The Power of Music

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On social media, facts and opinions are often muddled and confused, but no place more than in music. Because music is so powerful, it is also powerfully opposed, or defended. Where I live, even on the streets some people like to roll down their window and “evangelize” their music to others for blocks. Yes, the Church has guidelines, but they are just that, guidelines. The Church allows for local ordinaries to decide what is best for their diocese, whether a strict list of acceptable music, or delegation to the local level. So if we are going to speak of obedience, at the level of a Catholic in the pew, then obedience is not to a set of generalities, but to the person of the bishop and his decision, whether it fits your taste or not.
 
I think that is in that pesky catechism where that “mistake” was found. I do not know how anyone could know if it was something he did not say, unless you believe we can only know what was written down at the time it was said. I did find where he said this:
For he who sings praise, does not only praise, but also praises joyfully; he who sings praise, not only sings, but also loves Him whom he is singing about/to/for.
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That alone should be sufficient in understanding the importance of music in liturgy.
 
It is only my opinion, but no Catholic hymn should start with dissonance A G-chord with a C# is a grinding sound. The words are great, and the chorus is beautiful. The composer could have made it less irritating on my ears though.

That said, I have never understood the fascination of Catholic composers with melodies that end unresolved. I simply ain’t natural. 😀
 
If you want me to guess, which I think your question does, I will submit my guess: She has met many cradle Catholics who were born after Vatican 2.

And having been born in 1946 (a la Baltimore Catechism), having gone through 16 years of Catholic schooling and having seriously considered getting a post graduate degree in Theology and teaching, I can back up her comments; a tremendous number of Catholics went through the pablum of “Jesus my buddy, and we all have to love one another and paste cotton balls on sheep cutouts”.

They don’t know much of their faith, and thanks be to God many of them are finally attending adult ed in their parishes, and listening to Catholic Radio, and reading, and going to Perpetual Adoration.

But statistically, according the CARA, back in the mid 1950’s about 65% */- of Catholics attended Mass on a regular basis; it is now hovering in the low 20% range. And even adjusting for smaller families and my parents’ generation mostly dead or dying, that leaves one to ask, if Catholics are so well educated in the Faith - where are they?

And you posted what you wanted to say, and I posted what I wanted to say. Do you have a problem with the truth I speak? Or is it you just don’t like that I can back her up?

Not everyone who makes an observation details out all of the experiences they have had which are behind their observation.
 
Well, I am no musician so I have no clue as to your first critique; I have no problem with the song. Nor do I have a tin ear. Perhaps you and I can put that under the category of different strokes…

I love Gregorian chant, including the record cut years ago at Mt. Angle Seminary (I was among the large group singing). I went to a small church which has the EF and an excuse for a choir; as children in grade school we did a far better job of it. My own personal opinion is that the members of that small choir should all go to confession for having slowly slaughtered the music; if that were an example of chant, I would never listen again. They couldn’t even manage to all be on key.

And I have been to Mass with a professional choir singing Palestrina. I go to Mass to worship, not to attend a concert. count me out on that one too.
 
matas2 said:
“On Eagles Wings…”
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Being carried on Eagles wings in scripture is found in Exodus 19:4 and is of God’s care and protection of the Israelites as they are in Exodus, coming out of Egypt and wandering the desert on their journey into Israel. God stretching out His wings and protectively placing His people within them.
Staying with the Old Testament, David praised God with musical instruments including his harp, ( an instrument he was very skilled at) singing and dancing. The harp in one of its forms, was also the instrument used in the Temple to accompany liturgy.
As Psalm 137:1-2 - By the rivers of Babylon where we sat down, there we wept when we remembered Zion. There on the (willows or poplars) we hung our harps.
The Jewish captives refused to sing a song of Zion to the tormenting Babylonians. Hanging the harps on trees by the river bank echoed King David’s tradition of hanging his harp on a tree at night. The wind would blow through the strings and it would be said the Spirit moved the sound of the harp and the heart of David to spiritual concerns when he woke.
The power of music has been a significant force throughout Biblical times.
 
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pnewton said:
I am curious as to what kind of virtue obedience is.
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I have no doubt that @VanitasVanitatum referred to obeying (following, keeping) the commandments, which is virtuous, meritorious, and spoken well of in the Gospel.
… it would seem that obedience alone is totally dependent upon the object.
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True, obedience to an evil leader would be a problem, but that’s not what we are talking about here.
 
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It’s one of the Evangelical Counsels and I sometimes confuse it as a virtue. Of course in this context obedience would be towards God’s Will, but I should have made that clear.
 
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GiftofMercy said:
By the rivers of Babylon where we sat down, there we wept when we remembered Zion. There on the (willows or poplars) we hung our harps.
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I found a nice music setting on that psalm, but I couldn’t find any recordings to listen to.
 
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EmmaSowl said:
As to current Catholic music, it’s a joke to them.
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I feel this way about nearly all contemporary Christian music. By contemporary, I don’t mean what’s in the missalette, but what you’d hear on Christian music radio stations.

What’s not a joke are the old timey hymns. They’re old, maybe dull, maybe overused, maybe boring, but no one would ever take them lightly as a joke. So that’s my remedy: don’t try to attract young people with contemporary music; it’s got a limited appeal. You love it or you laugh at it.

Besides, it’s church. You’re not there to enjoy yourself, dagnabbit.
 
Okay, we could sing When The Saints Go Marching In. 😉

🎶🎺🎷🎶
 
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You know what is awful? When you’re reading a Bible passage, that has been set to music by the St Louis Jesuits, or someone of that ilk, and then you mentally hear that music, and you can’t unhear it. So, no, if we’re going to hear poor-quality music at Mass, I prefer that it not ruin certain Bible passages for me for the rest of my life. It would be better if they (pop-style hymn writers) set lyrics that are not direct Bible passages.
 
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The US bishops give a basic catechesis on music in their handout on receiving Holy Communion:
In fact, however, [the communion] hymn is prayer, the corporate thanksgiving prayer of the members of Christ’s Body, united with one another. Over and over again the prayers of the liturgy and the norms of the General Instruction emphasize this fundamental concept of the unity of the baptized, stressing that when we come together to participate in the Eucharistic celebration we come, not as individuals, but as united members of Christ’s Body. In each of the Eucharistic Prayers, though the petition is worded in slightly different ways, God is asked to send his Holy Spirit to make us one body, one spirit in Christ; the General Instruction admonishes the faithful that “they are to form one body, whether in hearing the Word of God, or in taking part in the prayers and in the singing…” (no. 96). It describes one of the purposes of the opening song of the Mass as to “foster the unity of those who have been gathered” (no. 47), and says of the Communion Chant that “its purpose [is] to express the spiritual union of the communicants by means of the unity of their voices, to show gladness of heart, and to bring out more clearly the ‘communitarian’ character of the procession to receive the Eucharist” (no. 86).

It is difficult for some of us to embrace this emphasis on Mass as the action of a community rather than an individual act of my own faith and piety, but it is important that we make every effort to do so. Christ himself at the Last Supper pleaded with his Father: “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are… as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us…” (John 17:11, 21).Baptism has joined us to Christ and to one another as the vine and its branches. The life of Christ, the Holy Spirit, animates each of us individually, and all of us corporately and guides us together in our efforts to become one in Christ.
USCCB. The Reception of Holy Communion at Mass.
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Your opinion and mine appear to be diametrically opposed.

I don’t find it awful remembering the hymn and hearing the music any more than I do reading the words Dies irae and hearing the chant music which I sang in the children’s choir a multitude of times in the 1950’s.

I am really sick and tired of aficionados bad mouthing the music we have today. It is singable - something Vatican 2 encouraged - and is better than some the hymn music we had in the 1950’s. I am no musician by any stretch of the imagination, but unless and until the music snobs who turn up their nose at what we have today start writing something else, I am not interested in the commentary.

I have no problem whatsoever with chant correctly and properly done, but it is not something the people in the pews can do with anything even approaching adequate.

I have no problem with someone else’s spirituality which prefers the choir to do all the singing, and does whatever in Latin (which covers a broad range of music). I don’t pick at them, and I would appreciate if they would not pick at others’ spirituality which may include music such as is found in OCP.

Is the music awful? No, it is just that you don’t like it.
 
Loud-living-dogma said:
then you mentally hear that music, and you can’t unhear it.
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Slightly off-topic here, but I have a related problem with popular music videos. There are songs which I used to like, up until I saw the video. Then hearing the music always recalls the stupid images and the bad acting, which totally ruins the song for me. Now I refuse to watch videos for any songs that I wish to enjoy in the future.

Closer to the topic, I don’t have such a problem for church music based on Bible passages. I think it’s because the songs don’t usually take the full passage, nor the text verbatim.
 
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Good thing your religion doesn’t have an obligation to watch music videos! 😋
 
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