Last night I had a very strange experience at Mass last night. I was already feeling better from a migraine when my dad asked me to accompany him to Mass at the Cathedral This particular Mass is celebrated bilingual and sometimes is the setting for weddings and Quince Anos celebrations.
Unfortunately, the organist was on vacation. Lo and behold, the administrator (who happens to be the diocesan director of divine worship) invited the Neocatechumenal community to provide the music for the Mass. :bigyikes:
Things went downhill even before Mass began. The “cantor” started giving us a philosophy on music before he practiced the psalm. Then, he strummed his guitar loudly and blasted out the psalm response. It wasn’t even music. It was screaming and wailing. My head started to hurt once more. :crying:
My father suggested that I wait out in the jeep. I told him that I needed to tough it out. The people didn’t respond very well to the singing. The Alleluia was just as bad.
Then, the bongos made their way. The bottom line is that the whole Mass was a musical mess. The Neocatechumenal group sang its own songs, including parts of the Mass that deviated from what is prescribed in the Roman Missal. Even the Communion hymn constituted wailing and screaming. All of the music was in Spanish.
After Mass, the diocesan director asked me what was wrong. I was in no condition to really vent a complaint, as all I wanted to do was get home and take my migraine medicine. However, I do not think that it is correct to have a group “leading” the faithful in song, especially if the parts of the Mass differ from the norm, no one in the pews knows the songs and the group is not at all familiar with the regular Mass. Furthermore, on a pastoral note, they should have adequately prepared their music and “adapted” their style to what is normally done at the Mass.
Mind you, I was very disappointed with the administrator. As our director for divine worship, he should know better. He should also realize that you can’t mix things up. In this case, it was better to not have music and simply have the faithful sing the parts of the Mass that they know rather than bring something completely disjointed and disconcerting.
I told my PV about what happened. He served as the Cathedral’s first rector and had to contend with the Neocatechumenal Movement. He understood my perspective. Interestingly enough, when our choir is absent, my PV leads us in singing the parts of the Mass and in reciting the antiphons. This happens whether or not the Mass is in English or in Spanish. This is certainly a much better approach than what we endured last night.
Although, I would submit to you that I certainly would not have gone for Mariachis. Incidentally, the Mariachi music is a relatively new thing. It is not suitable for the Mass, especially when the group turns it into a performance. The parts of the Mass are less than ideal because the Kyrie sounds too joyful (we are, after all, imploring God’s mercy) and the rest of it sounds more like a fiesta than the Mass (which needs to have some degree of solemnity, majesty, dignity and sobriety). What is worse is that in some cases, quite a few parishes turn the “Mariachi Mass” into some sort of tourist attraction.
