M
mmbernadette
Guest
There was a fascinating thread I read on these boards I found while looking up some of the music I sang while doing Folk Masses when young. Some of the comments there were interesting, some were - er, insulting, some were laughable, and some had definite valid questions, and I thought as someone who was actively involved in Folk Masses for over five years - as a family - I would try to educate with what experiences I had collected.
We (my father on guitar, my mother on wooden recorder, me as second soprano sang at a local Folk Mass at the Cathedral at 4:15pm every Saturday. The rest of the choir was rounded out by other young folks from the congregation, & folks from other congregations who wanted to be part of the Folk Mass experience. There were a few guitars which made for a robust sound, we had altos, sopranos, second sopranos (me and Diane), and Basses from one fellow whse voice was a wonder, maybe occasionally tambourine, but judiciously, triangle; in short - we were a rounded choir in every sense of the meaning. We had rehearsals for an hour in the church basement before each Mass and if there were solos, who was doing what.
We sang contemporary (for that time) spiritual music from the likes of The St. Louis Jesuits, the Dameans, Ray Repp, and Joe Wise.
The premise of the Mass itself was the same - I do not recall different Missals. I remember the younger preists of the Cathedral’s officiants being mostly the ones to preside over Mass. The people who came to mass - and it was always well attended, ranged from the younger generation to those who would normally attend Mass; there was no specific demographic as to who attended, but all those who did participated when we sang. We printed off mimeographed/Xeroxed copies of what songs we would be singing that week, and for those who cared to follow along, they could pick up a folded four page booklet that included lyrics and music before Mass on their way in. Many, many people came to know our repetoire and sang along with us.
The Masses themselves followed the regular Mass as it would be set out in the missals, just instead of a traditional “Kyrie”, we might do an updated version, or “Lord, I am not worthy…” I don’t ever remember singing Simon and Garfunkel (and I knew their music well in my house), or Bob Dylan (not so well known in my house). Perhaps a “Godspell” song - “Let The Sun Shine In” but never often enough. All our songs were actual re-interpretations of established spiritual songs. I remember Psalm Sunday, where you have to do the reading of the whole story, with all the parts - my Dad was one of the parts. We tried to give the Masses - while following doctrine - more, not entertainment, but engagement value for the attendants.
One of my favorite songs in my head has been on repeat all day: “If God is for us, then who can be against, if the Spirit of God has set us free?”
Obviously, there was a real altar. A real consecrated altar; the same one they used for every other Mass at the Cathedral. None of the priests rode Harleys; one did own a saiboat for his personal use on vacation time - does that count as “hippie-time”?
We received thanks each week from Mass-attendees; not that that was our reason for doing the Masses. They thanked us for the beautiful music, for making the service more engaging, for helping them find a way to not feel guilty about skipping Mass any more because now they had a viable alternative that they could enjoy, for making Mass “fun”, and making them feel like they were participating and not just “watching” with an empty feeling, and most of them walking out sometimes right after the Homily or after Communion.
We were, by no means, hippies. We were poor, but I didn’t know that back then. My dad taught at a Seminary. My Mom taught religion to the kids who went to the secular high school but elected for a religious class once a week, and also worked for a local Religious College as their Director of Grants. My sister and I attended the local Catholic grade school where I got treated like religious royalty (kinda ruins your social life, but oh well - when you know all the nuns outside the school setting, and all the priests because of your Dad or your work with the Church or because they’ve all been to dinner-parties at your house, you kinda give up on being known as “normal”. I didn’t know how to talk to kids my own age. I always did the readings at the Masses at school, or sang, or whatever, was picked for special projects…normal was out of the question.) until I went to 7th grade at the local high school. Even there, I was known as “the holy kid”, like my dad was some kind of minister or something. We lived across the street from the Bishop, a lovely Polish gentleman who studied with Pope John II but never impinged upon their previous friendship. I learned to ride my bike in the Biship’s driveway with my dad - the Bishop used that in many of his homilies.
I also knew all the latin music from the masses and choral pieces. I knew a traditional High Mass from the more casual Saturday Masses. I knew the entire latin Mass, scarf on the head, included, Fish on Friday. During lent, we ate a meager meal once a week and put money in the Unicef box in the middle of the table.
My parents had such success with the Folk Mass, they started a Children’s Mass on Sundays, where parents could bring their children (under 5) and have a Mass of their own, albeit likely in a non-traditional sense. Readings might come from Dr. Seuss, but the lessons about caring for the least of my brothers were not lost on the kids. These became very successful too and were copied all over the diocese.
I’d be happy to answer any questions about Folk Masses that anyone has, if i know anything about the answer. I just thought some of my rememberances might clear up some misconceptions.
Blessings;
mmbernadette
We (my father on guitar, my mother on wooden recorder, me as second soprano sang at a local Folk Mass at the Cathedral at 4:15pm every Saturday. The rest of the choir was rounded out by other young folks from the congregation, & folks from other congregations who wanted to be part of the Folk Mass experience. There were a few guitars which made for a robust sound, we had altos, sopranos, second sopranos (me and Diane), and Basses from one fellow whse voice was a wonder, maybe occasionally tambourine, but judiciously, triangle; in short - we were a rounded choir in every sense of the meaning. We had rehearsals for an hour in the church basement before each Mass and if there were solos, who was doing what.
We sang contemporary (for that time) spiritual music from the likes of The St. Louis Jesuits, the Dameans, Ray Repp, and Joe Wise.
The premise of the Mass itself was the same - I do not recall different Missals. I remember the younger preists of the Cathedral’s officiants being mostly the ones to preside over Mass. The people who came to mass - and it was always well attended, ranged from the younger generation to those who would normally attend Mass; there was no specific demographic as to who attended, but all those who did participated when we sang. We printed off mimeographed/Xeroxed copies of what songs we would be singing that week, and for those who cared to follow along, they could pick up a folded four page booklet that included lyrics and music before Mass on their way in. Many, many people came to know our repetoire and sang along with us.
The Masses themselves followed the regular Mass as it would be set out in the missals, just instead of a traditional “Kyrie”, we might do an updated version, or “Lord, I am not worthy…” I don’t ever remember singing Simon and Garfunkel (and I knew their music well in my house), or Bob Dylan (not so well known in my house). Perhaps a “Godspell” song - “Let The Sun Shine In” but never often enough. All our songs were actual re-interpretations of established spiritual songs. I remember Psalm Sunday, where you have to do the reading of the whole story, with all the parts - my Dad was one of the parts. We tried to give the Masses - while following doctrine - more, not entertainment, but engagement value for the attendants.
One of my favorite songs in my head has been on repeat all day: “If God is for us, then who can be against, if the Spirit of God has set us free?”
Obviously, there was a real altar. A real consecrated altar; the same one they used for every other Mass at the Cathedral. None of the priests rode Harleys; one did own a saiboat for his personal use on vacation time - does that count as “hippie-time”?
We received thanks each week from Mass-attendees; not that that was our reason for doing the Masses. They thanked us for the beautiful music, for making the service more engaging, for helping them find a way to not feel guilty about skipping Mass any more because now they had a viable alternative that they could enjoy, for making Mass “fun”, and making them feel like they were participating and not just “watching” with an empty feeling, and most of them walking out sometimes right after the Homily or after Communion.
We were, by no means, hippies. We were poor, but I didn’t know that back then. My dad taught at a Seminary. My Mom taught religion to the kids who went to the secular high school but elected for a religious class once a week, and also worked for a local Religious College as their Director of Grants. My sister and I attended the local Catholic grade school where I got treated like religious royalty (kinda ruins your social life, but oh well - when you know all the nuns outside the school setting, and all the priests because of your Dad or your work with the Church or because they’ve all been to dinner-parties at your house, you kinda give up on being known as “normal”. I didn’t know how to talk to kids my own age. I always did the readings at the Masses at school, or sang, or whatever, was picked for special projects…normal was out of the question.) until I went to 7th grade at the local high school. Even there, I was known as “the holy kid”, like my dad was some kind of minister or something. We lived across the street from the Bishop, a lovely Polish gentleman who studied with Pope John II but never impinged upon their previous friendship. I learned to ride my bike in the Biship’s driveway with my dad - the Bishop used that in many of his homilies.
I also knew all the latin music from the masses and choral pieces. I knew a traditional High Mass from the more casual Saturday Masses. I knew the entire latin Mass, scarf on the head, included, Fish on Friday. During lent, we ate a meager meal once a week and put money in the Unicef box in the middle of the table.
My parents had such success with the Folk Mass, they started a Children’s Mass on Sundays, where parents could bring their children (under 5) and have a Mass of their own, albeit likely in a non-traditional sense. Readings might come from Dr. Seuss, but the lessons about caring for the least of my brothers were not lost on the kids. These became very successful too and were copied all over the diocese.
I’d be happy to answer any questions about Folk Masses that anyone has, if i know anything about the answer. I just thought some of my rememberances might clear up some misconceptions.
Blessings;
mmbernadette
