Michigan bishop inaugurates program to have chant at all parishes [CC]

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Bishop John Doerfler of Marquette, Michigan, has issued directions for all parishes in the diocese to institute programs that will lead to the congregation chanting the Ordinary parts of …

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I wish more bishops would take an interest in liturgical music. I’m also interested to see what their hymnal contains. I don’t imagine them paying royalties to GIA or OCP so I’ll assume that it will either be hymns composed by their own staff or older hymns that are in the public domain.
 
Hopefully expanding the use of Jubilate Deo, which is essentially free to use.
 
Hopefully all bishops will follow his lead. Modern liturgical music is awful. It is hyper emotional and devoid of any doctrinal value or actual value for worship. Bring back the old hymns. Jubilate Deo, O Sanctissima, O Salutaris, Tantum Ergo, Ave Verum Corpus, and etc. All beautiful hymns that inspire the spirit to worship. As it is, it is hard to take the hymns sung seriously.
 
I’m sure this will have them packing the pews in Michigan!
 
Hymns, Hymns, and More Hymns
The Chant Cafe:
The Middle Mass pushes an agenda of mediocrity, hoping to please all. We dumb-down chant as merely an option. Choral music is often discouraged or altogether deleted, in favor of the cantor or choir as an “extension of the people”. Hymns, often replete with non-Catholic Theology become the norm. The problem is not hymns or hymnals, it is the Middle Mass.

Clergy and faithful alike need to reclaim our musical heritage. Certainly a stepwise approach can be taken, but these steps are not 5 year plans to learn the ICEL chants/funeral Mass, or simple communion refrain ditties in English, resulting in an increased impoverishment of choirs and cracking down on those already adhering to orthodoxy.

Hymns shouldn’t replace Propers! Propers should replace hymns! Sing the Mass! If you can’t, then let it be silent!
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No Parish Left Behind
Where Bishop Sample outlined the ideals, now Bishop Doerfler is the executive. Instead of talking about things in the abstract, he is putting them into practice. It is a bold move, and I wish the Diocese of Marquette well. I would be thrilled if a similar project were under way in my part of the country, and I would be the first in my diocese to sign up to help.
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As an educator, I can only hope that considerable time, expertise, and resources are being invested in this project. When the goals are high and the timeline is short, the possibility of failure is real. All it would take is chant written in keys too high, lack of proper education in parishes on how to do chant effectively (at a quick pace, please), inadequate time to get copyright permissions (hymnal publishers may not look kindly on the project, which cuts into their business), and lack of “buy-in” from key parishes and constituencies. Chant can die the death quickly from seemingly insignificant things, too, like a pastor singing too loudly on his mic.
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There’s a minefield ahead, but I commend Bishop Doerfler for his courage. When it comes to doing chant, we should not live in fear. We should do it, and learn how to do it by doing it. Left to right, bottom to top. Dot means double, squiggle means “wait, then go.” Solfege down from DO, and then go. There’s no other way. If it feels slow, make it faster. If it feels too high, set it lower. Do what you need to do to make it successful, but nonetheless, do the chant and do it well. Don’t wait until your Schola sounds like Solesmes. Not to mention, organ accompaniment helps for Ordinaries. Add nuance and sweetness to your interpretation after you have achieved confidence.
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A much more positive outlook than the Chant Cafe blog offered!
 
Neofight said:
All? Talk about “hyper emotional”!🤷
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What is hyper emotional about what I said? It is fact. Read the hymns. You could probably count the number of good hymns written in the last fifty years on one hand. And it is rare to hear anything older than that anymore.
 
Mongo said:
What is hyper emotional about what I said? It is fact. Read the hymns. You could probably count the number of good hymns written in the last fifty years on one hand. And it is rare to hear anything older than that anymore.
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What is wrong? It is NOT fact, it’s simply your opinion. Your subjective conclusion is that the “number of good hymns” could probably counted on one hand…so there are no more than 5 good hymns in this category? Maybe to you, but to claim this a fact that cannot be contested is absolutely ridiculous!
 
Mongo said:
Here is a good article that explains my perception of where we are in the Church, and sacred music is just a part of it. It has all become banal.

romancatholicman.com/its-not-religion-anymore-2/
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“stealth arianism”? Seriously? This accusation is so vague as to hardly warrant attention. The author is reading his own inflated opinions into the state of the Church. Still, he did say some things that resonated with me. For instance, if one believes in the real presence of the Eucharist it’s not consonant with that fact to show up to church wearing blue jeans and a hoodie, especially if one is an usher. It also bothers me when instead of a homily, the priest plays a recording of the bishop asking for money for some charity. There’s a better time to do that and it is not the homily. Social work is a good thing but the homily should not be the time to make a sales pitch…

I don’t, however, let those things get in the way of my devotion. If there is a lack of reverence on my part for the Eucharist, it is my problem, not theirs.
 
Way to go!
Now here is a bishop who is finally implementing Vatican II as intended by the Council Fathers…
I have relatives who converted from Protestantism to Orthodoxy. For the Orthodox, chant is so absolutely central to the liturgy and can’t simply be dispensed because of lack of people or training… Some of my relatives live in a small town a couple hours drive from the closest English liturgy, so the priest who received them arranged for himself, a monk, and a deacon to head up to their town to celebrate a divine liturgy for the extended family in their home. My cousin had never chanted in his life but they needed someone to chant the epistle - no Orthodox in a billion years would even consider simply reading rather than chanting - so he was given a quick on the spot lesson before the liturgy for chanting the simplest tone and away they went. It can always be done in any parish with some direction and support from the clergy.
 
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