From the NPM Convention in Washington, DC
In the circles I typically frequent, NPM is seen as something of a lost cause. I’ll admit that as recently as a few years ago, I thought so, too.
Archives for July 2013
Pope Pius XII speaks about the Liturgy (1956)
“Where it can be done away with without too much difficulty on the part of the faithful, it should be abrogated.” — Pope Pius XI on “orchestral Masses” (private letter)
Catholic Line Art, Black and White • Installment #27
I will be releasing hundreds of these B/W religious line art drawings for free and instant download. These beautiful Catholic “woodcuts” were done with magnificent skill. “Download Free Traditional Catholic Clipart”
How Does One Use The Ordo Cantus Missæ?
The second half of an article about the most important book you’ve never seen.
Sixty-Four Years In A Row? Wow!
(Winooski, Vermont) — “An 87-year-old choirmaster who has not missed a Sunday Mass for more than 64 years will receive an honor from His Holiness Pope Pius XII.”
Ordo Cantus Missae — English Translations
Who should start the “Glory to God” at Mass? Who should intone the Gloria? Ordinary Form.
Temporal Parochialism
What We Owe to the Past
Comprehensive Conversation on Veils
An interior talk about why woman cover their heads at Mass.
Photograph of Msgr. Francis P. Schmitt
Photograph of “Father Schmitt” of Boys Town taken during the 1950s.
Requiem pour une américaine à Paris
One of the most powerful spiritual experiences I ever had was the Requiem Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the 2012 Sacred Music Colloquium in Salt Lake City. Many of the liturgies at the Colloquia have shaken me to the core; I have been overwhelmed with an unspeakable sense of awe, mystery, and joy.
“Missale Romanum Cum Lectionibus Ad Usum Fidelium”
Gone forever? “A portable Latin missal which contains everything said or read at Mass.”
Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke Interview
“In the reforms as they were introduced after the Council, a fundamental misunderstanding took place. Namely, this was that the reforms were undertaken with the idea there had been a rupture …” —Raymond Cardinal Leo Burke
Silence (Part 3 of 3)
The fundamental precondition for active participation is interior silence. Praying in silence is a particularly noble form of human activity—more active than merely speaking or singing.
Taste Like Salt
In which we music directors get to not act like the hypocrites.
“I Love Ewe”
“The altar versus populum is not a new idea brought in by the reforms of Paul VI. The Mass could always be celebrated with the priest facing the people, as indeed it was in Rome and in many other places for centuries. True, it was not the usual way, but it did exist.” — Monsignor Richard J. Schuler
Were You An Altar Boy In The 1960s?
Do you recall trying to memorize the “Confiteor” and the dreaded “Suscipiat” to serve at Mass?
A Personal Remembrance . . .
“Could I have imagined at that time that I was sitting and conversing with the future Pope? Not in a million years!” — Fr. Christopher G. Phillips
Catholic Line Art, Black and White • Installment #26
I will be releasing hundreds of these B/W religious line art drawings for free and instant download. These beautiful Catholic “woodcuts” were done with magnificent skill. “Download Free Traditional Catholic Clipart”
High School Students
Finding God
Here I owned Thy Presence
Owning up to the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Do hymns help?
“Missa de Jerry Seinfeld” and Praying as a Family
What I will remember most is that I knelt side by side with my daughter during the consecration. I will remember reciting the Creed in my fidgety three-year-old son’s ear as I held him.
Never Do This. Just Say “No.”
Ruth Slenczynska wasn’t right about everything … but she was right about this.
Should The Priest Face The People At Mass?
“In the encyclical Mediator Dei, Pius XII regarded as ‘archeologists those who presumed to speak of the altar as a simple table.” — Newsletter of the Vatican Congregation of Divine Worship.
Silence (Part 2 of 3)
If the conditions for recollection are never present in our lives, if we do not fight to create and guard such conditions, we will lose our awareness of divine mystery, as refreshing as springtime rains, and wander in a desert of superficiality.
Interview about Campion Missal, 2nd Edition
“Our hope is that the Campion Missal, in spite of its flaws, will allow Catholics to assist at Mass with greater devotion.” —Jeff Ostrowski