The most beautiful thing

[JakeWI]

I took my wife to an EF High Mass on New Years, as we like to go check out other Parishes outside our own on those days… as we like how Mass is done at our Parish.

Outside of the amount of crying babies and the woman breastfeeding in the pew in front of us, we both thought it was beautiful. The music was mainly in Latin with a wonderful organ and choir, the Mass was beautifully sung in Latin, and the feeling was just a magical one. It was my second time to an EF mass… first for my wife.

The interesting thing I thought about was how full the church was, and with mainly young adults and young families, and maybe those up to my parents age (in their 50s). Not a lot of elderly people at all. Another thing my wife appreciated was how many people were there praying the Rosary prior to Mass… half the church was full and participating in it when we got there, 15 min prior to Mass! My wife is in the process of converting to Catholicism… and the history and beauty in the Church really are attracting points for her.

 

[OraLabora]

I suppose that’s true. I’ve forgotten about the Oratory of St. Philip Neri and a few others. The Benedictine monastery near me does some of the propers in Latin Gregorian chant, yet it’s just not the same at all (and no one’s actually taught those guys how to sing). The ordinaries have been rewritten in English and hardly sound like chant as much of the characteristics of chant have been removed. Also hearing them sing O saving victim at expositions leaves me longing for O salutaris hostia.

FWIW, our monastery, in the Solesmes congregation, does the OF Mass with full Gregorian chant for the propers and ordinary, in Latin/Greek. The rest is in French plainchant. And they really can sing.

The monastery that founded ours (St Wandrille, in France), does the entire OF in Latin on weekdays, and like our abbey on Sundays. Solesmes does the OF entirely in Latin. Other monasteries in Europe use Gregorian chant with Latin/vernacular for the parts other than the ordinary. Westminster Abbey in British Columbia appears to use English chant but on Gregorian melodies.

There are actually quite a few abbeys doing Gregorian chant, also among women (the Benedictine nuns on the outskirts of Montreal do the full traditional Divine Office in Latin Gregorian chant according to the Rule of St. Benedict but with post-Vatican II adaptations; they use the full Gregorian propers and ordinary for the Mass and sing the entire Mass in Latin some days).

There are also some Benedictines using the EF, namely Clear Creek in the US, Barroux and Fontgombault in France and Norcia in Italy.

Notre Dame in Paris does Gregorian Mass every Sunday.

And then there’s are humble little schola in Sherbrooke, Quebec, that sings the Gregorian propers and ordinary at local parishes once a month. There are many scholas such as ours in Canada, the US and Europe doing the same thing.