B
BayernAnhaenger
Guest
gasp! Before Vatican II? That’s the time before Christ came down and gave us a whole new church, right?
heeheehee
- Status
heeheehee
B
brotherhrolf
Guest
Yes, indeed it was. And it was back when Catholic grade schools were surrounded by pallisades and moats. Dem Vikings were everywhere along the Mississippi! 
M
Mamselle_Duroc
Guest
Oh, the horror!Yes, indeed it was. And it was back when Catholic grade schools were surrounded by pallisades and moats. Dem Vikings were everywhere along the Mississippi!
But I guess it does explain my deep and abiding love for the heritage and traditions of the Church. I have a fair amount of Viking blood in my veins.
Now, seriously… I don’t understand why there’s a deep need for a member of the congregation to have the music before them? I see no reason why not, of course. It does make it easier.
But why the distress over the lack of it? It’s not impossible to learn by ear if that’s necessary. I have a younger brother with mental disabilities that would put his mind at about six years old, and he learned by ear all the hymns we sing at our parish (and I mourn it, because we don’t get the good stuff… the latest piece he filed away in his memory is the dreaded Ashes).
When we used to say the Rosary in Latin every evening, he was always there listening, and now he often leads it for us. Really, he was the inspiration that drove me to learn how to say the Rosary in Latin. If his handicapped mind can do it, why can’t mine? It’s just a matter of patience, attention, and effort.
B
brotherhrolf
Guest
It has its pros and cons.Part of me is envious that many Protestant congregations sight read in four part harmony from their hymnals. On the other hand I have no doubt that if we went back to the hymnody of 40 years ago we’d have folks belting it out. Try singing Praise to the Lord as an entrance antiphon on a Sunday Mass and see what you get. Better yet, May is but a month away, sing Immaculate Mary and see what you get. It’s actually worth the look on the kid’s faces to see their parents singing.
B
benedictgal
Guest
I have a living, breathing example for you,. something that I witnessed this past Sunday. My pastor gave the two of the choirs time off, which was a little strange, given that this past Sunday concluded the Octave of Easter. Be that as it may, I went to the Mass where the children’s choir performs. My PV decided to sing something Traditional, which is 180-degrees to the opposite of the OCP junk the kids must sing.
Anyhow, people belted out Jesus Christ is Risen Today, At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing and the Mass parts without any hesitation. We sang the Gloria from the Sacramentary (which was very simple). After Mass, my PV commented on how he could actually hear the faithful sing.
This evening, as I was keeping an eye on my ailing senior dachshund girl, I caught a re-broadcast of the former Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’s interview on EWTN. Raymond Arroyo asked him about the use of Latin in the Mass. Our Holy Father told him that while it was good to have things in the vernacular, we need to have Latin components to preserve the universality of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He also talked about the issue of the orientation of the priest and the idea that both celebrant and people should face the same direction (plus, he mentioned the fact that the practice was never abrogated by the Second Vatican Council).
This interview was conducted back in 2003, while he was still Prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship. We are now in 2008 and this former German prelate is now our Holy Father. Nothing has changed five years later, as far as Benedict’s stance on Latin and the Mass are concerned. In fact, without wanting to, he wound up giving us a preview of coming attractions, not figuring that the Holy Spirit had already deemed him as the next pope. In other words, with Benedict, you get what you see. What he’s been writing about and talking about in all of his books, speeches and interviews, is now coming to pass during his reign.
B
brotherhrolf
Guest
Thank goodness I do not have to deal with OCP. We had a dedicatory concert for our organ a few years back. The cathedral was full and we had a surprise for the congregation. Our kids’ choir sang Immaculate Mary as an “encore”. There was shock for the first verse. And then everyone joined in. Who says Catholics don’t sing? Break out the oldies but goodies and see how many people sing. Including Latin.
How 'bout “To Jesus Christ, Our Sovreign King”? When was the last time you hear that?
How 'bout “To Jesus Christ, Our Sovreign King”? When was the last time you hear that?
S
Sarabande
Guest
Our cathedral is like your cathedral (especially since we have the new Director of Liturgy of our diocese that was put here a few years back.)… I’m sort of spoiled because I don’t really have to contend with the problems that others have expressed on here.
We do “To Jesus Christ, Our Soveriegn King” often over here, and even though most of the congregation is visitor-based, they really sing out with this hymn.
V
VociMike
Guest
I haven’t seen that anybody else has noted this, so I’ll post it. This comes from the papal instruction Musicam Sacram, issued after Vatican II:
- Pastors of souls, having taken into consideration pastoral usefulness and the character of their own language, should see whether parts of the heritage of sacred music, written in previous centuries for Latin texts, could also be conveniently used, not only in liturgical celebrations in Latin but also in those performed in the vernacular. There is nothing to prevent different parts in one and the same celebration being sung in different languages.
D
drafdog
Guest
What’s OP going to do when the Agnus is changed at a funeral and he has to sing “dona eis requiem” instead of “miserere nobis?” The confusion!! Poor fellow will likely pass out in the pew.
Matthew
Matthew
C
Cavaille-Coll
Guest
Thanks to OCP’s annual monkeying with hymn texts, I haven’t heard this song sung properly since I was an Anglican.
P
pnewton
Guest
We do this every year for the Feast of Christ the King and several times during Ordinary Time. I actually have had favorable response to “O Sanctissima”. I believe the majority do give it a shot. I will bring it back in May. My problem is that I know few Latin songs myself so incorporating new songs is a slow process.
A
AGirone
Guest
Do you feel the same way abotu not singing Pane Vida, Bread of Life in Spanish?
The LAtin Mass is the Mass of Ages and Saints, how lucky you are to have had experience with it prior to the last 40 years of Novus Ordo Masses!
To deny a place for it in our church, even a Latin song in a Novus Ordo Mass is to deny the Church’s 100+ years of tradition of Latin, the way most Saints heard the songs and Mass.
It’s a nod to tradition, to a rich history. Do you look through a family album and not speak, look at or talk about a great-grandparent because they are not of this time?
I applaud your hope that your Church begins a monthly Latin Mass. I too pray that all Churches do,otherwise many may never experience the history of their Church.
As Catholics, we believe that our Holy Father is the VICAR OF CHRIST ON EARTH and that makes him LEAD BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. He has asked for us to learn latin prayers and hymns.
“What earlier generations held as sacred, REMAINS SACRED AND GREAT FOR US TOO, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place.”
–Pope Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum on the Traditional Latin Mass
God bless you!
The LAtin Mass is the Mass of Ages and Saints, how lucky you are to have had experience with it prior to the last 40 years of Novus Ordo Masses!
To deny a place for it in our church, even a Latin song in a Novus Ordo Mass is to deny the Church’s 100+ years of tradition of Latin, the way most Saints heard the songs and Mass.
It’s a nod to tradition, to a rich history. Do you look through a family album and not speak, look at or talk about a great-grandparent because they are not of this time?
I applaud your hope that your Church begins a monthly Latin Mass. I too pray that all Churches do,otherwise many may never experience the history of their Church.
As Catholics, we believe that our Holy Father is the VICAR OF CHRIST ON EARTH and that makes him LEAD BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. He has asked for us to learn latin prayers and hymns.
“What earlier generations held as sacred, REMAINS SACRED AND GREAT FOR US TOO, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place.”
–Pope Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum on the Traditional Latin Mass
God bless you!
B
brotherhrolf
Guest
I haven’t heard O Sanctissima in years. But I can still sing it. Break out “Bring Flowers of the Fairest” for May - particularly if you have a May Crowning and see what you get.
- Status