Good Seminar

My intrepid friend the Maestro will be offering a sacred music seminar here in the Diocese of Metuchen. In the hope that any of you interested in great church music might be inclined to attend I have posted the flier for the event.

May the appropriate authorities be inspired to ban guitars, tambourines and the dreaded farfisa organ from all Roman Catholic liturgies.

Accepting routine

Something we all fall in to at one point I suppose. For those of you who are Catholic and have questions about Extraordinary Ministers of Communion Father Z offers some interesting insight. Just remember that it is not necessarily right even if you see it done all of the time. Check it out.

Quaeritur-extraordinary-ministers-and-approach-the-altar

Grown up Schola

Time for the rubber to meet the road so to speak. After almost a year of providing sporadic Gregorian Chant at our host Parish we are officially taking it on the road. The Maestro called this afternoon and informed me that we will be providing our services on June 29th at 7:30 pm. Father Robert G. Gorman, pastor of St. Ambrose Parish, Old Bridge, NJ will celebrate a Missa Cantata for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul.
Now, was that neumes or gnomes. I can never keep that straight. (Please ignore the oblique chant pun. I know it was inexcusable)

Orthodoxy Defined

Sometimes a brave man can change the world. Following is a brief passage from a letter in a parish bulletin in Escondido, California authored by its pastor Fr. Richard Perozich.

The first 100 days of a new presidency is the time when legislation desired by the new leader is rammed through the congress without much discussion and over the objections of the minority party. It often is not good legislation, has been brewing in the hearts of special interest groups for years, who now have a vehicle to impose their will on the American people.

If the special interest groups have their way, it will spell the end of days for the American nation as we have known it since 1776. Abominations will be forced on us by the new government, such as which our founders never had intended, and certainly opposed to the Christian life: abortion on demand, homogenital sex, lust in all its forms, euthanasia, oppression of opportunity and entrepreneurs, silencing of faith and free speech among many.

The rest of his letter to his flock can be found here. I recommend that you read it in its entirety. It is thought provoking and TRUE.

Liturgical Counteroffensive

Just when things are rolling along nicely someone has to chuck an obstacle in your path.

When last I updated you about our Guerrilla Schola we were well into the Advent season and our efforts were met with appreciation at the Parish where we sang for Mass. We have since begun to gear up for Lent and look forward to adding to an already thriving and talented pastoral music program. In addition we are looking forward to making a regular appearance at a nearby Parish where the Pastor offers Mass in the Extraordinary Form on Saturdays. That is of course once we manage to learn the propers. Our long suffering Maestro is learning the difficulties of imparting new knowledge on less than fertile middle aged minds. Undeterred he marches joyfully on.

That is of course until last week. I will be vague on details in order to protect his identity. Gently and over the course of a year or so The Maestro has been incrementally adding more traditional elements to the music at Mass. Not all in Latin but certainly the musical selections introduced have been in lock step with the Magesterium and without a doubt appropriate for season and feast. While there has been a great deal of encouragement from the folks in the pews Father has seen fit to, shall we say, put a screeching halt to any further forward movement in this regard. To add insult to injury he has indicated his preference to musical selections more akin to the St. Louis Jesuits. For those of you unfamiliar with liturgical music this is the equivalent of hosting Barney the Dinosaur at Avery Fischer Hall or holding the Super Bowl in Mozambique.

Chafing under the unforgiving bridle of obedience what choice does he have. However, the building will continue brick by brick. But it is apparent at least in the short term that we will be operating the kiln in a more clandestine fashion.

In the meantime we will continue to work on the propers in the hope that things will really catch on at our alternative location. More to follow as things develop.

Traditional Latin Mass......Help Wanted

While checking my email this evening I received a note from the Maestro that he received from Father Bob Gorman at Saint Ambrose in Old Bridge, NJ. The Traditional Latin Mass is being offered at Saint Ambrose on Saturday mornings at 9:30 am. Sadly, after a hiatus the attendance has dropped substantially and it appears that this opportunity will not last if numbers are not boosted. So, if you or anyone you know is interested in this very beautiful liturgy.....see you there.

We chanted.....We Rocked!

I purposely waited a few days before posting on the first public performance of our schola. Its really easy to be overly enthusiastic on an early assesment. At about 9:30 we met in the church basement with the main choir for a bit of warm up. I think we were all a bit nervous, even the well experienced Maestro. Undaunted we cruised up to the choir loft and before you knew it, Introit! Wow. I will admit that our timing might have been a bit tighter but all things being equal, it sounded great. The church is an acousticly graceful space and by the time we reached Deus, Meus the sound had round its way back up to the loft and it was just AWESOME!

Per the Maestro we fully hit our stride for the Communio. It made for a most peaceful, prayerful atmosphere. The twenty or so regular choir members (very experienced group) just kind of sat back and gave that "way to go rookie!" nod of the head. Can't wait for Sunday.

Guerilla Chant

It all started innocently enough. My good friend and daughter’s piano teacher and I often run in to each other while waiting for the kids to get out of school. What is nice about our chats is that the Maestro and I have found how very much we have in common. He is a professional church musician (and an accomplished one at that) and I am a music lover. We share a love for the Church and have chatted at length about Church history and current events. Barbeque, distilled spirits and fine cigars traditionally round out our exchange. The list grows each time we steal those fifteen minutes from work and family obligations to just enjoy some idle time bantering about our passions.

One afternoon not too long ago I was lamenting the absence of the TLM in our diocese. While the Mass is offered in our Diocese it is only available in one rather distant location. The probability of making that trek on a routine basis is unlikely in the face of the realities of space and time. Thus I confessed I am a burgeoning yet frustrated “wanna be” Traditionalist Roman Catholic.

The Maestro too confessed his frustration at not being able to explore this rich liturgical heritage. Being bound to his schedule as the Director of Music at his Parish the possibility of his slinking away to join me in my quest was equally unlikely. It was at this point it happened. Like a member of the Underground cautiously giving a password to one who he hopes is a confederate and not a member of the secret police he told me about a project he was working on, a men’s schola. Did I really hear him say that? Gregorian chant here? In liturgical tambourine land? I kept my composure and with a soft conspiratorial yet guttural response encouraged him to continue.

Through some magic he convinced his Pastor to allow the inclusion of this most precious part of our liturgical heritage as a small part of the Masses for Advent and Christmas. While it will still be a Novus Ordo Mass the customary sights and sounds of worship will be edged aside to include both the Introit and Communio. In excited and suitably hushed tones he shared the location and secret meeting time with me and we hurriedly separated amongst the crowd of dispersing school children and unsuspecting parents.

Thus not long after we met on a sunny fall afternoon in a location that for security reasons will have to remain undisclosed. I then was introduced to our co conspirators. Naturally we used pseudonyms in case our activities were compromised. There in our secret lair we plotted. The Delivery Man, Mr. Curie, The Student and of course the Dirty Copper listened attentively as The Maestro lay out our plan.

What a joyful undertaking! Often in the privacy of my thoughts I am saddened at the thought that there are so few of us out there, those who yearn for liturgical tradition, a tradition of which we were deprived. Yet here we all were. Despite having no direct experience or exposure to its graces, we collectively possess imbued knowledge that it is right and proper, a direct lineage to the time of the earliest Christians. A treasured gift of continuity, the uninterrupted path to the prize of our faith.

So there we plotted, and chanted with grateful souls. I know not where this path will lead us. Yet I know that it is right. It is comfortable. It inspires me to grace. Whether our venture will succeed is yet to be determined. With God’s grace and the efforts of like minded cells of conspirators, perhaps we will be part of the surge behind the Great Liturgical Reformation. Brick by Brick.