Alma Redemptoris Mater

From Advent until the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is customary in some places to sing the 11th-century antiphon, 'Alma Redemptoris Mater' instead of the 'Salve Regina'. The Dominican chant tone heard on this recording is somewhat different from the solemn Roman version that is perhaps more well-known. It was recorded by a group of Dominican students in Blackfriars, Oxford.

Alma Redemptoris Mater, quae pervia caeli
Porta manes, et stella maris, succurre cadenti,
Surgere qui curat, populo: tu quae genuisti,
Natura mirante, tuum sanctum Genitorem
Virgo prius ac posterius, Gabrielis ab ore
Sumens illud Ave, peccatorum miserere.

"Kindly Mother of the Redeemer, who art ever of heaven
The open gate, and the star of the sea, aid a fallen people,
Which is trying to rise again; thou who didst give birth,
While Nature marvelled how, to thy Holy Creator,
Virgin both before and after, from Gabriel's mouth
Accepting the All hail, be merciful towards sinners."

(translated by Cardinal Newman)

Missa Et ecce terrae motus

One listen to the "Earthquake Mass" of Antoine Brumel might lead you to believe it is a 20th century composition--perhaps something modern that looks back but nonetheless employs modern harmonies and musical patterns of our age. So it can be disconcerting to discover that Brumel (1460-1512) was actually a contemporary of Josquin, a pre-Reformation composer who had achieved stunning heights of sophistication.

It is the kind of piece that causes you to seriously wonder about the conventional version of history itself, that somehow we became ever more sophisticated from the 16th century and beyond, marching forward into the light. In fact, what we here in this stunning work is the musical equivalent of the most elaborate and majestic cathedral. It suggests a time of advancement in civilization in every way. But what makes this piece different from other signs of advancement in, say, science or technology, is that focus, which is so clearly on transcendence. Every note, every phrase, reaches and stretches, sometimes painfully, to touch a timeless reality.

I'm blogging on this piece and CD in particular since it is common for those who are newly interested in sacred music to focus on and even get stuck in one mode: Palestrina, Victoria, and other Italians of the counter-reformation period. If we get on this path, we can easily overlook the music of people like Brumel, which shows no sign of intimidation by the didactic demands of reformation ideology. We find here a freer and more completely unleashed search for God, with the result of sounds and styles that are, to my ears, astoundingly fresh and even mold-breaking. If you were to compare this 12-part Mass to a more familiar piece, imagine a Mass-length Spem in Alium, with towers of part writing that are built ever higher until the overwhelm you with grandeur.

I think Amazon may allow some previews of this, but you might consider just surprising yourself. This is music that inspires awe. It must have in Brumel's time and it remains so in ours.

One More Image from the First Vespers of Advent

We already covered papal vespers for the beginning of Advent yesterday, but there was one more image I recently saw thanks to reader "SMJ" that simply seems too nice to not be shown and shared. I am sure many will likely want to save it. Enjoy.

The Works of Guido d'Arezzo

One of the most spectacular yet least appreciated contributions to the development of civilization was the invention of staff lines for writing music. If that seems like no big deal, imagine a world in which there was no written music and you had to come up with a way to transmit these floating abstractions called notes onto a page in a manner that would permit the melody to be inaudibly transmitted over space and time. It is no wonder it took several thousand years for a system to be put together, and one man made the great breakthrough: Guido d'Arezzo, who lived from 990 to 1033 or thereabouts.

Now his writings have been put together in this in book in Italian. Here is an English translation of the page. As the ad points out, one of the paradoxes is that Guido was a "conservative" by any standard. He favored the chant, and the preservation of the chant, and didn't have much affection even for part writing. Yet in order to accomplish the end of preserving and continuing tradition, he used the most modern innovations he could. In this sense, he has much in common with today's Catholic bloggers, attempting to preserve and education on behalf of tradition.

The book includes notes and analysis by Angelo Rusconi, who appears to be the foremost expert in the world. Guido himself was certainly a hinge of history, super controversial in his time, so much so that he was tossed out of his monastery and forced to appeal to the Pope to find another. He was a monopoly breaker who loathed the cult of the experts and hoped to democratize the chant experience. Interesting, he also wrote a tract against simony, which is also included here.

Times haven't changed much in 1000 years!

Pope Celebrates Mass in the Roman Basilica of St. Lawrence on the Occasion of the 1750th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of St. Lawrence [UPDATED]

Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass today at the Roman basilica of Saint Lawrence Outside the Walls on the occasion of the 1750th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saint Lawrence.

It is always both gratifying and interesting to watch papal masses from these ancient Roman basilicas.

First a few images of the Basilica itself from our own Fra Lawrence Lew:

(The Cloister)


(Beneath the high altar is the confessio where we find the tomb of St. Lawrence. You may wish to refer back to the first part of the NLM's piece on the history and development of the Christian altar which discusses this feature of Roman basilicas.)




(The ancient Ambo. The reason for the two sets of steps is explained by the Catholic Encyclopedia this way: "Originally there was only one ambo in a church, placed in the nave, and provided with two flights of steps; one from the east, the side towards the altar; and the other from the west. From the eastern steps the subdeacon, with his face to the altar, read the Epistles; and from the western steps the deacon, facing the people, read the Gospels.")




(Looking toward the Nave)

Here now, a few photographs from today's papal liturgy in the basilica:












(Outside the Basilica following the Mass)

UPDATE:

Thanks to reader SMJ for finding these additional images.

The Beginning of Advent: Veni, Veni Emmanuel

With the beginning of Advent with 1st Vespers this evening in the Roman rite (it is worth recalling that in traditions such as the Ambrosian rite, Advent has 6 weeks and thus began 2 weeks ago), it seems fitting to mark our shift into this season with an Advent hymn, "Veni, Veni Emmanuel" -- a hymn that is based upon the famous Advent "O" Antiphons.

A Lost Work of Amalarius of Metz: A Title of the Henry Bradshaw Society

The Henry Bradshaw Society (HBS) has been providing extraordinarily useful and interesting scholarly liturgical studies and critical editions since the 19th century and, as was reported here some time ago, we can be thankful that they have partnered with Boydell and Brewer and are looking to reprint all of the out of print works of that society.

A few months ago representatives of that publishing house sent me a copy of A Lost Work by Amalarius of Metz and so I wished to say a word or two about it.

The title is a part of the Subsidia series of that imprint -- which, incidentally, is one of the most generally useful series of this imprint, and which will appeal to the widest audience since they amount to histories and commentaries. Titles in that series include such interesting topics as papal ceremonial in the 12th century, Anglo-Saxon liturgy, or, as in the case of this particular work, an older liturgical commentary that gives us some insights into the Latin liturgy and its ceremonial as it stood at a particular time in history. Those interested in liturgical history, development and the like will no doubt find these sorts of references quite invaluable and useful.

Amalarius of Metz lived around the 8th-9th century thereby putting him in potential view of one of the most intriguing times in Western liturgical history; that of the Frankish liturgical projects of Charlemagne. Many believe he was a disciple of the famed liturgist, Alcuin of York and he often wrote upon liturgical subjects, being known for his allegorical interpretation of the sacred liturgy -- which aren't without some controversy of course.

The "Lost Work" which is presented in this book is a portion of a larger work, with these particular texts focusing upon the Divine Office and the Sacred Triduum. The volume includes the Latin text of these as well as an English translation, and also includes a comprehensive introduction which analyzes the contents of the lost work and also gives an introduction to Amalarius himself.

An excerpt may be what best gives a sense of what one might find within the texts in question:

It has been said in the aforesaid ordo: 'On the morning of Holy Saturday, the archdeacon assigned to St. John Lateran comes to the church, and he pours wax into a larger, clean vessel and mixes in oil. Once the wax has been blessed, he pours it out in the forms of lambs and safeguards them in a clean place' and so on. As you know, dearest brother, by the sacramental work of our redeemer two actual things are consecrated today, namely water and wax. But before we go knocking to enquire why water, why wax, we should say, by the Lord's mercy, why those things are blessed on the same day, since almost all our acts of consecration take place on this day of the week, such as the ordination of doorkeepers, lectors and so on, all the way up to the priesthood.

Now it should be mentioned that the "Lost Work" itself comprises only 37 pages of translated text, but within those pages, there is a great deal of interest as I believe this one paragraph alone demonstrates.

For those who are interested in our earlier liturgical history and an insight into some of the customs and ceremonies of the Roman church, this work, while expensive, will no doubt prove to be of interest.

If you are interested in purchasing this text, see here: A Lost Work by Amalarius of Metz

1st Vespers of Advent: St. Peter's Basilica

As was recently discussed upon here in relation to the "Benedictine arrangement", papal liturgical practice is a very important testimony which many clergy take careful note of, and which can often inspire their own liturgical practice, and so the NLM always tries to bring you coverage of papal liturgical events when it can.

For that reason, and also to bring us into Advent and to help inaugurate the new ecclesiastica year, the NLM is pleased to provide some coverage of the the 1st Vespers of the 1st Sunday of Advent from St. Peter's Basilica.

The Throne of Leo XIII is again being used






Latin and chant is quite prominent within the Vespers service as we have become accustomed to in the papal liturgies under Pope Benedict XVI


This picture shows the positioning of the papal throne


The Pope delivering his discourse




The Pope imposes incense at the Magnificat




The use of two deacons to incense at Vespers services continues

French Priest Friendly toward Usus Antiquior Appointed Bishop by Benedict XVI

Some very interesting news is coming out of France today by way of the Schola Sainte Cecile -- and the NLM's own Philippe Guy may be able to give us more insight into this. They are reporting that their pastor, the pastor of the parish church of St-Eugene-Ste-Cecile, has been appointed a bishop by the Holy Father:

Our Priest named Bishop!

The Holy Father has appointed M. l’abbé Batut, pastor of St-Eugene-Sainte-Cecile (Paris IX), auxiliary Bishop of Lyon.

Bishop-[elect] Batut was pastor for a year at St. Eugene, having arrived there on September 2 2007.

In particular, he celebrated the traditional Mass several times outside his parish church during pilgrimages, which met with great success...

His episcopal coronation is expected on January 10 next.

[...]

It is with sadness that we lose a good shepherd, but this sacrifice is offset by the joy of what he can work for the Church of France.

The parish of St. Eugene-St. Cecile has been featured a number of times upon the NLM. M. l’abbé Batut on the other hand may not be known by name to many NLM readers, but some of the Masses he has celebrated will be familiar, most particularly the recent June 2008 usus antiquior Mass held in the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris and the January 2008 Mass at Notre-Dame des Victoires.


Bishop-elect Batut at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris


Bishop-elect Batut at Notre-Dame des Victoires

The official announcement of the appointment is referenced upon the website of the Archdiocese of Lyon.

Suffice it to say, it is good to see more episcopal appointments under Benedict XVI of men who are open and friendly toward the usus antiquior and to the Pope's programme of liturgical reform and re-enchantment generally.

Report on Day 2 of the Usus Antiquior Conference, Spain

The Fraternity of Christ the Priest have given us a report of the second day of their four day conference.

The day began with various private Masses we are told.

On Tuesday morning, Father Gabriel Diaz gave a conference to the gathered diocesan priests, "The contribution of Pope Benedict XVI to the ars celebrandi."

In the afternoon a Missa Cantata was offered in the parish of Briallos and the Fraternity of Christ the Priest report a very good attendance at this Mass on the part of the faithful. The Mass was offered by Don Eduardo Montes, a priest of the diocese of Toledo.







More photos are available on the site of the Fraternity of Christ the Priest.

ICRSS in Rome

ICRSS Apostolate in Rome

Cardinal Zen's Altar Arrangement

It is always interesting to observe how influential papal practice is. A few years ago, the use of six altar candlesticks upon the altar was barely seen, let alone the altar cross or a seventh candle for the Ordinary, but since the Pope has begun to renew these practices in his own liturgies, many have taken his lead. Be it small parish churches or pontifical liturgies, ever more frequently is it being found, all lending itself to a re-orientation of our focus within the Mass, and seeding the ground for a renewal of our tradition of ad orientem liturgicum.

Recently for the Feast of Christ the King, Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong held an outdoor Mass where this arrangement was seen.

While there are a couple of minor adjustments that could be made to enhance this particular arrangement even moreso, it is a good start, particularly in temporary circumstances, and very encouraging to see these developments continue to spread.

Usus Antiquior returns to Johannesburg Cathedral

From a reader in South Africa:

...after many years the TLM is returning to the Cathedral of our largest city, Johannesburg.

[...]

The Traditional Latin Mass will begin to be offered at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Saratoga Ave and End Street, Johannesburg from December 2008.

The celebrant will be the cathedral administrator, Rev Fr. Shaun Mary von Lillienfeld.

The Traditional Latin Mass schedule for the first week in December is as follows:

Tuesday (2nd December) 17:30
Thursday (4th December) 17:30
Saturday (6th December) 7:30

These will all be low masses.

This is likely to to be the schedule throughout December. In addition, we are hoping to have mass on one Sunday. Changes to the schedule and any additions can be found at http://unavocesa.blogspot.com/

When will we be allowed to release new Mass settings?

Here is an interesting story from Australia: "The Bishops Commission for Liturgy is inviting Australian composers to submit new compositions or adapted settings that they have already composed to the new translation of the Roman Missal. The call comes after the Holy See granted official recognition to the Order of the Mass in the new translation. The Order of the Mass includes the parts of the Mass most frequently sung at celebrations of the Eucharist, the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation and Agnus Dei."

It raises a question in my own mind. Musicasacra.com has a huge collection of settings already prepared, in English, based on chant, with the new English words. They are free for the downloading and use in every parish in the English speaking world. You can sing them as soon as the translation is approved for use.

But you can't download them. You can't even look at them. Why? Because ICEL demands that they stay behind bars until all commercial, for-profit publishers can release theirs at the same time. So there they sit, unused and unviewed, kept from you by the force of law that implicitly backs ICEL's demand.

I think it is about time that ICEL permit them to at least be examined, don't you?

The "Benedictine Arrangement" in Quebec

A couple of photos to show another example of the "Benedictine arrangement" come in from a priestly friend, from the parish of St-Alphonse-de-Liguori in Chapeau, Quebec.

(An English style frontal for the freestanding altar would also be wonderful. Something Father is considering I think.)

NLM Interview with Julian Chadwick, Chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales

This past summer, I had the pleasure to visit England again, with the specific purpose of renewing liturgical contacts there and developing new one's. One such enterprise was an evening with Mr. Julian Chadwick, the Chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. One of the fruits coming from that meeting was an interview that has been in the works now for some while and which I am pleased to finally be able to present.

NLM: As Chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales, can you give us a sense of your own background with regard to the movement to promote the usus antiquior?

Julian Chadwick: I was bought up in southern England by Anglican parents, but through my late mother I also have strong roots in Welsh non-conformity. In spite of this, I was always attracted by the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England. Many churches I used to frequent used the English translation of the Roman Missal and the ceremonies that went with the missal, and I remember a sense of loss when many such churches converted to a more contemporary form of worship. I had not realized that deconstructive liturgy was undermining the faith of my friends and I started to become interested in the complexities of the liturgical reform at the same time as I started to move towards the Church. In fact I visited the Institute of Christ the King at Gricigliano just before my conversion!

It is, of course, simplistic to blame all the problems of the modern church on the liturgical crisis, but I have no doubt that the new liturgy has done much to undermine the church in Western Europe.

It was a great honour for me when David Lloyd and Michael Davies approached me to ask if I would be willing to become Chairman of the Latin Mass Society. I hesitated through a sense of my own unworthiness, and I wondered whether I would be equal to the job, given my professional responsibilities as a solicitor, but it was a privilege to undertake the role in which I have now served for over 4 years.

NLM: The Latin Mass Society has had a very active role within England and Wales in promoting the usus antiquior of the Roman rite. For the benefit of those newer to their interest in the usus antiquior, or for those who operate in North America or other parts of the world, can you give a quick summary of the history and activities of the Latin Mass Society?

Julian Chadwick: The LMS was set up at a time when there was great liturgical turmoil in the Church. In the early days of post-conciliar reform, the stress was less on changing the form of the liturgy than in having parts of the liturgy in the vernacular. It could be said that the Society was originally founded as much as anything else to encourage the correct application of the Council’s Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium – in which the Council Fathers declared that Latin was to be preserved as the normative language of the Roman rite.

There was also deep concern at the beginning of the history of the Society that the great musical traditions of the western church would disappear in the rush towards vernacular worship.

But as the form of the Mass was changed, the Society moved increasingly towards the position of promoting the celebration of what we now call the usus antiquior. Members of the Society who were more concerned with preserving the new form of the Mass in Latin formed their own association. One of the principal objects of the LMS (which is registered as a charity under English law) is “to promote the regular and frequent celebration of Holy Mass…in the Latin language and in the form no later than that published in AD1962”. The Society has been clear that it supports liturgical rites “celebrated by priests with faculties from a Bishop or superior in communion with the Holy See”. In our constitution we make it very clear that we are always to be in obedience to the Holy See.

We were always very fortunate in England because in the early 1970’s the late Cardinal Heenan obtained the so-called Heenan Indult from Pope Paul VI at a very early stage. The history of this is well documented, but it is worth recording that many non-Catholics as well as Catholics realized at the time the importance of the preservation of the usus antiquior to European civilization.

The Latin Mass Society has about four thousand members including over 250 priests. We have consistently lobbied individual bishops for regular celebrations of the Mass and sacraments, and for Bishops to honour the wishes of the late Holy Father John Paul II in this respect, as well as that of the present Holy Father.

NLM: What impact has Summorum Pontificum had on the Latin Mass Society?

Julian Chadwick: This is a whole new world! We were able to celebrate the coming into force of this motu proprio with a most splendid solemn Mass in the London Oratory. September 14th 2007 was a great day for the Church, and in a way it was an important day in the history of the LMS, for it marked a decisive shift in the way we can serve the Church.

Up until then most celebrations of the older form of the Mass in the dioceses were organized by the LMS with (the, at times, hard-won!) permission of the local bishop. But of course this is no longer the case. It is not a question of us lobbying a Bishop for “permission” any more. The Holy Father has given priests the direct responsibility of deciding when the older rites are to be celebrated, and he has given all the faithful the right to their celebration.

Now, in some cases we are only barely aware where and when priests are offering the usus antiquior on a regular basis. This, of course, is a return to a more normal situation in the Church. We are a lay society and it is extraordinary indeed for laity to be ‘in charge’ of liturgical celebrations.

We have lived through some very extraordinary years, and our forebears in the LMS – many of them already dead – did a splendid job and suffered much in difficult times; but today it is clear that we must move away from the old culture, where Masses were held in inconvenient locations and at odd hours, to a situation where the usus antiquior is part of the regular pattern of parish Masses. The LMS is at the service of the clergy in realizing this return to normality. It is a big change for us, and some of us haven’t quite realized it yet, but in the long run I’m confident that the spirit of generosity, sacrifice and love for the Church and indeed for the Holy Father that is so tangible every time I meet our members, will help us move on and to find new ways of serving the Church in this exciting post-Summorum Pontificum world.

NLM: This past June you hosted Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos in London. Would you care to comment on his visit and on its impact?

Julian Chadwick: We were honoured that Cardinal Castrillon accepted the invitation of the Society to visit London for what was an all-too-brief visit. His Eminence arrived on Friday evening, and then, together with the LMS Committee and invited guests, attended the dinner that I hosted at The Travellers Club. The following morning, after a press conference, he was able to address the AGM of the LMS and then, after being welcomed privately by the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, to celebrate Pontifical Mass in Westminster Cathedral. To see the Cathedral so full was a remarkable testimony to the popularity of the ancient liturgy, especially amongst the young. What was even more remarkable was the strength of emotion of many of so many of the faithful on that occasion. I think his visit was a clear statement that Summorum Pontificum is for the whole Church, not just for some peculiar old-fashioned Catholics. Also, I think there is a clear message here from the Holy Father, that his reform of the liturgy cannot be ignored.

NLM: One of the most significant and prominent activities that the Latin Mass Society has undertaken lately has been the training conference for Priests and clerics generally interested in learning to celebrate the usus antiquior which has occurred the past two years at Merton College, Oxford. This is an event which has gained international interest and attention and has surely become the gold standard for training conferences, putting forward the very best foot of the usus antiquior, both in terms of the quality of the training and the liturgies themselves. What can you tell us about this initiative? How did it begin?

Julian Chadwick: It is clear that now there need to be more priests who are properly trained in the celebration in the usus antiquior. Sometimes in the past we have been aware of one or two priests who have been “put up” or asked to offer the older Mass but who have either been poorly trained or do not particularly feel at home with celebrating it.

Paul Waddington, who is one of our committee members, had the providential idea of a training conference for priests. The first one, in August 2007, was arranged quite quickly and took place at Merton College, Oxford. We had no idea how many priests would be interested and in the end nearly 40 came. This was a short conference, but in the course of a few days training was provided towards the celebration of the low Mass. We were deeply heartened by the generosity shown by the Archbishop of Birmingham in his encouragement for the conference to go ahead - he attended the first day and offered clear words of support. Bishop Slattery of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Bishop Rifan of Campos were our honoured guests also. Bishop Slattery celebrated Pontifical Mass and Bishop Rifan celebrated Pontifical Vespers.

This last July a much longer conference was arranged – a week in length – again with the generous support of the Archbishop of Birmingham. We were graced with the presence of Bishop Malcolm McMahon OP of Nottingham, and Bishop David McGough, one of the Birmingham auxiliaries, was due to attend but most unfortunately he could not do so because of a family bereavement. Pontifical Mass was offered in his place by the Abbot of Lagrasse (with the appropriate permissions) in what was undoubtedly one of the most splendid Pontifical ceremonies ever to take place in this country.

This year’s conference encompassed far more than low Mass. An expanded team of priest-instructors offered tuition in the celebration of the sacraments, the breviary, solemn and sung Mass, as well as in the basics of low Mass. Tuition was also available for those new to Latin. All the participants were offered the opportunity to celebrate a low Mass (or to go through a ‘dry’ Mass) with the assistance of an experienced priest. This wider scope attracted our maximum possible number of registrations, 60, including priests from the USA, South Africa, Australia, and beyond.

The amount of work the whole conference involved was enormous. But the LMS has been hugely blessed with the dedicated and professional input of Father Andrew Wadsworth, Catholic Chaplain of Harrow School, our Director of Tuition, and of Dr Alcuin Reid, the world-famous liturgist and scholar, our Director of Liturgy. Through months of effort they assembled a teaching staff and a liturgical team respectively which delivered, as you so kindly remarked, a “gold standard” for conferences.

Apart from the practical tuition, three more academic lectures were arranged by Dr Laurence Hemming, a leading voice in the academic study of the liturgy. Under his expertise the priests were led to consider aspects of liturgical theology, the pastoral use of the usus antiquior in a parish, and of the implications of Summorum Pontificum.

The generosity of Dr Simon Jones, the chaplain of Merton College, has been wonderful. He kindly gave permission for each conference to have the full use of its medieval chapel and all its resources, something which we have not always found offered to us in Catholic institutions!

No reflections on Merton would be complete without recording the generosity of the faithful. In both cases the conference was entirely paid for by an appeal to members and benefactors.

As in the famous comment about the effects of the French Revolution, it is too early to tell what effects these conferences have had, and continue to have, on all those participating in them, as well as on the wider Church; and we have to guard against simplistic attempts to analyze their benefits. But after both conferences I received numerous letters of support and gratitude from the priest-delegates and I know that, as a result, many of these are now saying the usus antiquior regularly. To receive one such letter makes the time and effort worthwhile.

NLM: As was noted, this event has occurred each summer the past two years. Can we look forward to another such event this summer, and what details can you give readers, particularly priests, who may be interested in attending?

Julian Chadwick: Building on the tremendous success of the past two years, our committee has decided to continue and even expand its opportunities for training in the older rites. The third summer conference will take place at Merton College, Oxford, from August 24th – 28th 2009, with the same experienced organizing team. And Paul Waddington is working hard to organize a conference for training priests in the North of England earlier in 2009. More information on these can be had as it becomes available from our website or by emailing our office.

NLM: What does the future hold for the Latin Mass Society?

Julian Chadwick: Life after Summorum Pontificum is very different and I know that some of our members do not find this altogether easy. We are now part of the mainstream of the church and it is crucial that, without surrendering any of our principles, we integrate into the life of the parishes where we worship, and not either be regarded or regard ourselves as a kind of sect within the Church. It seems to me that the role of the Society will change: although we will and must continue to promote the usus antiquior to all, the days of the laity fulfilling an organizing role that is properly that of the clergy must soon, we hope, be regarded as over. So we shall find our role being more one of providing support to priests and bishops, through training and through supplying practical and financial help at a local level.

So the work of our Society is by no means finished. We have much to offer, as the past two years have shown, as indeed has the traditional movement. But we must be careful not to isolate ourselves or to seek or demand the impossible. We also have to realize that many Catholics don’t understand our position – they know nothing other than the newer rites. In being of further service to priests, as they apply Summorum Pontificum in the coming years, we can surely help to bring about a situation where the Mass our founders thought was lost is once again known by and available to all Catholics up and down the land.

NLM: Thank you Mr. Chadwick.

Guadalupe Seminary Chapel Rises from the Prairie

This has been a banner year for architect and professor Thomas Gordon Smith, who might rightly be called the father of the Catholic architectural revival. Not only has he seen work commence on the great church of Clear Creek Abbey in Oklahoma, but I also read that final phase of his work at the FSSP's seminary in Lincoln, Nebraska, is well under way. I visited the site back in May and foundations were clearly in evidence. The to-be-built design is largely the same as planned, though it appears a small, but handsome, bell-cote or bell-wall is substituting for the large Romanesque campanile. While it is unfortunate that costs had to be cut somewhere, I am nonetheless pleased to see that the substitution has been handled quite elegantly. Such an element might be used in a smaller, money-conscious parish church design with equally successful results.

First Images and Report from the IBP-Fraternity of Christ the Priest Training Conference in Spain

Some of the first photos and reports from the joint IBP-Fraternity of Christ the Priest training conference in Spain (mentioned earlier on the NLM here and here) are starting to appear. The following images are from the first day of the conference.

A few brief comments will follow the pictures, including some thoughts upon the significance of these events for the reform of the reform.

One interesting comment reported by the Fraternity of Christ the Priest is one we have heard elsewhere from other priests learning the usus antiquior and which touches upon the idea of enrichment:

"It is a unanimous feeling among the participants that the celebration of this [ancient] liturgical use contributes to an enormous enrichment of priestly piety, and provides for a greater identification with Christ the Priest and a greater appreciation of the gift of the vocation [they have] received.

Touching upon this theme of enrichment, it is worth remembering that events such as these might seem to be solely related to the usus antiquior but that is not in fact the case. Those who attend these conferences are typically priests serving in parishes and other contexts where the modern Roman liturgy is the normal liturgical expression. These matters are helpful not only in spreading the treasure that is the ancient Roman liturgy into that context, but they will invariably also contribute toward the re-enchantment of the modern Roman liturgy as well and, ultimately, the reform of the reform itself.

The conference concludes on the 28th of November.

More from Life Magazine: The New Cardinals

The Life Magazine photos are proving to be a real treasure trove of images of Vatican life, ceremonial and protocol from the pre-conciliar days. You've seen the pictures posted here and here and now John Sonnen over at Orbis Catholicus has spotted some more in relation to the ceremonies surrounding new Princes of the Church (i.e. the Cardinals).

One gets the sense their archives are full of many treasures yet unseen. Thanks to John for finding these.

UPDATE

Apparently these also appeared on an interesting site, The Far Sight which specifically looks for photos like these. For those interested in these things, it is likely a site to check into.

Get Ready for Ad te levavi

Here is a beautiful recording of the Introit for the first Sunday of Advent - in this case from a seminary in the Netherlands. This introit applies to both new and old forms of the Roman Rite. If you hear something else, you are not hearing the ideal. Pass this on to your director of music, who might be surprised to know that the music of the Mass is not entirely ours to choose as we wish.

100th Anniversary Celebrations of St. Francis de Sales Oratory, St. Louis USA

The following came into the NLM from the ICRSS yesterday.

ST. LOUIS, MO - Over 1,000 faithful gathered in the church of St. Francis de Sales Oratory, to assist at the Solemn Pontifical Mass celebrated by His Excellency, the Most Reverend Robert J. Hermann, Administrator of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. From the powerful beginning of the “Premiere Symphonie” of Guilmant to the sweeping phrases of the Credo of the “Messe Solemnelle” of Charles Gounod to the soaring lines of the closing hymn of “To Jesus Christ Our Sovereign King,” sixty musicians filled the magnificent Gothic edifice of the St. Francis de Sales church. The splendor of the sacred liturgy was adorned fittingly by the majesty and richness of the music, directed by Mr. Nick Botkins, director of sacred music and master of the choirs at the Oratory.

His Excellency, Bishop Hermann gave a moving sermon. He invited all faithful of good will to reclaim the fullness of the sacraments. He impressed upon all present the “verticality of the architecture of the church” which corresponds so visibly with the theocentricity of the Mass.

The Holy Mass was then followed by a festive gathering in the Oratory Hall, celebrating St. Francis de Sales church’s German immigrant heritage. Complete with traditional German food and beer and even a German band, the afternoon was enjoyed by hundreds of families with children of all ages who crowded the church hall. This overwhelming turnout was a testament to the thriving youthful community of faithful at the Oratory.

On this 100th Anniversary, it was also announced that St. Francis de Sales is beginning a capital campaign called “Tradition for Tomorrow.” This campaign will raise the necessary funds to restore the church of St. Francis de Sales to its former glory and ensure that it remains a true landmark of South St. Louis. More information can be found at www.traditionfortomorrow.com.

St. Michael's, Leawood: What Might Have Been

"D Mac" over at Creative Minority Report has been continuing his good series on the liturgical architecture of St. Michael's, a new church planned for Leawood, Kansas. His latest installment deals with the hierarchical use of the classical orders in the design, as well as an aside on a clever iconographic variant on the Corinthian order unique to the church. (Even if you don't like classicism as a matter of taste or ideology, such symbolism is a good thing to learn about, and will make such architecture a little easier to read and analyze.)

What I was really blown away by was D Mac's recent entry on the the really stunning initial designs produced by architect David Meleca, as they stood before the project was value-engineered to meet the budget. When I first saw them, I was utterly stunned--in a good way.



They show the importance of thinking ambitiously, given how much of the original proposal made it into the final version. Furthermore, it's simply refreshing, speaking as someone who works in the field of architecture, to see someone working in such a high register of the classical vocabulary with such obvious pleasure and zest. The complexity (not mere complicatedness) of the design is handled with an almost unprecedented ease. Even the final version preserves much of that excitement. There is, of course, room for critique, but there is much here to consider and learn from, both in the general shape and its detailing.

Weddings as Tools of Evangelism

The line we hear on low forms of liturgy is that this is what people want so we have to give it to them good and hard. On the other hand, weddings are a great way to illustrate the opposite point. Good liturgy inspires and provides a glimpse of the majesty of God. This just arrived in my inbox.

I just wanted to thank you for your help with the music at my recent wedding. Your directions enabled us to have the gradual etc chanted very splendidly. The Mass was amazing. We had a Palestrina ordinary (Hodie christus natus...) as well as some Parry and Lassus. Other good things was a tunicled acolyte and proper offetory procession with humeral veil, chanted lesson and Ad Orientem (in a very liberal convent/school's chapel)

And a good thing to note was that 80% of the guests weren't catholic but felt compelled by it. My agnostic Grandfather has really changed his tune towards the catholic mass for instance.

Those guests who were catholic also felt compelled and have expressed to me that they want more of that kind of thing in their local parishes etc. I'm telling you this because it I feel it is always good news to hear how beauty in worship actually evangelizes.

Dominican Altar Cards

I thought that some of our readers might be interested in seeing a lovely set of "Neo-Gothic / Fra Angelico" altar cards that are in the Western Dominican Province House of Studies, Saint Albert the Great Priory in Oakland. They usually grace the Sacristy, but are occasionally used at the high altar, most recently for the Solemnity of St. Albert the Great this year. The cards were calligraphed and the miniatures painted by two cloistered nuns of the Dominican Monastery in Menlo Park California for the dedication Mass of the chapel in 1948. Here is a picture of them on the high altar as it was dressed for the Solemnity:

The two smaller candles flanking the large six in this photo are the Sanctus Candles used at that Mass. Here is a closer image of the main card:

Two Fra Angelico angels grace the sides; in the bottom center is the old Coat of Arms of the Province of the Holy Name, the Western Province. In the top roundels, from left to right, we see St. Albert the Great, patron of the House and of natural philosophy; an angel; St. Thomas Aquinas, patron of theology; St. John and Our Lord at the Last Supper; St. Raymond of Penafort, the patron of Canon law, contemplating the Cross; another angel; and, finally, and St. John of Gorkam, who was martyred by the Calvinists in the Low Countries for bringing the Eucharist to Catholics in prison for their faith. The selection is very suitable for the House of Studies as it includes the patrons of theology, philosophy, and canon law, the major disciplines studied there. The other images are chosen because of their links to the Eucharist. Here is the Lavabo card:

In the left roundel , you can see St. Hyacinth of Poland, who carries a statue of the Blessed Mother, as he did when leading the Polish Dominicans to safety during the Mongol invasions. To the right is St. Vincent Ferrer, the great preacher, who was heard by people in their own languages--thus the fire of the Spirit of Pentecost over his head. In the center quatrofoil, St. Dominic mediating on the Cross. Those with sharp eyes will notice the the Dominican form of the Lavabo psalm is shorter than the Roman. Finally, here is the Last Gospel card:

To the left, we see St. Pius V, the reformer of the liturgy and pope of the Battle of Lepanto. As this victory over the Muslim invaders was through the intercession of our Lady of the Rosary, the Virgin and Child are in the center. Last, to the right, is St. Peter of Verona, also known as St. Peter Martyr because he was murdered by Cathar heretics in 1253. He is shown in his traditional form, reminding the friars to keep the Silence. Those with a very sharp eye will notice a tiny error in the punctuation of text of John's Gospel: it is the Roman form, not the Dominican. For more on this see my posting here.

RIP: Fr. Chrysogonus Waddell, OCSO

By way of a reader the NLM has learnt that the Abbey of Gethsemani has announced that Fr. Chrysogonus Waddell, OCSO, the author of Cistercian liturgical studies such as The Primitive Cistercian Breviary and The Twelfth Century Cistercian Hymnal died this past Sunday, November 23rd. Requiescat in pace.

A Manifesto For A Return To Monastic Tradition: Details From the German Trappists

After the very brief note from the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei about the return of the German Trappist abbey of Mariawald to the Liturgy and the Observance in use in the Trappist Order until 1963/64 (cf. NLM report here), Mariawald Abbey itself has now issued a press release. This declaration, which is nothing less than a manifesto for a return to monastic tradition, I happily present to you here in an NLM translation:

The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has granted to the abbot of the Trappist abbey Mariawald (diocese of Aachen), Dom Josef Vollberg OCSO, according to his petition, the privilege to return with his abbey to the liturgy and observance in the Ancient Use of the Order which was in force up to the reforms in the wake of the Second Vatican Council.

This so-called "use of Monte Cistello" was approved during the time of the Council in the years 1963/1964 as a preliminary step of reform.

In a letter of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" of 21 November 2008 this papal privilege is granted to the Abbey. In it, reference is made to the personal decision of the Holy Father to accede in all respects to the privileges desired by the Trappist for a full return to the Ancient Use in liturgy and monastic life. This includes the return to the ancient liturgical tradition of the Order in the celebration of Mass and Divine Office as it was binding until the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council.

The project of reform in Mariawald and the petition of the Abbot concerning this can be regarded as a fruit of the efforts of Pope Benedict XVI for the renewal of the Church in the spirit of tradition.

As the various postconciliar reforms have not yielded for the monastery the expected flowering in liturgy and in the life of the Convent, now the return to tradition links to the centuries-old tradition of the Order. Through the return to the ancient Gregorian liturgy and the stricter use of the monastic form of life, Dom Josef promises himself new spiritual impulses, also regarding new vocations for the abbey.

Worldwide, it can be felt that monastic communities, which cultivate the preconciliar Latin liturgy, can boast of significant numbers of vocations. Especially in France, on the background of a traditional interpretation of the rule of St Benedict and the Gregorian liturgy in Mass and Divine Office, there are flourishing abbeys. In Germany it has previously not been possible for vocations to the monastic life of a traditional form to join a corresponding community. With the papal privilege in Germany, too, there is now for the first time the possibility for young men to live the ancient tradition of contemplative life in the august forms of the classical liturgy and in the strict observance of the rule of St Benedict.

Dom Josef sees himself confirmed in his decision by the Holy Father, whose generously formulated privilege of all desired forms of return to tradition also bespeaks his personal desire that in the rediscovery of the ancient liturgy and manner of life, a renewal of monastic life as a whole may be stimulated. Thus, the abbot is convinced, the personal and direct action of the Pope for the Mariawald Abbey corresponds to the "Project of Tradition", which the Holy Father has initiated in 2007 by his Motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum" for the liturgy.

Dom Josef finds himself and his abbey sustainably motivated by the Holy Father and his immediate and direct papal juridical act, to implement the tradition-oriented reform of the monastery with new spiritual vigour for the sake of its future. The Abbey assumes in this a pioneering role worldwide to renew the monastic life out of the spirit of tradition and to counteract the decline of monastic life, which especially some Trappist abbeys have had to experience in recent years.

In the field of economics, the monastery has in recent years already put an emphasis on its focus on organic agriculture. Now it is the spiritual content of contemplative life ehich is to receive new stimuli from the great tradition of the Order and its classical Latin liturgy.

Currently in Mariawald there are living ten monks, a novice and an oblate. The history of the abbey began with the founding of a Cistercian priory in the 15th Century. After an interruption of monastic life of more than sixty years through the turmoil of the French Revolution, the monastery, newly populated in the 19th Century by Trappists from Alsace, was raised to abbey on the Feast of St Michael in 1909.
On the background of this historic date, now the implementation of the full return of the abbey to the old tradition of contemplative life and to classical Gregorian liturgy is to be completed on the Centenary on 29 September 2009.


Marienwald, the 25th of November, 2008

Dom Josef Vollberg, O.C.S.O., abbot

May this be indeed be the beginning of a renewal of monastic life out of the spirit of tradition. Omnes sancti Monachi et Eremitæ, orate pro nobis!

Annual Requiem in Westminster Cathedral, London

Each year the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales (LMS) holds an annual requiem Mass for the repose of the souls of the deceased members and supporters of that society.

This past Saturday, Nov. 22nd, this worthy tradition continued with a Requiem Mass in Westminster Cathedral, London, England. The celebrant was Father Antony Conlon, the national chaplain of the LMS, Fr. Tim Finigan (of Hermeneutic of Continuity) functioned as the deacon, and Fr. Patrick Hayward functioned as subdeacon.

Approximately 600 were in attendance it is reported, and the Westminster Cathedral Choir sang for the event.

Fr. Finigan has other pictures on his blog for those interested, including this splendid image below which shows better the liturgy itself, the catafalque, the black altar frontal (which can be used when the Blessed Sacrament is not reserved in a tabernacle upon the altar) and the unbleached candles which are an as yet underutilized aspect of Masses for the Dead, but one I hope will be recovered as time passes and these traditions again are recovered and grow:

Pontifical Mass in Poland

It is being reported to the NLM that this Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent, His Excellency, Bishop Waclaw Depo, Ordinary of the diocese of Zamosc-Lubaczow, will offer a Solemn Pontifical Mass in the church of St. Catherine at 1:00PM.

It is being suggested that this is the first such event in Poland by an Ordinary since the Pauline liturgical reforms.

Bishop of Tulsa to Celebrate Ad Orientem

Fr John Zuhlsdorf of the "What Does the Prayer Really Say" blog has some very encouraging news about the bishop of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Most Rev. Edward Slattery. According to the news bulletin of Holy Family Cathedral, Tulsa, Okla., the bishop is going to celebrate the 10 a.m. Mass at the ad orientem during Advent and Christmastime. The bulletin gives a very good two page exposition of the reasons for this, including a quite pronounced critique of the "negative effects" of the versus populum posture. At the end, the bishop expresses his hope "that this common posture of the Church at prayer will help you to experience the transcendent truth of the Mass in a new and timeless way" and "that this restored practice will help us understand that at Mass we participate in the authentic worship which Christ offers to His Father by being ‘obedient unto death.’"

Two sets of photos

Two sets of photos were sent in this evening. The first, of reform of the reform interest was from St. William the Confessor Catholic Church in Greenville, Texas:

The photos were taken this past Sunday for the Feast of Christ the King in the calendar of the usus recentior. More photos can be seen here.

The second set of photographs were sent in by some of our Australian readership, and show the recent ordinations of two FSSP priests in Canberra, Australia.




(A wonderful altar frontal)

To see all the photographs, visit Thomas Peregrinus

Institute of the Good Shepherd and Fraternity of Christ the Priest hold Training Conference

The Fraternity of Christ the Priest and Mary the Queen are reporting an interesting usus antiquior training conference which began today in Pontevedra, Spain, and which goes until the 28th, which will find them collaborating with the Institute of the Good Shepherd. (This was also reported on the NLM early on in October. See here.)

As part of the conference, Fr. Gabriel Díaz Patri (pictured to the right), a liturgical scholar and also a priest who servers the Russian Catholics in Paris, France, will be giving three lectures:

1: Why Preserve this Ritual Form (Extraordinary Use)

2: The Importance of Liturgical Orientation

3: Benedict XVI: The Traditional Mass as an Enrichment for the Whole Church

Fr. Díaz Patri was one of the speakers at the CIEL conference in Oxford in 2006.

Themes that will developed throughout the four days will be:

- the contribution of Benedict XVI to "ars celebrandi"
- the centrality of the Cross
- the value of silence in the liturgy
- the expression of worship in the Holy Mass
- beauty and the worship of God

The NLM will endeavour to bring you more news and reports from this excellent looking venture.

Images from Kalamazoo

That Sparrow Mass:

Core Questions about the Psalter

The decision by the US Catholic Bishops to approve the Revised Grail Psalter for text of Psalms at Mass pleased some and upset others. The main concern that led to the approval is the quality of the translations. They are said to be better but no published version yet exists.

As important as this is, another legal aspect of the chosen Psalms could end up being more significant. These Psalms are currency tied up in a publishing cartel that involves major profit-making companies who will be printing these for Catholic parishes at a major profit while prohibiting anyone else from quoting them or printing them. In the course of approving these Psalms, the Bishops have approved this publishing cartel arrangement as well, one that that could cost average Catholics many millions of dollars over time, and also entrench poor quality music in our parish.

The government grant of copyright protection belongs to The Grail in the UK, while the Conception Abbey in the US owns the copyright to whatever changes they made to prepare this for the new release. The most significant part here is that GIA Publications has been named as the worldwide agent for administering permissions.

The GIA is a for-profit music publisher that makes its revenue through music sales to US parishes, and which bears a great deal of responsibility for the sad state of music in the Catholic Church today. It would be naïve to believe that GIA will not favor itself in its administrative policies over the Psalms.

GIA, Conception, and The Grail, have been unwilling to give anything beyond perfunctory, legally-driven replies to inquiries on the exact nature of the arrangement, the financial exchanges that may have taken place, and the eventual policies on permissions and printing of the Psalms.

Normally these types of arrangements are the business of private enterprise. Consumers are free to buy or not to buy. But with the USCCB having approved these Psalms, it becomes the business of every Catholic in the United States and beyond to know more about what these arrangements are. Otherwise there could be dire consequences for non-GIA publishers, for independent composers, for every parish that is trying to save its resources by downloading liturgical materials, and also for the quality of music in our parishes.

The bottom line is that it amounts to a conflict of interest for the most powerful, for-profit Catholic publisher to be given a legal monopoly of ownership rights over the text of the Mass that belongs to all Catholics, and permitting that private company to charge fees for access to what has been the very foundation of Christian liturgical prayer since the Apostolic Age.

Two myths need to be exploded because they keep coming up. Some people think that the purpose of copyright is to protect the integrity of the texts. In fact, copyright does nothing to protect the integrity of the text. The people who use the text themselves have the strongest interest in maintaining its integrity. Millions of liturgical manuscripts are out of copyright protection and this has not compromised them. In fact, the reverse is true. Material printed before the Second Vatican Council is largely unprotected, including the 1962 Mass itself, and it has not been corrupted. For that matter, leaving a text to the public domain helps assures its integrity because it creates a thriving market for accuracy.

Second, some people think that the purpose of copyright is to make sure that people who use the text acknowledge its source. This is also nonsense. Source acknowledgeable can be guaranteed through source private-sector devices as the Creation Commons Attribution license, such as that invoked by the freely downloadable Psalms at ChabanelPsalms.org. No coercion is involved in this arrangement. No government monopolies are granted. And there is no problem.

Let us be clear that the sole purpose of putting a liturgical text under copyright protection with a private, for-profit company is rent extraction from those who use them. It is to get money, and exclude non-payers from the list of approved producers. Its purpose, its sole purpose, is to get you to pay that monopoly rights holder, which in this case is GIA, Conception, and The Grail.

Another point might be argued, that Conception and The Grail are entitled to earn money from its creations. If so, it is possible to sell the product of that work to an institution such as the US Bishops, with a one-time payment. It is not necessary that religious institution received a 100-year stream of income collected from the pockets of average Catholics. In any case, whatever happened to the idea of a monastery serving the Church?

The Bishops, GIA, Conception, and The Grail need to be required to be completely open and accurate and honest in answering the following questions:

1. What precisely are the legal terms under which GIA plans to give permission to people to print these Psalms? In the past, even some lowly bloggers have been beat up by The Grail for daring to quote Psalms without permission on their private blogs. They have charged up to 10% of proceeds for publishers. GIA will naturally have the incentive to charge high prices to keep others out of the market.

2. They have pledged “equitable and efficient” distribution policies but the only terms under which this could occur is to put the Psalm into Creative Commons so that they can be used for free. Will they consider this?
,
3. What precisely were the financial arrangements made between The Grail, Conception, and GIA to being about this cartel? What kind of revenue do they expect to earn over the coming years?

4. Was any money involved in the decision of the USCCB to embrace this translation of the Psalms? GIA is in a position to pay a high price to have its Psalms proclaimed as appropriate to the liturgy. Did they happen to offer the USCCB a donation to see this result come about? A clear, clear statement of “no” is the only morally satisfactory answer.

5. In what way does the arrangement as currently constitute avoid the sin of simony, which the Catholic Encyclopedia defines as: “a deliberate intention of buying or selling for a temporal price such things as are spiritual of annexed unto spirituals.” This, of course, needs to be qualified: there is nothing wrong with allocating scarce goods such as books and materials. But the translations themselves are not scarce goods. To charge for the use of the text itself would be an injustice. It is bad enough that ICEL maintains a copyright but they have at least granted free online rights; moreoever, ICEL is not a for-profit capitalist company. GIA is a different animal entirely.

Catholics in this country are financially strapped enough as it is, trying to keep their buildings in good repair and their schools running. They don’t need to be charged money for access to their own Mass texts.

All Catholics have a strong interest in getting answers to these questions now.

Tremendous News: German Trappists Return to Usus Antiquior [update]

From the website of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei comes a very important announcement (NLM translation):

The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei has, on November 21st, 2008, communicated to the Most Reverend Abbot Fr Josef Vollberg O.C.S.O. of the Abbey of Mariawald in Germany (diocese of Aachen) the privilege conceded by the Holy Father of a complete return to the Liturgy and the Observance in use in the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists) until 1963/64.

Fr Abbot Josef Vollberg himself had in fact presented to the Holy Father a plea to be allowed to return to the Liturgy and the Observance according to the "usus" of Monte Cistello (Rome 1964), approved by the Holy See.

This is quite momentous. As far as I am aware, this is the first such instance of a monastic community returning wholesale to the usus antiquior. Not only is this significant in and of itself - after all, they have 14 monks, almost as many as, for instance, the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer (the former Transalpine Redemptorists) - , but also in terms of a possible
inspiration for other monastic communities/orders to take this step, which is,
it bears reminding, expressly foreseen in the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum (Art. 3). Lastly, it is excellent that they revive their own rite, which is, if I'm not mistaken, essentially the Cistercian Rite.

To the left you can see the abbey church of Mariawald, to the right Abbot Vollberg with the Holy Father in June this year. The Abbey of Mariawald is the only Trappist monastery in Germany.

Sparrow Mass a spectacular success

Late last night I heard wonderful news that the Solemn Mass in Kalamazoo, Michigan, announced here, was an astounding success. The priests left the confessionals to prepare for Mass and were astounded and amazed to look out at the nave and see it packed -- more than 500 people came to this Mass. They had made only 200 programs, and didn't really expect more than 125 people!

The choir and orchestra performed the entire sparrow Mass by Mozart, while the schola sang full Gregorian propers. The organist played processions and recessions and improvisations on the propers.

This is tremendously exciting news to me, an indication of a massive shift taking place in which the Catholic parish is again becoming a viable venue for true art and a time in which Catholics themselves will go out of their way to attend a Mass that is glorious in its music and liturgy. This isn't New York or Chicago but Kalamazoo!

Congratulations to all the organizers: the orchestra, the singers, the celebrant, to Fr. David Grondz and Fr. Robert Sirico and the St. Philip Neri house that serves the parish. The community has a real treasure in St. Mary's.

I hope to have images and video today.

A "Carolingian" Christ the King

Call it an instance of the "reform of the reform," or call it simply the way things ought to be. But whatever you call it, it deserves our accolades. I refer to the "ordinary form" Mass celebrated today, the Solemnity of Christ the King, at the St. Martin of Tours Chapel of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Philadelphia. Msgr. Michael Magee was the celebrant. Here's a rundown on the liturgy, as related to me by a seminarian there:

Entrance: "Christus Vincit" (Roman version)
Introductory Rites: chanted in Latin (including the Sign of the Cross and greeting)
Kyrie and Gloria: chanted in Greek and Latin, respectively
Gospel: sung in English
Creed: Credo III (Latin)
Offertory: Arcadelt's "Ave Maria"
Preface and Sanctus: chanted in Latin
Canon: chanted in English
Pater Noster: chanted in Latin
Agnus Dei: chanted in Latin (De angelis)
Communion: "Ubi caritas est vera" (VI)
Post-communion meditation: Mengali's "Jesu, salvator mundi"

My only regret, besides not having photos of the event, is that the Proper antiphons were not used. As for the sung Eucharistic Prayer, I'm of a divided mind: on the one hand, it is perfectly legitimate (in the ordinary form) and it enhances the external solemnity of the celebration; on the other hand, there is much to commend a silent (or at least softly spoken) Canon, especially when one considers the verbosity of the novus ordo (whereas silence was built into the older liturgy). But enough. I do not want to detract from the value of what happened today at St. Charles. Such generous use of Latin in the modern Roman rite would have been unimaginable even in the "conservative" seminaries only a decade ago. Language aside, the overall ethos is cause for rejoicing. It is also reason for hope. A case of "the reform of the reform?" Maybe. The new reform, after all, starts with celebrating the reformed liturgy well. In any event, St. Charles goes on my personal map of far fewer than a thousand points of light in the cause of liturgical renewal.

Musicians: Try Chabanel

A new Church year is upon us. Musicians, if you are still stuck singing those sing-songy Psalm settings in common missalettes, please consider trying a new approach to the Psalms this year. Advent is an excellent time to upgrade, and it costs you and the parish nothing. See the settings available for free at Chabanel Psalms.

Our parish is partial to the simple Gregorian-style settings by Arlene Oost-Zinner. We've never sung one that people can't sing very quickly. We use no accompaniment, and they can be done by a single cantor or a group. The Psalm verses are already pointed.

Some people are scared off because of the neumes. Simple: the clef sign marks the C or the F. There is no complicated reason for 4 lines instead of 5: the idea is to match the natural range of the voice. Sing them with free rhythm. I can't imagine any parish in which they wouldn't be a success.

Advent is a time for change. Try one of these settings and see what you think.

Beauty, the Liturgy and Liturgical Practice: It's Centrality and Teaching Value (And Why it is Not Aestheticism)

The following video is from St. Elias Ukrainian Catholic Church in Brampton, Canada and explains quite well, through the lens of the Eastern Christian Byzantine tradition, much that is also shared with the Latin West in relation to beauty and the liturgy and how this relates to and teaches of the heavenly realities. It is well worth taking the time to watch.

I would encourage you to do so before reading on.

In a related way, this put me to mind that in the Latin West, even amongst many of our faithful Catholics, there is much confusion about the place of the liturgy, the role and importance of its forms (and the other forms that surround it, such as the art and architecture) and what importance or weight these matters should be given. Many a Latin rite Catholic today is unfortunately inclined to be suspicious of this as a kind of empty aestheticism or phariseeism devoid of spiritual substance, or at least to think it is a case of a mistaken sense of priorities.

Ultimately what we see at root in all this, I propose, is a lack of understanding of the importance and connections of the liturgy in all its aspects, which teach and move the human heart and mind; a lack of understanding that the liturgy, including in its external aspects, are manifestations of the worship of God and help move us interiorly toward that very attitude and disposition of worship which further contributes to our sanctification. In some cases the problem might be a kind of abstraction or intellectualization of the Faith which doesn't give enough priority to the fact that humanity is not merely an intellectual creature, but also an experiential one where "practice" and "experience" are important teachers to children and adults alike.


(Photo credit: Michela Gobbi)

In this vein, I was providentially sent this quote today which comes from Pope Pius XI, and which speaks to this basic point I think:

... people are instructed in the truths of faith, and brought to appreciate the inner joys of religion far more effectually by the annual celebration of our sacred mysteries than by any official pronouncement of the teaching of the Church. Such pronouncements usually reach only a few and the more learned among the faithful; feasts reach them all; the former speak but once, the latter speak every year - in fact, forever. The church's teaching affects the mind primarily; her feasts affect both mind and heart, and have a salutary effect upon the whole of man's nature. Man is composed of body and soul, and he needs these external festivities so that the sacred rites, in all their beauty and variety, may stimulate him to drink more deeply of the fountain of God's teaching, that he may make it a part of himself, and use it with profit for his spiritual life.

-- "Quas Primas", Pope Pius XI

This same sense and understanding is also put forward in beautiful terms in Four Benefits of the Liturgy by Dom Gerard Calvet, the now deceased Abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Le Barroux in France:

...one enters the Church by two doors: the door of the intelligence and the door of beauty. The narrow door... is that of intelligence; it is open to intellectuals and scholars. The wider door is that of beauty. Henri Charlier said, in the same vein, "It is necessary to lose the illusion that truth can communicate itself fruitfully without that splendour that is of one nature with it and which is called beauty." (L'Art et la Pensee).

The Church in her impenetrable mystery as the bride of Christ, the Kyrios of Glory, has need of an earthly epiphany (ie. manifestation) accessible to all: this is the majesty of her temples, the splendour of her liturgy and the sweetness of her chants.

Take a group of Japanese tourists visiting Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. They look at the height of the stained-glass windows, the harmony of the proportions. Suppose that at that moment, sacred ministers dressed in orphried velvet copes enter in process for solemn Vespers. The visitors watch in silence; they are entranced: beauty has opened its doors to them. Now the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas and Notre Dame in Paris are products of the same era. They say the same thing. But who among the visitors has read the Summa of St. Thomas? The same phenomenon is found at all levels. The tourists who visit the Acropolis in Athens are confronted with a civilisation of beauty. But who among them can understand Aristotle?

And so it is with the beauty of the liturgy. More than anything else it deserves to be called the splendour of the truth. It opens to the small and the great alike the treasures of its magnificence: the beauty of psalmody, sacred chants and texts, candles, harmony of movement and dignity of bearing. With sovereign art the liturgy exercises a truly seductive influence on souls, who it touches directly, even before the spirit perceives its influence.

Of course, none of this is to deride the importance of the intellectual life within the Church and the pursuance of doctrinal forms of catechesis. These are most certainly necessary. Would we not be impoverished without the Summa, the Catechism, and so on? We would indeed.

But what it is to say is that, on an intellectual level, we must begin again to understand and teach of the fundamental importance of the liturgy in the life of the Church and the faithful. Further, we must again appreciate the value of the sacred liturgy in all its aspects, interior and exterior, re-connecting again the threads of the experiential and the intellectual, recognizing the fundamental relationship that exists between the two; re-connecting again that what we do within the sacred liturgy is substantial, and not merely narcisstic aestheticism, because it is all for the worship and glory of God, teaching us and inculcating the Faith within us. We must begin anew to appreciate that there is an importance and value to these things, as assuredly as there is also an importance to the Catechism.

Practically, this must be expressed in our giving a priority to the pursuance of liturgical excellence, beauty, fullness and reverence, to the very best of our ability -- which also means trying to expand and stretch those abilities over time. This implies not "settling" or being liturgically minimalistic -- something which not only affects modern parish liturgy let's recall, but can even affect some usus antiquior communities. (One is put to mind of Ratzinger's critique of the prevalence of the Low Mass prior to the Council for instance.)

In all regards then, we must reclaim our sense of this simple and profound truth: that the liturgy, in all its aspects, matters.

Ode for St. Cecilia's Day

A musical tradition in England concerned popular (nonliturgical) writing to honor St. Cecilia, and it seems appropriate to remember that on this St. Cecilia's day that, according to medieval tradition, she is not only patron saint of a certain kind of sacred music but all music, of which liturgical music is the queen.

So this performance of a portion of Handel's own Ode to St. Cecilia is particularly fitting.

Featured below is the chorus "From Harmony," which is so lovely. But also consider the words from "What Art Can Teach":

But oh! what art can teach,
What human voice can reach
The sacred organ's praise?
Notes inspiring holy love,
Notes that wing their heavenly ways
To mend the choirs above.

More photos from the Institute of the Good Shepherd

I am pleased that the Institut du Bon Pasteur is getting much more prolific now at posting news and photos from their events. They now have more new photos up. See the site of the Seminaire Saint Vincent de Paul, the seminary of the Institute.

Images from the Vatican, Including from the Death of Pius XII

Readers have seemed quite interested in the recent photos which come from Life Magazine and which give some interesting glimpses into pre-Conciliar and Conciliar liturgical life in the Vatican (see here). As part of that same batch of photos (brought forward to the NLM by Samuel J. Howard) I thought there might be some further interest in some images which surround the death of Pope Pius XII and generally.

More from the Cardinal Pole Requiem in Oxford

A little more on the Traditional Sung Requiem to mark the 450th anniversary of Cardinal Pole's death (following Br Lawrence Lew's post with his excellent photos). I thought NLM readers might be interested to hear the very interesting and balanced sermon by Fr John Osman, which I managed to video. So, with Fr Osman's permission, here it is. It is 14 minutes long.

That length of video can be uploaded to Google Videos but not to Youtube. I plan in future to use Google, partly for this reason but mainly because of Youtube's refusal to remove videos of various desecrations of hosts stolen from Catholic churches. I hope other Catholic bloggers will do the same.

Here are a couple more photos.

Notice the three Knights of Malta in choir dress in the picture below; the Order of Malta was (briefly) restored in England under Queen Mary and Cardinal Pole. The one nearest the altar is Mr Julian Chadwick, Chairman of the Latin Mass Society. Fr Osman is himself a chaplain of the Order (as well as the parish priest of St Birinus, Dorchester-on-Thames).

The Mass was very successful; the setting of Magdalen College Chapel is wonderful, and the Schola Beati Thomae Abelis sang extremely well under the direction of Mr Adrian Taylor. It was Fr John Osman's first Traditional Sung Mass. There has been quite a bit of publicity about these Masses, including an article in The Times; it even got a mention in the previous week's Tablet.

Local Schola Publicity

One thing that is nice about opening a schola for your parish is that the local newspaper is most certainly interested, and the result is usually an excellent story about the peculiar undertaking of singing Gregorian Chant.

This headline and story is typical of the genre: "Ancient form of music makes a come back at local churches." In ran with a nice photo spread in the Columbia Flier of Howard County in Maryland.

Here is some of the story (doesn't the Parish Book of Chant make for a great image?) but read the entire thing:

About 47 years ago, Leon Keller fell in love, as a student at St. Vincent College in Pennsylvania. He was instantly drawn by a combination of beauty and serenity, which touched him deeply.

Unfortunately, he parted ways with his object of affection after graduating and, over the years, eventually lost hope that there would ever be a reunion.

But, a chance encounter last year, while visiting the parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, changed all that.

The organist, Mia Coyne, randomly came up to him after Mass and asked if he would like to join a newly-forming class. Keller, taken completely by surprise, enthusiastically agreed to be a member of the group, which he knew would coincidentally put him back in touch with his long-lost love -- Gregorian chant.

"It was like divine intervention," said the St. Paul's parishioner. "Everything just fell into place."

He used to listen to Benedictine monks chanting in the basilica of his alma mater and found it extremely "beautiful and spiritual." He hadn't heard live renditions of the holy music since his college days, which left him "feeling a little disappointed" and "like something was missing" at subsequent Masses.

The classes, the brainchild of Coyne, who studied with a chant master about 20 years ago while getting her master's degree in music at Catholic University, began last fall.

"I wanted to bring back some traditional music, especially since our pope is trying to bring back more tradition and reverence to the church," said Coyne, who teaches the classes and conducts the chanters at Mass.

The participants studied the holy form of music for four months before giving their initial performance. That's because Gregorian chant, first notated in the 10th century by European monks and having roots tracing back more than 2,000 years, is very different from and much more complex than modern music.

Instead of the standard five-line notation seen today, it has four lines. The notes are square and grouped by syllables of text -- the notes of some groupings are stacked on top of each other. The class members had to learn how to sing each neume, or group of chant notes. And, language lessons were in order, because the music is sung entirely in Latin.

Coyne describes Gregorian chant as being able to "express what words cannot express."

A Simple Renovation, Camas, Washington

St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Camas, Washington, recently transformed their sanctuary with a little paint and some new statues. The transformative power of these relatively inexpensive changes, properly deployed, is hard to exaggerate.

The original interior was dark and rather dated, with the crucifix rather lost amid all the woodwork, and the pastel-colored banners rather anemic in this context. The effect was muddled, without a focus, and, due to the somber hues, appeared somewhat claustrophobic.


As outlined in their webpage, the project was undertaken incrementally, with color and new statuary added gradually over a period of months. There are several things worth pointing out there. There is the use of the simple but effective and very traditional star-pattern on the vaulting, as well as the use of light colors to give a new sense of spaciousness to the small sanctuary, as well as an intelligent use of contrasts to highlight important objects such as the tabernacle and crucifix. The adoption of a mellower shade of beige rather than a colder white is also rather intelligent. The use of patterning in the borders around the cross and the side-shrines also serve to disperse what otherwise might appear rather large, rather crude areas of bold color. Such details also serve to draw attention to the various focii of the composition--the statues on either hand, and the central cross, with less ornament on the periphery.



I would, however, like to make some constructive criticism which I hope will not be taken amiss. The clever use of color, the simple execution but comprehensive scope of the project, and the well-thought-out composition are worthy of praise, but there is always room for discussion and critique among friends, otherwise we would never develop and grow. First, I think a simple dado or painted base panel in a different color (perhaps the solid, darker color of the borders) would help improve the new side-shrines, which appear to float somewhat anomalously. Second, I am concerned that the otherwise rather fine tapestries of the saints at the bottom of sanctuary wall are misplaced. They are very bold, lively and iconographic, but they are a little too low to the ground to serve as a focus, and also tend to blend in confusingly with the server's chairs and even the ministers at a concelebrated mass, which is rather distracting.



The presence of forward-facing server chairs is probably inevitable due to the small space--I am very glad to see the celebrant's sedile is properly turned facing liturgical north along one wall, a simple change which every parish in America ought to consider--but, combined with the saints, as well as the credence-tables on either side holding three candles each, the effect is a bit busy. I would advise moving the credence tables elsewhere and placing the six candles on the altar of sacrifice itself (removing the two smaller candles), and place the "overflow" server's seats in the corners, turned inwards. This is a more traditional and generally tidier arrangement, which is to be preferred in general when organizing church furnishings. The saints tapestries are handsome, but could be placed elsewhere in the church. Some sort of dado or base is necessary (as you can see below, without it, the interior looks a bit empty), and perhaps replacing the tapestries with painted blocks in that same shade of blue, but broken up with a diaper pattern not unlike the backgrounds in the side-shrines, would help keep the composition grounded and a little less cluttered. Centering floral arrangements or placing them on a base of some sort below the side-shrines would also help as well, with just a difference of about six inches.



That being said, congratulations to the parish for this intelligent and cleverly-thought-out renovation, and I hope our readers can derive much good from such an example.

R.I.P.

In your charity, please pray for the repose of the soul of the father of Bragan rite scholar, Fr. Joseph Santos, who passed away today.

Rumour Watch: Arrival of the New CDW Prefect in Rome?

The Bollettino of the Holy See noted today that the Holy Father received in audience Card. Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Archbishop of Toledo. Andrea Tornielli, one of the most important vaticanisti of the Italian press, has this to say about it (NLM translation):

Benedict XVI today received in audience the archbishop of Toledo, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera. Sunday 23 November, the Prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship, the Nigerian Francis Arinze, celebrates his priestly jubilee, and in the first weeks of December the appointment of his successor is expected, who will be Cañizares, called in Spain "the little Ratzinger". In the first months of next year, probably by Easter, after the new prefect has acclimatised in the congregation, also the change of the Secretary is anticipated: Ceylonese Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don will be appointed Archbishop of Colombo (and perhaps cardinal).

This would confirm what was mentioned earlier on the NLM (cf. here, here or here).

Spectacular Photographs of Papal Vestments

Earlier this month we were talking about Unused or Unseen Papal Vesture and Vestments, such as the fanon, the falda, the subcinctorium or the mantum. I have recently come across two rather spectacular photographs which show a full set of papal vestments to illstrate what we were talking about and which I thought many of you would enjoy (click to enlarge):


Here we see from top to bottom and from left to right: mitra pretiosa, tiara, mantum bearing the arms of Pius XII with stole and rationale (worn for the procession into St Peter's), stole for Mass, chasuble with alb, subcinctorium with cingulum and maniple, the falda, the little cloth to hold the candle the Pope carried at canonisations, pontifical sandals, pallium with pins, ? probably the cord for the pectoral Cross, pontifical gloves, dalmatic, fanon, tunicle.


The same vestments arranged differently. Note that the two detached parts of the fanon are here displayed seperately from each other.

The source of these splendid images are the archives of Life magazine, which are being brought online (cf. AP story here. Having had a first quick look, there were two pictures in particular I wanted to share with you in this context.

First, a rather magnificent display of papal mitres and tiaras:


From left to right: mitre of Leo XIII, tiaras of Gregory XVI and Bl. Pius IX, mitre of Benedict XV (worn by our Holy Father Benedict XVI last Christmas)

And then, a very nice photograph of Bl. John XXIII singing Papal Mass during the II Vatican Council, holding the ferula of Bl. Pius IX which has now been adopted as the permanent ferula of our Holy Father Benedict XVI (on his right, Alfredo Ottaviani acting as Cardinal Deacon, on his left, Enrico Dante, the legendary papal MC):

Coolest. Incipit. Ever!

Advent will soon be upon us, which means many things, among which is the annual fight--a polite one, no doubt--over who gets to sing the incipit (opening phrase) to the solemn version of Alma Redemptoris Mater.



Here is a nice recording of one priest who likes it very much, and continues with a version you might not recognize from the Ambrosian chant books:

Forty Hours Devotion at Morrissey Manor, Notre Dame

I was recently sent some heartening photos from my old alma mater, the University of Notre Dame, of the decorations for a Forty Hours devotion held at one of the university's larger men's dorms, the ornate yellow-brick Gothic edifice called Morrissey Manor. (There are at least three dorms without "Hall" in their names at Notre Dame, the aforementioned Morrissey, the recently-renamed Zahm House, and Sorin College, which jokingly seceded from the rest of the University sometime in the sixties). This is an annual custom of the dorm, no less!

This is an important instance of the growing revival of Catholic piety in student life at the University. Note especially this devotion was held in addition to, and independent of, the usual, well-attended Campus Ministry-sponsored events such as the yearly Eucharistic Procession (now in its fourth year after a three-decades-long hiatus) and daily Eucharistic adoration during the week. It is especially pleasing to see a men's dorm sponsoring this activity, given the model of manly fortitude that the Eucharistic Christ presents to us.

It is also to be noted that while the ornaments of the sanctuary are fairly simple (Morrisey Chapel has suffered in the past), great pains were taken to do it well with the resources they had.

A reader explains further:

This weekend, the men of Morrisey Manor, a residence hall on campus, hosted a 40 Hours Devotion. An annual tradition for the dorm, the celebration began with a well-attended Solemn Mass (OF) this past Friday afternoon. The devotion will conclude with Benediction on Sunday morning.

It should be noted that Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is available each weekday on campus throughout the entire school year. This special event, instigated by devoted sons and daughters of Notre Dame, specifically by men in this particular dormitory, gives witness to the vibrant and robust faith on campus. Keeping in mind the availability of the usus antiquor each Sunday on campus, Notre Dame continues to show signs of a growing orthodox and traditional student body.

Such heartening and vibrant signs of renewal continue to show us this is not your father's Notre Dame.

Winter issue of Sacred Music

The Winter 2008 issue of Sacred Music is going to print, and it has turned out to be one of the best I can remember. William Mahrt opens the issue with a detailed and compelling argument for the existence of sacred music - a point which you might not think is necessary except for the vast literature that attempts to debunk the idea that there is any real distinction between the sacred and secular in art.

He speaks of the relationship between the two forms by revisiting the history of the chasuble, which was a normal outer garment in Roman times and later became obsolete but for religious use. "In the process of sacralization of the garment," he writes, "it takes on more sacred characteristics: its form becomes more ample, the materials chosen for it become more precious (traditionally silk), and it takes on sacred symbols. This is, then, a matter of the evolution of a gradual reception, a transformation of something secular into something unambiguously sacred."

In music, the transformation of elements of our ordinary world conveys the message that our ordinary lives can also be transformed. The hitch is: what if the incorporation of music into the liturgy does not involve a discernible transformation? What if the use of styles clearly identifiable with worldly and secular purposes retain their identity in liturgical use? Is the message, then, that there is no transformation? that the secular life-styles are all that there is? I would contend that this is the danger of the present use of secular styles, since the instruments they use, their vocal styling, their simplistic musical construction all retain their secular identity. Rather, it is crucial that whatever musical styles are used in the liturgy, there be clear elements of their sacralization, that their incorporation is unambiguously for the sake of transformation into something sacred.

Michael Lawrence addresses a fundamental issue with an issue that in its brevity and clarity is one of the most powerful cases I've seen for why we need to care about music at Mass at all. "What happened during so many events of salvation history? Singing. Miriam sang on the shores of the Red Sea after the Exodus. David sang the psalms in the temple. There was Hannah’s Song, which foreshadowed Mary’s Magnificat which was sung at her Visitation. The Angels sang at the birth of Christ, and the Book of Apocalypse depicts the singing in the heavenly liturgy. Christ and his apostles sang a hymn at the Last Supper, and, though this observation may be a bit unconventional, Christ, while he did not sing, 'cried out' on the cross the words of Psalm 22: 'My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?' If music has had such an intimate relationship with salvation history, then why should it not have an equally intimate relationship with the Mass?"

I wish I could go through each piece. Martin Baker offers a detailed essay of the experience of the choir at Westminster Cathededral. The Lectern in Liturgical Culture is discussed by Miklós István Földváry. Jeffrey Ostrowski offers a brilliant analysis of the Vatican Gradual and proves, beyond any doubt, that this is a rhythmic edition, and he shows how to read it (William Mahrt commented to me that this is one of the best essays he has ever seen on this topic). Aristotle Esguerra provides a rich and well-cited argument for why composers should be setting propers (following the model of William Byrd).

We are not even halfway through the issue. There is commentary on beauty by Fr. Robert Johansen, a tribute to Msgr. Schuler by William Sanderson, a guide to preserving your choir's history by Mary Jane Ballou, a homily by Richard Cipolla on Leisure and Liturgy, and two excellent repertory pieces: Br. Jonathan Ryan on Messiaen, and Jennifer Snodgrass and her students on John Taverner's Tyger and the Lamb. I have a piece on the difficulties confronting the current generation of chanters, and Kurt Poterack writes on his experiences dealing with students who never encountered chant before. Finally, there are several workshop reports.

Incredibly, no one involved in putting this this journal together is paid specifically to do this. In times when print journals are collapsing all around, it is something spectacular that this one is going strong. You can subscribe today and receive this issue when it comes off the presses.

Reconnecting the Threads of Sacred Art, Theology and Liturgy: Abbot Michael John Zielinski

The following appeared in L'Osservatore Romano (in Italian) on the 13th of November and was written by Abbot Michael John Zielinski, O.S.B., Vice President of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church.

The translation, which is unofficial, was done for the NLM by one of our priestly readers, Fr. GS.

A Need in the World of Architecture and Art:
To Reconnect the Threads of a Dialogue Interrupted For Too Long

By Michael John Zielinski

Can sacred art and architecture simply apply the “contemporary criteria” like any other form of expression, or must they follow a different path?

Just as not all philosophies are equally able to express and signify the revealed truths of faith, so perhaps not all expressive forms are equally capable of 'translating,' in the precious and universal language of art, the Christian faith which has as its proper centre, the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word in Jesus of Nazareth, Lord and Christ and of the resurrection of the body: both deeply “visible, tangible, audible” as the Evangelist John teaches.

If contemporary artistic expressions, particularly those dealing with the sacred, fail to convince the majority of the public, it is because they obey the criteria of “subjective creativity” rather than the desire to represent what has objectively happened in history: God has become incarnate, making the face of the Father visible to mankind. “He who sees me, sees the Father.” (c.f. Jn 14:9; 12:44)

In an age dominated by relativism, in which pluralism is an absolute, independent of the problem of the true and the good how could we not recognize the consequences of such a cultural framework, even in the artistic and architectural arena, in which it sometimes seems that (artistic) works are “apophatic”, incapable of relating the history of God with mankind.

From the knowledge of the situation and the consequent and widespread unease, both on the part of artists and of patrons, there arises the need, admitting of no more delay, to “reconnect the threads” of the dialogue – perhaps too long suspended – between art and faith, between architecture, theology and liturgy.

This is what is occurring in certain Masters courses promoted in Rome: [I am] thinking of the Pontifical Institute of St. Anselm or the Pontifical Gregorian University; but most of all, of the Masters in Architecture, Sacred Art and Liturgy offered and promoted by the European University of Rome and the Pontifical Athenaeum 'Regina Apostolorum.' This Masters course, which enjoys the support of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, is already in its second year and was born not of an initiative “from above” but from the need – I would say the demand – of some architects and artists who turned to “theologian friends” asking for help to understand and deepen the central themes of the faith, so as to translate them into (artistic) works.

In this way, a real need of the world of architecture and art was discovered: a longing for a deepening knowledge of theology, history and liturgy; an authentic desire and will to understand what it really means to “construct the space”, “to imagine and design” the forms of a sacred art not chained down by reality, and therefore (guided instead) by Catholic doctrine, if it wishes to truly bring to fulfillment its own aesthetic, and thereby evangelizing, mission.

To have a goal and desire to transmit a real spiritual or moral content through the beauty of plastic form is not a reduction of the absolute and indispensable gratuity of art and beauty; on the contrary it is the “explosion” of it, its completion, because the expression of one (person) inserted into a history and a community becomes accessible to all, describing the experience (of all). The genius is the one who is able to express, in an extraordinarily efficacious way, that which all live and think: either as a question or as a possible answer, encountered because it is first of all and indeed always 'revealed'.

In this way the Masters was born. Born of a question which gradually has found an answer: certainly involving the best experts both from the artistic-architectural point of view and under the historical, theological and liturgical aspect; allowing “something to happen” in the life of the architects and artists themselves.

If, as the encylical Deus Caritas Est says: “The beginning of being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a Person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” (DCE, 1) then how could we not wish that this “new horizon” should involve the experience of the sacred and the beautiful, of art and architecture? And how could we not begin to perceive, even if faintly, a “new beginning” even in these delicate fields (of art and architecture).

The Masters, which I have the honour of teaching, explicitly sees itself as “listening to Benedict XVI” - as it is possible to see in the initial course description, accessible from the site of the European University – and from the work of Joseph Ratzinger, “The Spirit of the Liturgy”, it takes its theological, liturgical and consequently architectural and artistic directions.

As a sign of this, the 'scientific' coordinator of the Masters programme is the Rev. Professor Michael Lang, cited by the Holy Father in the introduction to his Opera Omnia, recently presented at the Vatican, and who is a true advocate of the correct hermeneutic of liturgical reform desired by Vatican II.

The Holy Father has repeatedly called for the beginning of a “new liturgical movement”, capable of returning to the fundamental aspects of Catholic liturgy: “There is, moreover, an intimate relationship between the Old and New Testaments: without that relationship with the Old Testament heritage, Christian liturgy would be incomprehensible. The second area is the relationship with world religions. And there is a third aspect: the cosmic character of the liturgy which represents something more than the simple reunion of a greater or lesser number of human beings; the liturgy is to be celebrated within the breadth of the Cosmos, embracing creation and history at the same time.” (Joseph Ratzinger, Introduction to the Opera Omnia.)

The Masters in Architecture, Sacred Art and Liturgy places itself within this vision. And so we hope that the skies will brighten [with it].

Thomas Aquinas Chapel Update

We have already covered the laying of the cornerstone of Thomas Aquinas's new classical chapel back in September, and the cornerstone's odyssey being shipped to Rome and back for a papal blessing, but I was recently alerted to some new photos of the two events, as well as some new photos of interior details and exterior sculpture, a recording of the inaugural ring of the chapel's new bells, and this rather charming photograph of a pious gesture towards 2008 commencement speaker George Cardinal Pell on the part of one of the graduating students.

The church is slated for dedication in March 2009.

Three Paths to Sacred Music

In conversations over the years with people who have caught the sacred music bug, I've noticed certain patterns over how they initially came to fall in love with Gregorian chant and polyphony, the music codified as proper to the Roman Rite.

There are patterns that emerge in one's life experiences that correspondent in an interesting way to Church teaching on the marks of sacred music itself, and I seriously doubt that these patterns are a coincidence. You might recognize yourself in these patterns.

I'll start with my own story because of its familiarity. My own background in religious music was in a Baptist church that spared no expense in putting together over-the-top production numbers. We had a well-paid music minister, a choir of 50 voices, and we frequently hired full-scale orchestras to play on Christmas and Easter. These productions came complete with t-shirts and advertising blitzes. We sang Handel and Mendelssohn, and our ideal was driven by visions of brass choirs on balconies and hundreds of voices singing praises. The more the better was our motto.

Then one day in my early 20s I stumbled into a Catholic Mass in which a single priest who was in his 80s chanted the Mass from the altar. There were no instruments. His voice was weak and old. His pitch was uncertain. There was no choir, no pomp, no advertising, no t-shirts, and the people who attended—mostly poor people—mostly just knelt and prayed as the simple notes were chanted by the celebrant.

What struck me was the overwhelming humility of the entire exercise, and how it achieved something that could not be bought or achieved through purely human efforts. It buried the ego completely. It was holy. That was the key. It actually arrived at the place that sacred music was striving for, and did it without any accouterments or pomps. The sound of it touched me to the very depths of my heart and I came to understand the place of music in the faith in a completely different way.

I returned for many weeks with a tape recorder and recording this priest singing the Mass, and listened all weekdays, morning and night, striving to understand how it was that something so simple and so humble could be so powerful, so real, so authentic, so salvific.

Moving on to a second case, I have a friend who grew up in the Midwest in a medium-sized town in which the 1970s ethos of tie-dye-and-sandals Catholicism took hold. The preferred form of art was that phony folk music of Peter, Paul, and Mary, a time in which no music was considered true and human unless it was accompanied by guitar. Organs were considered "high Church" and therefore inappropriate for a "peoples' Church."

This ethos brought us "Earthen vessels" since gold was seen as a rich man's metal, and it gave rise to felt banners and homemade signs all over the walls of the church. Nothing was too casual. Jeans, t-shirts, torn shorts, unkempt hair—these were the preferred garb. The music was amateurish and awful, to be sure, but this was seen as something to be preferred. The experts had to be tossed from the seats of power in order for the true voice of the people to emerge.

But then my friend discovered something else. He heard some renaissance polyphony with its incomparable beauty, its glorious drift upwards toward the heavens. This music wasn't about the "people" and their grungy ways. It was about the majesty of God! Yes! This is what is missing in this whole tie-dye ethos: an awareness that end of liturgy is not ourselves but the throne of God. In this case, the approach has to change completely away from ourselves and our needs to the real task at hand. In this case, earthen vessels are not suitable when gold is available. In this case, felt banners are not appropriate when glorious art is in the corner. And in this case, the music too must reflect the purpose.

My friend gradually explored the whole genre of sacred music, moving back in time from Palestrina to Josquin to medieval organum to chant and back to the very origins of Christian song in the Psalter. It was all directed to that single end of giving glory to God. It was all marked by that form that constitutes that Christian idea of beauty: orderliness, harmoniousness, excellence. Music that is true art.

A third case is of a person who grew up in a multilingual household at a time when multiculturalism was an idea propounded in liturgical catechesis. But the odd thing about the practice of multiculturalism is that it tended to divide people into segments. We had some forms of art and music for Hispanics, some for Anglo-Americans, some for various ethnic groups from here and yon, and a small sampling designed to reflect the needs and desires of immigrants to the United States.

It was a smorgasbord of identity sampling that tended to pigeonhole people into some group or class and keep them there, and it sent the message that it would be a violation of personal integrity to seek to transcend this identity. The marks were typically found in the rhythm used for music, since this is the clearest expression of national and ethnic attachment.

It is true that liturgy should have a universal voice, this person realized, but this tendency toward group segmentation was not making progress toward this idea. Actually it was doing the opposite, emphasizing differences rather than finding unity in Christ. And there was another problem. All of this music was time bound: it was from the 1960s, or 70s, or 80s, tending toward the evocation of a particular time and place here on earth.

Then chant came along and revealed something that this person had long been seeking but couldn't find. This was music in Latin, a language not used in the vernacular by any single group, so that it meant a special language of liturgy for all groups equally. The rhythm is not of a single national origin but rather came from a period in Christian history in which the worshipers sought a form of music that was directed towards a goal higher than itself. And even after all these centuries, even after a millennium and a half, the music still sounded fresh and brilliant. The music not only transcended nation and identify but also time itself. The same cannot be said of other forms.

So here we have it, what St. Pius X identified as the three marks of sacred music: holiness, beauty, and universality. In each case mentioned above, the person (including me here) came to appreciate the other marks beside that which attracted their initial interest and drew them into a deep attachment to sacred music. But I do find it interesting that people tend to "get the bug" based on some aspect of music that has long been taught as the identifying marks of sacred music.

Maybe readers can reflect on these stories and see how it is that they were personally drawn to the chant and sacred music generally as the ideal expression of the highest liturgical aims.

Lastest Missive from GIA

In response to this and this:

Dear Mr. Tucker,

Your points have been made and are duly noted.

Sincerely,
Michael Boschert
Permissions Editor
GIA Publications, Inc.
7404 S. Mason Ave.
Chicago, IL 60638
1-800-GIA-1358, ext. 62

And my answer:

You must understand that this is not only about proprietary rights and business negotiations. Thousands upon thousand of musicians and parishioners in Catholic Churches in the English-speaking world are going to be affected by these decisions, and we all have very strong interest in the outcome, and in seeing to it that the promise of "efficient and impartial" distribution is carried out to its fullest extent.

Announcements

The St. Colman's Society sent this in:

St. Colman’s Society for Catholic Liturgy is pleased to announce that Requiem Mass in Latin will be celebrated for the Holy Souls according to the Missal of Blessed John XXIII at St. Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral Church, Fermoy, Co. Cork, on Saturday, 22 November 2008 at 11 am.

All are welcome to attend and are encouraged to pray for the happy repose of the faithful departed.

If other groups would like to make announcements of their own for upcoming events, please use the comments.

Raúl Berzosa - A Contemporary Spanish Religious Painter

I was recently sent some stupendous photos of some wonderful new sacred art in the Baroque manner by a Spanish painter, Raúl Berzosa. The following are from his work in a confraternity chapel in Málaga, Spain. The majority of his other works to date appear to be mostly good-quality easel paintings, but he has also done at least one other large-scale work in situ, ornamenting a large stair-hall in the Seville church of María Santísima de las Angustias Coronada. It is wonderful to see vibrant work being undertaken in this style, which has largely been neglected by Catholic artists in favor of strict stylization or strict realism, and especially in Spain, where the Baroque expresses deep-set aspirations of the popular religious imagination.

I encourage our readers, in the Americas and Europes (and farther afield), to continue to send in images of new projects such as this. There is a lot more going on out there than even I am aware of, and it is always a joy to be able to introduce our readers to such new treasures.

Dominican Rite at Holy Family Cathedral, Anchorage AK

I am delighted to announce that beginning on December 6. 2008, Mass according to the Dominican Rite will be celebrated every First Saturday of the Month at noon in the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Anchorage, Alaska. This initiative has been undertaken with the full support of His Excellency, Roger Schwietz, Archbishop of Anchorage, as well as that of the Rector of the Cathedral, Fr. Francis Hung Le, O.P. The Prior Provincial of the Western Dominican Province, Fr. Emmerich Vogt, O.P., has granted permission for celebration under the terms of the Rescript of 1969.

The first celebrant of the Mass will be Fr. Vincent Kelber, O.P., the associate pastor, who is already well known for his service to the Latin Mass Community in Anchorage . A picture of him vested to celebrate the Mass decorates this posting. The diocesan newpaper, The Catholic Anchor, ran a very well done story on this development in their recent edition. I urge all our readers to read it. It is over all a model of objective and informative reporting. And readers should also note that in order to make these Masses more fruitful to the faithful, the Holy Family Cathedral is offering a Latin class for the Liturgy on Wednesdays, 6:30-8:00 p.m., in Holy Family Education Center.

This means that in the Western Dominican Province the traditional Dominican Rite is now regularly available in four places. The others being Holy Rosary Church, Portland OR; St. Francis Xavier Mission, Toledo WA; and San Buenaventura Mission, Ventura CA. Regularly scheduled Masses are also soon to be instituted at Blessed Sacrament Church, Seattle WA (watch the parish website for announcements). Click on the links for contract information to get specifics. As I played a very, very small role in helping prepare Fr. Vincent to celebrate our Rite, this announcement gratifies me very much.

GIA, Revised Grail Psalter, and Open Access

The GIA has answered my query posted here. Rather than review the details, I'll just reprint the correspondence. In sum, it is good news that the policies on text access have not been finalized. It is not good news, however, that GIA is citing the postconciliar precedent of closed texts without mentioning the change in ICEL policy that now permits the Mass texts to be posted online without legal penalty.

Dear Mr. Tucker,

Thank you for your inquiries about policies governing licensing and the use of the Revised Grail Psalter. Firstly, it should be made clear that GIA does not set policy in this regard, but functions as the literary agent for the joint copyright holders who retain all rights.

I am happy to report that the copyright holders are committed to making this text available on terms consistent with the licensing of liturgical texts ever since the introduction of the vernacular to the liturgy. Specific details of the licensing policies, however, are still being refined.

The text, of course, will be released in accordance with the requirements of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In the meantime, we await the local imprimatur and the Vatican recognitio, the latter of which could theoretically call for further revisions.

Sincerely,


Michael Boschert
Permissions Editor
GIA Publications, Inc.
7404 S. Mason Ave.
Chicago, IL 60638
1-800-GIA-1358, ext. 62

Here is my answer:

Yes, I understand how publishers and agents work with copyright holders. There can be contracts involved that can restrict access to texts that are closed for decades. Under these conditions, anyone who blogs a Psalm could face legal penalties. Clearly this will not do.

The best news of your note is that the licensing policies are still not finalized. I do hope that you will insist on permitting completely open access to all these texts, lest artistic development be impeded and the rights of Catholics to their own liturgical texts be unjustly restricted.

In this regard, "the licensing of liturgical texts ever since the introduction of the vernacular to the liturgy" does not set a precedent that is suitable in the digital age. ICEL has been clear on its new policy: its texts "may be reproduced in a non-commercial site ("Site") on the global computer network commonly known as the internet without obtaining written or oral permission."

At minimum, this should also be the policy with regard to the Revised Grail Psalter. It is also a serious problem that publishers may not use the ICEL texts today without paying royalties (this is in contrast to the Book of Common Prayer, which is wholly public domain). Permitting open access to the Grail will also mean that any publisher--not just the GIA and not just those who are heavily capitalized--can use the Psalm texts to produce and sell music, which will allow maximum artistic freedom.

When will you have final word on your policy? For those interested in influencing the outcome, where can we write to express the need for openness? After all, surely those of us in the pews who are most strongly affected by these policies--and ultimately end up paying the price for restrictions--should have some voice in how matters turn out.

Legionary Novitiate Offers Chant CD

As one person said, he never thought he would say the day. The Legionaries of Christ have embraced chant, and it is a wonderful thing. See the news of their new chant CD.

One of those voices – a second bass, to be precise – belongs to Br Christopher Tappel, LC, who is currently studying his second year of humanities in Cheshire. When asked what he learned from the experience of recording the CD, Br Christopher said that it helped him to realize the power of a form of music that lifts the soul into prayer.

“I first discovered Gregorian chant when I entered the seminary,” he said. “Chant is so appealing because of its special ability to provide interior peace and relaxation, something so hard to find for many people who live surrounded by the noise of the world. Making the CD was a beautiful and prayerful experience.”

Music-making is also a formative experience in a Legionary seminary, where the emphasis on integral formation includes an introduction to the arts, both sacred and secular. Fr Andreas Kramarz, LC, the choir director, said that singing in a choir can be an outstanding way to teach teamwork, the pursuit of perfection in details, and appreciation for a beautiful art.

“The Church has always considered that music can be a sublime form of praising God, but music is also an excellent means of forming one’s intelligence, sensitivity, and the capacity to work together and harmonize in a team. One learns how to work together in a harmonious and constructive way, to blend together so that everybody contributes to build up the whole,” he said.

“I think it was helpful for the brothers see how important it is to work on the details, to bring something as close as possible to perfection. And we tried to combine professionalism with a spirit of prayer: that it is all for the glory of God and for the good of those who will listen to it, so that they will be inspired to prayer and reflection.”

“Apart from this, music adds beauty to ordinary life,” he added. “Singing lifts up the spirit, helps to relax in the midst of an intense schedule of study and work, and brings out something very human.”

A Legacy

The emphasis on Gregorian and polyphonic Latin hymns also fits well with Pope Benedict’s emphasis on recovering the dignity of liturgical music.

You can order here.

The Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite at the "Cattolica"

Yesterday, November 17th, the Extraordinary Form of the Mass in the Roman Rite was celebrated in the Major Chapel of the Università Cattolica of Milan.

One year ago, the NLM reported about the first E.F. Mass,, celebrated by the former general Ecclesiastical Assistant, Msgr. Ambrosio, later appointed Bishop of Piacenza.
Now, thanks to the generosity of the new Ecclesiastical Assistant, Msgr. Lanza, the celebration has been made regular: every third Monday of each month Fr. Ferdinando Citterio will celebrate Mass for students, professors, and other faithful interested.

Here are some pictures from the Mass celebrated yesterday:




(Thanks to Rinascimento Sacro for the top and the bottom pictures)

Le Barroux Member of Benedictine Confederation

From September 18th to 27th, 2008, the Congress of Benedictine Abbots took place in Rome. In addition to reelecting Dom Notker Wolf as Abbot Primate of the Benedictins for another four year term, the Confoederatio Benedictina Ordinis Sancti Benedicti, the Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict, admitted to its memembership the Abbey of Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux (it also is listed now on the Confederation's website here). The abbey, which is attached to (a slightly modified form of) the usus antiquior, continues to depend from the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. As the source for this news, the website of the French Bishops' Conference, puts it:

This integration manifests that this community pursues its way of belonging to the normal structures of the Church and of fraternal collaboration with the monasteries of the Benedictine family.

This is very welcome news as it is a sign that the Older Use is becoming a normal part of the life of the Church as it rightfully should be.

A Chapel Renovation at Seton Hall

Via Fr. Zuhlsdorf, I recently ran across these images of a striking chapel renovation at Seton Hall College in New Jersey, replacing the somewhat maimed post-Conciliar fittings with vividly painted and gilded Gothic furniture, and a new rose-colored marble altar. On the whole, they are some of the more convincing Gothic furnishings I have seen in recent years; I do not know the manufacturer or designer but I detect the hand of Granda's artisans.

A number of the details feel nonetheless somewhat stilted, with a certain pre-assembled quality to them. I wish a greater effort had been made to harmonize the new furnishings to the existing items, or even conserve more of the older elements, which, while sadly reduced by the previous renovation, still had some life in them. The remnants of the old furnishings had a distinct early twentieth-century Gothic feel, possessing a certain subtlety and delicacy that the bolder, heavier, nineteenth-century-inspired furnishings lack to a certain degree. This is not to say they are not finely crafted, of course, or that I do not appreciate their vigor.

There is also, of course, the liturgical problem posed by implementing a conservative post-Conciliar plan (with a large, fine marble altar that nonetheless can only be approached from one side) in the post-Summorum world. It will take some time for the spirit of the Motu Proprio to trickle down into the mainstream, and more effort must be made on our part to emphasize the importance of spatial planning within the continuity of tradition, which is still not on the radar screen of many orthodox Catholics, through no fault of their own, of course. In any case, as I have said before, the artist can only do what the client asks them to do, when all is said and done. In the mean time, I applaud the imagination of those in charge to undertake such a high-quality restoration, as well as returning the tabernacle to the center of the sanctuary, another important first step in the re-enchantment of liturgical space.



I am pleased to see the tabernacle shrine, while possessing a reredos, does not look like a faux high altar, thus preserving the integrity of the single freestanding altar; it would be better if the principal altar was raised somewhat higher and the tester lowered somewhat, for better visibility, but on the whole this is a step in the right direction. It is unclear from the photos, though, if the old tester is hung directly over the new altar, the most logical place for it to be. Placing a hanging tester over a freestanding altar is a very fine thing indeed, and could be a model for the artistic resacralization of many freestanding altars across the country and world. Despite my critiques--which certainly can be made among friends--there is much to like here, and much to learn from.

Newman's "Episcopal" Mitres: Shadows of What Might Have Been

Cardinal Newman, while he was a Cardinal of the Church, was not a bishop. This may strike some as strange for today we are accustomed to thinking of Cardinals as naturally bishops as well, but this is not necessarily the case. Historically there are Cardinals who were bishops, Cardinals who were priests, Cardinals who were deacons and even "lay Cardinals" (Cardinals who have received minor orders only). (Those interested in this may read more about it here.)

Cardinal Newman, a Cardinal who was a priest, was, as I say, not a bishop, but -- as I recall the story -- for various reasons it became thought that the Holy See had determined to raise him to the dignity of the episcopacy. This leads us back to the title of this piece. So assured did this seem, that mitres were made up for Newman and gifted to him for the purpose of this occasion.

In the end, this did not occur, but the mitres that were created for this occasion still exist and I recently had the opportunity to view those mitres while in England. Here they are:

Newman's initials are prominent upon their protective cases:



While Nemwan may not have been raised to the dignity of the episcopacy in the end, we can take joy in the fact that he may yet be raised to the dignity of sainthood.

Requiem for Cardinal Pole in Oxford

On 17 November 1558, Reginald Cardinal Pole, the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury passed from this world, just hours after Queen Mary Tudor, arguably the last pre-Protestant Reformation Catholic monarch of England. So too died their attempts to restore Mary's Dowry to her ancient Catholic Faith, and for almost three hundred years, England was without a Catholic hierarchy, the Mass was outlawed, and hundreds of priests were martyred for bringing the sacraments to the recusant Catholics of this land. 

So, it was with some joy that Catholics in Oxford were able to freely gather and worship God in a rite with which this Council Father of Trent would have been familiar. Moreover, the Mass, organized by the Latin Mass Society, was celebrated in the chapel of Magdalen College, with the gracious permission of the President and Dean. Cardinal Pole had been an undergraduate in this college, and it was a privilege for us to assist in the Mass celebrated in the extraordinary form in this beautiful (essentially) medieval chapel.

The celebrant was Fr John Osman, parish priest of Dorchester-on-Thames, and the Mass was expertly and prayerfully sung by the Schola of Bl. Thomas Abel, Oxford University's Gregorian chant society, which was founded by fellow NLM correspondent, Dr Joseph Shaw.

More photos in my Flickr set.

Help a Deserving Catholic Blogger get a Scholarship

This is just a personal note from me, but I'd like to put a word in for a friend of the NLM, Thomas Peters, the young man behind the very professional and well-run American Papist Catholic news weblog. He is in line for a scholarship for student bloggers, and needs your help. Here's how:

I'm in serious running to receive a $10,000 scholarship for blogging as a student. Voting for me here ("Thomas Peters") only takes a few seconds, and I would deeply appreciate you spreading the word amongst your friends, facebook, readers, email lists, etc.
If this cause goes viral among the Catholic online community, I could have real shot at winning, which would mean more time blogging as opposed to, well, trying to pay the electric bill. Reading in the dark is no fun. Think of it as a little good deed for today. Thank you!

Currently, he's number two in the running, which is pretty impressive. But you can make it even more impressive with a click of the mouse. If you're interested, please, by all means go vote!

Artists Sought to Adorn A New Romanesque Chapel for USC

A new chapel for the Catholic Student Center at the University of Southern California is presently in the planning stages. The project's liturgical designer and consultant is Steven Schloeder, of the Phoenix, Arizona-based Liturgical Environs, and the author of Architecture in Communion, the most comprehensive (and most orthodox) guide to churchbuilding that incorporates the modern legislation. He is working in collaboration with the project's design architects Elkus Mafredi and the firm of Perkowitz+Ruth. Their designs for the new building, intended to harmonize with USC's Romanesque-Italianate campus, are shown above and below. What makes this project unique, however, is the chapel planning committee is seeking artists to create new traditional work for the interior--including stained glass, Stations of the Cross, a tabernacle shrine and reredos, mosaics and other design elements. More can be found here. This could be a wonderful opportunity for many emerging Catholic artists, and should not be missed.




(All images copyright Elkus Manfredi Architects.)

Psallite Sapienter available

I'm pleased to report that Psallite Sapienter, recently cited by the Ecclesia Dei Commission as the definitive modern guide to music in the extraordinary form, is available from Aquinas and More books. (The same seller has a good stock of the Parish Book of Chant available too.)

An Apostolate In Our Midst

I am struck this morning with the treasure we have in our hands. The CMAA's work, publications, and educational programs are an active apostolate of the Church. The signs are making themselves evident. More than just education in a tradition, they are an active form of evangelization beyond anything we might have dreamed of. We are musicians and clergy who felt ourselves called, as individuals, to do the right thing. And we are now beginning to see the fruits of our labors in ways more grand every hour, every day.

When I entered into all of this work for the Church, almost ten years ago, my only thought was that this music needed to be heard. It didn't matter who cared about it at the time, who was against it, or how it would be received in our parish and parishes far and wide. I felt moved and responsible, as a musician, to learn about and sing the music of the Church, and bring its sublime beauty back to the liturgy, back where it belonged, so it could, on its own merit, do its work in the hearts and minds of all who heard it - the laity, the clergy: all of those who had been deprived of its beauty and graces for so long. Did I know what I was doing? No. Did it stop me? No. Why did I do it? No explanation anyone could understand.

Years later, after lots of mistakes and learning and education and reeducation and occasionally getting it right, I'm seeing things happen I never thought could be achieved in my lifetime. The line had always been that no one liked this material any more, that it was outmoded, that it wasn't hip, that it was just concert material or material reserved for monks in the most remote places, far from modern life. There were pockets of light, especially for those of you who had dedicated your professional lives the Church and its liturgy. But what about the rest of us?

I have now seen how things have flowered in our own parish. And regionally. And on a national level with the immense growth of the Colloquium and workshops. The Chant Intensive, which I pushed for last summer, was a huge hit. So why not do one in the Winter. Thankfully, Scott Turkington agreed. The time seemed right. And we have an every growing number on our team whose gifts and willingness and hard work make it all possible.

But moving CMAA activities from Washington across the country to Loyola? And now to the University of San Diego? Bringing our ideals to Catholic schools who, in many ways, are Catholic in name only? But herein resides our mission and what I believe is the secret of our continuing success.

My greatest suspicion, since I became involved in all of this, was that most resistance came not from belligerence from the other side, but from ignorance. Bringing these kinds of programs to these very places offer local communities and musicians, in an nonthreatening way, in charity, offers professional and volunteer musicians the opportunity to become exposed to the music and the kind of liturgy they had always dreamed about in their heart of hearts - but felt was beyond their reach. How can a local music director admit to lack of knowledge of the very thing he was hired to be an expert in? The first reaction, the knee jerk reaction, is to be dismissive, and argue against its merits. Why? For fear of exposure.

But the miracles keep happening. Just this morning I opened my email to find four members of the music team from the Immaculata Parish at USD having signed up for the Winter Intensive. Who would have thought this possible? What wonder is that that called us to do a program there in January? There is no explanation other than that clock said "do it," the players were all in place, the stars and moon lined up, and that the Holy Spirit is working through all of us in the most amazing ways.

The Winter Intensive is already three quarters of the way full. Imagine the bright future for liturgy in our country.

YOA Brings Haydn to St. Peter's

The Youth Orchestra of the America's has a wonderful lineup for a Mass at St. Peter's, November 26, 2008, which includes Haydn's Harmoniemesse in full.

Process of Beatification for Former Abbot of Heiligenkreuz Opened

This Saturday November 15th, the process for the beatification of Karl Braunstorfer (1895-1978), Abbot of Heiligenkreuz from 1945 until 1969, was solemnly opened in the Abbey church by the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal von Schönborn. Abbot Braunstorfer played an important role in the history of this exemplary monastery. As the Abbot Præses of the Austrian Cistercian Congregation, he attended the Second Vatican Council. Having returned to Heiligenkreuz, he implemented there the liturgical renewal in the way he as one of the Council Fathers understood it: in great continuity with liturgical tradition, without rupture, maintaining and indeed reinvigorating Latin Gregorian Chant as the form of expression proper to the Roman liturgy. After having resigned as abbot due to the frailty of age, he dedicated his last years to the reedition of the Latin Cistercian Office. Here are some impressions from the Pontifical Vespers during which the opening of the process took place:

The website for the process - so far only in German - can be found here.

ICRSS Solemn Mass in Seville, Spain

Yesterday, Saturday Nov. 15th, the ICRSS celebrated a Solemn Mass in the beautiful Spanish parish church of St. Bernard of Seville. A conference was organized by "Una Voce Seville" following the Mass which examined the liturgical thought of Pope Benedict XVI. Thanks to Una Voce Seville for sending these in.

A few images to give you a taste of Catholic Spain.

For more information: Una Voce Seville

A Serious Issue on the Revised Grail Psalter

Last week, CNS reported that the USCCB has voted in favor of incorporating into the English translation of the Mass the "Revised Grail Psalter," and there is speculation that this translation will become the universal Psalter in the English-speaking world.

Whatever the merits of this translation, which has apparently not been made public, there is a problem with what to do about the Psalms that are already composed for use at Mass. Better translations are always helpful, but we really don't need yet another mandatory upheaval. This is cause for concern, but nothing compared with the issue I now must raise.

I had vaguely recalled some horrible copyright issue associated with the Grail, such that websites that posted the text were harassed and forced to remove them, but I could never get a precise fix what this situation was, and with the swirl of translations and revisions coming out year after year, it has been a bit of a blur.

It was in the combox of this site that someone directed me here, to find the following statement which clarifies and crystalizes the emerging problem:

The copyright on the new psalter is held jointly by the Conception Abbey and The Grail. GIA Publications, Inc., is proud to serve as the worldwide agent and pledges to administer the rights in an efficient and impartial manner. The first publication of the new text will occur in the form of a book containing the complete text and will be available as soon as the formal imprimatur is received.

Think of what this means. A private, commercial publisher--whose budget and financial dealings is entirely hidden from public view because it is said to be a religious nonprofit--has struck a deal with another huge institution that has the power to mandate the text that all Catholics in the United States use at Mass. This private publisher will control the rights to use the text, charging whatever price they deem suitable and preventing independent composers from setting the Psalms for Mass.

I wrote the GIA as follows:

My question concerns your policies for the newly chosen Revised Grail Psalter. Many composers are setting the Psalms to music and posting the results online for distribution at no charge. As the agent for the copyright holder, you have publicly promised "efficient and impartial" rights administration. Does this include the rights of composers to set the Psalms and post them for free download? Certainly that would be efficient and impartial. Please clarify your precise policy.

and received the following answer:

Thank you for your email. I have forwarded it to our Permissions department, who will review it and contact you with their response.

Thank you once again,

Eric Downs
GIA Publications, Inc.
phone: 800-442-1358 ext. 27
fax: 708-496-3828
custserv@giamusic.com

That was Friday. I haven't heard back. I will of course post the answer as soon as I get it. In any case, it is not too early to raise alarm bells about what this new-found power of GIA could portend.

1. The USCCB has chosen a text controlled by one private publisher, at the expense of every other Catholic publisher (one can surmise what OCP, LitPress, and others think about this decision). This company is already bragging that it will use its status to be first to market with the officially published book.

2. All money to pay the royalty fees will be paid by Catholic parishes and other publishers, which raises barriers to entry into the market and gives a monopolistic privilege to GIA over everyone else. The money paid for these royalties comes directly out of the pockets of faithful Catholics in the pews, who will be charged money just for the privilege of singing the Psalms. That alone is enough of an outrage to inspire protest. But there is more:

3. There will be no public accounting for what GIA will do with the money. We will never know. Will it be thousands or millions?

4. This is a major threat to Catholic composers, who might be prevented from posting their Psalm settings online for paid or even free download, without jumping through whatever hoops the GIA wants to set up, and of course this institution will have every incentive to hold the hoops high if only to reinforce its own monopolistic position as rights administrator to the text. Anyone who thinks that the GIA won't favor its own composers over independent composers is woefully naive about the publishing business.

5. The existing Psalm settings coming from the likes of GIA are not varied enough to warrant holding a monopoly, which is why sites such as the Chabanel Psalms, which already garners vast web traffic, and not only because the Psalms there are free for the taking. It is also because they are dignified and fitting for liturgy - and consistently so. You won't bump into any Samba settings there or settings that sound like 1970s rock ballads, for example.

6. GIA will clearly favor having Catholics buy their Psalms rather than download them for free, so the question is what is GIA going to do about this? As far as I can tell, GIA is in the position of shutting down anyone who posts Psalms for download, as well as charging high enough fees to exclude smaller and less well-heeled publishers. Just who is going to police the GIA in this regard? Are we just supposed to trust them with this power? I don't think this is a good idea.

7. It is of interest to know precisely what kind of financial arrangements that the USCCB has made with GIA in order to bring this result about. Did the GIA pay the USCCB in some form or any form to bring this result about? If not, a flat denial would be a good way to start. If there was some sort of arrangement, Catholics have a right to know what it was. After all, the USCCB has no money that it didn't gain from the voluntary gifts of Catholics in the pews. Everyone has an interest in knowing more about this.

8. What would be the downside of having the USCCB purchase the whole rights to these Psalms (from the monastery, for example) and making them public domain, free for anyone to use? Of course people will say: but what about the money needed to compensate the translators? But consider that we are talking about a monastery here, and surely a one-time payment should cover whatever justice requires. In any case, from my read of the situation, the fiduciary beneficiary of this scheme is not going to be the monastery. It is going to be GIA, which had nothing at all to do with translating the Psalms.

9. It is an awful enough situation that ICEL demands the retention of copyright over the text of the Mass. ICEL has been at least gracious enough to say that people are free to post the texts online at no charge and to set the ordinary chants to music and post those for free download. ICEL is not a profit-making corporation with a massive commercial presence. GIA is a different animal entirely. It is astonishing that the USCCB would permit such a massive company to own and control the monopoly to the Psalms - the very foundation of all Christian song.

10. We must never forget that the very idea of copyright is an invention of positive law, enforced by the state at the point of a gun. The world came to know of such a thing first under the rule of Queen Elizabeth in England, who used the copyright power as a tool for enforcing religious adherence to the Church of England. It is a striking fact that today the Book of Common Prayer uses no copyright protection, for the simple reason that we live in a different age that respects of the rights of religious liberty and encourages wide access to service texts. Meanwhile, we see the Catholic Church making use of these state institution to variously include and exclude people from the field of religious publication and composition. This has done grave damage to the liturgy, since it has enshrined a kind of establishment that has not been accommodating through the years. It is long overdue for the Catholic Church to detach itself from the old forms for enforcement and embrace the new world of digital and rivalrous publication and composition, so that at least people with an interest in improving the liturgy can have a voice in the distribution and shape of the texts of Mass.

This of it: A private company using a legal monopoly to sell at a profit the Psalms we are mandated to sing and using the state to crack down on all who attempt to compete or give them away for free. The GIA and the USCCB are playing with fire here. The Reformation was prompted by injustices less egregious. All Catholics must stand up and insist that this must not be allowed to happen. If the Church is going to authorize the Revised Grail, access must be efficient and impartial in the only way it can be: the rights to the texts must be completely open access.

More Chant Instruction

The more time I've spent in the wide world of music, the more I appreciate the mystical properties of Gregorian chant--and not only because it is the music of the Roman Rite, but also because, on its own terms, it is phenomenal composition in every way. It is beautifully balanced and expressive, its seeming simplicity masking an awe-inspiring integration of music and text.

The more you experience it, the more you understand about the principle articulated by Pius X and reiterated by every pope since: namely, the closer music shares the sensibility of chant, the closer it is to perfect liturgical expression.

Sometimes it is tempting to broaden the point to music in general: the closer music is to chant, the more pure and artistically meaningful it is. One reason we might think of Bach, Brahms, Byrd, Bruckner and others as having composed eternal music is that they all knew and understood the chant.

Just knowing the chant and learning from it helps bury the ego and inspires that longing for transcendent meaning in art. We might contrast this with any number of modern composers who seek immortality on their own efforts but never quite find that universal voice, and their music dies with them. I know that it is not enough just assert that claim without detailed argument, and I also know that I'm contradicting all received wisdom in every composition department in universities and that I don't have either the authority or the credentials to make such a claim. So take it for what it is worth. Maybe you have noted the same thing.

Well, enough of that. I'm getting to the real point, which is to post notice of another chant instruction conference, this one sponsored by the Institute for Christ the King Sovereign Priest, Chicago, Illinois, January 9-11, 2009. The price is $85.00. You can see the page on the conference here. This is a very encouraging expansion of their mission. I've been thrilled to hear the Institute's chant recording and been pleased by their approach, which is classic Solesmes.

Running January 5-9 is a full-scale chant intensive, designed to take you to the stage where you can begin directing your own schola, in San Diego (University of San Diego actually), taught by Scott Turkington. There is a limit of 50 places. 30 spots have already been filled, which leaves 20 places remaining.

This much I think I can say for certain: there can be no progress in Catholic music absent a thorough exposure to and understanding of Gregorian chant. I know that those are fighting words to many people, even those who captive of the Catholic music publishing industry. So be it. Without the chant as a reference point, we will be forever floundering around and searching for something we will not find.

If you are a Catholic musician, you must attend one of these.

Fr. Thompson Receives the Dominican "Sacrae Theologiae Magister"

The NLM is very proud to announce that Fr. Augustine Thompson received yesterday the distinction of the Master's biretta and ring in Dominican ceremony for the Master of Sacred Theology (Sacrae Theologiae Magister).

Now the Master of Sacred Theology is not to be understood in the sense of a "Master's degree" in a university sense, instead it is an honorific distinction of the Dominican order. Today, the pre-requisites for this distinction include at least ten years of teaching at the graduate level and publication of a book and articles in academic journals.

The Sacrae Theologiae Magister (STM) dates back to the middle ages, and formerly wielded various privileges within the Dominican order, but since the post-conciliar era has become solely honorific.

The regalia that goes along with the STM is academic and not liturgical and those who have received the STM receive the title of "Very Reverend".

A description of the ceremony, which has remained unchanged since the late 1600's, is as follows. The individual to receive the honour comes and kneels before him who is to bestow the honour. The candidate makes a Profession of Faith and the ring is placed upon the ring finger of the left hand of the candidate. As this is done, the following is said:

"As you have called Wisdom your friend, and your have become a lover of her beauty, you have asked that she become your spouse: Behold. God gives her to you as spouse, that she be with you always and possess your heart."

The ring may have one stone or none.

The new Master of Sacred Theology is then sat in the chair and his appointment as a Master is announced. Then, placed upon the new Master's head is a Master's biretta. Current Dominican practice is to use a black biretta with red-purple piping and pom-pom. Being that it is the biretta of a doctor, it has four fins, not three as in the case of those who have the licentiate, or the typical clerical biretta.

It is then announced:

"Behold the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field in bloom; may the Lord cause you to increase by thousands, and may he bless you for all eternity. Amen."

The new Master then rises and delivers his inaugural lecture.

For those interested, the full form of this ceremony may be found here.

Here you may see this ceremony from yesterday, with Fr. Augustine Thompson receiving the title of Master, along with the imposition of the Dominican Master's ring and biretta:

(Fr. Thompson kneels before him who will bestow the title)


(Fr. Thompson seated; the ring of the Master has been received; he is proclaimed as a Master of Sacred Theology)


(Fr. Thompson receives the Master's Biretta)


(The inaugural lecture)

Congratulations to the Very Reverend Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P., S.T.M.

Fr. Thompson then proceeded to vest and celebrate Mass in the Dominican rite for those gathered. A few photographs:















To see all the pictures, see photo album.

Homily of Cardinal Castrillón on the 20th Anniversary of the FSSP

The English version of the homily of Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos on the 20th anniversary of the FSSP has now finally been posted on the FSSP site. Here it is:

Homily on the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the FSSP.
Trinità dei Pellegrini Catholic Church, Rome, October 18, 2008.

“He sent them two and two before his face into every city and place whither He Himself was to come.” (Gospel)

Esteemed Superior General, Father John Berg,
Esteemed Fellow Priests,
Dear Seminarians,
Dear Faithful!

God, our Lord, has always wanted to save individual persons, to unlock for others the abundance of his treasures. He himself selects those who should be sent into his harvest: “You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you; and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit; and your fruit should remain” (Alleluja verse). The chosen are sent out as workers and not as rulers over God's inheritance; not as owners, but as stewards of God’s secrets.

This choosing assumes a great trust: the entrusted treasure is Christ himself; therefore Christ also calls his chosen ones “friends.” “I no longer call you servants, but friends, because I have told you everything which I have heard from My Father. “ The chosen are workers, servants, and friends of the bridegroom: “I hold your friends in high esteem, O God” (Introit).

We are like St. Paul, we who have received the grace of the priestly vocation, called to announce the “unfathomable wealth of Christ.” This wealth that Christ entrusted to his Church, which over the course of the centuries was distributed widely without being diminished, depending on the time and circumstances determined by the Holy Ghost, in order to awaken men, to build up the mystical Body of Christ. Thus are the Gifts of the Spirit distributed and the different vocations in the church awakened into being: they are so numerous because they arise from the infinite treasure of the Church. And there will never be a moment in history where the Spirit of Christ will not call forth special vocations, to serve with renewed zeal “the ever ancient, but ever new Truth,” as St. Augustine says, for the honor of God and for the welfare of souls.

Twenty years ago the Lord gathered a modest group of priests around Himself, to send them also out into the world; this community of priests wanted to present itself and its unique charism before the Holy Father. They were recognized by the Vicar of Christ as a genuine gift of the Holy Ghost for the Church.

Not in vain did this community thereupon set itself under the protection of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, in order clearly to show their intention, to work apostolically only “cum et sub Petro“ and, only with the blessing and under the direction of the Holy Father, to open the wealth of the merciful love of Christ.

In a special way you do that, my dear friends, through the celebration of the liturgy of the Church in the form of the “extraordinary rite.“ This form is particularly suitable to emphasize the holiness and beauty of the rites of the Church. Since your founding, you have endeavored to bring this treasure nearer to the people. Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, through the Motu Proprio "Summorum Pontificum", issued a year ago, has made the Gregorian Liturgy more accessible to the whole Church and thereby also opened new possibilities for your apostolate. On this day I would like to thank you and encourage you to realize joyfully the opportunities within your competence.

“Through all the earth their voice resounds” (Gradual), now with two hundred and eight priests from twenty-six different countries, working within one hundred and two dioceses, in seventeen countries and four continents. “Your fruit should remain” (Alleluja verse): in two seminaries one hundred and thirty-nine seminarians prepare for the priesthood for your community. The priests today work in over a hundred and fifty apostolates - eleven of which are established as personal parishes. As once with the Apostles, the Lord also still sends you forth today “as lambs among wolves” (Gospel) but gives you, at the same time, the assistance of many friends and families, some of whom have united themselves into a lay association to support your priests and seminarians with prayers and sacrifices. This community of spiritual benefactors has received the name “Confraternity of Saint Peter“. May the Lord repay their prayers and sacrifices a thousand fold and call many others to follow their example, for the building up and support of all the clergy.

We should also not overlook the date: today, the 18th of October, is the feast of the evangelist, St. Luke. In his Gospel he has left for us a living picture of Jesus and his mother Mary, particularly through the infancy narrative.

Yes, even many Marian pictures have been ascribed to him, and even if we cannot ascertain with absolute certainty whether he painted particular pictures, nevertheless, we can determine from him the most beautiful portraits of the Mother of God,

masterworks inspired by the Holy Ghost, painted in the heavenly colours of the Gospel which disclose to those who observe closely: Mary accepted what God offered to her through the archangel Gabriel and proclaimed her "Fiat," and so gave the gift of the Savior to the world. Only through Mary do we reach Him who came to us through her (Grignon de Montfort).

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter should distinguish itself in the admiration of Mary and the imitation of her virtues and aim for priestly perfection under her guidance and so lead the faithful to the same admiration and imitation. The imitation of the humility and the obedience of Mary is the surest way to receive the Spirit which Jesus Christ sends ever anew to his Church. She is for us the surest way to heaven, so that we, freed from all earthly things, may celebrate in eternity the victory of the Cross over evil.

Amen.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

The new Ambrosian Lectionary and the Extraordinary Form of the Ambrosian Rite

As some readers may be aware, today is the first day of the Ambrosian Liturgical Year, and the first Sunday of Advent of the Ambrosian Rite.

Maybe fewer of our readers know that today also comes into force the new Ambrosian Rite Lectionary, written by order of Dionigi Card. Tettamanzi, Archbishop of Milan.

This event has been recently greatly advertised in the Diocese as a key moment of the renovation of the Ambrosian Rite after the Second Vatican Council, and a restoration of an "Ambrosian way" to read the Holy Writ.

Unfortunately, while it is true that, after thirty years of continous liturgical renovation, whose poor fruits are often under everybody's eyes, this Lectionary stands perfectly and consistently in the line of Abp. Bugnini's school, it is very far from the truth that the new Lectionary is inspired by a true spirit of Ambrosian restoration.

We became aware today, with great sadness and concern, that the Archbishop of Milan has ordered to impose the new Lectionary also in all churches where the Extraordinary Form of the Ambrosian Rite is celebrated. Msgr. Magnoli, Secretary of the Diocesan Congregation for the Ambrosian Rite, has explained today to the faithful gathered in the church of San Rocco al Gentilino in Milan that they ought to accept this imposition, in conformity to Article 6. of Motu Proprio "Summorum Pontificum".

Now, while it is comforting to hear, as we maintained on the NLM, and contrary to what some believed, that the Archbishop of Milan is and considers himself in fact bound by the Papal authority as expressed in the Motu Proprio, we cannot but wonder why the same Archbishop doesn't recognize validity to many other articles of the same "Summorum Pontificum". For instance, as to the possibility for every Ambrosian Rite priest to choose freely to celebrate Mass either according to the new Missal or to the traditional Missal, which is now explicitly denied and forbidden!

Furthermore, it is very clear from the text of the Apostolic Letter that the use of vernacular readings is allowed, and not imposed. It is on the contrary far from clear and very open to interpretation, that a new Lectionary, whose features are largely incompatible with the structure of the traditional Ambrosian Calendar, can be used.

In order to understand the critical importance of this imposition, some precisions are in order.

First of all, the traditional Ambrosian "Ordo Lectionum" is most probably one of the most ancient and original features of the Rite itself. We have evidences that some readings were read since before St. Ambrose's times, and learned studies published by scholars like Prof. C.Alzati and P. Carmassi have shown that the Ambrosians considered their "pollens Ordo Lectionum" "a vigorous order of the readings" - as cited in the VIIth century Versum de Mediolano Civitate" - as a central point of their peculiar way to worship God.

The mystagogical character of this order of readings, its powerful catechetical mark and its noble history with strict connections with the liturgy of Jerusalem are only some of the unique peculiarities of the Ambrosian way to read the Holy Writ during the Mass.

Secondly, it is true that, shamefully, for thirty years the Ambrosians renounced their noble traditions and chose to adopt almost in toto the Roman Lectionary. However, it is a paradox that, with a pretext to restore the Ambrosian tradition, they have now fabricated a brand new Lectionary (with all the same year A and B's of the Roman one) to replace the ancient and original "Ordo Lectionum".

Thirdly, while some characteristics of the old calendar have been restored, on the other hand some very temerarious novelties have been introduced, such as a Vigil Mass for Saturday evening, with a proclamation of the Resurrection throughout the year, and a proper form different from the Sunday Mass, but equally able to fulfill the Sunday obligation. In other words, the Archbishop of Milan has de facto established Saturday as a second holy day in the week!

Today, in the church of S.Rocco, by intervention of some pious hands, the new Lectionary suddenly "disappeared", and the traditional readings were read.

Now we hope that this very imprudent imposition be withdrawn by the diocesan authorities in order to restore peace and harmony amongst the Ambrosian faithful.

Support Your Local Organ Recital

The Scott Turkington organ recital yesterday at Christ Church in Greenwich, Connecticut, was a smashing success, with 250 plus attending and accolades all around. Here is a review.

Of course this is a credit to the organist, who put together an outstanding program and pulled it off with grace and charm. And yet we all know cases of excellent organists who have played outstanding recitals in churches with far fewer in attendance. Scott himself told me of a case some years ago when a parish pulled together several thousand dollars to bring in a world-renown organist but fewer than 20 people ended up attending.

I talked to Turkington about what, in his experience, makes an organ recital successful. He cautioned at first to remember that they are almost destined to fail. People are busy and disinclined to get in their cars to go to a church to do nothing but sit and listen to a recitalist on the organ. You can’t really see much of the performer. It is not the fashionable crowd. The environment is a church, not a concert hall. And the organ has already left the culture as a popular instrument. It is still beloved, of course, but as a liturgical instrument, something to assist in worship.

There is also the problem that preparing for recitals takes an incredibly vast amount of time, many hours per day and often for many months. The practice schedule is grueling. It displaces anything else you want to do or think about. The opportunity costs associated with this sort of preparation are enormous, especially for the employer of the organist. This is why people who play recitals regularly do their best to make it their profession, if that is at all possible.

You hear about the practice regime here and are reminded that music has always been a peculiar thing in the culture, one in which excellence is always and everywhere associated with the expense of vast amounts of time with no shortcuts. In our society in which everything we do is faster—you will read this article within minutes after I started writing it—the advancement on a musical instrument takes the same amount of time now as did in the ancient world.

The first lesson here is to show as much appreciation as you can for anyone who plays an organ recital. There are many hours, hundreds of hours, that go into it, and you, the listener, enjoy the fruits of this. It is not financially worth it, of course, so thank goodness we live in a world in which there are pursuits of the highest sort that continue to take place despite their lack of financial viability.

So what are the ingredients that go into making a wonderfully successful organ recital? Scott says, and this might surprise you, that just bringing into town a wonderful player is not enough. Neither is it enough for the organist attached to a parish to practice, announce, and play. This is not enough to get over the hump that causes organ recitals to default to failure.

Is promotion the answer? Not necessarily and sometimes not at all. He also knows of many causes in which the town was blanketed with posters for weeks leading to a recital but even then hardly anyone showed up. Marketing is necessary but not sufficient. A great organist is necessary but not sufficient.

The single most important factor in a smashing success is an established time and venue. That is to say, they should be in done in Churches that have regularly scheduled recitals that have built up a devoted audience over the course of years. If the church does not have this and has a weak instrument, all the promotion in the world will not be enough. These programs have to be done as series and be talked up through word of mouth, sometimes for years, to the point that they become an institution and attract people who are inclined to attend such things.

Praise be to those parishes that have such programs! If one does not, it is possible to start one, but it could be a very long time before they take hold and attract a reliable audience. Organists who aspire to play recitals need to seek out these venues that are already established and make themselves available. Once their name gets around as a recitalist, other invitations will be forthcoming.

In the meantime, let me make a personal plea to each of you to attend your local organ recitals. There is no instrument in the world so commanding and glorious and varied in its musical possibilities. The repertoire is vast and exciting. The calm of the audience and the attentiveness of everyone to a single player who fills up the entire space makes for an experience that cannot be reproduced in any other setting.

Holy Name, Manchester: Reform of the Reform

A reader sent in some photographs from Holy Name in Manchester, a parish which appears to be doing some very good things liturgically in both forms of the Roman rite.

(Modern Roman Liturgy)


(Mass for the Dead in the usus antiquior)

St. Ann, Charlotte, North Carolina

A reader draws my attention to this splendid, simple project, currently being undertaken on the comparatively small budget of $3.1 million. The architectural language is austere but not unfinished, and the interior simple but hierarchically-planned and possessing a clear sense of procession and longitudinal movement. The church is slated for dedication in October 2009. The project is actually the completion of a "basement church" built around half-a-century ago that never got above ground-level. (Unfortunately my source did not know the name of the architect. Perhaps one of our readers can comment?) That they are undertaking this now, and with such grace, is deeply admirable. Such things can be done.

UPDATE: I was pleased to discover, through the sharp eyes of one of our readers, that the firm behind these plans is Washington's McCrery Architects, headed by principal James McCrery. I hope to do a writeup on some of his other projects soon, but this is a good opportunity to introduce our readers to at least a small part of his portfolio. One upcoming project of his to watch is Chicago's Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy, home of the unique Iconic Monstrance featured in one of our previous posts.

An All Souls Day Mass reveals a Stunning Piece of Catholic Architecture in the American Old South

We are still receiving some All Souls images, so I wanted to share another that has been sent in from St. Joseph's in Macon, Georgia in the diocese of Savannah. The celebrant is Fr. Allan J. McDonald, pastor of the church.

I was rather impressed with the architecture that you could see in this photograph, and so I looked up the parish and found this quite nice virtual tour of the building. The church is quite impressive and worth a look.

Carthusian Chant: An eternal song

This is part of a trailer of Into Great Silence. There is something especially touching and striking, or is it ominous?--I'm not sure how to put this--in this recording, very rare, of Gregorian Chant from Carthusian chant books. Professionals would never sound this way, which is one reason this is so different and so great. There is a definite speech-pattern to the way they sing. The spacing between phrases follows isn't scripted at all. It is just restful. The undulation in the phrases is something that parish scholas work on week after week but here it is so embedded that you don't have a sense that is practiced at all. See if this has a strange effect on your heart. It certainly does something to me.

St. Benedict's Chapel - A New Church in the Virginia Tidewater

Another classical/traditional architecture firm currently thriving is Franck and Lohsen Architects, based in Washington, D.C. I would go as far as to say they are one of the finest classical firms currently practicing. Unlike many of its competitors, though, it works in a variety of areas--residential, institutional, civic and religious, showing an admirable range and balance in their portfolio.

You may remember Franck and Lohsen from the stellar work they did in conjunction with painter Leonard Porter at the new adoration chapel in Sioux Falls Cathedral which has received some coverage in the Catholic press and in the blogosphere.


They are undertaking or have undertaken a number of ambitious larger church projects, but this smaller, simpler, and quite enchanting design for St. Benedict's Chapel in the Diocese of Richmond, will be of particular interest to our readers due to its small size and modest budget ($1.4 million, which is a shoestring by today's standards). Another interesting detail is that it appears it is intended to house a Latin Mass community, and great care has been taken to ensure the correct sanctuary layout for the traditional liturgy. Ground was broken a few months ago, and it is expected to be complete by the Spring.

The building's vernacular interpretation of the classical is inspired by local precedents, and is uniquely suited to the building's small size. The firm's larger projects use a more formal vocabulary, as is fitting, but here a different approach is quite appropriate to building's scale.

Here are a number of observations written by the project's liturgical consultant, the very talented Dr. Dennis McNamara of Mundelein, who I believe has also played an important role in the Leawood, Kansas project I profiled earlier this week:

General comments on the design: St. Benedict’s Chapel is a modest building with a modest budget, but it has still received the design attention it deserves as a building in which God is glorified and human beings are sanctified. It is recognizably part of the larger architectural tradition of the Church, and in particular refers back to the particular local tradition of the Tidewater area of Virginia in its choice of materials, motifs and local traditions. The continuation of the brick tradition of Virginia is the most obvious connection to the local architectural vernacular, as are the modest but fine details: jack arches of shaped brick over the windows, the shaped bricks in the rose window, shutters, white wooden trim and the tall proportions of the pediment over the front and rear entry doors. These details, while unassuming, give evidence of a high level of design sophistication from the architects, linking this new building with the venerable traditions of the Commonwealth. At the same time, the design presents something entirely new within the established tradition, retaining sound tradition as requested in Vatican II’s Sacrosanctum Concilum, yet breathing new life into the established conventions. In summary, the building “looks like” a church, and moreover, looks like something appropriate to the local church of the Diocese of Richmond, recalling the story of this place.

Front (west) façade: The west elevation presents a relatively simple outline enlivened by modest but important design choices which enrich the façade. The brick vernacular tradition is most evident in the gabled cornice and edges which draw their inspiration from early Virginia ecclesiastical examples like St. Luke’s in the Isle of Wight. The entry is clearly marked by the covered porch, which itself reveals the “naïve” proportions of the tall pediment often manifested in early Virginia architecture.

The façade as a whole gives a suggestion of the traditional triple entry to western church facades, though the side arches are blind, suggesting the possibility of future elaboration with statuary. The rose window, recalling the facade of the Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, brings a great deal of interest to the façade and also reveals the large volume of the interior, preparing the worshipper for the scale and importance of the space inside. Small details, such as the brackets and shaped wooden panels at the ends of the cornices, give the design a modest design sophistication. Interestingly, the west façade prepares the worshipper for his or her eventually approach to the sacraments, as the interior wall of the sanctuary receives a treatment similar to the facade, making the exterior give a foretaste of the room within.

Plan: Because of the limited budget, maximum efficiency was required of minimum square footage. Despite the budget, important decisions about liturgical and paraliturgical activities have been well-made.

The narthex, while modest, nonetheless gives ample room for gathering before and after the liturgy, in a dignified room which allows for a transition from the exterior world to the nave. Bathroom facilities, water fountain, and support rooms are adeptly taken out of the main line of sight while remaining easy to locate and access. The narthex also contains a baptismal font which will also serve as a holy water font, reminding the worshippers of their status as members of the Mystical Body of Christ through baptism. This room not only gives a proper setting of proper scale for the font, it is on axis with the central altar and leads to the altar, a feature recommended by nearly all of the twentieth-century’s liturgical reformers. The narthex leads into a dignified vestibule which gives access to the cry room, itself logically placed in close proximity to the rest rooms.

The area for reconciliation provides for face to face confession, confession behind a screen, confession in a more chapel-like room, as well as smaller rooms approximating the traditional confessionals.

The aisles are ample in proportion given the limited seating of around 300 persons, and provisions are made near the sanctuary for worshippers in wheelchairs and for the turning of coffins at Masses for the Dead.

The seating, being arranged in only fifteen rows, gives every worshipper a clear, intimate, and unblocked view to the liturgical action of the sanctuary.

The central altar remains clearly dominant in its location under the largest arch. The side shrines are placed to be secondary, in smaller arches and set back from the edge of the sanctuary itself, leaving the focus liturgical action of the central altar as primary.

The sacristy and flower room are easily accessible both from the sanctuary itself and one of several exterior entrances. They allow for prayerful preparation for liturgy as well as ample storage. The sacristy provides for a standard sink as well as a sacrarium. The rear exit from the sacristies allows for those charged with building security to exit without passing through the body of the church, and the porch on this exit gives some exterior architectural interest to the passengers approaching the building by car.

The altar, tabernacle and side shrines are currently in possession of the chapel community and are reclaimed from an older structure. As is proper to the liturgical usage of this local community, the tabernacle is fixed on the altar.

Site plan: The church retains the tradition of eastward orientation, departing from true east by only a few degrees. This arrangement allows for worshippers approaching by car to see the rear corner of the building (a longstanding architectural convention extending back to ancient Greece), giving them a clear view of both the rear and side of the church, with the richness of the rear porch giving a foretaste of the front porch.

Ample parking is provided as required by local codes, and handicapped accessible parking is prominently placed near the entry doors. A large, exterior gathering area is suggested by the arrangement of the sidewalks on the west side of the building, giving the opportunity for fellowship and gathering of the People of God outside of liturgy.

Interior view to the sanctuary: Though the budget has allowed only the most basic architectural shell, judicious use of architectural elaboration expresses the theological priorities in the room.

The central altar is the natural focus of the entire ensemble, with no blocked views. Modest architectural elaboration is given to the area surrounding the altar, giving it a proper setting and bringing the focus of the eye down to the liturgical action. The rear wall of the sanctuary echoes of the building’s west exterior façade, with the large center arch and two smaller arches providing an architectural completion of the foretaste given at the entry.

The side shrines are presented as clearly secondary, giving primacy to liturgical action and secondary status to devotional areas, reinforcing the notion that devotions flow from and return to the liturgy, but do not replace it.

The rood beam, a traditional element coming from the English tradition carried over to Virginia, also leads the eye of the worshipper down to the action of the altar via the crucifixion, reminding the worshipper that the Eucharistic liturgy is the representation of the sacrifice of Christ as well as the celebration of resurrection. It serves as a visual frame which focuses the worshippers’ attention on the altar and its liturgical action.

Stations of the Cross are currently in the possession of the chapel community and are reclaimed from an older structure. Ample wall space has been allowed for their installation.

This is a unique project, particularly for the tiny budget. But it certainly demonstrates how one can still build a beautiful, and well proportioned Church even on the smallest of budgets.

I look forward to seeing photos of the finished structure. Readers interested in the firm's more elaborate projects would do well to view their portfolio, available here. Particularly intriguing is their design for a Romanesque friary. I look forward to seeing more projects, large and small, from them in the future.

All Souls, Rome, Ss. Trinita

Thanks go out to John Sonnen who took this video from the All Souls Day Mass in Rome at the FSSP parish of Ss. Trinita. (Thanks also to the rest of the FSSP Roman crew, including Fr. Joseph Kramer, the pastor of Ss. Trinita.) Enjoy.

Liber Brevior online

In 1954, Desclee and the Gregorian Institute of America published a wonderful book called Liber Brevior. It contains a completely Kyriale plus propers for all Sundays and Feasts, plus Sunday Compline and Vespers, plus some simple Psalm-tone replacements for Alleluias and Tracts. The volume ended up being rather small, only the essentials from the Liber Usualis, but the size masked the reality: this book is 800 pages! You would never know it.

In any case, for for anyone who sings at Sunday Mass only--the extraordinary form, obviously--this book is all you need, and it prevents having to haul around the Liber Usualis. The Psalm tones at the end are a value added over the Liber U, if you see things that way (or maybe you think it is an aid to the lazy).

In any case, the CMAA is pleased to have this online now. Enjoy!

Mother Cabrini and the Parable of the Talents

Today is Mother Cabrini's day, to whom I have a special devotion, but there are millions of people living who owe her a great debt for her spectacular works in life. She was the first American citizen to be canonized, but there is much more to it than that. She was in the United States during a period of poverty and desperation about which we can only imagine today. The immigrant classes were pouring in, crowding cities as never before, and orphans on the streets were the most common sight. Poverty was rampant due to the inability of the social infrastructure to keep up with the dramatic population rise and the demographic changes.

She saw the need and built up an astounding empire of charitable institutions to care for people, starting on the East Coast but later spreading all across the country, wherever there was a need.

She was a gifted businessperson, something along the lines of the other great entrepreneurs of the Gilded Age except that her business was directed solely to caring for those in need. She was prayerful and devoted but also supremely practical.

She could negotiate a business deal like no one else. Anyone who entered a room with her--whether it was a mayor or a business tycoon or a obstinate enforcer of zoning laws--left having caved in to her quiet demands. People would explode in a rage at her persistence but this small Italian woman would keep her cool and stick to her message. She was also good at surrounding herself with outstanding workers who had that combination of piety and practicality.

When I say that there are millions alive for whom she is the benefactor, it is literally true. Many of those she helped would otherwise have become sick and died. Instead she cared for orphans, gave them a great education, and firmly entrenched the Catholic Church in America among new immigrants, and they went on to marry, have children, and build a glorious faith in the United States.

The communion antiphon this week, Domine quinque, is the Parable of the Talents, and how it applies to her! She took her abilities and did great things for God. The antiphon tells a long story so it is appropriately complex. Note the voicing change from the first section in which the servant speaks and the next section, which begins in elation and surprise, in which the Lord speaks (a point made by our schola director during rehearsal). And note just how elaborate the praise! It is a wonderful song for St. Mother Cabrini.

Lord, thou didst deliver to me five talents: behold, I have gained another five over and above. Well done, good and faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of your Lord.

One Question Only on the Revised Grail Psalter

CNS reports that "The U.S. bishops chose the Revised Grail Psalter produced by the monks of Conception Abbey in Missouri over the Revised New American Bible translation of the Book of Psalms for liturgical use in the United States."

I vaguely recall that as good as the translation is, the text is tied up in some sort of draconian copyright quagmire, such that no one cannot utter a phrase without shelling out the big bucks. Does anyone know? Much depends on this. If there is liberality, this is great news. If it is proprietary, it only reinforces the current penchant on the part of publishers to sell the Mass at a price via a coercive institution.

Can someone comment?

Iconic Liturgical Scenes of November

There is something rather iconic about the image of a priest, vested in black cope, led in procession by a thurifer and crucifer on the winding paths of a graveyard with a train of servers and laity before and behind. Accordingly, I couldn't resist posting these images sent in by Fr. Gregoire Fluet, taken at Old St. Bridget of Kildare Catholic Church in Modus, Connecticut. It is also always rather charming to see these things manifest at our smaller, more rural churches, whether it is in the ancient form or reform of the reform.

This particular event was a Sung Requiem Mass was offered in the usus antiquior as part of the 50th anniversary commemoration of the dedication of the new St. Bridget of Kildare Church, and it was offered in remembrance of all the faithful departed of the parish.

Seminarians of Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut assisted in the Mass.

Magnificat: The Monthly and An Interview

The publication Magnificat has been around the parish for some years and many people carry it to daily Mass, and friends have extolled its virtues, but I only recently decided to take a closer look.

I was suddenly overwhelmed at what a remarkable little publication this is. If there is anything so useful and aesthetically pleasing that brings into private life the Catholic sense of the passage of time and its integration with prayer, I'm not aware of it.

It is a pocket-size, perfectly bound volume that beautiful in every way we can possibly use that term. The cover art is gorgeous. The printing is classic, in two color. From an editorial point of view, it is expertly done. It contains no distractions like advertisements, promo hypes, and credits and the like. It is pure and clean and tidy, all of it designed as a aid to prayer.

So what is it? It is a guide to daily prayer for Catholics that follows the liturgical calendar of the year. It has the ordo for Mass in the ordinary form, plus all the readings for daily Mass, but the real value added are the morning and evening prayers for each day, modeled on the Liturgy of the Hours. The Liturgy of the Hours has played a huge role in Catholic history but for reasons that are a bit unclear to me, its presence has dramatically diminished for lay people.

This is the only book I know of that makes it convenient for regular Catholics in the course of their daily lives to make use of the Liturgy of the Hours, without having to acquire expensive books and take a tutorial.

The music that is printed here is deeply traditional in the right way we used that term. They are early medieval office hymns and Marian antiphons, and they are shown in neumes that the Church uses for the main line of its liturgical music books. This advantage here is that we are reminded that liturgical music is unlike every other kind of music.

From an editorial point of view, I especially appreciate their selections of meditations because they are chosen from Church Fathers and writings of the saints -- and they are short so that you can read them in just a few minutes.

We all know people who have fallen away from the faith but this can sometimes put us in an awkward position: one wants to help but one is not always clear how. This strikes me as a great idea: give a gift subscription to Magnificat. Maybe the first month or two, the person won't use it but there is no way this is going in the trash. After a while, the person might just pick it up and payer the morning prayer or the evening prayer or read a meditation. I can easily see how this publication could draw someone back to the Church, not through loud apologetics but through contemplative prayer.

I was curious about the organization that puts it out. I went to their site and watched last month's sponsored Mass celebrated by Cardinal Sean in Boston. There was the Benedictine altar arrangement, and real liturgical knowledge behind the music selections: chant English antiphon for entrance, for example.

The director of communications, Paul Snatzhko, was gracious enough to grant me an interview and during this I learned that Magnificat has a circulation beyond anything I had imagined: something approximating a quarter of a million. Try to imagine what this means for the future.

Here is the interview, and I must apologize in advance for dropping some of Paul's words on the meditation--you will notice a skip here--and also for the mixed quality of the interview. I started playing with the sound more than I should have, rejecting my usual intuition that the less I do to audio files, the better they sound. Anyway, it lasts about 15 minutes.

You can subscribe here.

(P.S. I don't need to add this but in case this sounds like a paid promotion, it is not. Neither I nor anyone at NLM or CMAA etc. etc. has any fiduciary interest here. This is just about drawing your attention to excellent resources.)

Gloria Thomas - Liturgical Artist

It never ceases to amaze me the number of traditional Catholic artists practicing quietly out there, and yet seldom coming to our attention. It is increasingly apparent that there is a great deal of talent available, and a thirst on the part of the faithful, but the problem is getting the two together in one place. The internet has helped this problem of supply and demand somewhat, but there are still those who are unjustly overlooked.



I hope this post will go some way to remedying this oversight with regard to the splendid work of painter Gloria Thomas, whose balanced, intriguing mixture of realism and stylization is both traditional and arrestingly immediate, exploring the sort of iconographic issues that artists must grapple with if any progress is to be made in the realm of liturgical and devotional art. Ms. Thomas is a long-practicing Lexington, Kentucky-based painter whose work has graced, among other things, Duncan Stroik's All Saints' Church in Walton, Kentucky, several monasteries and Catholic parishes, and even a number of Protestant churches and organizations. Let us hope for the appearance of her work in even more places. Ms. Thomas's work has a strong sense of the medieval spirit, as well as a meticulous sense of its traditions and symbolism, without being straitjacketed by it.








Incidentally, the last three images above are portions of her work executed for the Great Cross or hanging rood at St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Alabama. A view of the object in situ can be seen here, in a rather handsome, if perhaps very austere architectural context.

The Long Awaited Release of FSSP Training DVD and a Review

Perhaps no training DVD in the usus antiquior has been so anticipated as that which the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter produced in conjunction with the good folks at the Eternal World Television Network (EWTN).

The NLM is pleased to announce this training DVD has now been produced and will begin shipping very shortly. The NLM received an advance copy of the DVD and is pleased to provide you with a summary of what you can expect.

The DVD, it goes without saying, is remarkable in its production qualities. This is a professionally produced product in two DVD's, which also includes a Spanish language option. (An international edition is being planned for early next year which will also include audio tracks in French, German, Italian, Portugese, Chinese and Mandarin.) Notable is that it includes a number of features, not only a rubrical explanation of the Mass, but also conferences upon the liturgy, explanations of variations in the liturgy (such as Mass without a server), and liturgical gestures, to name only a few. The following screen shots come from the first DVD and give a sense of its contents:











Priests and others will be delighted to know the DVD covers such variations in the liturgy as how to handle commemorations.



Additionally, the vesting and vesting prayers are also covered, including what servers must do to set up the altar for the liturgy -- amongst many other elements.

Here are a few screen shots which shows some of the vesting.


(The washing of the priests hands and the corresponding prayer)


(The laying out of the vestments for Low Mass)


(The crossed stole and how the cincture is in relation to it)

Commentary is also provided throughout a demonstration Mass, explaining the rubrics along the way and giving textual cues for the student as he follows along. Further, slow motion views and repeats of actions are also provided, which will allow a priest or seminarian to observe and re-observe the liturgical action.



Production values as these cannot be shown via stills, but they are quite important as a learning tool.

It is already well known that the DVD includes an important introduction by Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, where he reflects upon the intent of the motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum.

Additionally, an introduction by the Superior General of the FSSP, Fr. John Berg, is provided, as is a treatment on the liturgy by Fr. Calvin Goodwin, FSSP.





Fr. Goodwin offers a particularly powerful reflection upon the ancient Roman liturgy, directly touching upon the concerns and hesitations which some seminarians and priests surely must express: namely, that learning the usus antiquior is no easy task with its precise gestures. Fr. Goodwin however, in an inspiring discourse, lifts his brother clerics up above these hesitations through a consideration of liturgical history, theology and spirituality.

In point of fact, this particular catechetical discourse is worthwhile in its very own right, even apart from the more explicit purpose of the DVD set.

The Second DVD

The second DVD provides a demonstration of the Low Mass without commentary, but it also provides a most useful feature:



The entire Mass demonstration may be viewed in total from four different angles, and viewers may choose to watch the entire Mass from one of those angles, or even dynamically switch their angle on the Mass as they watch.

This feature is revolutionary insofar as training DVD's for the usus antiquior goes and is another invaluable feature.

To illustrate this, here are views from the four different angles at approximately the same moment.


(Nave View)


(Epistle Side View)


(Gospel Side View)


(Overhead View)

Of course, the particular value of these angles will be found in viewing what a priest is doing at a given moment from a variety of different perspectives, and further, some perspectives may reveal more to students at given points in the Mass.

How To Order

Many priests have already taken advantage of the offer that was made to make this DVD freely available to them. A limited supply of free copies will be yet made available to priests on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Special bulk order pricing is also available for dioceses and re-sellers. contact Faye Trgovac at Fraternity Publications for more infromation: (570)842-4000 ext. 401 or email: publications@fssp.com

Finally, for those who simply wish to purchase the DVD, it is available for purchase at a cost of $29.00 USD.

Details on all these matters may be found on the FSSP Training website, www.fsspdvd.com

Moreover, sample video clips, and more information generally may be found upon that site.

This would make a great gift to priests who have expressed interest in learning the usus antiquior and would also be a great resource even for servers in refining their serving abilities from the sacristy to the sanctuary.

UPDATE

WDTPRS has also provided an advance review of the DVD which focuses on some of the other aspects of the DVD as well, so you may want to read that over in addition.

Eastern Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev on the Importance of the Lex Orandi

Carlos Antonio Palad dug up the following statements made by Eastern Orthodox bishop and theologian, Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, and posted it over on Rorate Caeli. It considers the relationship of the lex orandi and lex credendi.

"Another divorce which needs to be mentioned is that between theology and liturgy. For an Orthodox theologian, liturgical texts are not simply the works of outstanding theologians and poets, but also the fruits of the prayerful experience of those who have attained sanctity and theosis. The theological authority of liturgical texts is, in my opinion, higher than that of the works of the Fathers of the Church, for not everything in the works of the latter is of equal theological value and not everything has been accepted by the fullness of the Church. Liturgical texts, on the contrary, have been accepted by the whole Church as a 'rule of faith' (kanon pisteos), for they have been read and sung everywhere in Orthodox churches over many centuries..."

Letter from Pontificia Commissio Ecclesia Dei concerning various music questions

Below are reprinted the letter to the Vatican and the response from Msgr. Camille Perl of the Ecclesia Dei Commission. The subject concerns the use of hymns at Low Mass, the use of mixed choirs, whether there is a preference for men or women singers, and other matters. The Commission recommends that the correspondent seek detailed answers at MusicaSacra.com and, in particular, B. Andrew Mills's book Psallite Sapienter.

Letter from Vatican on Music

Get your own at Scribd or explore others: Religion Christianity

Book Notice: Stehle's Manual of Episcopal Ceremonies

I was very pleased to receive in the mail today a copy of the reprint of the 5th edition of the Right Reverend Aurelius Stehle's Manual of Episcopal Ceremonies which has recently been published by Preserving Christian Publications and is now ready for shipment.

The set, which is based upon the Caeremoniale Episcoporum and the decrees of the then Sacred Congregation of Rites, is bound in a very attractive red cloth sewn hardcover. Also included in each volume is a sewn in ribbon.

The set is divided into two handy sized volumes, with the first volume covering the "Ordinary Episcopal Ceremonies" and the second volume covering "Occasional Episcopal Ceremonies". Together they form a thorough reference to liturgical ceremonies in the usus antiquior for a bishop, ranging from Mass, the Divine Office, to Benediction and Confirmation. Whether it be the more "common" sort of pontifical ceremonies (if we might call them that) to those more seldom seen, you will find many of them here.

The book is entirely intended to serve as a rubrical guide to the pontifical ceremonies, explaining the preparations and actions that are to occur both as regards a bishop himself, and as regards those others who are involved in the pontifical ceremonies. In this regard it will be handy for a bishop himself, for clergy who function within pontifical liturgies, for Masters of Ceremonies and for sacristans put in charge of the material preparations for these ceremonies.

It should also be noted that the set includes a handy glossary in the back of each volume which defines a number of liturgical terms, particularly as relate to the pontifical rites. For example, terms like "gremial" and "bugia" are defined. For this reason as well, the set would be useful to those wishing to simply learn more about the liturgical richness of the Roman rite as expressed in her pontifical ceremonies.

Finally, it should be noted that a handy index is also included in the back of each volume.

The two volumes together comprise almost 500 pages, and for a well bound reference set, they are quite reasonably priced at $52.00 USD.

Having had the opportunity to now peruse this set, I would personally note that it would not be one that I would want to be without. It will no doubt serve as a great compliment beside The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described (Fortescue, O'Connell and Reid) as well the O'Connell's The Celebration of Mass.

As Pontifical liturgies no doubt begin to be more frequently seen in the post-Summorum Pontificum Church, the availability of volumes such as these will prove invaluable in reclaiming our liturgical memory on a wider scale.

For more information, to order, or to see some sample images from the books, please visit: Manual of Episcopal Ceremonies

Chant in Episcopal Life

It is gratifying to see this article in Episcopal Life, which I found only because my Episcopal friends were startled to see me quoted! In any case, it is a very nice piece.

It doesn't have much of a beat, the kids can't dance to it, and it's sung in a dead language, but Gregorian chant seems to be the hottest thing in sacred music right now.

Nearly 200 scholas -- choirs that sing plainsong -- have emerged around the country, many in the last five years, according to the Church Music Association of America. Sacred music seminars that once drew few people now lure musical directors, organists and singers who want to learn more about Gregorian chant, said CMAA president William Mahrt.

Religious publishers are stocking and selling large collections of plainsong books and music. Paraclete Press, the Massachusetts publishing house of the Community of Jesus, a monastic, Christian community in the Benedictine tradition, sold 5,000 copies of its "Gregorian Melodies" CD in the first half of this year -- more than it did all of last year.

The style of chant is named for the sainted Pope Gregory I (circa A.D. 540–604) in what was probably an early exercise in brand marketing. Musicologists say the pope most likely didn't invent plainsong, but his name was used to help it spread from monastery to monastery in medieval Europe.

Written records of Gregorian chant date to the 10th century. Over the years, plainsongs' unadorned melodies, sung in Latin to an uneven meter, became somehow suggestive of high religiosity.

"It has an inner pulse like a heart beat, but it doesn't have a regular rhythm," said Jeffrey Tucker, managing editor of the magazine Sacred Music. "The effect is like musical incense. It's always sort of floating and rising."

Varia Post

It is time to catch up on a variety of things sent in the NLM's way in the past while.

The Faldstool

First a question from a reader about locating a faldstool:

Quick question -- maybe you can help or even bring it up on NLM for readers' suggestions. Namely: How does one go about obtaining a faldstool at an affordable price? Are there simple stools that can be easily converted? What does a person who knows nothing about liturgical seats do to set up something on a low budget?

If you think you can help, please write a note in the comments.

ICRSS Pontifical Mass in Chicago

A Solemn Pontifical Mass will be held on January 11th, 2009 for the External Solemnity of the Epiphany in Chicago. The celebrant will be Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Joseph N. Perry. The Mass setting will be Victoria's Missa O Magnum Mysterium, sung by the Chicago Chorale.

Coinciding with this will be a two day Gregorian chant worship hosted from January 9-11th.

2nd Usus Antiquior Mass to be held at St. George's Cathedral, Southwark

This coming December 6th at 11:00am, there will be Mass offered in the usus antiquior in the cathedral church of St. George in Southwark. This will be a Solemn Mass with the Cathedral Choir.

The Sparrow Mass

In some small sectors of the sacred-music community, there is a persistent debate about Mozart and Haydn Masses, whether they are too elaborate for a sacred setting or whether it is a myth that Pius X attempted to dim