Category: Liturgy and Music

My choir did a great job today. We did the Proulx arrangement of the hymn tune “Thaxed” and the Rutter “God Be In My Head.” It’s amazing what a group of amateur singers can produce for the glory of God.

“Buried Treasure – Can the Church recover her musical heritage?” in the online version of the Adoremus Bulliten
This includes such favorites as Tra le Sollicitudini by Pope St. Pius X and Mediator Dei and Musicae Sacrae Disciplina by Pope Pius XII.
An excellent article! Especially the conclusion which I have copied below.

I mentioned some time ago that I was organizing a monthly chant Mass at my suburban parish in Stoneham, MA. Well, the project reached a milestone with our first such Mass Sunday evening, and everything came off just fine. Here’s what we did:
Before Mass: the Introit Omnia quae fecisti
Procession Hymn: Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven
Kyrie XVI
Glory to God, recited
Psalm 146 (in English): verses on tone V; refrain to an OCP setting
Alleluia, on the simple tone from Jubilate Deo; verse in English on tone VI
Creed: recited
At the offertory: I transplanted the Gradual Oculi omnium and we sang it at this time.
Sanctus XVIII
Memorial Acclamation: Danish Amen Mass
Great Amen: Danish Amen Mass
Our Father: recited
Agnus Dei XVIII
Communion Hymn: Shepherd of Souls, Refresh and Bless
Communion Antiphon: Memento verbi tui, with verses from ps. 118
Hymn: To Jesus Christ, our Sovereign King
The propers were sung a cappella; everything else was done with organ accompaniment.
I haven’t tried to recruit folks from the parish yet, but invited in some “ringers”, volunteers mostly from the schola of the indult Mass in Boston, including our organist member Randolph Nichols. I’m exceedingly grateful to them all for coming out to spread the beauty of the Church’s proper music (and not standing me up for the first such event I’ve ever organized!).
The congregation sang the ordinary well, especially the Kyrie; Shepherd of Souls wasn’t familiar to some, but they did all right on the other hymns.
After Mass, a few people came by to thank us, including one very enthusiastic lady, a revert who has been watching Mass on EWTN and pining for something like that in a real parish. She was thrilled to hear “real hymns”.
When the celebrant thanked us at the end of the Mass, he mentioned we’ll be here again monthly: so I guess we’re confirmed to be in.

The sinister jazzy sound of the MIDI file embedded on this page is about as far as you can get from this pop duo’s sweet version.

These are available from a company with which I had to transact business (we had to outfit a Don-Jose-goes-into-the-mountains drum major). Having never actually seen L.D., I thought the movement had given up the ghost, but apparently it’s alive and well somewhere. I find it intersting that most of the items for sale seem to be made of polyester. I also find it interesting that I didn’t see a model who could have been alive when all this craziness began.
My favorite quotes:
Your dancing is a form of praise and you should look your very best!
A liturgical basic that meets so many of your performance needs!