Archbishop Sample's Pastoral Letter on Sacred Music Revised and Re-Issued

Two weeks ago, I featured the Liturgical Handbook issued by the Archdiocese of Portland. I was made aware of this during a recent visit to Portland, and at the same time noticed that Archbishop Sample had updated and re-issued his well known Pastoral Letter on Sacred Music in Divine Worship. Many New Liturgical Movement readers will remember, I am sure, the original was written when he was bishop of the Diocese of Marquette in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

“Shortly before I was appointed to the Archdiocese of Portland, I issued a pastoral letter in my previous Diocese of Marquette concerning sacred music. The letter contained certain considerations that I believe can be beneficial to the Archdiocese of Portland since it highlighted some of the perennial truths regarding the Church’s teaching on sacred music. After recently reflecting on the principles and concepts it contained, I decided that a similar letter to the clergy and faithful of the Archdiocese of Portland would be opportune. I make no apology for largely basing this letter on my previous one since the values and ideas it promoted are both universal and enduring and are as valid today as they were then. While the Archdiocesan Liturgical Handbook contains much of this information in a summary form, I thought it would be useful to write this pastoral letter to give our pastors and musicians a more detailed reference text for formation purposes and as a complement to the Archdiocesan Liturgical Handbook.”

It can be downloaded for free from the Portland Archdiocese webpage here.

Two little examples from this letter, from pages 10 and 13 respectively that are close to my heart are below.

I have a personal story to tell here, by the way. Thirty-five years ago, I began a Master’s degree in metallurgical engineering at Michigan Technological University, which is about 100 miles west of Marquette. The research group that I joined was headed by an Englishman, a professor who had previously been at the university I had gone to in England. The person who was clearing his desk for me was a student who had just graduated with his MS, and decided that rather than go on to do a Ph.D., he would become a priest. This was “Sandy” Sample. I don’t think I spoke to him directly even once during the few days that we overlapped, but I had always remembered him. He was well-liked and respected, and often spoken about after he. The other remaining students and our advisor, Professor Hellawell, all said that he could have had a dazzling career as an engineer, and expressed either admiration or exasperation at the idea that he should abandon his studies to serve the Church.

I was a strongly anti-Christian atheist at the time, but I remember being struck by the fact that someone who was clearly an intelligent man and a very good student should give up everything, as I saw it, in exchange for nothing. I always thought he had gone to become a Lutheran minister until out of the blue about seven years ago I received a Michigan Tech alumni newsletter (I don’t know how it ended up in my mail - I didn’t subscribe and I have never received any other editions of it). The headline was Michigan Tech Alumnus Made Catholic Archbishop! Three weeks later I saw him speak in Rome at the Sacra Liturgia conference. This story illustrates how personal example can touch people in ways that we don’t know. His becoming a priest was not the most important reason for my later conversion, but it did contribute to it. Over the years I had remembered him from time to time, especially before my conversion, because I wondered how could someone who was clearly well balanced and intelligent, and who stood to gain so much, could abandon it for a collection of false abstractions.

Here is a radio interview with the Archbishop for those who wish to hear him talk about this and the Archdiocesan Liturgical Handbook.

Archbishop Sample Mater Dei Radio Interview

Abp Sample Celebrates Candlemas with the FSSP in Rome

This past Sunday, on the feast of the Purification, the Fraternity of St Peter’s Roman parish, Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, welcomed His Excellency Alexander Sample, Archbishop of Portland, Oregon, for the celebration of a Solemn Pontifical Mass. Our thanks to the parish for sharing these photos with us.

After he has been received at the door of the church, the bishop traditionally goes to pray at the altar of the Blessed Sacrament, before going to the sacristy to vest.

Our favorite Roman pilgrim Agnese, wearing the habit of the Archconfraternity of the Most Holy Trinity.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

Liturgical Handbook Published By Archdiocese of Portland

The Archdiocesan Liturgical Handbook is a landmark publication for the Church in the United States. It is intended primarily, but not exclusively, for priests and deacons, and brings together the fundamental norms for the celebration of the Holy Mass and the Sacraments.

The handbook, which was sent to each of the archdiocese’s 120 parishes, was prepared by Msgr. Gerard O’Connor, director of its Office of Worship, and was issued by Archbishop Alexander Sample, a figure well known to readers of the New Liturgical Movement.

While some of the content is specific to practices in the Portland Archdiocese, most of it outlines the orthodox praxis of the Church, and so this would be appropriate to other dioceses as well. This page on the Archdiocesan website contains a description along with reviews from, among others, the Adoremus Bulletin. From here, it can be ordered online in hard copy, Kindle version or downloaded as a free pdf.

Here are images of pages from it so that you can see the style of presentation:

In the foreword to the book, Archbishop Sample writes:

This Archdiocesan Liturgical Handbook is intended to serve as a guide to many of the aspects of the life of our diocese and our parishes that concern the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy and the understanding of the faith it expresses. It is intended in the first place for priests and deacons, but also for the consecrated and laity who are engaged in a great variety of roles in ensuring that the Church in our Archdiocese is true to herself – one, holy, catholic and apostolic, but also alive, praying, caring and by God’s grace spiritually growing. As I write these lines I have in mind in a special way the parents of our children and those who assist them as religious educators. In page after page, this Archdiocesan Liturgical Handbook tries to steer a path that allows it to be a practical guide, and not simply a statement of the law, necessary as the law is.

I would say that this is not only practical and legal, it is also inspirational. For example, drawing on the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Sacrosanctum Concilium, it describes the Church’s vision of what the liturgy and the sacraments are for, and then orders the practical and legal norms to this. Even assuming a readership of priests and deacons, it is always worth remembering that for anything to be done well, people have to want to do what is right, but also, to know what is the right thing to do.

Archbishop Sample celebrates a Pontifical Mass in Washington DC in 2018, photo from a report by One Peter Five.

Pontifical Vespers Celebrated by Abp Sample

On Wednesday, March 20th, at St Stephen’s Parish in Portland, Oregon, His Excellency Alexander Sample, Archbishop of Portland, celebrated Pontifical Vespers at the throne according to the 1960 Antiphonale Romanum. Vespers was of the Wednesday of the second week of Lent; since there was no Solemn Mass being sung the following day, the attending ministers wore simple choir dress instead of sacred vestments. St Stephen’s celebrates traditional sung Latin Vespers every Sunday at 5 pm.

Tradition will always be for the young!

The Magnificat alternatim trium vocem by Christoph Dalitz (2018) was sung with a robust faux bordon, directed by 17 year old Coulter McIntyre and the schola of young men and seminarians.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

Exclusive NLM Interview with Archbishop Sample: Why Young People Are Attracted to Traditional Liturgy

Archbishop Sample offering the Holy Sacrifice at the National Shrine

NLM is pleased to present the following transcription of an interview conducted by Julian Kwasniewski with the Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample, Archbishop of Portland, in connection with the Sacred Liturgy Conference in Salem, Oregon, June 27–30, 2018. Much of what his Excellency says is highly pertinent to the Youth Synod taking place at the Vatican this month. This interview is published here for the first time.


Julian Kwasniewski: First off, I just have to say thank you for agreeing to this interview.

Archbishop Sample: I want to encourage you young people, and especially young people who are serious about their faith and about the sacred liturgy. I want to do everything I can to encourage you.

JK: The first question I want to start with is very simple. What is a priest?

AS: It is a simple question and it might strike someone as kind of an odd question — we all “know” what a priest is because we see them. But do we really understand who the priest is?

I think over time, perhaps particularly since the Council, there has been a reduction, if you will, in people’s understanding of the nature of the priesthood and its place within the Church. A lot of people have come to see the priest as what he does. The focus is what the priest does. Even that has changed a lot, but I think the average person might say the priest celebrates Mass, he hears confessions, he supervises the parish, he administers things. They see his functions; they don’t see his identity. That is key: his priestly identity. Who is he? It’s not so much what he does; it’s who he is, because everything he does flows from who he is.

So who is he? He is a man chosen by God, called to this order and through the sacrament of Holy Orders, through the laying on of hands and the prayer of the church; he is sacramentally configured to Christ the High Priest. There is that an ontological change that takes place in him, change on the very level of his being. He becomes something new, since his soul is forever marked with the character of the priesthood, so that he can minister in the Church in the person of Christ the head, in persona Christi capitis. So there is a close identification between the ordained priest and the High Priest, Jesus Christ; he is called to be an alter Christus, another Christ. All Christians are by our baptism called to be other Christs, but the priest in a particular way represents Christ in the Catholic Church.

He participates in the tria munera, the threefold office of Jesus Christ, as Priest, Prophet, and King. The priest is ordained to teach, to sanctify, and to rule or govern God’s people in the name and person of Christ. He is to teach the doctrine of the Church, always according to the mind of the Church and in harmony with the magisterium. He is a sanctifier; he is the one who sanctifies God’s people, especially through the sacraments, and most especially through the celebration of Holy Mass and the hearing of Confession. He is a shepherd, the guide of the community, he points the way to eternal life.

If we understand who the priest is in this sense — the sense in which the Church understands who the priest is — then we see that all the functions that he does and all the things he does flow from this essential identity.

Celebrating a pontifical Mass in Rolduc

JK: I wonder if you could tie that in with the recent Corpus Christi procession that you did, since it seems to manifest the three gifts you were talking about: it is a witness to the Church’s teaching; it publicly witnesses to the ruling position of the Faith in society; and it is a practice that can sanctify us who participate in it.

AS: Right. As I was processing with Our Blessed Lord in the Holy Eucharist through the streets of Portland — and we went through a part that is a very secular area — all I kept thinking to myself was, “Lord Jesus, take possession of these streets, these streets belong to you. Reclaim them, Lord Jesus.” And when we were in the park for the Rosary and Benediction before we turned around, and headed back to the Cathedral, that was my prayer. People were walking by and amazed at this group of people marching and praying. I’m sure many of them were thinking “what is this thing you have on the altar there,” and of course, it was Our Blessed Lord. But I kept thinking to myself, “Lord, these streets belong to you. Reclaim and sanctify them.”

JK: How would you relate this experience of Eucharistic adoration to your episcopal motto: Vultum Christi Contemplari. What does your motto tell us about what you just said?

AS: I took my motto from the writings of St. John Paul II, who I consider my patron saint, quite honestly. I have no connection to him by name, but I really do consider him my patron saint now. He has been a great inspiration to me; I’m not sure I would be a priest today if it was not for him.

This idea of contemplating Christ’s face was something that John Paul II wrote a lot about. In Novo Millenio Ineunte, he recalls the scene in the Gospels where the Greeks come to Philip and they say, “We want to see Jesus.” The Holy Father picks up on that idea and says that this question, “we want to see Jesus,” is a question that is really in the heart of every person in the world today. Even if they don’t know it, they want to see the face of Jesus. He said they don’t want Christians just to talk about Christ — the world wants us to show them Christ. That’s our job: to let the light of Christ’s face shine before the generations of the new millennium. But, he goes on to say, our task would be hopelessly inadequate had we not first contemplated His face.

So he said we must contemplate the face of Christ. We must know Him intimately and deeply, we must cultivate that close personal relationship with the Lord, in order for us to show Him to the world. It’s very close to my own spirituality of prayer and being in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and just contemplating Christ’s presence in His Face. This is where my motto came from.

Later, in his last encyclical, Ecclesia Dei Eucharistia, John Paul II put it very bluntly: This is the task that I have set before the Church at the beginning of the new millennium, Vultum Christi contemplatri, to contemplate the face of Christ. And then he also speaks of the Marian dimension which he develops in his pastoral letter on the Rosary, that we contemplate the Face of Christ through Mary in the praying of the Rosary.

JK: Do you think the pope’s emphasis on contemplation is related to the problem of activism in our times?

AS: Yes. John Paul II is saying, “Church: This is your task. To first contemplate the face of Christ ourselves so that we may then let it shine before the nations.” Since we cannot give to the world what we do not have, we must first know Christ before we bring Him to others. For a Catholic in the world (not a contemplative religious), there must be a balance between contemplation and work, knowing Christ deeply and intimately, adoring him in prayer, in order for one to effectively carry on the apostolic works of the Church.

JK: It seems that many young people these days are rediscovering contemplation and an ability to give themselves joyfully to Christ through loving the Latin Mass and the old liturgical prayer of the Church.

AS: That’s a very good point, and it’s a point I made in the homily I gave at the Solemn Pontifical Mass at the National Shrine in Washington D.C. You know, the Church was filled with young people!

A lot of times, priests expect that if you go to a Traditional Latin Mass according to the 1962 missal, the church will be filled with grey hair, old people filled with nostalgia for days gone by, and that they have a sort of emotional attachment to the liturgy they grew up with.

But more and more, the majority of the people in the church at these masses are people who never lived during the time when this was the ordinary liturgy, that is, before the Council. If you are under a certain age (and that age is getting higher and higher), you never experienced this liturgy growing up. And yet young people — which is something Pope Benedict XVI said in his letter to the world’s bishops when he issued Summorum Pontificum — have discovered this [form] too, and have found it very spiritually nourishing and satisfying. They have come to love and appreciate it.

That is amazing to me: young people who have never experienced this growing up in the postconciliar Church, with the Ordinary Form (sometimes celebrated well, sometimes very poorly with all kinds of aberrations and abuses), have still discovered the Latin Mass and are attracted to it.

JK: What, in your view, accounts for that attraction?

AS: I would say its beauty, its solemnity, the sense of transcendence, of mystery. Not mystery in the sense of “Oh, we don’t know what’s going on,” but rather, that there is a mysterium tremendum celebrated here, a tremendous mystery. The liturgy in the old rite really conveys the essential nature and meaning of the Mass, which is to represent the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ which he offered on the Cross and now sacramentally, in an unbloody manner, in the Holy Mass.

I think young people are drawn to it because it feeds a spiritual need that they have. There is something to this form of the liturgy, in and of itself, that speaks to the heart of youth. Young people will continue to discover this, and they will be the ones who carry forward the Extraordinary Form when the older generation goes to their reward. Certainly this will be young people of your generation, but ... I’m 57. I was baptized in the old rite, but by the time I was aware and cognizant of Mass, we had already come to the new liturgy. So everybody younger than me has no experience really of this liturgy. Anyone under my age could be considered “young” in discovering this beautiful liturgy!

JK: Your Excellency, what would you say is the most important element of tradition for the Catholic youth to hold and cherish at this time?

AS: I think what young people need to do first is to discover — and many have — the Church’s tradition. Many young people have been deprived, in a certain way, of our Catholic heritage, of the great tradition which is ours in the Catholic Church. I know for myself I feel I was ... I don’t want to say cheated because that sounds like someone did it intentionally out of ill will for me ... but I feel like I was deprived of real teaching and appreciation and contact with my Catholic culture and my Catholic tradition and where we come from. I lived in and grew up in an age when there was this attitude that the Church had, in some way, hit a reset button at Vatican II, and that we could let go of all the past, as if the Church needed a new beginning and a fresh start.

You are far too young to have lived through that experience, and you are very blessed to live in the time that you do, because there was nothing like this for me when I was growing up. I grew up in a time when all of those things in the past had to be cast aside. Even something as simple as the Rosary, it was kind of discouraged — or if not discouraged, it was certainly not encouraged. I never saw Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction until I was a college student. I never knew such a thing existed. I grew up when there was a lot of experimentation with the Mass, always trying to make it “fresh and new.” There was a period of time growing up when you came to Mass on Sunday, and you just didn’t know what was going to happen next! The changes were coming so fast, and not just changes but experimentation and aberrations. So I was deprived of any contact with my tradition; I discovered it, on my own, as a college student.

JK: Was the liturgy the only area in which you felt deprived of contact with tradition, or are you speaking more broadly?

AS: In ‘tradition’ I would certainly also include the teachings of the Church that I never learned. I never understood what the Mass was — and I went to 12 years of Catholic school. If you has asked me what the Mass meant, I would probably have told you that it was a reenactment of the Last Supper, the last meal which Jesus shared with His disciples and in which He gave them His Body and Blood ... which is part of the truth. But the idea that the Mass was in any way a sacramental re-presentation of the paschal mystery, that Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary was made truly, sacramentally present at the altar — and that it is an altar, and not just a table! — that would have been a foreign idea to me.

So certainly part of the tradition is that young people need to be deeply in touch with the Faith, what we believe, what the Catechism teaches. Young people must not take it for granted that what they have received in education (whether in a Catholic school or a religious education program) is an adequate formation in the Faith. They need to really delve into the teachings of the Church, the Catechism, they need to read good, solid books and articles, and other media forms, whether internet or movies. So that is part of it.

But of course, a big part of our tradition is our liturgical tradition. It’s in our DNA — and that’s why many are attracted to the traditional forms of the liturgy — because it’s in our Catholic DNA. Young people need to acquaint themselves with the richer, deeper tradition. Vatican II did not hit a reset button. Although, perhaps, the tradition needed to be renewed and refreshed, it never was meant to be destroyed or cast aside.

Pontifical Mass at Rolduc

JK: Would you put sacred music into this category, too?

AS: The rich liturgical tradition of the Church includes her sacred music. We don’t have to have pop music at Mass. The first time I heard Gregorian chant was when I was a college student. I’d never heard of chant before. When I heard it in a music appreciation class at a secular university, I hadn’t a clue what it meant, but it instantly spoke to my heart—instantly. The first time I heard it I was moved, really moved. So there is this rich liturgical, sacred music tradition that we need to recapture, recover, that young people need to learn about.

Moreover, we should all have devotions in our life. Devotions extend what the liturgy begins. Things like the Rosary, the chaplet of Divine Mercy, Eucharistic Adoration, other devotions to the Blessed Virgin, having favorite saints, patron saints that you pray to, Stations of the Cross…All these rich parts of our Catholic devotional tradition feed the life of faith and extend what we experience in the sacred liturgy, but also lead us back to it.

JK: Do you have any additional advice for young traditional Catholics trying to recover their tradition? 

AS: I’d say there is a tendency sometimes to see these things — doctrine, liturgy, devotions — in opposition to things like works of charity, works of mercy. I would emphasize that we must not get to a place where all we are concerned about is being of right doctrine (orthodoxy), having right liturgy (orthopraxy), good sacred music, that we are doing all the right devotions. If we are not doing works of mercy, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, if we are not taking care of the poor and disadvantaged, then we are not living fully our Catholic faith. That’s part of our tradition too!

I think traditional-minded Catholics should not let, perhaps, the more liberal elements in the church co-opt the works of justice and mercy as being “something of the new Church.” Catholics have always been steeped in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Church of the ages is the one that built hospitals and took care of the sick and the poor and the dying, built schools to educate poor children without opportunities.

The works of justice and mercy are also very much a part of our tradition, and I would caution young people not to get so focused on the other elements we spoke of that they forget that Jesus teaches us to love, to serve those who are in need. Remember the parable He gives us on the Last Judgment, when he separates the sheep from the goats. He does not separate them based on whether they are praying the traditional prayers or not. He separates them based on “when I was hungry did you feed me, when I was thirsty did you give me to drink, when I was homeless, did you shelter me, when I was sick and in prison did you visit me?” This is the basis of the judgment… it’s not an either/or!

This is a tendency I see: if you are a “progressive Catholic,” you are all about the social justice issues, taking care of the poor, working for justice and everything, but your liturgical worship tends to be a bit off and maybe you reject other moral teachings of the Church, while sometimes traditionally-minded Catholics are characterized as being all about the Mass, and right worship, right music, right devotions, the right vestments, orthodox teaching, and don’t care so much about the poor and works of mercy.

We’ve got to pull this together: it is not an either/or, it is a both/and in the Church. The works of mercy go back to the apostolic times, go back to the Acts of the Apostles; as St. Paul says, we must always take care of the poor. This is deeply traditional in our Church.

Archbishop Sample with prison inmates

New Liturgical Provisions from Abp. Sample

The Catholic Sentinel, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, published an article yesterday by Archbishop Alexander Sample, titled “Reverence for Our Eucharistic Lord.” It concerns two new liturgical provisions which His Excellency is enacting, aimed at increasing reverence for the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. The first is a return to the practice of kneeling after the Agnus Dei.

“The priest at that moment is about to hold up before the congregation our Blessed Lord in the Holy Eucharist and proclaim, “Behold the Lamb of God.” It seems most fitting that we be on our knees before the Lord for such a proclamation of faith. In the Book of Revelation, when the Lamb of God (Christ) is presented before the throng of heaven, all fall down in worship before him. The Mass is a participation in this heavenly liturgy.”

The second is a prohibition on Communion services held without a priest on weekdays, except in cases where there is a real pastoral need, such as in nursing homes, where it may not be possible to have Mass on Sundays.

“There is an intimate and intrinsic link between three realities that is essential in this context. They are the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the priest who ministers in the person of Christ, and the distribution of Holy Communion. These are not to be separated except for serious reasons and pastoral need. As long as the faithful have the opportunity to participate in Mass and receive Holy Communion on Sunday, there is no such pastoral need to receive Holy Communion outside of Mass.

When we go to Mass, we are there to do much more than just receive Holy Communion. We participate actively and consciously in the offering of Christ, the Paschal Victim, through the hands of the priest, who ministers in the very person of Christ at the altar. From this sacramental offering, we receive the Body and Blood of the Lord, thus culminating our participation in the paschal mystery being celebrated. ...

I am confident that (these changes) will lead us to a more profound reverence for the most precious gift of the Holy Eucharist, and a more informed, conscious and active participation in the Holy Mass. And a greater love for our Lord in the Mass and in the Blessed Sacrament will lead to a greater love of neighbor and service to the poor.”

This second provision reminds me of an article which I read many years ago in the Homiletic and Pastoral Review, which I believe was by its long-time editor Fr Kenneth Baker, SJ. This was in the days before the internet; at the time, it caused a good deal of stir and comment in the Catholic press. The article described the situation where due to the shortage of priests, some churches might have Sunday Mass only once a month; a large number of extra Hosts would therefore be consecrated at the monthly Mass, and reserved. On the other Sundays, delegated lay people, or at best a deacon, would preside over a kind of para-Mass, with a “service of the Word” essentially indistinguishable from the regular order of Mass, and then distribute Communion. Fr Baker pointed out that it was only a matter of time before a church where this had become customary would discover one Sunday that it had run out of pre-consecrated Hosts. The temptation would inevitably arise (given the lunacy of the 1970s and ’80s, which only started to die down in the ’90s) for the lay leader to hold the service as usual, and then invoke some kind of blessing over the bread and wine, and distribute this non-Communion as it were the real thing. All of this would serve only to divorce the faith and devotion of the congregation even further from the Catholic understanding of the Mass, the Sacrament and the priesthood, and of course, contribute to perpetuating the vocations crisis.

In a similar vein, just a few years ago, a visitor to Rome said to me as we passed though Piazza San Pietro that she and her friends had been there the previous day at the Pope’s Mass. I explained to her that what they had attended was actually not a Mass, but the regular Wednesday public audience, at which she seemed a little surprised, but then answered, “Well, it was Mass enough for us.”

I make bold to suggest that provisions such as these enacted by Archbishop Sample will encourage among the faithful a greater understanding of the nature and the importance of the whole Mass, and, in addition to what His Excellency says above, will also thereby encourage vocations to the priesthood. Oremus!

Tradition is for the Young (Part 13) - Archbishop Sample’s Sermon in DC

This past Saturday, His Excellency Alexander Sample, Archbishop of Portland, Oregon, celebrated a Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Several people I know were present and have commented on how beautiful the ceremony was, with fine music and a well-executed ceremony. The church was, not at all surprisingly, quite full, and the members of the congregation were predominantly young. The Mass was broadcast live on EWTN, and can now be viewed on the Youtube channel of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (embedded below). It is accompanied by a commentary by Monsignor Charles Pope, who describes it at the very beginning as “one of the most beautiful liturgies you will ever see”, and Mons. Andrew Wadsworth of the Washington DC Oratory. This commentary will certainly be useful to those who are not familiar with the traditional Mass, and especially the Pontifical Mass.

For our reader’s convenience, here is a video with just the sermon. I strongly encourage you to listen to the whole of it, but would like to highlight a particularly wise thing which His Excellency says, starting at 5:18.

“Over the years, since the release of Summorum Pontificum, I have heard many in the Church ... express puzzlement, and dismay, over why so many young people are attracted to this venerable form of the Roman Rite. They say things like, ‘I just don’t understand it. How could they be so attracted to a form of the liturgy that they did not grow up with, or ever experience before?’ If the comment has been directed to me, I have often responded ‘That is exactly the question you should be asking. Why are they attracted to this liturgy?’ Or perhaps more pointedly: ‘What is it that this form of the Roman Rite provides for them that their own experience growing up with the Ordinary Form did not provide?’ For this will give us an insight into what future liturgical development might look like. ”

Our sincerest thanks to Archbishop Sample for all that he has done, and continues to do, to encourage reverent celebration of the liturgy in both Forms, and his pastoral generosity in helping all Catholics, but especially the young, to live and love their rightful liturgical inheritance.

Here is the video of the complete ceremony, with commentary. (There is about 4:35 of dead air at the beginning, and, weirdly, a cough can be heard at 2:35.)

Pontifical Mass with Abp. Sample in Washington DC, April 28

On Saturday, April 28, at 1 pm, Archbishop Alexander Sample will celebrate a Solemn Mass in the traditional rite at the high altar of the upper church of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. The Mass is sponsored and organized by The Paulus Institute for the Propagation of Sacred Liturgy; it will be broadcast live and worldwide on EWTN. No tickets are required to attend in person.

The sacred ministers will include two diocesan priests, four from the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter and two from the Institute of Christ the King. Dozens of other clergy will attend in choir, and women religious will sit in the front pews. The choir of the basilica will sing Victoria’s Missa Salve Regina as the Ordinary, and several Renaissance polyphonical motets by Palestrina, Ugolini, Monteverdi, Clemens, Manchicourt and Marenzio. The propers of the Mass will be sung by the St Mary Mother of God schola from Washington, D.C. Several preludes will be sung by guest choirs, including one from the Lyceum School in South Euclid, Ohio, and another choir from Saint John the Baptist Church in Allentown, New Jersey.

This will be the second solemn pontifical Mass celebrated in the upper church since 1969, commemorating the 10th anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s motu proprio Summorum Pontificum; the Mass will be a votive of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Additional details can be found on the event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1909485235736414/

Photos of Pontifical Mass at Rolduc with Archbishop Sample

The 18th Liturgische-Tagung in Herzogenrath, Germany — now rather well-known in the news, due to Cardinal Sarah's remarkably impassioned address that was read aloud to the participants — featured as its closing liturgy on Saturday, April 1, 2017 a solemn Pontifical Mass celebrated by the Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample, Archbishop of Portland, held at the former 12th-century abbey church of Rolduc in the Netherlands (just a few minutes' drive from Herzogenrath).

The liturgy was glorious. The majesty of the pontifical ceremonies conducted in the elevated sanctuary of a Romanesque church, accompanied by the chanted Propers for a Votive Mass of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Missa Misericorde by Jacobus Clemens non Papa (1510-1556), raised our minds and hearts to the threshold of the heavenly Jerusalem. The church architecture itself strongly suggested this kind of elevation, as the eye was drawn up from the nave to the choir to the high altar beyond, and finally upwards to the vaults and domes with their elaborate iconography. It was the kind of situation (alas, too rare) in which one felt that Roman Catholic worship could hold its own over against the acknowledged splendor of Byzantine worship.

Although the main point of this post is to make available a gallery of the day's visual beauty, I did want to mention one thought that occurred to me as I reflected on the liturgy afterwards. One hears so much about "active participation," but seldom do its postconciliar proponents dwell on the implications of the fact that participation means, if it means anything, "taking part in" some already existing reality, some action that is larger than us and embraces us. Think of Plato's account of participation: the individual thing participates in its eternal Form, the image reflects its unchanging exemplar. To participate is to receive partial being from the full actuality. Therefore, liturgical participation presupposes the form, the exemplar, which is the Church's celebration of the mysteries. This has to be already taking place so that we can enter into it and derive our momentary worship from it.

That is how I experience a pontifical Mass, as I follow the audible prayers or pray in silence, and hear the music gently pulsing through the spacious temple: it is a certain fullness of worship that already exists, so to speak, outside myself — it exists exemplarily in the heavenly Jerusalem; it exists formally and efficiently in the clergy who offer it on earth; it exists materially in the tradition and liturgical books of the Church — and I am granted the undeserved privilege of entering into it, taking part in it, participating in it.

In contrast, what is usually called participation — that is, producing liturgy out of our own actions, so that a person who is doing more or even inventing more is thought to be "participating" more — is actually the opposite: it should rather be called active fabrication, active projection, active expression, but never active participation, since it is not psychologically and metaphysically an entering into and taking possession of some fullness that is of another, from another, for another. It is the difference between being heated by a fire and making an artwork. The one who sits near a fire and gets warm is participating in that external warmth. The one who makes an artwork is not participating but producing. The liturgy is, at its root, the fire to which we draw near, so that we may undergo its action and assimilate a likeness of its being. It is not the artwork we produce out of our consciousness by the manipulation of raw material.

This fundamental contrast was brought home to me by the very "passivity" of the laity (as the progressive liturgists would have seen it) at Saturday's liturgy. We did not do much of anything, at least outwardly. The Schola sang the Propers; the Choir sang the Mass Ordinary; the ministers in the sanctuary sang and whispered most of the prayers; the people sat quietly in the pews, opening their mouths occasionally for a thunderous "Et cum spiritu tuo" or "Amen." And yet, I felt intensely involved, intensely connected with what was happening around me and before me — indeed, I could barely take it all in, so bright was the fire, so strong the warmth. I was taking part through and through in the whole that was set before me, taking as much a part of it as I could. It was like a fountain bubbling up so abundantly that I could fill my cup with ease and get as wet as I wished. It was refreshing to know that none of this was coming from me, dependent on me, produced by me, or validated by me — any more than water from the ground or rain from the air, light from the sun or song from the birds. It was the greatest privilege to receive, to watch and listen, pray and adore. Nothing more was needed to make this participation complete, as it already summoned and satisfied all of my powers.

Divini muneris largitate satiati, quaesumus, Domine Deus noster: ut hujus semper participatione vivamus. Per Dominum... Filled with the abundance of Thy divine gift, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that we may ever live by participation in it. Through our Lord... [Postcommunion, Saturday in Passion Week]

Looking for an "active participation" worthy of the name — active rather than activist, participation rather than production? Do your best to get to a solemn Pontifical Mass. This experience teaches more than any books can teach.

[All photos courtesy of the Liturgische-Tagung.]

Continue Reading this Article. . .

18th Cologne International Liturgical Conference – March 29- April 1

The 18th Cologne International Liturgical Conference will take place from March 29 to April 1st this year in Herzogenrath bei Aachen, Germany. Among the participants are Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon, who will speak on “The Rediscovery of the Classical Roman Liturgy in North America,” celebrate one of the Masses, and preach at another. Bishop Steven Lopes of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter will speak on the development of the Ordinariate Missal, and celebrate a Pontifical Liturgy according to that Missal. Our own Dr Peter Kwasniewski will be giving a lecture (in German), and launching the German translation of his book Resurgent in the Midst of Crisis. Dr Martin Mosebach, author of “The Heresy of Formlessness”, will deliver a tribute to Pope Benedict XVI. The liturgies at the conference will be celebrated according to the Extraordinary Form; the full program in English may be see at the following link: http://www.liturgische-tagung.info/programme.html

Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage Information: First Day in Norcia Cancelled

We have been asked by the organizers of the Populus Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage to help spread the following news: due to the earthquake activity which took place yesterday evening in central Italy, the events scheduled for today in Norcia have been cancelled. The city is still recovering from the earthquake back in August, and the long series of aftershocks. This evening, the pilgrimage events will begin at 6 pm at the FSSP church in Rome, Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, with a Rosary at 6 pm, followed by Low Mass at 6:30 celebrated by the pilgrimag chaplain, Fr Claude Barthe.

Abp Alexander Sample, who will celebrate the main Mass of the pilgrimage on Saturday at St Peter’s, is in Norcia, where he celebrated Mass this morning for the Benedictine Monks.

Abp Sample to Celebrate Pontifical Low Mass This Sunday in Portland, Oregon

Archbishop Alexander Sample will celebrate a Latin Pontifical Low Mass, according to the Missale Romanum of 1962, in Portland, Oregon, this coming Sunday, October 16th, beginning at 7:45 am.

The Mass will be at St. Stephen Roman Catholic Church, located at 1112 SE 41st Avenue.

More details can be found on a Facebook page for the event, here.

St Stephen’s Church was the place where the archdiocese held a conference on the liturgy just over a year ago, at which Archbishop Sample spoke and celebrated Mass. You can read his address to the conference, and see more pictures, in the report from Fr Eric Andersen which was posted on the New Liturgical Movement shortly afterwards, here.

Fr Cassian Folsom On the Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage

On the summer feast day of St. Benedict, Patron Saint of Europe, Fr. Cassian Folsom has answered a few questions for the organizers regarding the meaning of the venue in Norcia of the Populus Summorum Pontificum for the opening of its 5th international pilgrimage (October 27-30, 2016). Click here for more information about the visit to Norcia scheduled as part of the pilgrimage.

1) Dear Father, this October, the fifth pilgrimage Populus Summorum Pontificum will begin its path towards the tombs of the apostles from Norcia. What does that represent for you and your community to welcome such an initiative?

Fr. Folsom: The monks of Norcia are very happy to welcome the 5th international pilgrimage Populus Summorum Pontificum. It is good for all of us to return to the sources of our faith, and praying at the shrine of saints is a good way to do that. In addition, the monastic community was inspired by Pope Benedict’s motu proprio, as you all were -- and we are grateful to God that we can offer the Conventual Mass in the Extraordinary Form every day. For these reasons our monastery, at the birth place of Saints Benedict and Scholastica, is a logical destination for your annual pilgrimage. We are honored that you have chosen to come to Norcia.

2) The pilgrimage will be led by the archbishop of Portland (OR), the Most Rev. Alexander K. Sample. How important is it to see local pastors celebrating “in utroque usu” as you do in Norcia?

Fr. Folsom: While the Conventual Mass is celebrated in the Extraordinary Form, we also offer Mass in the Ordinary Form in the local parish, and with pilgrim groups who request it. In 2009 the Ecclesia Dei Commission entrusted to us the special apostolate of celebrating the Eucharist in utroque usu so as to be a sign of unity in these times of frequent division. In some countries, it is very common for a parish to offer Mass in both forms every Sunday. I am always edified when I visit such parishes, and I admire the bishops who promote the richness of our liturgical tradition.

3) Europe is in a very difficult condition since the denial by its leaders of its common Christian roots. What should Catholics ask and pray St. Benedict for?

Fr. Folsom: Yes, many leaders in Europe are very reluctant to acknowledge the Christian roots of this continent. This does not come from an objective observation of European culture and history but from an ideological point of view. St. Benedict is often admired by everyone, including secularists, for his contribution to Western civilization. But the cultural contribution of monasticism is a secondary by-product, not a primary goal. The primary goal is the worship of God, and the real motto of St. Benedict is not “ora et labora” but “prefer nothing to the love of Christ.” We need to ask St. Benedict for a double share of his spirit.

Populus Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage Confirmed for October 2016

We are happy to share the following communiqué issued yesterday by the Coetus Internationalis Summorum Pontificum.

December 8, 2015, Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Holy Year of Mercy

Populus Summorum Pontificum in Norcia and Rome

With The Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample, Abp. of Portland

October 27-30, 2016

The Coetus Internationalis Summorum Pontificum Roman pilgrimage keeps the ancient Roman liturgy alive in the Church. - 2015 message from Pope Francis

“On this Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which ushers in the Jubilee Year, the Coetus Internationalis Summorum Pontificum (CISP) gladly confirms the dates and general organization of the fifth Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage to the tombs of the Holy Apostles.

The pilgrimage will get on its way on Thursday 27 October at about 3 p.m., with a bus ride from Rome to Norcia, the birthplace of Saint Benedict. In Norcia the pilgrims will be greeted by the Benedictine monks, as well as by Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of Portland, Oregon, who will serve as their guide throughout the pilgrimage.

On the morning of Friday, October 28, Abp. Sample will celebrate Mass in the Basilica of Norcia.

That Friday evening, the pilgrims will have returned to Rome and are invited to join in a torch-lit procession to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Institute of the Good Shepherd.

On Saturday, October 29, the Populus Summorum Pontificum will follow in His Excellency’s footsteps across the threshold of the Holy Door and attend the pontifical Mass celebrated at noon in Saint Peter’s Basilica (celebrant to be announced).

Lastly, on Sunday, October 30, Archbishop Sample will bring this fifth international pilgrimage to a close by celebrating the Feast of Christ the King at the FSSP’s Roman church of Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini.

***

Concerning the daytrip to Norcia: the logistics of that exceptional day in Saint Benedict’s birthplace have been entrusted to the Via Sacra agency. For information and enrolment (including the Rome-Norcia round trip, dinner Thursday evening, and the stay in Norcia,) please contact Marie Perrin at info@viasacra.it, or by telephone at +33 (0)6 28 73 77 79.

***

Follow us: www.populussummorumpontificum.com; Populus Summorum Pontificum on facebook; #sumpont2016 on twitter

Report from the Sacred Liturgy Conference in Portland, Oregon

Here is a report from Fr Eric Andersen of the Archdiocese of Portland, Orgeon, on the recent liturgical conference held at the church of St Stephen. Below are some photographs of an OF Pontifical Mass celebrated in connection with the conference by Archbishop Alexander Sample, and a video of the talk which His Excellency delivered on “The Bishop as Guarantor of the Liturgy.”

One hundred people, including priests, seminarians, religious sisters and laity, gathered at St. Stephen Catholic Church in Portland, Oregon for a Sacred Liturgy Conference held from October 30th – November 2nd, 2015, organized by Lynne Bissonnette-Pitre MD, PhD and sponsored by Schola Cantus Angelorum (http://cantusangelorum.org). Five sung Masses were celebrated at the high altar in both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Form, with Gregorian Chant and other sacred music. Participants sang various hours of the Divine Office in choir, with the men seated opposite the ladies and alternating verses between high and low voices. Sung Offices included Solemn First Vespers and Lauds for the Solemnity of All Saints. We wish to thank Fr. Samuel Weber, O.S.B., of the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music, who prepared the Office booklets for the conference. His Excellency, the Most Rev. Alexander K. Sample received a spontaneous standing ovation for his lecture on “The Bishop as Guarantor of the Sacred Liturgy” (see below), and celebrated an exemplary Solemn Pontifical Mass in the Ordinary Form for the Solemnity of All Saints, featuring the combined musical talents of the parish choir and Schola Cantus Angelorum. The conference was considered a great success! (Photography and video by Marc Salvatore, reproduced here with his kind permission.)

Archbishop Sample’s Talk

OF Pontifical Mass on the Feast of All Saints

Continue Reading this Article. . .

A Blueprint for Parish Musical Reform

Apart from showcasing or announcing liturgies that feature fine examples of it, I've noticed that NLM hasn’t been talking much lately about sacred music.

This surely isn’t because the subject is not hugely important. Part of the reason, I think, is that sacred music is so massively and thoroughly important that it is hard to know where to begin. Music is the very language of the soul, its most intimate and exalted expression. Sacred music is the blood and bone of the liturgy, the carrier of its organic life, the texture of its being, the architecture of its prayer. If something goes wrong with music, as Plato saw long ago, the culture is lost. If something goes wrong with liturgical music, as Ratzinger saw so clearly, the cultus is depressed and devalued. It is like arguing about the sanctity of human life, or heterosexual marriage: if it isn’t obvious to you that a child is a person with dignity or that only a man and a woman can marry, then where can our argument go next? There are some things so basic, so close, so intimate, so all-pervasive, that we do not know where to begin, and once begun, we hardly know where to end. Music, and liturgical music, is just like that.

Part of the reason, too, is that one can feel as if everything has already been said (and said well), and that those who want to know already know, and those who need to know have their ears closed, like an immature person in an argument who claps his hands over his ears and says loudly “la la la” until the other person walks away. All the articles are out there, arguing for Gregorian chant (on its own merits or on the basis of Vatican II’s re-endorsement of it), for polyphony, for traditional hymnody, and against liturgical novelties, contemporary styles, and worldly instrumentations ill-suited for the divine mysteries. The musical resources are also plentifully available—everything from Latin chant to English chant to newly-composed polyphony (Allen, Dalitz, Kwasniewski, Morber, and other frequenters of the MusicaSacra forum) to thousands of free scores at CPDL and IMSLP. Frankly, it can seem as if the battle lines are drawn in utter clarity, with a vast no-man’s land in between. People have made up their minds: either they’re sold on traditional sacred music, seeing it as a matter of hallowed principle — “This is simply who Catholics are and what they should do”—or they are vehemently opposed to it, seeing it as a matter of pastoral pragmatism: “This isn’t who Catholics are anymore, and we should do whatever ‘works.’”

Well, that’s all true, as far as it goes — but it’s absolutely not a reason to stop the conversation or to stop the grassroots efforts for revitalizing our Church’s musical life, which, in general, is still at a deplorable level. There are still people who desire to learn about authentic sacred music. There are men and women of good will ready to embrace the Church’s heritage if only it is introduced to them. There are friends to be made and foes to be converted. There are new insights to share and new ways to explain or apply old principles. It is a subject that must not be allowed to descend into the realm of unspoken assumptions but rather must be, again and again, brought into the light. Doing so benefits both those who love sacred music and those who may come to love it if only we are tireless in making the case for it.

Now, the case must be made in two ways. First, in words, as writers have done at NLM and Chant Café and elsewhere. Second, through the introduction and good practice of sacred music in the parish.[1] Precisely because we are dealing with the phenomenon of music, experience is of far greater weight than words. The experience of genuinely beautiful sacred music has its own way of touching minds and hearts, although I am not going to suggest that it will always be easy, automatic, or instantaneous for everyone. So, we need to take whatever opportunities we can find to convince pastors and especially bishops to develop a great concern for the state of music in the Church and to espouse concrete steps of renewal. A shining example in this regard is the pastoral letter Rejoice in the Lord Always of Archbishop Alexander K. Sample, which he issued when bishop of the Diocese of Marquette.[2] In promulgating this document, with its clear explanations and actual legislation for parishes, His Excellency combined the two ways mentioned above: he put the mind of the Church into writing, and, using his episcopal authority, introduced diocesan laws that would establish sacred music at the parish level so that the Catholics of his diocese could at last, in accord with Vatican II’s Sacrosanctum Concilium, experience the primacy of chant and of other music from the Church’s priceless patrimony.

As with last week’s model letter on restoring all-male altar service, what follows is a model or template of the sort of letter that a bishop or other superior might consider sending to his clergy, in pursuit of the liturgical renewal so eloquently called for and expounded in Benedict XVI’s timeless writings. This letter briefly addresses the desperate need for elevating the style and quality of music in parishes. May it be helpful in some way to all pastors who are striving to purge what is unworthy of the temple of God and reestablish excellence in sacred music!

* * *

Dear Sons in Christ,

“Let nothing be preferred to the Work of God,” as St. Benedict memorably says in his Holy Rule. The Father of Western Monasticism left us a clear reminder that, whether we are monks or not, the service of our Lord in the divine liturgy (what Benedict called the opus Dei) is our principal task while on earth, our greatest responsibility before the Creator of heaven and earth, the most profound source of our sanctification, and a work of love handed down from ages past into which it is our joy to initiate each new generation of believers.

Unfortunately, in the decades following the Council, it seemed as if many in the Church became confused. They ran away from this primary task and got preoccupied with what may have been important but was certainly secondary. Their gaze on the sovereign work of the Lord grew weak, and soon they treated the most sacred mysteries in a casual and irreverent way. Many of the treasures of our faith were forgotten or repudiated in the mistaken view that they had nothing to say to modern people. Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI worked tirelessly against the secularization and forgetfulness of God that simultaneously affected the realms of doctrine, morals, and worship. As all can see, the unraveling of Western society and a corresponding disorientation in the Church have, by now, reached crisis proportions. As pastors, it is our duty to avoid anything that may contribute to this process of self-destruction and to promote, in a clear-sighted and principled way, the sanctification and salvation of the faithful entrusted to our care.

To do so, we must first of all be consistent with our Catholic tradition and with the Magisterium of the Church. Any Catholic church should be, and look and sound like, a microcosm of the one Catholic church; the same is true of the liturgy. That is why the Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum can say: “It is the right of the community of Christ’s faithful that especially in the Sunday celebration there should customarily be true and suitable sacred music” (n. 57). In accordance with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council — “steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them” (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 54); “the musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art” (SC 112); “the treasure of sacred music is to be preserved and fostered with great care” (SC 114); “the Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services” (SC 116) — as well as the constant teaching of the Sovereign Pontiffs from St. Pius X down through Benedict XVI, I shall require pastors and music ministers to expand the use of, or to reintroduce if they have fallen into disuse, chanted proper antiphons and chants for the Ordinary of the Mass. This, too, is fully consistent with the advice of the USCCB in Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship (see, inter alia, nn. 30, 61, 72-80, 117).

The “Propers” of the Mass — at very least, in the realm of the Ordinary Form, the Introit or Entrance antiphon, Offertory antiphon, and Communion antiphon — are an integral part of the Roman Rite of Mass and ought to be prominent, as indeed is suggested by their primacy in the General Instruction (see GIRM, nn. 48, 74, 87). The immense scriptural and theological riches of the Proper texts given in the official liturgical books and the wonderful congruency of chanted antiphons with the liturgical action for which they are intended recommends them above all other texts and types of music. While it is possible and at times desirable to use just the proper antiphons with their verses, it is certainly permissible to chant the antiphon and then sing a suitable motet or congregational hymn; I leave the particulars to your own judgment, which must take into account the abilities of the singers and the sensibilities of the faithful. What I am requiring is that the antiphons always be sung at the principal Masses of Sundays and Holy Days, whatever else may be sung. The “Ordinary” of the Mass — the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Creed, the Sanctus, the Agnus Dei, the Lord’s Prayer, and the dialogues between priest and people — is likewise to be sung on these days, in English or in Latin (Greek for the Kyrie). When the Ordinary is sung in English, preference should be given to modal melodies that have the characteristics of plainchant. Naturally, it takes time to learn a number of chants, so it may be best to start with a certain core, such as the Kyrie, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei, and add to it as time goes on.

Gregorian chant is not simply one style of church music among many; it is the music of the Roman rite par excellence, and therefore has a certain primacy. Pope Benedict XVI asked us to rediscover our tradition and, at long last, to implement what Vatican II really taught (cf. Sacramentum Caritatis, n. 42). It would therefore be fully appropriate and desirable that chant be used at every Mass at which music is planned, and that we move away from artificial distinctions such as “Folk (or Youth) Mass” vs. “High Mass.” Every Mass should be reverent and sacred, as worthy as we can make it of the unfathomable gift and mystery of the Lord’s Body and Blood.

In some missalettes and in nearly all hymnals there is at least one Gregorian chant Mass, and often several, that can be employed. Excellent resources for expanding your parish’s use of plainchant in Latin as well as in the vernacular (English and Spanish) are available from such publishers as Ignatius Press, CanticaNova, Illuminare Publications, Corpus Christi Watershed, and St. Michael Hymnal. Without prejudice to other worthy publications, I do recommend taking a close look at the Lumen Christi series, The Proper of the Mass, and the Ignatius Pew Missal.

As chief liturgist of the Diocese, responsible for good order and decorum in the house of God, I ask that you instruct music ministers to stand no longer in or near the sanctuary at the front of the church, but to sing from the choir loft, or, if there is no choir loft, from the back of the church. Decades of confusion and poor instructions have caused many to believe that the ideal location for musicians is at the front, visible to everyone, but this contravenes in every respect the true nature and role of the musician at Mass. Musicians are not supposed to be in the foreground but in the background; their essential contribution is to help the Christian people to meditate on the sacred mysteries, which is best accomplished by music that is itself more contemplative, not too loud, strident, or dominating. When placed front and center, singers and instrumentalists cannot avoid becoming performers and drawing attention to themselves, no matter how humble their intentions may be.

In this connection it is also important to recall, as the Popes have done into our own times, that the preferred instrument for musical accompaniment in the Roman rite is the pipe organ (cf. Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 120; Pius XII, Musicae Sacrae, n. 58; Instruction Musicam Sacram, n. 63). Churches that do not have a pipe organ should be fitted with one at the nearest opportunity; alternatively, if it does not seem possible to raise the requisite funds, a high-quality keyboard programmed to sound like a pipe organ may be utilized. It will be advisable to phase out the piano and the guitar, since the Church has repeatedly taught that instruments associated with worldly music are not suited for use in the liturgy. It is true that these instruments have been around for a long time now, but their abiding cultural associations, the manner in which they tend to be played, and the style of music written for them combine to show that we are dealing not so much with the sacralization of once-secular instruments as with the secularization of once-sacred music. Accordingly, as of Christmas next year, the only instruments that may be played during the liturgy will be the pipe organ (or its digital equivalent as established by the diocese) and traditional string and wind instruments. Of course, voices by themselves are more than sufficient for the singing of the Church’s music, and the organ by itself suffices as an accompanying or a solo instrument.

In pursuit of these important goals, which require professional training and continuing education, diocesan funds will be made available annually to assist in sending parish music directors, choir directors, cantors, and organists to the Sacred Music Colloquium, the Chant Intensives, and other events sponsored by the Church Music Association of America and related organizations. We are also making plans to bring teachers into the diocese for workshops on putting into practice the Council’s noble vision. Each pastor will be asked to select a certain number of musicians from his parish to attend educational events, in proportion to the size of the parish and the scope of its music program. In the next two months, the Office of Divine Worship will send you more information on these educational events, together with a list of suggested chant settings for the Ordinary of the Mass, a list of permitted hymnals and recommended music resources, and more details on the installation of pipe organs and digital organs.

The requirement to reintroduce the chanted Propers and Ordinary and to alter (if necessary) the location of musicians goes into full effect as of the First Sunday of Advent, any customs to the contrary notwithstanding. By Christmas, all Propers are to be sung (either in simple tones or in fuller melodies), and all parts of the Ordinary by the feast of Candlemas, February 2. The requirement to shift to the pipe organ will go into effect as of Easter Sunday; the long-standing tradition of utilizing no musical instruments during Lent will be of assistance in this regard.

In number 35 of the final list of propositions of the Fathers of the thirteenth General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2012, we read these stirring words: “The worthy celebration of the Sacred Liturgy, God’s most treasured gift to us, is the source of the highest expression of our life in Christ (cf. Sacrosanctum concilium, n. 10). It is, therefore, the primary and most powerful expression of the new evangelization. God desires to manifest the incomparable beauty of his immeasurable and unceasing love for us through the Sacred Liturgy, and we, for our part, desire to employ what is most beautiful in our worship of God in response to his gift. In the marvelous exchange of the Sacred Liturgy, by which heaven descends to earth, salvation is at hand, calling forth repentance and conversion of heart (cf. Mt 4:17; Mk 1:15). Evangelization in the Church calls for a liturgy that lifts the hearts of men and women to God. The liturgy is not just a human action but an encounter with God which leads to contemplation and deepening friendship with God. In this sense, the liturgy of the Church is the best school of the faith.”

The source and summit of the new evangelization will be the sacred liturgy most worthily, reverently, and beautifully celebrated, drawing upon all that is best and noblest in our Catholic tradition. This, dear priests and deacons, is a demanding and rewarding path for all of us to follow as we strive to adore the Father in spirit and in truth and to lead our people ever more deeply into the unfathomable mysteries of His love.

Cordially yours in Christ,
etc. etc.

NOTES

[1] Everything I say here about parishes would also apply to college and university chaplaincies.

[2] The full text of Rejoice in the Lord Always is here, at the website of the Diocese of Marquette. Archbishop Sample’s pastoral letter is the finest episcopal document on the subject that has appeared in the last 50 years—including in this estimation the documents of national episcopal conferences. The team of writers at Views from the Choir Loft wrote a series of appreciations of this pastoral letter: see here for the first installment and links to the rest.