Interview on the Role of Choirs in the Catholic Church

January 5, 2017, 9:02 am

≫ Next: The Royal Hours of Epiphany Eve

≪ Previous: EF Mass for Epiphany in Philadelphia

$

0

0

Earlier this week, Aleteia published a two-part interview with me "all about choirs" — their historical origin and role in the liturgy, the special qualities of polyphonic music, the pro-choir teaching of the Second Vatican Council, the commentary of John Paul II on the real meaning of active participation, Benedict XVI's teaching on sacred music, congregational singing, orchestral Masses, children’s choirs, and resources for budding groups.

Part I, "Sacred Music: Echoing on Earth the Heavenly Choirs"

Part II, "Church Choirs: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"

Here are some excerpts:

Over a few centuries this acorn grew into the majestic oak tree that we call Renaissance polyphony — from the School of Notre Dame to Machaut, Ockeghem to Du Fay, Josquin to Palestrina, Victoria to Byrd. The resulting body of work, comprising thousands upon thousands of Masses, motets, and other choral works, is unlike anything the world had ever known before or has ever known since. It is music of spiritual peace and sensuous beauty, prayerful intensity, spacious thought, purified emotions, lofty aspirations, modesty and naturalness. It flows along with the gentle rhythmic pulse of chant, it sparkles with the suppleness of the medieval modes. As music of the highest artistic excellence, inspired by centuries of Catholic faith and nurtured in an age of liturgy in its full splendor, Renaissance polyphony is second only to chant itself in its perfect suitability for the public, formal, solemn worship of God. It is music wholly in service of the sacred text and of the sacred liturgy. It is sanctified and sanctifying music.

The popes from St. Pius X onwards, concerned about the replacement of congregational chanting with second-rate concert performances, urged the faithful to be instructed in chant so that they could sing the parts of the Mass that pertain to them. (Vatican II stated explicitly: “Steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them,” Sacrosanctum Concilium [SC] 54.) The healthy instinct of the Church has always been for a wise balance between liturgical singing in which everyone can participate and liturgical singing that is rightly entrusted to choirs or scholas. As John Paul II and Benedict XVI taught, choirs dedicated to this more exalted repertoire perform a genuine service for the faithful themselves, by lifting their minds to the sublime beauty of God and prompting interior acts of praise, blessing, adoration, glorification, contrition, and thanksgiving.

John Paul II speaks here of how important it is for the faithful to learn the art of “active listening.” Here is where some soul-searching is necessary. How often do we let the words of the liturgy float right over our heads, while our minds are a thousand miles away? How often do we say the words of the liturgy without even being conscious we have said them? The vernacularization of the Mass had a lot to do with this problem, since it fostered the illusion that as long as something is in your native language, you’ll pay attention to it and make it your own. Not only is this not necessarily true, but experience has often shown the opposite. The vernacular is our comfort zone, where we can take much for granted, where “half-listening” is terribly easy. On the other hand, when people encounter Latin in the liturgy, this strange and hieratic language often compels them to sit up and pay attention, to wonder what is being said and why. The very language proclaims that we are engaged in an act that is not an ordinary affair, that we are entering a time and space set aside, consecrated to God alone.

[T]he faithful may internalize the chants and music of the liturgy, so that the message they carry, particularly through the beauty of the melodies and harmonies, become the seed of meditation and contemplation, drawing us more intimately into the mystery of God. I would go further and argue that we are more in need of the earnest beauty of traditional sacred music today than ever. For many who are trapped within the narrow and artificial confines of modernity, great sacred music—especially from past centuries—can help us break free and reach beyond those confines, to catch a glimpse of the wonder of God, the enchanted cosmos, and the promise of a new heavens and a new earth. It is a potent aid to reverence, devotion, recollection, and self-transcendence.

Pope Benedict says somewhere that it is not enough to have music that “works,” that supplies a certain function, in the manner of a commercial ditty; it has to be better than that. It needs to be suitable for God by being worthy of Him, as much as we can make it. The Church’s tradition is overflowing with such worthy offerings and, although we can and should add to this treasury (otherwise I myself would not be a composer of church music), we would be fools if we did not continue to value what we have inherited from the past. Who but a fool would say that gold from yesterday is worth less than gold from today, or that a diamond a thousand years old is no longer up-to-date and relevant? Beautiful things are never outdated; they are always valid, always suitable, always worthy, always new.

Read more here (Part I) and here (Part II).

---

The Royal Hours of Epiphany Eve

January 5, 2017, 3:13 pm

≫ Next: Holy Iconsmith? Iconwright? - More Reasons Why “Writer” is Wronger

≪ Previous: Interview on the Role of Choirs in the Catholic Church

$

0

0

The Royal Hours are a special service which is held three times a year in the Byzantine Rite, on Christmas Eve, Epiphany Eve, and Good Friday. It consists of the Hours of Prime, Terce, Sext and None, followed by a service called the Typika, the closest parallel to which in the Roman Rite would be the so-called dry Mass. (These five parts are said one after the other without interruption.) They are known as “Royal” from the tradition that the Byzantine Emperor and his court would attend them at Hagia Sophia in Constantinople; a memory of this is preserved in the singing of “Many Years” during the service in cathedrals and monasteries, now in a modified form, but originally for the Emperor, whose presence was understood to be an act of submission to Christ the King, and also for the imperial court and the ecclesiastical hierarchy. The service is traditionally said to have been instituted by St Cyril of Alexandria.

Royal Hours of Good Friday at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation in Toronto in 2014. (Photograph from Wikipedia by ΙΣΧΣΝΙΚΑ-888)

Several features mark the Royal Hours off from the service of the same Hours on other days. It is served by a priest and deacon in their sacred vestments, where these Hours are usually sung by a reader, with a priest saying only the conclusions of the prayers (e.g. “for Thine is the kingdom…”) and the blessing at the end. A bell is rung at the beginning of each Hour, once for Prime, thrice for Terce, etc., and twelve times for the Typika.

In addition to a large number of very beautiful proper chants, a group of Scriptural readings, consisting of a prophecy from the Old Testament, a New Testament epistle (called “the Apostle” in Byzantine terminology) and a Gospel, are added to each Hour as well. (Normally, there are no Biblical readings at the minor Hours; however, they are often done at Vespers.)

Even though “epiphany” is a Greek word, the proper name for the feast in the Byzantine Rite is “Theophany - the manifestation of God”, and the principal manifestation which it celebrates is the Baptism of the Lord. The proper texts of the Royal Hours on the vigil of the Theophany are all chosen in regard to this event. (The visit of the Magi, the feast’s principal focus in the Roman Rite, is part of Christmas in the Byzantine tradition, and the relevant Gospel, Matthew 2, 1-12, is read during the Royal Hours of Christmas at Sext, and as the Gospel at the Divine Liturgy on the feast itself.)

Just to give one example of the chants, the following sticheron is sung at Terce.

“The right hand of the Fore-ruuner and Baptist, even the Prophet who was honored above all the prophets, trembled when he saw the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world, and constrained by anxiety, he cried out, ‘I dare not touch Thy head, o Word; do Thou sanctify and enlighten me, o merciful one, for Thou art the life, and light, and peace of the world.’ ”

A Russian icon of the Baptism of Christ, end 15th century.

The psalms of the Hours are the same every single day, but at the three sets of Royal Hours, special ones more appropriate to the day are chosen to replace some of the regular ones, although one of the daily psalms is retained. (The Byzantine Rite does not have antiphons for the psalmody analogous to those of the Roman Rite.) For those of Epiphany, at Prime, Psalms 5, 22, and 26 are said, instead of 5, 89 and 100; at Terce, 28, 41 and 50, instead of 16, 24 and 50; at Sext, 73, 76, and 90, instead of 53, 54 and 90; and at None, 92, 113 and 85 instead of 83, 84 and 85.

Many of these contain references to either water or “enlightening”, commonly associated with the Sacrament of Baptism, such as the beginnings of Psalm 26 “The Lord is my light (illuminatio) and my salvation,” and Psalm 41 “As the hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after thee, O God.” Psalm 28 at Terce was certainly chosen because of St Basil the Great’s interpretation that the words “the voice of the Lord is upon the waters” refer to John the Baptist at the Jordan. (The sermon in which gives this interpretation is read in the Breviary of St Pius V during the Octave of St John the Baptist’s Nativity.)

The readings which are added are as follows:
At Prime, Isaiah 35, 1-10, Acts 13, 25-32, and Matthew 3, 1-6.
At Terce, Isaiah 1, 16-20, Acts 19, 1-8, and Mark 1, 1-8.
At Sext, Isaiah 12, 3-6, Roman 6, 3-11 and Mark 1, 9-11.
At None, Isaiah 49, 8-15, Titus 2, 11-14 and 3, 4-7, and Luke 3, 1-18.

The prophecies from Isaiah all continue the theme of water and cleansing; “waters are broken out in the desert, and streams in the wilderness” (35, 6 at Prime) is especially appropriate as a reference to the Baptist in the desert. We may also note that the two parts of the Epistle at None are read at the Midnight Mass (less one verse) and the Dawn Mass of Christmas in the Roman Rite. The Gospel at Prime stops short of the actual Baptism of Christ, because the continuation of it (verses 13-17) is read at the Divine Liturgy.

During the reading of the Apostle, there is always an incensation of the Church, whether at this or any other service; some churches add an extra incensation at the beginning of Prime and at the end of the Typika service as well. Another interesting feature is that the Royal Hours are considered to be a service for a fasting day, and penitential services may not be held on either Saturday or Sunday. Therefore, whenever Christmas or Epiphany falls on Sunday or Monday, the Royal Hours are said on the preceding Friday. This may seem rather odd, but in point of fact, Epiphany, like Christmas, is preceded by a series of days known as the “pre-festal” days (five for Christmas, four for Epiphany); the Royal Hours thus anticipated to either the 3rd or 4th of January fall within this special period of preparation.

On the evening of January 5th, Vespers is served together with the Divine Liturgy of St Basil; this is one of the ten occasions on which the anaphora of St Basil, which is much longer than the daily-use anaphora of St John Chrysostom, is said. The service contains a series of thirteen prophecies, although in practice, some of these may be omitted, especially the two which are repeated from the Royal Hours; this does not make the service inordinately as long, as one might imagine it would, since altogether, they add up to less than 100 verses of Scripture, an average of less than 8 verses each. (The other occasions on which the Liturgy of St Basil is celebrated are the eve of Christmas; St Basil’s feast day, January 1st, which is also that of the Circumcision; the Sundays of Lent except Palm Sunday; Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday. However, if Christmas or Epiphany falls on Sunday or Monday, Vespers are celebrated without the Divine Liturgy at all, and the Liturgy of St Basil is used for the feast itself.)

The full text of both of these services can be read at the following links.
Royal Hours: http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/liturgical_guides/1-theophany-royal-hours-both_2.pdf
Vesperal Divine Liturgy: http://www.antiochianladiocese.org/files/service_texts/great_feasts/lord_theophany/2-Theophany-Vesperal-LIT.pdf

Since we did Old Church Slavonic in the version of this article which covered the Royal Hours of Christmas, here is a recording of the Royal Hours of Theophany in Greek, from the Jerusalem Patriarchate.

Holy Iconsmith? Iconwright? - More Reasons Why “Writer” is Wronger

January 6, 2017, 8:19 am

≫ Next: Epiphany in Palo Alto with the St Ann Choir

≪ Previous: The Royal Hours of Epiphany Eve

$

0

0

There were some interesting responses to my article about what we ought to call the process of creating icons, here. In fact, a lively discussion ensued on Facebook.

The more it developed, the more it became clear to me that I will not use “write” when discussing icons; this fact relates to the characteristics of the English language. As Adam Wood pointed out (some may know his name from the Chant Cafe), the person who writes a play is called a “playwright.” That’s “wright”, not write, for someone who crafts a drama. This elevates the status of the playwright from a mere writer. Similarly, someone who is skilled with words can be called a “wordsmith,” although this is perhaps more colloquial.

This seems to indicate that in English, it’s actually the inverse of what is being imposed, i.e. “painting” is higher than “writing.” If we wish to elevate the writer’s status, we attribute to his “craft” the status that we give to the work done by an artisan. If we wish to elevate the status of the icon painter, we emphasize his craftsmanship. So in English, painter is fine, and better than “writer,” “iconwright” or “iconsmith” would be if we wanted to affect a bit of faux-intellectualism for good measure.

This is the reverse of the Greek, and of the Slavic languages such as Russian and Ukrainian, in which the process of decorating eggshells is also called “writing” too, as a contributor to the discussion on Facebook told us.

Furthermore, if we refer to the icon painter, in Greek graphos, as a writer, then to be consistent we should also say that the photographer “writes” a photograph, and cartographer “writes” a map!

I think it’s easier to stick to plain English. I have trouble enough getting that right without worrying about Greek, Russian and Ukrainian as well! I hope no one is upset by the use of the word “paint” in reference to icons, but as the saying goes, if you want to make an omelette you have to crack a few eggs. (Hopefully, none of these beautifully crafted Ukrainian ones).

Incidentally, the painting at the top is of St Luke Displaying His Painting of Our Lady by Guercino, the Italian 17th century baroque holy painter/smith/wright. 

Notice how he is aware of the tradition that St Luke’s painting was a Virgin Hodegetria, one of the standard iconographic prototypes.

Epiphany in Palo Alto with the St Ann Choir

January 6, 2017, 10:35 am

≫ Next: The Feast of the Epiphany 2017

≪ Previous: Holy Iconsmith? Iconwright? - More Reasons Why “Writer” is Wronger

$

0

0

The St. Ann Choir will sing the Mass O Magnum Mysterium by Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548–1611) and the proper chants for the feast of the Epiphany during a Latin Mass (OF) at St Thomas Aquinas Church in Palo Alto, California, on Sunday, January 8, beginning at 12:00 noon. The church is located at 751 Waverly Street (at Homer).

The Feast of the Epiphany 2017

January 7, 2017, 2:10 am

≫ Next: Philip Johnson Ordained in Raleigh, North Carolina

≪ Previous: Epiphany in Palo Alto with the St Ann Choir

$

0

0

We keep a holy day adorned with three miracles: today a star led the Magi to the manger; today, wine was made from water at the marriage; today, Christ willed to be baptized by John in Jordan, that He might save us, alleluia. (Antiphon of the Magnificat at Second Vespers)

The Monforte Altarpiece, by Hugo van der Goes, ca. 1470. (public domain image from Wikipedia; click to enlarge)

Aña Tribus miráculis ornatum diem sanctum cólimus: hodie stella Magos duxit ad praesepium: hodie vinum ex aqua factum est ad nuptias: hodie in Jordáne a Joanne Christus baptizári vóluit, ut salváret nos, allelúja.

Philip Johnson Ordained in Raleigh, North Carolina

January 7, 2017, 11:49 am

≫ Next: Death by Dullness: Prioritizing Speech over Silence and Song

≪ Previous: The Feast of the Epiphany 2017

$

0

0

We are very happy indeed to report that Deacon Philip Johnson of the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, has just been ordained to the priesthood today. I am sure that a great many of our readers have heard Philip’s story, which has been reported on many Catholic blogs, asking for prayers on his behalf. While serving in the Navy, he was diagnosed at the age of only 24 with an inoperable brain tumor, of a kind which even in the best of circumstances would normally have taken his life in less than two years. After his discharge from the service, and medical treatment aimed at delaying the tumor’s progress, rather than curing it, he was accepted as a seminarian, and having completing his studies, has now been ordained. His cancer has been “on hold” for about a decade at this point, a beautiful miracle; please offer a prayer that this will remain the case, and that he will be able to serve the Church as a priest for many, many years. Please also offer a prayer for His Excellency Michael Burbidge, the Bishop of Raleigh, who has supported Fr Philip in his vocation. To them both, to Fr Philip’s family, and to the faithful of the Diocese of Raleigh, we offer our heartiest congratulations - ad multos annos!

Photos nicked from mutual friends on Facebook - I hope nobody minds!

Death by Dullness: Prioritizing Speech over Silence and Song

January 9, 2017, 1:29 pm

≫ Next: Bethlehem Icon Centre Featured in British Secular Press

≪ Previous: Philip Johnson Ordained in Raleigh, North Carolina

$

0

0

A friend and I were talking recently about the difference between sight in the liturgy and sound. If a liturgy looks silly, as it invariably does when the priest is facing the people but addressing God, one can always close one’s eyes and retreat into the interior castle (or at least make the attempt). But if there is endless blather and/or loud muzak, one cannot close one’s ears — and it would be rude to plug them with one’s fingers or reach for the wax earplugs. Put simply, the sound of the liturgy is more unavoidable and more determinative than the sight of it.

The modern liturgy is pretty much designed to be a non-stop talkie from start to finish. Either the priest is talking or the lectors are talking or the people are making responses or songs are being sung. There is nary a moment to absorb what has been uttered, to reflect on what has been sung, or to prepare for the next step, whatever it might be. One feels like the unfortunate pupil of an overbearing governess who never stops lecturing him about how he must tie his shoes, wash his face, do his long division, and write in his copybook with a regular cursive.

Let us face it: a recited vernacular Mass, with the priest going on and on and on in a rambling monotone, can have a soul-deadening effect. Because everything is said aloud and facing the people, it is the opposite of a traditional Low Mass, which is said quietly and facing the Lord. Because there is so little singing and so little silence, it is also the opposite of a traditional High Mass. At the Novus Ordo Neither-High-Nor-Low Mass, one drowns in an ocean of dull verbiage. No wonder the Church is dying: how could it survive such waves of boredom, worse in their own way than any iconoclasm?

Young Catholics who are serious about their faith crave the silence and spaciousness of the traditional liturgy, the way it moves slowly, breathes, opens out, respects and demands one’s own prayer, made in one’s own way and at one’s own pace. It is so liberating to attend a Mass where the focus is somewhere else, beyond, and you catch up as you can, without being addressed or cajoled. It is merciful to our weaknesses and yet plays to our strengths.

Priests, dear priests who must celebrate the Ordinary Form: please, please do everything you can to avoid this death by verbosity! Pray the Roman Canon sotto voce, so that it is just barely audible and preserves its dignity, rather than being announced like the daily news so that it loses its sacrality. Make sure you are chanting as much of the Mass as you can, and that a choir or schola is chanting the Ordinary and the Propers. Make sure there is silence. Only in these ways can the Ordinary Form avoid being a form of torture to the ears of body and soul.

***

With fifty years of sonic saturation behind us, we can appreciate far better the age-old wisdom of Holy Mother Church, who bid that her High Mass be sung from start to finish and her Low Mass be as quiet as a whisper.[1] In a solemn Mass or a Missa cantata, almost everything is either chanted or done in silence; only the Confiteor before Communion (if there is one) and the “Domine, non sum dignus” are spoken. This means about 99% of the liturgy’s audible words are chanted. In a Low Mass or a Missa recitata, everything is spoken by the celebrant sotto voce or silently, so that it is perfectly obvious to worshipers that the priest is speaking intimately to the Lord, not addressing a message to them. As a result, it is far easier for the laity themselves to pray — they are borne along the river of prayer that flows from the priest’s lips. Thus, tradition presents us with the marvelous spectacle of two forms of worship, one of which alternates ecstatically between song and silence, while the other is absorbed in a colloquy of love that dares not profane itself with the voice of everyday speech. Both are admirably suited to foster prayer: the prayer of the community, the prayer of contemplation, the prayer of the heart.

With the Novus Ordo, all this has been banished. Where have the chanted propers, the chanted Ordinary, the chanted priestly prayers, gone? Where has the profound silence gone? In a typical weekday celebration, 95% of the liturgy is spoken out loud, towards the people as an audience. It is talk, talk, talk, a wearisome march through texts that are not even particularly notable for their literary qualities (unlike, in this respect, the Anglican Ordinariate liturgy, which is free to draw upon some of the best English prose ever put on paper). No wonder it has so little impact on the soul: it neither creates the space required for assimilation nor exults and woos with the song of the divine lover. It is, as it were, neither cold nor hot, neither speechless nor lyrical; it is lukewarm — and we know what happens to the lukewarm.

Song is the realm of the lover, the mourner, and the bacchante, of heightened experience, of exultation and nobility, of beauty finding its voice. Silence is the realm of mystics in the grip of ineffability, genius concentrating on a problem, poets reminiscing and reaching for a word, the simple man confronted with realities vastly greater than himself, like love and death. Speech, for its part, is the realm of the ordinary, the matter-of-fact, the realm of commerce and politics. This is why both sung liturgy and silent liturgy are glorious, effective, and rich, each in its own way, while spoken liturgy is pale, feeble, and impoverished, a failure off the blocks. We are looking at a phenomenological difference that goes to the very heart of worship — what we are doing, towards whom, by whom, and why.

There are ironclad laws of psychology that warn us against the naïve belief that our theories correspond to reality, and never is this more true than in the transition from liturgical theory to contemporary praxis. The Novus Ordo era has witnessed gigantic scholarly defenses that sprawl across many volumes of text, but none of this matters in the least for the actual experience of worship. No matter how many books of theory are written, the fundamental mode of a liturgy conveys a message more obvious than any explanation. The person who enters a church and is caught up in the music and ceremonial of a High Mass or challenged to silent prayer by a Low Mass, both of which are obviously directed away from him towards the numinous Other, is experiencing divine worship, pure and simple. The person who enters a church and is literally confronted by a speaker emitting copious quantities of speech is experiencing a self-help seminar, regardless of whom the text is addressed to.

We can recognize here the prescience of Marshall McLuhan, who, intuiting that the medium somehow is the message, knew that bringing microphones and speakers into churches could have no other effect than to undermine the liturgy. The medium of the Mass is its first and abiding message to the faithful, within which everything else finds its place, acquires its color or tone. Liturgical song ennobles all that it touches, turning the wood of words into the gold of glory. Silence endows all that it envelopes with a spirit of tranquility and a transcendence of orientation that allows words to keep their primordial freshness, as if they were coins never worn by constant handling. Of the three sisters, speech is the mode that risks profanation and buffoonery. Is it not famously awkward to speak at the most terrifying or wondrous moments, in an intimate embrace before or after a long parting, in a time of excruciating crisis, insoluble anguish, or unexpected victory, when one is face to face with the inscrutable, the inexorable, the immeasurable? Speech can do nothing in these situations except make a fool of itself or bring discredit to its subject. Far better to sink into silence or find a music that, with uncanny modulations, goes beyond the realm of speech into that which is intuited, felt, or mused on. This is just what traditional liturgy does: it sinks gratefully and calmly into silence, or it finds a chant that conveys the inner “visage” of the words in a manner subtle and penetrating.

The most perfect exemplification of this dialectic of music and silence is the traditional Solemn High Mass, of which the Missa cantata is an echo. The new liturgical movement should be striving for nothing less than a Solemn High Mass every Sunday in every parish. I realize that this goal is far, very far away, but it must be our goal.

Priests who know neither the peace of the Low Mass nor the glory of the High Mass[2]: what are you waiting for? Learn to celebrate the Low Mass, and after that, learn the Missa cantata so that you can introduce it to your people! Catholics are starving for real liturgy — liturgy in which the silences and the music make integral sense, rather than seeming like random add-ons supplied by aging hippies or unguided volunteers. Speech has been bossing around her sisters far too long. It is time for liturgical silence and liturgical song to take their proper places in the life of the Church, for the life of the world.


NOTES

[1] A reader may wonder what I think about the Dialogue Mass, the question that divides father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, etc. I think there is a peculiar beauty and power in a Low Mass that is whispered by the priest at the side altar early in the morning, and that this should never disappear from the life of the Church. I have also seen the Dialogue Mass work well in a situation where there is a congregation conversant with the Latin responses and eager to make them with the servers. Even in a Dialogue Mass there is plenty of silence; it does not (or at least need not) lose the prayerfulness characteristic of this classical liturgy. It seems to me that a dogmatic position for or against the Dialogue Mass is something that should be avoided like the plague.

[2] See my article "The Problem of the Dominant Low Mass and the Rare High Mass."

Bethlehem Icon Centre Featured in British Secular Press

January 10, 2017, 6:52 am

≫ Next: Epiphany Photopost 2017

≪ Previous: Death by Dullness: Prioritizing Speech over Silence and Song

$

0

0

Ian Knowles, the British icon painter and director of the Bethlehem Icon Centre, has been featured in a recent issue of The Daily Telegraph, the British national daily. NLM readers may remember him from an article I posted last year about work commissioned in Jordan by the Argentinian order IVE.

What seems to have piqued the interest of the writer, Raf Sanchez, is the fact that this school has a clientele of largely Palestinian Christians; indeed, one of the patrons is the Melkite Bishop of Jerusalem. The Melkite Greek Catholic Church originates in the Middle East and can trace its roots right back to the Apostolic era. Middle Eastern Christians are in the news at the moment for all the wrong reasons - the great persecution they are experiencing, especially in Syria - but Ian’s work with Palestinian Christians is seen by Sanchez as sign of hope in difficult time.

At the request of the Mother Superior of a local convent, Ian painted the Mother of God - dubbed Our Lady Who Brings Down Walls - on the wall that separates Jerusalem from Bethlehem.

You can read the article, entitled British Painter Revives Christian Ancient Art Form in Occupied West Bank, here.

I met Ian first several years ago when we both took a class from the British icon painter, Aidan Hart.

---

Epiphany Photopost 2017

January 10, 2017, 3:06 pm

≫ Next: Un-censoring the Psalms? Mons. Charles Pope Weighs In

≪ Previous: Bethlehem Icon Centre Featured in British Secular Press

$

0

0

Even though the number of submissions for this photopost is pretty small, it manages to cover all of the many liturgical bases of the Epiphany: the blessings of water, of chalk, the rarely done blessing of gold, frankincense and myrrh (twice) the proclamation of the movable feasts, and even a couple of processions, and the Byzantine Rite. As always, thank you to all those who sent them in - Evangelize through Beauty!

St Benedict’s Parish - Chesapeake, Virginia (F.S.S.P.)

Holy Hour

Blessing of Water

Blessing of Chalk

Blessing of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

Pontifical Shrine of Our Lady of Mt Carmel - New York City

Blessing of the Waters

St Mary’s Parish - Kalamazoo, Michigan

Blessing of Chalk

St Joseph Oratory - Detroit, Michigan (I.C.K.S.P.)

Cathedral Basilica of Ss Peter and Paul - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Blessing of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

Holy Innocents - New York City

St Peter’s Eastern Catholic Church - Ukiah, California

Procession to the nearby Orr Creek, the blessing of its waters, sprinkling of the congregation with blessed water, return to the church, and veneration of the icon of the festival.

Un-censoring the Psalms? Mons. Charles Pope Weighs In

January 11, 2017, 6:01 am

≫ Next: Online Resources: A Dominican Gradual from 1722

≪ Previous: Epiphany Photopost 2017

$

0

0

Mons. Charles Pope, the principal writer of the blog “Community in Mission,” published an interesting article two days ago entitled “Is It Time to Restore the Full Psalter to the Liturgy of the Hours?” In it, he addresses something which has long been regarded by many as one of the most serious defects of the post-Conciliar Liturgy of the Hours, the censorship of the Psalter by the removal of the three so-called imprecatory psalms, and of specific verses from several other psalms, a total of about 120. (To this one might add the little-noted fact that three of the long psalms which one might call “history psalms”, 77, 104 and 105, are said only in Advent, Lent, and Eastertide, an entirely inexplicable feature.)

There are several grounds which render this censorship deeply problematic, first and foremost the almost unavoidable implications for the doctrine of the inspiration of Holy Scripture. (Indeed, proposals for censoring not just the Psalms, but a great many other parts of the Bible, were floated in some liberal Protestant churches long before the Catholic liturgical reform, as Scriptural inerrancy and inspiration began to fall under the Biblical critics’ axes.) Monsignor notes that the principal justification for this censorship given by the prenotanda of the Liturgy of the Hours is the “psychological difficulty” which they purportedly create, to which he answers (rightly in my estimation) “(w)hatever ‘psychological difficulty’ or spiritual unease these texts cause, all the more reason that we should wonder as to the purpose of such verses.”

He then notes that St Thomas Aquinas gives three way to understand these imprecations: 1. as a prediction of God’s punishment, not a wish that it be fulfilled; 2. as a declaration of the justice of God’s punishment; and 3. as “an allegory of the removal of sin and the destruction of its power.” A very ancient example of the latter is the allegorical interpretation of the words of Psalm 136, in which the psalmist says to Babylon “Blessed be he that shall take and dash thy little ones against the rock.” The explanation that the “little ones” here are nascent temptations, which are destroyed before they can grow into sin, was first given by Origen in the 3rd century, and continuously accepted by the Church Fathers after him.

To this. Mons. Pope he adds his own explanation, which I think very worthy and very much worth our consideration. “I think it is good to recall that the overall context of prayer modeled in the Scriptures is one of frank disclosure to God of all of our emotions and thoughts, even the darkest ones. ... anger, vengeance, despair, doubt, and indignation are all taken up in the language of prayer in the Scripture. ... It is not obvious to me that speaking of these all-too-common feelings is a cause of psychological distress. Rather, it is the concealing and suppressing of such things that causes psychological distress. As a priest, I encounter too many people who think that they cannot bring their dark and negative emotions to God. This is not healthy. It leads to simmering anger and increasing depression. Facing our negative emotions—neither demonizing them nor sanctifying them—and bringing them to God as Scripture models is the surer way to avoid ‘psychological distress.’ God is our healer, and just as we must learn to speak honestly to a doctor, even more so to the Lord. Properly understood (viz. St. Thomas), the imprecatory verses and other Scriptures model a way to pray in this manner.”

Of course, there is still the practical consideration that if the Holy See were to decree the restoration of the full texts of the Book of Psalms (which clearly isn’t likely any time in the near future), it would necessitate yet another re-ordering of the liturgical Psalter, the third in just over a century, and the printing of a yet another completely new breviary, for the fourth time in just over a century.

Two other points in this regard which Mons. Pope does not mention. One is that the censorship of the Psalter is yet another example of the liturgical reformers going far beyond the mandate of Sacrosanctum Consilium, which spoke only of distributing the Psalms over a period longer than a week. The other is that our separated brethren of the various Orthodox churches continue to use the full text f the Psalter in their Offices, and it is difficult to imagine that they think much of the current Catholic practice in this regard.

Online Resources: A Dominican Gradual from 1722

January 11, 2017, 3:01 pm

≫ Next: Parish Study on Participating in the Mysteries of the Mass

≪ Previous: Un-censoring the Psalms? Mons. Charles Pope Weighs In

$

0

0

Thanks to Fr Innocent Smith O.P., whose work on the Dominican liturgy we have mentioned here various times, for bringing to my attention a new liturgical resource on Google Books, “Cantus Missarum Totius Anni ad Usum Sacri Ordinis FF (Fratrum) Praedicatorum.” (Chants of the Masses of the Whole Year for the Use of the Sacred Order of Preachers.) The book is in the public domain and can be downloaded for free. It has no illustrations, or even any particularly noteworthy decorations; here is just the title page and the beginning of the Mass of the First Sunday of Advent to give you an idea.

This volume was printed in Paris in 1722, and as such, uses the “old music” (or some version of it) which was replaced by the modern chant editions at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th; as such, it is really more of historical interest to musicians and chant scholars, and probably not of much practical use for actual liturgical celebrations. My understanding is that actually using it in the liturgy would technically be forbidden, since the modern editions were made mandatory. If anyone is an expert on these matters, please feel free to email me or leave a message in the combox as to whether these rules should still be considered in effect.

Here is the Gradual of the Mass of Holy Thursday, the famous “Christus factus est,” from the 1722 edition and the 1927 Dominican Holy Week book. (Click to enlarge.) I believe I remember aright that the version of this chant in the older. pre-Solesmes Roman Gradual had about 1/3 as many the notes as the modern version, but this does not appear to be the case here. Any comments from chant scholars on the differences would be welcome.

Parish Study on Participating in the Mysteries of the Mass

January 12, 2017, 7:01 am

≫ Next: Sacristy Art: It’s the Little Things...

≪ Previous: Online Resources: A Dominican Gradual from 1722

$

0

0

This spring, Fr. Innocent Smith, O.P. and James Wetzel will present a series of talks on the theme “Pray with Understanding: Participating in the Mysteries of the Mass.” The presentations will take place in the parish hall of the church of St Vincent Ferrer in New York City, located at 869 Lexington Ave; the first will be held this coming Tuesday, January 17th, from 6:45-7:45 p.m., and the series will continue until April 4th. Throughout the twelve sessions, they will delve into the mysteries of the Mass, explaining the history, symbolism, theological and musical dimensions of the liturgy.

Fr Innocent writes in the parish bulletin: The Church’s liturgy sometimes feels mysterious. On one hand, this is fitting for what is at heart a participation in the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. On the other hand, when we are mystified by the words and actions employed we can at times be distracted from the task at hand of entering into that Mystery more deeply—mysteries can obscure the Mystery. By learning why the liturgy employs the words and gestures that we encounter from week to week or from day to day, we can enter into the Mass with the conscious and active participation that Church desires for each member of the faithful.

This spring, our Parish Study program aims to help members of our parish to come to a better understanding of the Mass so that we may more fully follow St. Paul’s exhortation to “pray with understanding” (1 Cor 14, 15). ... the twelve week class will give an overview of the parts of the Mass that we encounter each week: ... The class will be taught by me together with our director of music, James Wetzel. Each week we will consider different aspects of the words, actions, and music we encounter in the Mass. ... You are most welcome to attend each class or to drop in from time to time as your schedule allows. By participating in this Parish Study program, we hope that you may come to experience a deeper participation in the liturgy of the Church.

Sacristy Art: It’s the Little Things...

January 12, 2017, 10:22 am

≫ Next: New Home for the TLM in the Diocese of New Ulm

≪ Previous: Parish Study on Participating in the Mysteries of the Mass

$

0

0

Fr Jeffrey Keyes, who serves as chaplain to the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa at the Regina Pacis Convent in Santa Rosa, California, sent in these photos of something which their sacristan does each morning when laying out the Mass vestments. Just a small thing, but as Father writes on his blog, “the essence of the Sacred Liturgy is Sacred, Universal and Beautiful,” and every beautiful thing, however small (and in this case, temporary) contributes to an atmosphere of prayer and reverence.

I have seen this done before, but never anything more complicated than a capital M for Mary; this sister is a true artist in her field, and with an authentic Catholic liturgical spirit, makes different designs depending on the liturgical season or feast day.

The Baptism of the Lord

Epiphany

Christmas

Advent

New Home for the TLM in the Diocese of New Ulm

January 13, 2017, 4:08 am

≫ Next: Special Antiphons for the Baptism of the Lord

≪ Previous: Sacristy Art: It’s the Little Things...

$

0

0

A reader sent in word that the weekly Traditional Latin Mass in the Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota, has been moved from St Michael’s Church in Morgan to St Mary, Help of Christians in Sleepy Eye. (636 1st Avenue North) The time slot remains the same, 11:30 AM on Sunday. A schola has been formed under the direction of Mr Sean Connolly, director of music at St. Mary’s, and new members are welcome.

Special Antiphons for the Baptism of the Lord

January 13, 2017, 6:02 pm

≫ Next: Melkite Bishop Nicholas to Visit Berkeley for Monthly Mission Liturgy

≪ Previous: New Home for the TLM in the Diocese of New Ulm

$

0

0

In the Tridentine Missal, the Mass of the Octave of the Epiphany is the same as that of the feast itself, except for the Gospel, John 1, 29-34, and the three prayers. In the Office, the lessons of the second and third nocturns are proper to the Octave day, but the rest is repeated as on the days within the Octave, with the antiphons of the Magnificat and Benedictus on the feast day.

In regard to the Office, this represents a significant change from the late medieval Breviary of the Roman Curia, upon which that of St Pius V is based. The former had a complete set of proper antiphons for the day, which date back to the Carolingian period, and focus on the event recounted in the Gospel, the Baptism of the Lord. The vast majority of medieval liturgical Uses sing some of these with the psalms and canticles of Lauds and Vespers, but the Roman Use is atypical in having them also for the psalms of Matins, which are different from those of January 6th.

Their complete removal from the Roman Breviary is something highly unusual, since the Tridentine reform was in most respects extremely conservative, and nowhere more so than in the repertoire of proper musical pieces like antiphons. Although I have never seen this written down anywhere, I suspect that the reason for this was that they are obviously inspired by liturgical texts of the Byzantine Rite, and were therefore regarded as not authentically Roman. They continued to be sung in many other Uses, such as those of the Dominicans, Cistercians and Old Observance Carmelites, none of which, however, have the nine antiphons of Matins.

Russian icon of the Baptism of Christ, 15th century, school of Andrej Rubliev

Here I give the Latin text of each, along with my own translation, and indications of their position in the liturgy.

First Vespers
At the Magnificat Descendit Spiritus Sanctus corporali specie sicut columba in ipsum, et vox de caelo facta est: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, alleluja. - The Holy Spirit descended upon Him with a bodily appearance as of a dove, and a voice came forth from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, alleluia.”

Matins, First Nocturn
Aña 1 Veterem hominem renovans, Salvator venit ad baptismum: ut naturam, quae corrupta erat, per aquam recuperaret, incorruptibili veste circumamictans nos. (psalm 8) - Renewing the old man, the Savior came to baptism, that through water He might restore the nature that was corrupted, clothing us around with an incorruptible garment.
Aña 2 Te, qui in Spiritu et igne purificas humana contagia, Deum ac Redemptorem omnes glorificamus. (psalm 18) - We all glorify Thee as God and our Redeemer, who in the Spirit and in fire purify the immorality of man.
Aña 3 Caput draconis Salvator contrivit in Jordanis flumine, et ab ejus potestate omnes eripuit. (psalm 23) - The Savior crushed down the head of the dragon in the river Jordan, and delivered all from his power. (These first three psalms are the same in the Offices of the Virgin Mary, and were probably chosen as a reference to the Incarnation.)

Second Nocturn
Aña 4 Baptista contremuit, et non audet tangere sanctum Dei verticem; sed clamat cum tremore: Sanctifica me, Salvator. (psalm 28) - The Baptist trembled, and dared not touch God’s holy head; but cried out with dread: Sanctify me, o Savior.
Aña 5 Magnum mysterium declaratur hodie, quia Creator omnium in Jordane expurgat nostra facinora. (psalm 41) - A great mystery is declared today, for the Creator of all things in the Jordan purgeth our crimes.
Aña 6 Aqua comburit peccatum, hodie apparens liberator, et rorat omnem mundum divinitatis ope. (psalm 45) - The water burneth sin, as our Deliverer appeareth, and falls like dew upon the whole world with the richness of divinity. (The first and third psalms of this nocturn are repeated from Epiphany; the second, the famous Sicut cervus, has been associated with baptismal rites from the most ancient times.)

Third Nocturn
Aña 7 Pater de caelis Filium testificatur; Spiritus Sancti praesentia advenit, unum edocens qui baptizatur Christus. (psalm 71) - The Father from the heavens beareth witness to the Son; the presence of the Holy Spirit cometh, showing us the one who is baptized, Christ.
Aña 8 Peccati aculeus conteritur hodie, baptizato Domino, et nobis donata est regeneratio. (psalm 76) - The sting of sin is blunted today, as the Lord is baptized, and regeneration is granted to us.
Aña 9 Baptizatur Christus, et sanctificatur omnis mundus, et tribuit nobis remissionem peccatorum; aqua et Spiritu omnes purificamur. (psalm 97) - Christ is baptized, and all the world is sanctified, and He granteth to us remission of sins; by water and the Spirit we are all purified. (The first psalm of this nocturn is repeated from both Christmas and Epiphany; the second is chosen for the words“The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee: and they were afraid, and the depths were troubled.” The third has a prominent place in the Office of Christmas because of the words that form its antiphon“God hath made known, alleluia, His salvation, alleluia.” In the longer Monastic Office, it is sung on both Christmas and Epiphany with this same antiphon.)

The Baptism of Christ by Giotto, from the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, 1305

At the Psalms of Lauds (repeated at the minor Hours and at Vespers)
Aña 1 Baptizat miles Regem, servus Dominum suum, Joannes Salvatorem: aqua Jordanis stupuit, columba protestatur: paterna vox audita est: Hic est Filius meus dilectus. - The soldier baptizeth the King, the servant his Lord, John the Savior; the water of the Jordan is astounded, the dove beareth witness; the voice of the Father is heard, “This is my beloved Son.”
Aña 2 Caeli aperti sunt * super eum, et vox facta est de caelo dicens: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi complacui. - The heavens were opened up above Him, and a voice came forth from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.”
Aña 3 Christo datus est * principatus, et honor regni; omnis populus, tribus et linguae servient ei in aeternum. - To Christ is given the rule and honor of the kingdom; every people and tribe and toungue shall serve Him forever.
Aña 4 Fontes aquarum * sanctificati sunt, Christo apparente in gloria orbi terrarum: haurite aquas de fontibus Salvatoris: sanctificavit enim nunc omnem creaturam Christus Deus noster. - The fountains of the waters were sanctified, as Christ appeared in glory to the world; draw ye water from the fountains of the Savior, for now Christ our God hath sanctified every creature.
Aña 5 Vox de caelo * sonuit, et vox Patris audita est: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi complacui; ipsum audite. - A voice sounded forth from heaven, and the voice of the Father was heard: “This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him.”

At the Benedictus Præcursor Joannes exsultat, cum in Jordane baptizato Domino, facta est orbis terrarum exsultatio: facta est peccatorum nostrorum remissio. Sanctificans aquas, ipsi omnes clamemus, miserere nobis. - John the Forerunner exsulteth when, as the Lord was baptized in the Jordan, rejoicing was given to the world, and forgiveness of our sins. Let us all cry unto Him, “O Thou that sanctifiest the waters, have mercy on us.”

Second Vespers
At the Magnificat Super ripam Jordanis stabat beatus Joannes, indutus est splendore baptizans Salvatorem. Baptiza me, Joannes, baptiza, et tu, Jordanis, congaudens suscipe me. - On Jordan’s bank the blessed John stood, and was clothed in splendor as he baptized the Savior. Baptize thou Me, o John, baptize; and thou, o Jordan, rejoicing with him receive Me.

---

Melkite Bishop Nicholas to Visit Berkeley for Monthly Mission Liturgy

January 14, 2017, 9:13 am

≫ Next: FSSP Seminary at Buxheim Charterhouse

≪ Previous: Special Antiphons for the Baptism of the Lord

$

0

0

Bishop Nicholas Samra of the Melkite Eparchy of Newton, Massachusetts (which covers the whole of the United States) will visit the campus at Berkeley, California, for one of the upcoming monthly mission liturgies.

The dates for the next three mission liturgies have been set; they are January 27th, February 25th and March 11th. Bishop Nicholas will be present for the liturgy on March 11th.

Each liturgy takes place at 5pm at the Gesu Chapel of at the Jesuit School of Theology, in Berkeley, California, located at 1735 Le Roy Avenue.

The first mission liturgy took place last month and was so successful (over 60 people attended) that this is now scheduled to be regular monthly event. Many came, we were told, because they read about it on this site, so thank you NLM!

The goal is then to make the liturgy a weekly event when sufficient momentum has been gained. The visit of Bishop Nicholas is evidence of the value that the Melkite Church puts on the success of this mission.

The liturgy on the Berkeley campus is a mission of St Elias Melkite Church, whose pastor, Fr Sebastian Carnazzo is seen in the video below at the tiny chapel in Los Gatos, California, which is close to San Jose.

The liturgies for January and February will be celebrated by Fr Carnazzo and Fr Christopher Hadley. I will be present, singing the “eison,” or drone, as part of the choir, so we hope to see some of you there.

Fr Carnazzo, incidentally, is teaching a series of classes for www.Pontifex.University, in which he explains content of the canon of holy icons of Church and connects it to Scripture and to the feast days of the liturgical year, both West and East. As such, they are courses simultaneously in theology, in which the imagery deepens understanding of mysteries and doctrine described, and courses in the art of the Church by which students understand its roots in Scripture and Catholic doctrine.

FSSP Seminary at Buxheim Charterhouse

January 15, 2017, 9:53 am

≫ Next: The Feast of St Agnes in New York City

≪ Previous: Melkite Bishop Nicholas to Visit Berkeley for Monthly Mission Liturgy

$

0

0

Here’s something that has been sitting in my “to do” file for while, partly because there are so many good photos in this set that it was really difficult to make a selection. This past December, the FSSP’s German seminary celebrated Mass on the Immaculate Conception at the Charterhouse of Buxheim, whose early 18th century church is famous for its incredibly elaborate Baroque choir stalls. (Buxheim is located in Memmingen, about 33 miles to the northeast of Wigratzbad, the home of the Priesterseminar St Petrus, both within the Bavarian diocese of Augsburg.) Since the German secularization (a fancy legal term for “theft”) of ecclesiastical properties in 1803, the Charterhouse has remained in use as a church, but not as a monastery; it is marvelous to see such a young community putting the choir back to the purpose for which it was built. (Photos reproduced by permission, courtesy of FSSP Wigratzbad; see the complete album by clicking here.)

The Feast of St Agnes in New York City

January 16, 2017, 2:00 am

≫ Next: A Tale of Two Lectionaries: Qualitative versus Quantitative Measures

≪ Previous: FSSP Seminary at Buxheim Charterhouse

$

0

0

The church of St Agnes in New York City, located at 143 East 43rd St, will hold a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form for the feast of its Patron Saint, this coming Saturday, starting at 10:30 a.m. The music will be Palestrina’s Missa Veni Sponsa Christi, with motets by Carissimi and Victoria, sung by the St Agnes Schola Cantorum under the direction of Mr Heitor Caballero.

A Tale of Two Lectionaries: Qualitative versus Quantitative Measures

January 16, 2017, 6:17 am

≫ Next: Monastic Chant Forum at Quarr Abbey, Isle of Wight, July 2017

≪ Previous: The Feast of St Agnes in New York City

$

0

0

In recent years, I have been drawn into research on the revised lectionary, which is often hailed as one of the great gains of the liturgical reform. The fullest presentation of my findings is published in the proceedings of Sacra Liturgia 2015, Liturgy in the Twenty-First Century (pp. 287-320), but additional considerations are found in a chapter of my book Resurgent in the Midst of Crisis, the Foreword to Matthew Hazell’s book Index Lectionum, the essay I contributed to a forthcoming volume from Emmaus Road[1], my article on the glaring omission of 1 Cor 11:27–29 from the revised lectionary, and my article on the purging of Psalms in the Liturgy of the Hours. It must be admitted that as one delves more deeply into the subject, one finds ever more disturbing things.

In his thought-provoking book Work of Human Hands, Rev. Anthony Cekada claims that the new lectionary “contains more Scripture but less of its actual message.”[2] At first sight, this claim may seem sight incredible. After all, does not the massive increase in passages read aloud automatically mean that more of the message of God’s word must be present?

It is, however, easy to illustrate the truth of what Fr. Cekada is saying by means of a comparison.

Let us say that an erudite publisher wishes to bring out a collection of “classic Shakespeare texts” and stipulates that the book must be relatively compact. A capable editor, thoroughly familiar with the plays, would range through the Bard’s tragedies, comedies, histories, and romances, selecting famous speeches and favorite characters as well as an occasional lesser-known odd, dark, curious, or lyrical passage. Even though only a small percentage of the whole content will end up included, the resulting florilegium will nevertheless be truly representative of the whole, flavored with all aspects of the Bard’s genius.

Now, imagine another publisher, more up-to-date in his views (and therefore more narrow-minded), who agrees that Shakespeare is, after all, an author to reckon with — but only in those aspects of his work that are acceptable to modern readers, since today’s men and women do not like to be reminded of sin, death, judgment, hell, and other unpleasant things. This publisher also feels that the tragic element has been rather overdone, so he wishes to have excerpts from the comedies, histories, and romances, but nothing from the tragedies. And because typesetting and printing have become so easy and affordable, he decides that he can bring out a multi-volume set. This publisher hires an editor whom he instructs to do all of the above. He must include a far greater quantity of Shakespeare, but he must avoid the “difficult” parts. The work is executed and three shiny volumes roll off the presses.

The notice for Thomas Bowdler's The Family Shakspeare of 1807

Would we not say, in all honesty, that no matter what percentage of Shakespeare finds its way into the latter set of volumes, they are not, in fact, representative of the whole, owing to the politically correct (and thus arbitrary and subjective) editorial policy? Would we not say that the other publisher’s single volume, though much more compact, can better lay claim to being a synopsis of Shakespeare?

Yes, this is exactly what we would say.

This hypothetical example manifests a universal truth: one must first embrace the whole as whole before one can fairly select parts as parts. In other words, to know what parts are important, and to know how they may be used when taken out of their larger context, demands an appreciation of the whole and a sensitivity to the relative weight and function of the parts.

A racial example will make this clear. If one believes that all races are equal, one can reasonably pick out a few individuals for military or government positions and leave the rest behind, without incurring the charge of racial prejudice. That a few got picked, and perhaps only those of a certain race, would not be a matter of prejudice but of practical necessity: there are only so many positions to be filled, and the best men are to be chosen. The best pick, at any given time, will not necessarily include a range of races; that is a matter of divine providence. If, in contrast, one believed that only men of a certain race were human or virtuous, one’s subsequent choice of individuals from that race alone, passing over of individuals from other races, would be problematic.

It is just like this with the lectionaries. The historic lectionaries of the Western tradition contain relatively few passages, but these passages are well chosen for their latreutic and educative functions. They carry a tremendous “punch.” No prejudice against difficult, demanding, or politically incorrect passages guided the redaction. Your traditional lectionary, as small as it is, gives you the rough with the smooth, every type of passage from clear to obscure, consoling to disturbing, pacific to violent. Just like in our hypothetical Shakespeare book.

It is true: the old lectionary lacks some of the favorite stories of the Bible. But since its purpose was never merely to instruct, much less to entertain, and since it contains clear passages on all of the major subjects of doctrine and morality, its incompleteness in this regard is no defect on any reasonable account; such omissions are in no way crippling to its liturgical function. Moreover, there is no reason that a limited number of additional readings could not have been judiciously added to the existing structure, in keeping with Sacrosanctum Concilium 35 and 51. For as we know, organic development of the liturgy occurs most often by means of addition, not subtraction or ex nihilo innovation.

What was done by the Prometheans, instead, was to scrap the existing millennium-old lectionary and start literally from scratch, with two false guiding principles: (1) the purpose of the lectionary is to present as much instructional content to the people as possible; (2) this instructional content should avoid anything that is “too difficult for modern man.” The first principle indicates a faulty liturgical theology; the second, a faulty theology of biblical inspiration and inerrancy. Together they amount to a rejection of the most fundamental principle of all, namely, that liturgical tradition is to be received with veneration and passed on without diminution or corruption.

Hence, the new lectionary is vitiated in its principles and, whatever its benefits may happen to be, as a whole it cannot be seen as a genuine lectionary in the sense in which venerable Christian tradition has produced lectionaries. It is rather a committee product that God, in His mercy, has permitted to be not entirely without fruit. The sooner we recognize this fact, the sooner we can repent of our rashness and return to our traditional lectionary, which emerges from unfiltered Christian faith and piety.

In conclusion, it is quite possible for a lectionary to have more of Scripture quantitatively but less of Scripture qualitatively. The traditional Roman lectionary gives to the people more of the total message of Scripture, even though it has a lower word-count, while the new lectionary gives to the people less of the total message, in spite of its vastly higher word-count.

NOTES
[1] As we await this publication, the talk is available at my Academia.edu page.
[2] There is much to admire in Fr. Cekada’s research, as Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth said in his review of it in Usus Antiquior.  But, as with Msgr. Wadsworth, I cannot share many of the book’s conclusions.

Monastic Chant Forum at Quarr Abbey, Isle of Wight, July 2017

January 17, 2017, 7:01 am

≫ Next: A Proper Hymn for St Anthony the Abbot

≪ Previous: A Tale of Two Lectionaries: Qualitative versus Quantitative Measures

$

0

0

Fr Benedict Hardy of Pluscarden Abbey has sent me details about the next meeting of the Monastic Chant Forum, which will take place at Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight in England this coming July.

The meeting will run from Monday July 17th (arrivals before supper at 7 pm) to Friday, July 21st. (Departures in the morning: the daily Mass at Quarr is at 9:00 am).

The speakers are:

Dr. Giedrius Gapsys of the Ecole de Chant Grégorien de Paris
Dom Xavier Perrin, Abbot of Quarr, and
Sr. Bernadette Byrne, Choir Mistress at Ryde.

The theme is “Gregorian phrase analysis and practice”

Dr Gapsys writes:

“This is one of the most crucial points in Gregorian studies, and still a very practical one! Text, melody, neums and mode are the ‘four points of the compass’ that enable us to find our way to the Gregorian phrase safely, and in this way to bring our chant to life.”

The hope is to attract as many from the monastic world as possible. The presence of monks and nuns from a variety of different communities will be deeply appreciated, but others will also be warmly welcomed, and offered accommodation as space allows.

Fr Benedict said to me:

In my opinion, anyone at all attending this meeting will come away with a much enhanced understanding of Gregorian Chant, and an ever deeper appreciation of its value as great music, as sung liturgical worship, as prayer. They will also have experienced a thoroughly enjoyable few days, in a most fraternal and congenial setting.

There will be a modest residential fee of £150, or £30 for single days, payable to Quarr Abbey, c/o the Procurator, Fr. Brian Kelly. They hope to secure a grant to cover the course costs, as usual, but cannot yet promise success in this, so there may be an additional course fee.

For accommodation at Quarr, please contact Fr. Brian at: procurator@quarr.org. Information about St. Cecilia’s Abbey Ryde from Sr. Bernadette Byrne at abbey@stceciliasabbey.org.uk.

We are used to thinking of monasteries as power-houses of prayer that offer the liturgy on behalf the Church and the world. There is an additional, very concrete reason why it is important that religious communities continue to offer ever better chanted liturgies, and why events such as this are to be supported. It is through retreats and visits to the monasteries and convents around the world that many people are first exposed to the beauty of chant and encounter the power of the Liturgy of the Hours. Such visits, whether as part of a group, as guided retreats, or as personal visits are popular with many people who would not normally think of themselves as interested in liturgy or even Catholicism.

This can draw people to the Church and help make more of them aware of what the liturgy can be. Through such contacts, people can come away with a desire to see something better. It might mean recognition that they have a religious vocation, but it is as likely to create a desire for chant in the liturgy in their parishes. It was through my visits to Benedictine monasteries including Pluscarden and Quarr that my eyes were opened to the beauty of chant and the power of the Liturgy of the Hours.