdale King, which speaks to some of the present day variation, as well as to some of the historical variations. I would make note that, as with so much in the way of historical inquiry, not all scholars will agree on all the historical particulars. Accordingly, the intent in providing these is simply to lend a further sense to the historical aspects and questions. (Others may wish to add further quotations from other sources in the comments.)

Regarding the Roman rite:

"The observance of the season of Advent is found first in Spain and Gaul, and there is no trace of it at Rome until after the time of Leo the Great (ob. 461)...The number of Sundays at first varied, and the ancient Roman documents indicate six... A pre-Gregorian document shows five Sundays, but from the time of St. Gregory (ob. 604) the number had been reduced to four..." (Archdale King, Liturgy of the Roman Church, p. 186)

"For many centuries the Roman Church has set aside four weeks for the keeping of Advent. It is true that the Gelasian and Gregorian Sacramentaries, as well as several other ancient lectionaries, reckon five weeks, but the lectionary lists of Capua and Naples, and the custom of the Nestorians... know only four weeks of Advent..." (Ildefonso Schuster, The Sacramentary, vol. 1, p. 320)

Regarding the Gallican rite:

"The key-day for Advent Sunday was fixed by the first council of Macon (581) for the feast of St. Martin (11 November), so that, as in the Ambrosian and Mozarabic liturgies, we find six Sundays in Advent. The Gallicanum Vetus provides two Sunday Masses. An alleged work of St. Hilary of Poitiers (ob. c. 368), quoted by Migne and ascribed to Berno of Rechenau (ob. 1048), gives Advent no more than three Sundays: tres tantum hebdomadae in adventu Domini It is, however, impossible to attribute a three weeks' Advent either to St. Hilary or to the 4th century." (Archdale King, Liturgies of the Past, p. 133-4)

Regarding the Ambrosian rite:

"Milan has observed six weeks of Advent from at least the 7th century..." (Archdale King, Liturgies of the Primatial Sees, p. 331)

"The year begins with the First Sunday of Advent, but as in the Mozarabic rite, two weeks earlier than Rome, thus providing six Sundays. The key date for the sanctoral is 11 November, the feast of St. Martin: Adventus Domini inchoatur Dominica post festum Sancti Martini, that is a day between 12 and 18 November." (Ibid., p. 331)

Regarding the Mozarabic rite:

"It is the common opinion of writers that the season of Advent was adopted in Spain in the 5th century... There were normally six Sundays, as in Gaul and Milan, with the key-day 11 November, although some of the MSS. give but five." (Ibid., p. 534)

Credo VII, which is to say Seven

jeffrey.a.tucker@gmail.com (Jeffrey Tucker) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:32:00 +0000

I'm not sure that I knew anything about Credo VII, so this is an exciting image just sent to me from Nick Gale at St George’s Cathedral Southwark.

Ceremonies on the Feast of St. Eugene at the Parisian Church of St-Eugène

noreply@blogger.com (Shawn Tribe) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:45:00 +0000

This past Sunday marked the Feast of Saint Eugene and the parish of Saint Eugène in Paris, France have some beautiful photos available from that day in their parish.

To see more photos: Fête de Saint Eugène