Luckily, the guitars have been gone from my parish for about 3 years now. We still have some of that horrible Haugen/Haas dreck, but most of the music is good. Organ/piano and the occasional harp/flute. Today, we sang “Hymn to Joy”. Can’t go wrong with Beethoven!
We have a “band” for our last Mass on Sunday morning. It’s whoever wants to play and has been to the last rehearsal. It’s usually a couple guitars, one of those keyboards that makes sounds ala Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and sometimes a horn. I think people go to this Mass because it’s the last Mass of the weekend for the parish, and they can sleep late. I hope it isn’t for quality music, because this ain’t it.Luckily, the guitars have been gone from my parish for about 3 years now. We still have some of that horrible Haugen/Haas dreck, but most of the music is good. Organ/piano and the occasional harp/flute. Today, we sang “Hymn to Joy”. Can’t go wrong with Beethoven!
Michael:That’s indefensible - but is it surprising ? That’s what you get when people are encouraged to minimise the vileness of sin & the nothingness of man.
The real harm in this feel-good filth is that man the all-wonderful does not need salvation, or grace, or God. But that is no different from saying that God is not needed - it’s atheism dolled up to look pretty (just like Folly in the Book of Proverbs). IMCIAO, the problem is aggravated for the CC by its doctrine of man in the state of sin - where sin is not known as terrible in its sinfulness, the Gospel loses half its power, and the Cross is emptied of its power
The Churches are flooded by this cataract of spiritual slurry - it’s not a problem in the US alone; it’s transatlantic.
A Mighty Fortress is our God is known as the Battle Hymn of the Reformation … are we sure Catholics should be singing it?Is using “A Mighty Fortress” a problem? I don’t recall anything with that hymn that’s theologically problematic.
Truth is truth, whether it’s expressed by a Catholic or someone else. So long as a hymn is theologically sound and decent musically, I have no problem using it.
Of course, that’s not to say that we shouldn’t encourage musically gifted Catholics to write some good contemporary hymns. And, though I wouldn’t want to see us use it exclusively, I also wouldn’t object to a bit more use of Gregorian.
Well, we can’t hurt people’s self-esteem can we?
Your right, it isnt such a bad idea at all.When I converted to Catholicism 11 years ago, I was surprised how many protestant hymns were in the Catholic music missal. Just wondering: is the Catholic musical heritage so bereft of good hymns that we have to borrow from our seperated brethren (and I was REALLY surprised to see Martin Luther’s 'A Mighty Fortress is Our God included).
I dunno… maybe going back to the TLM and Gregorian Chant isn’t such a bad idea…
Marty Haugen is a Methodist, and I have it on reasonably good authority that he has never set foot in a Catholic Church in his entire life - so although his music seems to be quite popular in some segments of the Catholic Church, it would be completely incorrect to call him a “Catholic musician.” He’s nothing of the sort.Gregorian chant should be the ideal in every parish. But as far as hymns go protestants have written all the good ones in the past 500 years. While Catholic have Peter, Paul and Mary cover songs… ala Marty and David.
I really don’t think there are ANY good modern hymns, Catholic or Protestant. The traditional hymns are good, be they Catholic or Protestant. I tend to prefer the Protestant ones that were originally written in English (Wesley, Watts, etc.), rather than Catholic hymns (because I don’t know Latin) or Protestant hymns written in another language originally (such as Luther’s hymns) since I don’t know German. As for Haugen, I thought he is a Lutheran not a Methodist, but I still don’t like his music.
How about “I am the bread of life…” and “here I am Lord”? Both are pretty good for being modern.
“I am the Bread of Life” is one of my favorites.
I don’t see how this is relevant. “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory” was written as a battle hymn for Northerners in the American Civil War, but that doesn’t mean that others can’t sing it. There even might be Southerners, here and there, who might be able to overcome the historical associations and focus on the actual content of the song, which is a great apocalyptic hymn even if the language is idolatrous in its original context.
When I was studying the Book of Revelation at my Bible study, we discussed the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”. By the way, I like the original lyrics to that one. I’ve heard the butchered politically correct version, which I don’t like. “As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free” sounds much better than “As He died to make us holy, let us live to make all free.”
When I was growing up, we went to a Methodist Church for a time. I used to wonder how often Methodists were called to be martyrs for the faith when we sang the line in “Faith of Our Fathers.” You know, “We will be true to Thee 'till death.” It wasn’t until I converted to Catholicism that I finally figured out that this was a Catholic hymm. I know Protestants borrow liberally from Catholic hymnody–especially at Christmas!Is using “A Mighty Fortress” a problem? I don’t recall anything with that hymn that’s theologically problematic.
Truth is truth, whether it’s expressed by a Catholic or someone else. So long as a hymn is theologically sound and decent musically, I have no problem using it.
Of course, that’s not to say that we shouldn’t encourage musically gifted Catholics to write some good contemporary hymns. And, though I wouldn’t want to see us use it exclusively, I also wouldn’t object to a bit more use of Gregorian.
If you had bet on that, you would have won. I have never been at a church on Reformation Sunday that does not sing that hymn. In fact, I’ll go to a couple different churches on Reformation Sunday just to sing it. We like our “Mighty Fortress.” That may just be Lutheran churches, however. I can think of several protestant denominations that have never heard of Reformation OR “A Mighty Fortress.”
of the banal “songs” that became popular after Vatican 2. Being an organist, I have no desire to try to use this instrument to sound like a guitar in order to accompany many of the hymns that “the people” like.As we slowly re-introduce Gregorian chants, I look for any advice on how to convince the dissenters that this is not “old fashioned”, or “passe”, but, is indeed the music of the angels!:angel1:All praise be to God, to the angels and to the Saints, that I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about - it sounds absolutely dreadful.
