Protestant Songs at Mass

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Tis_Bearself said:
apparently the Catholic pastor has approved its use in the Mass, so it sounds like this is just your personal problem.

You can certainly express your preference to the pastor. If he chooses to ignore your concerns and keep using the song, that’s his prerogative.
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Pastors do not always get the opportunity to approve or disapprove a song.

I know of several instances where the music was not what the pastor wanted. One instance of a liturgist refusing to do what the pastor requested when asked her not to play a specific song. He told her he was the pastor and she needed to do what he asked and she said she did not have to because he was not the pope.
 
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twf said:
Ideally, we would only sing the antiphons proper to the day. The Church allows the signing of hymns as a pastoral concession. Chanting the propers is the liturgical ideal (in Latin or the vernacular).
Technically singing a Marian hymn after Mass is devotional anyway as the final blessing has already been given…that’s a popular practice.
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this is true. The Church documents really prefer the signing of the antiphons or the Graduale Romanum.

However, the USCCB seemed to push for hymns for some reason (perhaps because were were a primarily protestant nation?)

Hymns were only supposed to be ideally only sung during the processional and recessional. Everything else sung during the mass were supposed to be antiphons, psalms, and canticles - no hymns.
 
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When the full Copyright information is posted, as well as the source, it is not a problem
 
Phemie said:
But Marian hymns are often used as the Entrance hymn and Offertory hymn, particularly during the months of May & October and on Marian feasts.
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I don’t think @twf meant no Marian hymns during the processional or recessional. I think @twf meant no hymns at all during the proper liturgy of the Mass.
 
MagdalenaRita said:
I know of several instances where the music was not what the pastor wanted. One instance of a liturgist refusing to do what the pastor requested when asked her not to play a specific song. He told her he was the pastor and she needed to do what he asked and she said she did not have to because he was not the pope.
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yeah, I’ve heard a few priest friends tell me the same thing, esp when they are volunteers and the parish cannot pay musicians 😦
 
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I am not a fan of Protestant hymns at Mass either. I just don’t think that is the place for them. They were written by people that hold heretical views, and many of whom could be anti-Catholic.

I mean think about it, why should we be singing songs before and after we celebrate the Eucharist written by people that believe it’s just bread and wine?
 
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Yes the processional and recessional is really before / after Mass proper.
 
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I think the best path is to suffer the song and offer it up.

That been said, my issue with that particular song is I just don’t think it’s nearly as good as some people think it is. Kind of like the band Rush. But that’s more an issue of prudential judgment 🙂
 
Peeps said:
You do know that many of the great traditional hymns in the Gather Hymnal, as well as other Catholic hymnals, were written by Protestants?
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True. Not necessarily good but true.
 
As usual, I have expressed myself poorly. It is not a Catholic song. I go with Servant of God Fr. John Hardon, S.J.† who stated that the song was not consistent with Catholic Theology.

Since the European split, ecumenism has had its place. No doubt. But, to have their songs inserted into the mass. No. Not for me.

Your mileage obviously varies.
 
po18guy said:
As usual, I have expressed myself poorly. It is not a Catholic song. I go with Servant of God Fr. John Hardon, S.J.† who stated that the song was not consistent with Catholic Theology.

Since the European split, ecumenism has had its place. No doubt. But, to have their songs inserted into the mass. No. Not for me.

Your mileage obviously varies.
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Oh I agree there are aspects of Amazing Grace, or at least some of Newton’s original lyrics (which are not always sung) that may well be problematic as far as Catholic theology goes. That particular line just doesn’t strike me as being one of them
 
The Catholic Church. I ponder that. The richest heritage, the most profound theology, the most intrinsically beautiful artwork and music. And we have to borrow happy clappy sappy schlock for the sake of not looking as bad as they think we are?

Beam me up, Mr. Scott.
 
Right. I love how we get told, if we attempt to follow the actual documents from Vatican 2 and the specific guidelines for music at Mass that WE are the ones who are trying to impose ‘one style over another’ and that ‘all styles can be right because it’s the pastor’s choice’, "it might be what somebody else NEEDS to hear’, “as long as it’s not antiCatholic according to somebody it’s OK”, “the stuff the rigid trads want is too hard, too old, will turn people off”. . .

It’s 1984 world. Black is white. We have always been at war with Oceania. What was Catholic truth in 1950 is no longer true in 2019. It has either been “developed” (read: ‘interpreted’) into its opposite, or jettisoned for being no longer relevant.

Mass isn’t for worship of God, it’s for worship of US. Because we assume that "God wants what WE want’. WE want comfortable schleppy clothes, so God either wants them or ‘He doesn’t care’. WE want happy clappy music so either God wants it too or "He doesn’t care’.

Win-win situation for the ‘God doesn’t care’ crowd, isn’t it? If one can’t honestly say that God really does want prefer something like comfy sweatsuits or sappy music, we can always claim, “Well, go ahead and do what you want, but God doesn’t really CARE”. . .
 
phil19034 said:
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MagdalenaRita:
I know of several instances where the music was not what the pastor wanted. One instance of a liturgist refusing to do what the pastor requested when asked her not to play a specific song. He told her he was the pastor and she needed to do what he asked and she said she did not have to because he was not the pope.
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yeah, I’ve heard a few priest friends tell me the same thing, esp when they are volunteers and the parish cannot pay musicians 😦
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The response I’ve always received from the lead volunteer when I’ve mentioned things like an inappropriate song or not using the approved wording of the Ordinary is “I’m sure God doesn’t mind.” I have no reply to that since I don’t presume to speak for God.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
And here we go again with the discussion of a Christian song about God (not a secular song) not being “suitable” for the Mass when the pastor has obviously decided that it is indeed “suitable” for the Mass.
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Let me clarify: I was talking about our archdiocese, in which the archbishop has laid out a very cogent explanation of why certain music, though not sinful nor heretical, could nevertheless be clearly unsuitable for the Mass. He also cited not just the Popes of a very long time ago, but also Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis. In other words, he explained very carefully why this isn’t simply a matter of what he happens to like personally.

His pastoral letter is very much worth reading. Not everybody is going to like everything he says, but he lays out his reasoning very well. I think he’s hoping for more of a resurgence of pipe organs than is ever going to happen–Catholics trained as church organists probably having become much rarer than prospective seminarians–but more of the Mass is sung more often, and that has been a good thing.
 
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