As Catholics Are We Allowed to Debate This

[Canuck000]

Our Church has Mass in Spanish also, separate on Sun. When there are Holy days of obligation the Mass is said in English and Spanish. Weekday Masses are also in both.
I love to attend the Spanish Mass occasionally because of the music. Yes it’s very different with guitars. I also love the English Mass for the music. Both are beautiful and we really should be accepting of other customs and cultures.
Being at the Spanish Mass sorta feels like being in a foreign country. )

 

[anonymous1995]

As far as I know, no official Church documents have explicitly prohibited the use of guitars or other musical instruments apart from organs. Yet, the general principle should be that the musical instrument is manifested to be in accord with the solemnity of liturgy, and it should be proven to be segregated from profane or vulgar uses. At present, I think it still needs some time and effort for guitar to supersede the organ, or at least demonstrate equal capacity as the organ to worship God and bring the faithful to profound spirituality through its music. I don’t mean to degrade guitarists or guitar hymns, nor do I equate guitar music with folks and popular music. However, to me, guitar hardly exhibits the grandeur and magnificence of organ. Most importantly, guitar appears to encompass a linkage to secular music rather than sacred music. Organ was originally discouraged, if not forbidden, owing to its close linkage to worldly music; it was incoprated into Church liturgies only after some time when it evolved to become an instrument which suits sacred music well. This general rule applies on trumpets or any other instruments. In my parish, organ is the one and only one musical instrument permitted and played during Mass.

 

[Ohana]

Thanks for the replies. After reading this, I kind of changed my mind on this topic. It’s probably true that it’s often for guitars to be played irreverently, but I also know that they can be reverent. My negative opinion comes from the fact that, for the most part, the guitar music I’ve heard made praying hard. Although, I do remember that the guitars were reverently done when I first began attending Mass. For the first few months I was very much in favour of it. As time passed, the reverence decreased and that caused my opinion to change. But I think I allowed my self to forget what I first heard and then began making an unfair judgement. If I really think about it, I could say that the one time I’ve seen a drum at Mass, it was played reverently. Now I probably would say that a drum is inappropriate, although I think that I’m changing my opinion on guitars at Mass. Especially from what I’ve read.

Officially, only since the Easter Vigil. But I decided to convert almost two years ago.

Good for you. Welcome and keep expressing your opinions. I often wonder what new Catholics think about us in our expressiveness of differences. Should have been at my Grandmothers table after Mass on Sunday when I was a child. Whew!

A term I heard recently is that the Church is a big tent. We have dogma that we cling to, and doctrines that we believe, a bible and magisterium that guide us, and especially our local bishop and priests to help us on our journey. But - within all that there is a broad range of thought, practice, action, and expression. There is a line in one of Pauls letters I think, that enumerates some of the giftedness we have and how they are all for the good of the Church (Church here being the people in it). I try to remember that when I encounter someone I think is about 90 degrees from my take on a situation. I learn a lot from them - uh - if I am not compelled to argue the point

I don’t meant to derail here, but music is one of those areas where we often disagree, yet I agree with Ora, there are a variety of tastes. One church we belonged to had a rock sort of music at Mass. I avoided it mostly, but it really pulled in a lot of young people from around the area. Praise God!

 

[adawgj]

As a amateur musician guitar, piano, and organ have very similar notes and chords just different sounds. I don’t mind acoustic guitars in mass because they sound great, electric rock guitars not really.

I enjoy it when their is more instruments than just an organ because to me it fulfills more meaning to the hymns. In my opinion

 

[Cat]

They are rare but not extinct. My point is that if you say “organ music at Mass” you will conjure a certain kind of music based on Catholics’ experience. If you say “guitar music at Mass” you will not likely conjure an association with classical guitar.

Actually, if you say, “organ music at Mass,” most likely, you will hear crickets.

Organists are a rare animal these days in most parts of the United States.

 

[andrewstx]

Do you have any evidence that these varied instruments were used in the most solemn sacrificial rites of the temple? It is those temple services that served as shadows and figures of the holy sacrifice of the mass. It is my understanding that the more jubilant musical expressions of worship were during processions and other devotional activities outside of the temple - but I could be wrong.
Either way, the Church has always been clear that there must be a distinction between sacred music, appropriate for divine worship, and profane music. That being said, I have seen the guitar used very beautiful - a light classical style accompanied by chant in fact.

The cathedral in San Antonio Texas USA has a “bilingual” mass, (read %95 Spanish) that has mariachi music, all guitar including bass guitars. To me mariachi music just is not reverent. They even wear big Sombreros right in the church.

To me this is defineatly profane music, belonging at a fiesta and not in the church.

 

[andrewstx]

We have a wonderful young organist at our parish who takes turns between the piano and organ depending on the music. It is very inspiring. We also have a Rogers electronic organ but as we speak a pipe organ is being installed. It came relatively cheap from the Pipe Organ clearing house. We are not a rich parish by far. We can’t even afford to remove the video screens left by the previous owners who were Pentecostals.

But talented and especially young organists are very hard to come by now. We are just fortunate.

 

[Cat]

We have a wonderful young organist at our parish who takes turns between the piano and organ depending on the music. It is very inspiring. We also have a Rogers electronic organ but as we speak a pipe organ is being installed. It came relatively cheap from the Pipe Organ clearing house. We are not a rich parish by far. We can’t even afford to remove the video screens left by the previous owners who were Pentecostals.

But talented and especially young organists are very hard to come by now. We are just fortunate.

You are indeed fortunate! Shower him/her with lots of love and food! If he/she is any good at all, he/she will receive calls from every parish and many Protestant churches in the area asking if he/she can sub. Eventually someone will offer him/her more money than you are paying, so make up for the lack of salary by heaping lots of love, food, dinner invitations, etc. on your organist so that he/she will stick around your parish.

Also, I suggest that if there is a concert series in your town, offer to purchase season tickets for your organist–this is not only recreation for him/her, but a chance for him/her to meet other musicians and make friends. And pay for his/her membership in the local AGO chapter (it shouldn’t cost more than a hundred dollars or so).

Enjoy!