Upcoming Conference: Institute of Liturgical Music
New Book: Music in the Liturgy
Dr. Ben Whitworth, the liturgical musician and learned English writer who is the Assistant Editor of Usus Antiquior, has written a most useful book, Music in the Liturgy.
Written for the non-expert lay Catholic, and focused on the Ordinary Form of the Mass, the book provides an introduction to liturgical music in a low-cost, accessible format. It is simple, yet evocative, leading the reader to ponder aesthetics in general, the theology and ecclesial practice of singing, and, most especially, the key role that music is intended to fulfill in the liturgy.
One can easily see the benefits of providing copies of Music in the Liturgy to choir members, parishioners, and particularly those involved in making parish decisions that affect the music program.
If Mass is Boring, What Are Propers?
Despite the huge and varied number of offerings for singing the proper texts of the Mass, many parishes still sing what amounts to a novus ordo version of a low Mass, with the musical emphasis squarely on hymns and songs and inspired songs.
The reason is this: Propers are boring.
Consider this text: “The Lord said to me, you are my son. This day I have begotten you.” Whom could this text possibly thrill? A monk, surely, though it probably depends on the monk. A poet, surely. How about a family of five who barely got dressed in time after Christmas shopping and Christmas eve dinner with friends in order to tumble out of the minivan in time to find a seat for the 9:30 pm Midnight Mass? Whose car radio was just now playing Call Me Maybe?
Propers, in contrast, are written for the 1%, the Holy Father’s beloved category of “simple believers.”
Who could possibly be thrilled to hear or sing “Today the Light will shine upon us because to us the Lord is born” at the early Mass, before the road trip?
Here is the person who will be thrilled. The contemplative who excuses himself briefly from the family celebration to attend the early Mass. The elderly woman, the daily communicant, who has spent the last week reading ahead in her Magnificat to prepare for the great day. The little child who learned the introit in school. The retired priest who says Mass in a convent, or in the chapel in the rest home where he lives.
But for most of the plugged-in world, the propers sing of a different world, a world of silence and peace and recollection. Our music is a mirror, and hymns bustle along, just like us.
Who has time for the propers?
On Music and the Priestly Life
By Fr. Gary Selin, writing on Homiletic and Pastoral Review
Priests need to be aware of how to engage, with courage, the people on this topic while maintaining authentic pastoral charity and understanding. It is my hope that this essay will help priests—and seminarians—to reflect deeply on the type of music they listen to and the role it plays in priestly life. More
Hymn Tune Introits for 20th and 21st Sundays OT
O God our shelter, turn your gaze
To look on your anointed’s face.
One day within your courts outweighs
A thousand any other place.
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O answer, Lord, and turn your ear.
Your servant trusts you; save and hear.
Have mercy on me, Lord, I pray.
To you I cry out all the day.
St. Ambrose’s Aeterne rerum conditor
Eternal maker of all things
Of day and night the sov’reign King,
Refreshing mortals, You arrange
The rhythm of the seasons’ change
The rooster sounds his morning cry
–Throughout the night he watched the sky–
For travelers, a guiding light
To tell the watches of the night.
The morning star that hears the cry
Dispels the darkness from the sky.
The demons, hearing the alarm
Abandon all their paths of harm.
The sailor hears and he is brave;
The sea becomes a gentle wave.
The rooster’s call reached Peter’s ears:
He washed away his sins in tears.
Our wav’ring hearts, Lord Jesus, see.
O look upon us, make us free,
For in Your gaze no fault can stay,
And sins by tears are washed away.
O Light, upon our senses shine.
Dispel our sleepiness of mind,
That we may sing Your morning praise,
Then, vows fulfilling, live our days.