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Views from the Choir Loft

What Do We Think Of Cell Phones At Mass?

Jeff Ostrowski · October 28, 2013

NE REASON SO MANY Catholics are flocking to the Extraordinary Form is that many (not all) Ordinary Form parishes suffer from a “lack of the sacred.” I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time explaining what I mean, since so many authors have written about this over the years, but in general I refer to a certain “informality” (inappropriate clothing, clapping at Mass, etc.) which for some reason doesn’t tend to occur at EF Masses. By the way, you will want to read what Paul VI wrote about “desacralization” of Mass. It won’t be long until people begin eating at Church, since we’ve already seen pretty much everything else one can imagine.

However, I’ve noticed a certain tendency at EF Masses which causes me concern. It has to do with a phenomenon you can see in picture above: recording Masses (especially by means of inferior cameras like cell phones) and posting them online.

ON THE ONE HAND, I can see arguments in favor of using cell phones at Mass (see image above). The desire to keep a remembrance of a beautiful occasion is fully understandable. However, isn’t it distracting to see people pulling out their iPhones? Even during the Recessional, aren’t we supposed to be praying? Presumably, we’ve just received the Sanctissimum: is it not uncouth to pull out an electronic device?

Besides, we have a duty to present the Holy Mass in the best light possible, right? Do we really want to show people Masses recorded poorly, not in focus, with only one camera angle? Again, I think we need to do whatever we can to promote the Mass, but aren’t such efforts ultimately self-defeating if not done well? The longer I live, the more I become against filming the Mass, except under very carefully chosen circumstances. After all, I think my daughter is the most beautiful little girl in the entire world, but even she can look bad if the photographer or camera is inferior.

We did include Mass pictures in the Campion Hymnal, but we spent months planning for this, so those pictures (in my opinion) are “worthy” of the Mass.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Extraordinary Form 1962 Missal, Latin Mass Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Partly on account of these alterations, and partly because I have been unable to ascertain the authorship of many compositions—which have come to me either in manuscript or through other collections—I have thought it right to publish the volume without appending the names of writers to their works. This, however, I confess to be a defect…”

— Benjamin Hall Kennedy (1863)

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