Why I Don’t Care If You Sing Praise and Worship at Mass

Several weeks ago, my family and I were at a wonderful camp in Ohio called Catholic Family Land (it’s a real place!), an outreach run by The Apostolate for Family Consecration. Of course, every day begins with Mass, and later in the day, right next to the sports fields that are used all afternoon, there’s a small adoration chapel. Overall, it’s a lovely wholesome, Catholic atmosphere.

The music used at Mass was typically of the praise and worship style, which is less than ideal. But you know what? I was ok with it. That’s right.

If I am given a choice between folksy Haugen and Haas, Glory and Praise songs and praise and worship  genre songs, I’ll take P&W any day, for one major reason: in the Catholic liturgical music paradigm, text comes first.

One of the reasons gregorian chant is so uniquely suited to the liturgy is it’s nature as principally elevated speech. The rhythm of chant comes from the speech. The simplicity of the melodies allows the text to be heard more than any other form of music. The relative simplicity of the melodies (compared to polyphony) allows the the text to be highlighted even more. All this to say, while the melody and idiom of the music matters, the text is most important. And with the unique scriptural tradition of Roman liturgical music, the text of P&W makes it oddly suited to the liturgy, more so than other sentimental hymn texts.

Look at Blessed Be Your Name, by Matt Redman. The text is based on Job 1:21, as well as other imagery from the psalms (“streams of abundance”). Or look at Shout To The Lord by Darlene Zschech. More imagery from the psalms.

Is Praise and Worship a massive improvement on schmaltzy hymns from Haugen and Haas? No, they are far from ideal. But they are definitely an improvement in the text, the more important of the two primary aspects.

Colloquium Vlog – Day 5+6

The mood has been bittersweet as we complete our final day. My apologies for the missed video yesterday, so I incorporated some clips from yesterday before playing today’s clips.

And again, if you haven’t been following Charles Cole’s photos on New Liturgical Movement, I’d highly encourage you to check them out, particularly pictures of today’s amazing requiem for deceased CMAA members.

Colloquium Vlog – Day 4

Day four has come and gone. I was lucky enough to be able to be able to learn how to better harmonize chant, then play the big organ as well! We also had vespers and compline. Check it out!

Looking for more Colloquium Coverage? Check out NLM!

For you readers at home following the Chuch Music Association of America’s annual Colloquium in Indianapolis here at the Café with my videos and Mr. C’s posts, I’d encourage you to check out one of the CMAA’s other sites, New Liturgical Movement, where you can find pictures of all our liturgies to get a small taste for one of the most beautiful parts of the Colloquium. I’d encourage you to check it out every day this week for all the fantastic photos you could want from the Colloquium Masses and other liturgies!

Here’s a small selection of his photos from this week, check out New Liturgical Movement every day for more photos of our all beautiful liturgies!