Anyone attend a polka mass?

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Why must we tolerate these “theme Masses” (e.g. polka Mass, jazz Mass, folk Mass, etc.)? The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass should not be used a vessel for musical entertainment. The Church has argued with certain composers for centuries about this. I happen to like polka music and I play the accordion, but the polka is a secular dance and was never used in any liturgy in Poland, Germany, or anywhere else. It would have been completely forbidden in those places, and even today, most European parishes use only organ music at the Mass. So-called polka Masses are tacky and irreverent, regardless of the lyrics to the songs.
 
Cavaille-Coll said:
Why must we tolerate these “theme Masses” (e.g. polka Mass, jazz Mass, folk Mass, etc.)? The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass should not be used a vessel for musical entertainment. The Church has argued with certain composers for centuries about this. I happen to like polka music and I play the accordion, but the polka is a secular dance and was never used in any liturgy in Poland, Germany, or anywhere else. It would have been completely forbidden in those places, and even today, most European parishes use only organ music at the Mass. So-called polka Masses are tacky and irreverent, regardless of the lyrics to the songs.
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You make a very good point about lyrics. Lyrics have very, VERY little to do with the power of music. The power is in the beat and rhythm.

If you look at OCP books in your church (if you are unfortunate to have them) you will notice that so many songs are “based on” texts from the Psalms and such, but the music itself is quite secular. Look at the dates in which they were written by OC Publishing. There’s a history with OCP that I won’t even get into.

Lack of reverence in music is why I enjoy daily mass more than our Sunday mass. Even though we sing, at least it’s a capella.
 
Hej-że Hej-że, Hej! I learn something new everyday.

Here I lived in Warsaw for a couple of years, am married to a Polka (meaning a Polish woman), and occasionally attend mass at a Polish-language parish in the archidocese of L.A. (Our Lady of Bright Mount Parish, West Adams St.), and yet I had never heard of a “polka mass”.

No offense to lovers of Polka music, but I’d probably skip that one if it ever came to town.
 
IMHO, Mass should not sound like a dance hall on a Saturday night.
 
You know, the band could play in a more somber style during the mass, however, I will say again that these are not instruments suited for sacred worship of Our Lord, period. I have just come to that conclusion based on all the reading I have done and also asking my dear friend from Italy who is a deacon in MN. He is also the most intelligent Catholic I have ever personally met.

I do want to thank everyone that responded as you have been of GREAT value to me in this issue. I’m going somewhere else to worship this weekend.

Peace, Love & Joy!
 
I have never been to a polka Mass, but I’ve always imagined the processional hymn being to the tune of Skoda Lasky (Rosamunde): “Roll Out the Pastor…”

Regarding OCP, we do use their materials, but their days are numbered in my parish.
 
“continue the fun after Mass”??? Did I read that right??

Don’t go to this Mass. Unless “polka” means something like “a Mass in Polish for the Polish community” then this will be a sacrilegious Mass.

… and next week, we have the Halloween Mass! :rolleyes:

Themes for Mass? Makes me sick.

edit: Seems I did read that right.
Our bulletin very clearly states “Polka Mass” and the polka “fun” continues after mass at the school with the advertised polka band
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Right. So the Mass in music is going to be used for fun and entertainment afterwards. Cool! That means I get to have a Britney Spears Mass next Sunday. Cannot wait for that. Maybe I’ll just hold my party in Church. In fact, forget the Mass, let’s just do karaoke in the Church and call it a “Liturgy for the people”.
 
Cavaille-Coll said:
I have never been to a polka Mass, but I’ve always imagined the processional hymn being to the tune of Skoda Lasky (Rosamunde): “Roll Out the Pastor…”

Regarding OCP, we do use their materials, but their days are numbered in my parish.
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You guys are very lucky to be getting rid of OCP. I wish we could. How did you do it!
 
NewsTheMan said:
“continue the fun after Mass”??? Did I read that right??

Don’t go to this Mass. Unless “polka” means something like “a Mass in Polish for the Polish community” then this will be a sacrilegious Mass.

… and next week, we have the Halloween Mass! :rolleyes:

Themes for Mass? Makes me sick.

edit: Seems I did read that right.

Right. So the Mass in music is going to be used for fun and entertainment afterwards. Cool! That means I get to have a Britney Spears Mass next Sunday. Cannot wait for that. Maybe I’ll just hold my party in Church. In fact, forget the Mass, let’s just do karaoke in the Church and call it a “Liturgy for the people”.
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OMGosh! You took the words right out of my mouth. I said the same thing to my friend. “What’s next? Clown mass for Halloween? You know Rap is the popular music now. Maybe we could just incorporate that.”

Thank you. I’m glad I’m not the only one thinking this way.
 
ljsedivy said:
You guys are very lucky to be getting rid of OCP. I wish we could. How did you do it!
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Not to deviate from the polka Mass thread, but since you asked …

The pastor, not the music director, is in charge of the music in every parish. It is he who needs to be convinced. He will need to convince the finance council, since hardbound hymnals are always more expensive (but you only buy them once!). Once permission is gained, the process is easy. You call Oregon Catholic Press and say that you want to cancel your subscription. Prepare for a barrage of questions and follow-up calls, as they really hate to lose a customer. They may call your music director in an attempt to get around you, and if you live in the Archdiocese of Portland, the chancery may call you. Try to be charitable.

I would recommend purchasing sample copies of several other hymnals for comparison which take seriously the mind of the Church on sacred music. These are namely the St. Michael Hymnal, the Adoremus Hymnal, and the Vatican II Hymnal, or perhaps another one of a similar nature that I’m not aware of. Share these with the parish music leaders and explain to them what the Church expects in sacred music. If the parish can afford it, send some of them to a Musica Sacra workshop or something similar.

There are other hymnals out there that I would not recommend. GIA (Gather, Worship, etc.) has well-arranged organ parts in the high-church Protestant style, but the theological content is on a par with OCP. J.S. Paluch (We Celebrate) was once one of the more traditional hymnals but today contains mostly OCP reprints and questionable theology. Liturgical Press (Collegeville Hymnal) is one of the better ones, but their missals and organ books are arranged in a very confusing manner. The St. Augustine Hymnal is a new one on the market and I haven’t yet looked at one, but their advertising makes it appear to be a less-expensive alternative to OCP.

After your parish has broken in your new hymnals, have a polka festival in the parish hall AFTER Mass.
 
Cavaille-Coll said:
Not to deviate from the polka Mass thread, but since you asked …

The pastor, not the music director, is in charge of the music in every parish. It is he who needs to be convinced. He will need to convince the finance council, since hardbound hymnals are always more expensive (but you only buy them once!). Once permission is gained, the process is easy. You call Oregon Catholic Press and say that you want to cancel your subscription. Prepare for a barrage of questions and follow-up calls, as they really hate to lose a customer. They may call your music director in an attempt to get around you, and if you live in the Archdiocese of Portland, the chancery may call you. Try to be charitable.

I would recommend purchasing sample copies of several other hymnals for comparison which take seriously the mind of the Church on sacred music. These are namely the St. Michael Hymnal, the Adoremus Hymnal, and the Vatican II Hymnal, or perhaps another one of a similar nature that I’m not aware of. Share these with the parish music leaders and explain to them what the Church expects in sacred music. If the parish can afford it, send some of them to a Musica Sacra workshop or something similar.

There are other hymnals out there that I would not recommend. GIA (Gather, Worship, etc.) has well-arranged organ parts in the high-church Protestant style, but the theological content is on a par with OCP. J.S. Paluch (We Celebrate) was once one of the more traditional hymnals but today contains mostly OCP reprints and questionable theology. Liturgical Press (Collegeville Hymnal) is one of the better ones, but their missals and organ books are arranged in a very confusing manner. The St. Augustine Hymnal is a new one on the market and I haven’t yet looked at one, but their advertising makes it appear to be a less-expensive alternative to OCP.

After your parish has broken in your new hymnals, have a polka festival in the parish hall AFTER Mass.
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LOL! Hilarious!

Back to the music publications. I know my GF who is a Catholic Answers speaker has done some research on music. For those interested, her blog is

www.embracingyourgreatness.blogspot.com (hope I got that right).

Anyway, as soon as I saw GIA my spiritual red flag went up. Not sure if you are familiar but GIA is the name used in New Age to worship “mother earth”. So I wouldn’t expect anything genuinely Catholic to come of it. So you nailed that one, too!

Thanks so much for all your time and talent in giving me this information. Please read “Good Vibrations” article on my girlfriend’s blogspot up above. You’ll be glad you did (she, too, researched the history of the folks at OCP – not sure how much of that info is in her article).
 
ljsedivy said:
Anyway, as soon as I saw GIA my spiritual red flag went up. Not sure if you are familiar but GIA is the name used in New Age to worship “mother earth”. So I wouldn’t expect anything genuinely Catholic to come of it. So you nailed that one, too!
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GIA refers not to Gaia, but to the Gregorian Institute of America. A bit of a misnomer - something like going to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to look for Beethoven. Ah, well. OCP was called the Catholic Truth Society up into the 1970’s.
 
There were 4 former priests that were gathered together and sent to Berkley (of all places) to get inspired and write the “new” Catholic (a-hem) hymns. You don’t have to look very hard to see the secular influence in that music.

Not sure which song it is but every time the music group plays it all I hear is “On top of old Smokey, all covered with cheese, I lost my poor meatball…when somebody sneezed.”

Anyone remember that?
 
ljsedivy said:
You guys are very lucky to be getting rid of OCP. I wish we could. How did you do it!
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What an odd question…🤷

I’m not sure how it works where you live.

Where I live, we have these large blue bins on wheels (in other places, they’re different colors, so I don’t think blue is significant). Every Thursday morning, some nice guys from the city drive by with a big truck, and they stop at every place where the bins are set out next to the road. They empty the bins into the back of their big truck. and then they just drive away. After they leave, we go out and retrieve the bins and fill them again. This cycle repeats weekly. They do the same in other neighborhoods, but on different days of the week.
 
FrDavid96 said:
What an odd question…🤷

I’m not sure how it works where you live.

Where I live, we have these large blue bins on wheels (in other places, they’re different colors, so I don’t think blue is significant). Every Thursday morning, some nice guys from the city drive by with a big truck, and they stop at every place where the bins are set out next to the road. They empty the bins into the back of their big truck. and then they just drive away. After they leave, we go out and retrieve the bins and fill them again. This cycle repeats weekly. They do the same in other neighborhoods, but on different days of the week.
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LOL! So funny! Thanks for the chuckle! LOL
 
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