Liturgical changes started to happen during the reign of Pope Pius XII. In 1955, Holy Week was completely changed as well as many feast days. The Council opened in 1962; its first document was on the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. Next, the Consilium was established to begin the changes to the Liturgy called for in SC. Three well-known priest musicians decided to start planning the proper implementation of Sacred Music: Msgr. Angles from Spain, Msgr. Overath from Germany, and Msgr. Schuler from the church of Saint Agnes in the archdiocese of Minneapolis-Saint Paul.
In 1963, Pope Paul VI issued Nobile Subsidium Liturgiae, which established the Consociatio Internationalis Musicae Sacrae or CIMS - the international Association for Sacred Music. The Sacred Music groups in the US mentioned above hosted CIMS at the Fifth International Church Music Congress, held in 1966 in Milwaukee and Chicago. From this meeting the CMAA was born. The Caecilian movement in the Midwest and the St Gregory Society in the East merged to form the CMAA. The journals of both societies were merged into “Sacred Music.” This makes our journal, Sacred Music, the oldest continuous publication on all the issues that concern musica sacra in the Church in the United States. The CMAA was established as the official representative of CIMS in the USA.
Not too long after the founding of the CMAA, Universa Laus was founded in opposition to CIMS. They desired a complete vernacularization of the Liturgy: official texts were hard to come by, and the hootenanny Mass was launched – “Michael row your boat ashore,” with an avalanche of horrible sacro-pop entering the sacred liturgy. By the time of the promulgation of the New Mass in 1969, Latin was unofficially almost forbidden, and the treasury of Sacred Music had basically disappeared.
The CMAA went into survival mode. Msgr. Schuler and his secretary, Virginia Schubert, kept the journal Sacred Music going against all odds. Twenty-two years after the promulgation of the Novus Ordo Missae, the first Colloquium was held at Christendom College. For these twenty-two years, except in a few places, the treasury of sacred music was basically dead. The Colloquium was the beginning of the revival of the CMAA. It eventually started to move around the country and began to attract more attendees. In 2005/2006 the CMAA published a huge number of materials in the public domain on our website, making us the “go to” place to learn about sacred music. And we have been expanding ever since.
We believe, in accordance with the teachings of the Church, that the presence of Christ is most fully revealed in the Sacred Liturgy when it is celebrated solemnly; that is, with the sacred music that the Church sees as its own. In this experience, each individual worships God most fully, and each musician can use their talent and training to worship God and be of service to their brothers and sisters. Sacred music must be holy, true art, and universal.
We are a community of people in love with the Sacred Music Treasury of the Catholic Church. We are committed to teaching and restoring this treasury to its proper place in all the Liturgies of the Roman Rite. All the officers of the board, including the President, pay dues every year. Except for the general manager, who is not paid enough, we are all unpaid volunteers.
We have made a commitment to this organization because it is of the utmost importance, in obedience to the teaching of the Church.
By launching “CMAA Groups,” we want to build up personal commitment to the CMAA and sacred music. We want more citizens who will join the CMAA and with us, in real collegiality, share this joyful work. Groups@musicasacra.com.
We will provide a program for nine months each year. The program will begin with sung Compline and eventually move to Vespers. There will be an assigned reading with discussion questions. There will then be a social so that people can get to know each other for support, encouragement and friendship. On three of the occasions there will be an added music reading session that will explore different works that are relevant to the up-coming liturgical season. We are in the process of finding competent people who can host a local group. We have already spoken with people in different parts of the country. We plan to have our beta test in September with the group from the Minneapolis/St Paul area.
We will also encourage people who wish to continue in the group to join the CMAA. People always ask, what do I get for my $72.00 annual membership fee. The very first perk and the most important is that you are now a citizen of the CMAA who is helping us continue our mission. Of course you will receive our journal, Sacred Music, continue to get certain discounts, have access to online programs, be remembered at one of the Masses during the Colloquium, and receive news and updates.
I like to call these groups local Gregorian chant cells that are organically and locally attracting more people. I am asking everyone who is reading this to join the CMAA, if you have not already done so, and if you are a member, to try to get one or more people to join. An increase in membership is so important.
In conclusion, we are looking for enthusiastic, energetic, committed, happy, spiritual citizens that will not only take what they receive, but with us, continue to give it. Please become part of why we do what we do, how we accomplish this, and what we are all about. If you are interested email us at Groups@musicasacra.com.
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