If you haven’t watched the Papal Mass in Westminster Cathedral, I strongly urge you to do so some evening when you have time. This is the archived footage.
At long last, and the wait was very long, the world has seen an example of a magnificent Papal Mass, celebrated by the Pope Benedict XVI in the Westminster Cathedral, with glorious decorum, perfect music, and holy dignity all around. We have so long been used to other things that it seem to take a while to fully settle into the reality that this was truly a Papal Mass fully worthy to be written up in the history books as a model and ideal — even in the ordinary form of the Mass and even before the Mass translation is upgraded this time next year.
The musical Mass setting of choice for the occasion was the Mass for Five Voices by William Byrd (1539–1623). It is the most dramatic, most difficult, and most emotionally compelling of the three Masses that Byrd wrote for the Catholic Mass. In his time as Queen Elizabeth’s own composer, Byrd was writing English music for the Anglican Church by day and, by night, secretly composing music for the Catholic Church in hiding, for Masses celebrated in castles and manors untouched by the politics of the time.
There was so much poignant and thrilling about hearing this particular setting, performed perfectly of course, in the open daylight, in a restored Catholic Church in England, with the Pope presiding, at a Mass attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury himself. Byrd’s Catholicism is in hiding no more! Instead, it is available to the entire world in the context of a liturgical splendor unlike any we’ve yet seen.
Even more strikingly, glorious music such as this has been in hiding in the Catholic world as well, for some 40 to 50 years, during which time to favor this approach to liturgical music was to mark yourself as something of an alien to the prevailing ethos that favored pop and folk music. One wonders whether this particular Mass effectively provides a symbolic closure to this past and opens a new door to the future.
One could watch and listen to the Mass and easily believe that the unpleasantness of the postconcilar period had never existed. It all seemed to inevitable, so proper, so fitting, so perfect. What’s more, the actual Gregorian propers of the Mass for the introit and the communion were also sung — proclaimed might be a better term, with strength and flawless intonation and diction. This is what happens when you have a choir that does indeed sing chant every single day in this venue that might have the greatest liturgical choir program on the entire planet, built from the ground up from the turn of the 20th century to our own times.
The extraordinary nature of this event was evident from the grand entrance, featuring a “Tu es Petrus” setting by Scottish composer James MacMillan, another man who has made his mark on history. The setting was regal and unapologetically so. It was a great example of modern liturgical music for procession. This piece in particular was reprised for the music accompanying the return of the Gospel following the Gospel reading, an interesting moment that no Catholic American has experienced because it is not our tradition. The chant books provide no music for this action so English Catholicism (as explained to me by several commentators on this site) has come to treat this as a time for organ improvisation of a particularly dramatic sort. The MacMillan reprise here came across as startling at first but aggressive in its majesty on second thought.
The processional was seamlessly woven into the Gregorian antiphon for the day, sung with Psalms and the Gloria Patri. As a person who obsesses about the timing of music in liturgy, I was particularly impressed at how perfectly every note seemed to fit with the liturgical action on the altar. This was followed by the Pope’s words (one only wishes that the new translation were already in effect!) and the Kyrie. The Pope then intoned the Gloria by himself, setting the pitch for the choir which followed up with Byrd’s setting.
The German heritage of this Pope was honored with the Christus Factus Est by Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) at Offertory. I had never actually heard this piece before. This moment was a great one, surely for the Pope, who must know this music well, but also for Bruckner himself, who experienced in his own life a great deal of suffering for his own Catholicism. His greatness was never really acknowledge by his contemporaries and his unfashionable Catholicism tagged him as “pious and overly devotional” in the Germany of his times.
This Mass included a great deal of participation by the people as well, but always within the structure of the liturgy. The first hymn we heard was for post-communion and it did not replace the proper chant of the votive Mass of the Precious Blood that was being sung this day. This is as it should be. As many Church authorities are beginning to state openly, the use of the hymn in Mass today is entirely out of hand. Its use after communion and during recession during this Mass was much more in keeping with proper usage.
I’ve talked mostly about music here but there is much more to say about the beautiful vestments, the high altar, the dignified comportment of all the Bishops present, the appropriateness of the dress of the laity that brought forward the gifts, and so much. It was such a relief to see it all, but, even more than that, it was an inspiration, even a sign of changed and changing times. Many have prayed for this day, and are grateful to have lived to see it.
For 500 years, Christianity in England has been a major theater for the fortunes of the Catholic faith. Today, the pews the parishes are filling up again and the Church in growing in strength and cultural presence. I just know that English Catholics were thrilled at what they saw and heard. It was as their whole history had come together in some kind of culminating moment. Americans can tap into that feeling, understanding it and sharing it as well. Under the leadership of this Pope, it seems that miracles are happening.
I always figured that England would save us:) Well done, Martin Baker!
The Mass was technically flawless, so far as I can tell. So much that was magnificent and praiseworthy. And yet…the (unprecedented?) presence of a female altar server (vested in cassock and surplice) forces one to wonder whether the magic circle wasn't sending a broad wink in the direction of “spirit of Vatican II” progressives, as if to say, “You needn’t worry about us. We’re pulling off this magnificent exercise in formalism just to show that we can, but our commitment to the agenda is as sound as ever.”
A memorable passage from Brideshead Revisited:
“My dear, I could hardly keep still in my chair. I wanted to dash out and leap in a taxi…and what did I find? I found, my dear, a very naughty and very successful practical joke. It reminded me of dear Sebastian when he liked so much to dress up in false whiskers.”
How striking that even as the Anglican communion's coming apart over the clericalization of women, the Holy Father's liturgies are exploited to showcase female servers.
Romulus
Westminster Cathedral Choir shines "as a sun in its orb" and has done so through all the darkest years of the most appalling liturgical musical fads, indeed, it has almost stood alone since Vatican II in showing us how it should be done. I am so pleased that with the papal mass at the Cathedral last week, their good work was heard by millions of people not just in Britain,but worldwide who were following the papal visit. The sheer beauty and musicality of their singing, not to mention the liturgy itself teaches us all by example, and it is my sincere hope that this will have far reaching effects well beyond the shores of Britain. Some of the most spine-tingling moments of the music belong to the choristers, in particular I am thinking of the verse of the Alleluia. I hope that with the high visibility of this mass that we might see a resurgence of that most traditional and ancient of choir institutions- the child chorister. I am convinced that this is at the center of true musical reform in the Church.
Surely you mean "regal, and unapologetically so" …
🙂
I do indeed. Thank you.
Anon:
Really?
Anonymous' (Romulus') view may be a bit too conspiratorial for what actually happened, but there can be little doubt that there was politics involved.
Those of us involved in the liturgy know that this goes on all the time – except when you have a very unified establishment. Even Westminster is not as unified as one would think. It was at one time – decades ago. But not today. (Just to give an example, I was at Westminster two years ago for a Mass and, while the music was superb, the ceremonial was rather sloppy – and replete with lay eucharistic distributors. Admittedly it was a week day and Sunday probably would have been better, but still.)
So certainly there was behind-the-scenes politics but, I tend to think that overall the more traditional liturgico-political forces won the day. The liberals inserted their altar girls as a kind of a parting shot – not as a prelude wink to victory.
Finally, this was hardly the first papal Mass with altar girls. They were already making their appearance, albeit illicitly and against his desire, at some of JP II's international Masses in the 1980's.
The Mass was magnificent. Importantly, it should be put into context — a ceremony like this would have been impossible 20 years ago.
'[Bruckner's] unfashionable Catholicism tagged him as "pious and overly devotional" '
Yes, devotion is never fashionable.
The Mass was splendid. A wonderful example.
I never thought much about this post-Gospel musical acclamation, and dismissed it simply as a British custom. However re-visiting it here reminded me of something I had once read and I finally recalled. There was a ceremony in the Gallican liturgy that included processions before and after the reading of the Gospel, during which an "Aius" was sung, and I quote here from the Pseudo-Germanus? in Strunk's source readings:
"The Sanctus (not the one after the preface – ed.), which is sung as the Gospel book is returned, is chanted by a cleric as a representation of the Saints who, following Jesus Christ as He returned from hell, sang a canticle of praise, or of the four and twenty elders commemorated by John in the Apocalypse, who cast down their crowns before the Lamb and sang a sweet song"
The Gallican liturgy was suppressed during the Carolingian liturgical reforms, but I now wonder how far back this British custom goes, or whether it is unique to the English.
I loved everything about the music at this Mass (and yes to whoever commented about the Alleluia Tract – tingles down my spine, especially with the sunlight streaming down onto the sanctuary from the windows high up in the apse) except the post-Gospel voluntary. I understand that it was the theme of the Tu es Petrus, but while that was triumphant in a good way, and was suitable for the entrance of the Holy Father, this one hit all the wrong notes – triumphalism at precisely the wrong moment – after the Gospel should be a time for sombre reflection, preparing to listen to the exposition of Sacred Scripture in the Homily, and would have been better suited to a more reflective voluntary as opposed to something so…bombastic is the word I'd use for it.
I thought Bruckner's Ecce Sacerdos Magnus at the end as the HF re-entered the Cathedral after blessing the people in the piazza a very nice touch, and again triumphant but at the right moment.
music such as this has been in hiding in the Catholic world as well, for some 40 to 50 years … Today, the pews the parishes are filling up again and the Church in growing in strength and cultural presence.
Oh Jeffrey… you know what I'm going to say (it involves a two-word phrase beginning with the letters P and F). So I won't.
BTW, Westminster always has female servers; it's normal.
I don't know where +Vincent sits on the issue of altyar girls, but they were brought in by his predecessor. When I used to serve there in the 90's Card Hume wouldn't allow girls to serve.
The other main difference between +Basil and +Cormac was that +Basil had a Master of Ceremonies in the form of Fr Danny Cronin who ruled the sanctuary with a withering gaze. At the major events, which included Sunday masses and vespers, Fr Danny would be beside the celebrant dressed in choir directing the liturgy. +Cormac did't replace him and devolved that role to a couple of the servers. At the same time as fr Danny was the MC, Fr Philip Whitemore was the precentor and he had a good understandig of liturgy. He was replaced by a lay precentor.
As soon as +Vincent took over the role of the Precentor once again became a clerical one and merged with the role of MC, a good step in improving movement discipline (you have to remember the sanctuary is big and open and every moevment is highly visible) and the quality of liturgy, the metal framed moveable altar (that was first used for JP2's papal mass) was got ridf of and the high altar under the baldachino once again became the norm (and the wall behind it was moved back to make versus populum masses easier thus reinforcing the point that the temp altar and staging it sat on were gone for good). +Cormac also looked at scaling back choral services as a money saving option with more use of antiphonal/congregational singing (cuts down on rehearsal time, for which the men are paid a fee). Thankfully, Martin Baker and the wealthy donors to the Cathedral coffers all resisted this move.
Given everything that +Vincent has done to unwind the malaise started by +Cormac, I think pointing to girls on the altar and sneering about it greatly misses the point – +Vicent GETS good liturgy and has positively acted to restore it to the centre of the liturgical life of the Cathedral (away from it being a community centre of social workers). It will never be the Oratory as it has a lot of interest groups that means it has to remain in the middle of the road, but it can, and has returned to being, a more orthodox middle.