• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • Our Team
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Saint Antoine Daniel KYRIALE
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Musing Over Mass at MIT

Gwyneth Holston · February 17, 2014

GWYN_Calculus

Calculus: Useful for finding the values of coefficients in the equation of a plane that is defined by two non-parallel vectors within it, but useless in determining the aesthetic value of that plane in the first place.


GWYN_figure 2 Star Trek Transporter N FEBRUARY 9, 2014 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology chapel was home to its first Latin Mass in over fifty years. It was a surreal experience. The chapel was built in 1955 and designed by Eero Saarinen. It is essentially a windowless brick cylinder illuminated by an oculus above a metallic tapestry in the sanctuary area. As you can see from the pictures, the sanctuary is reminiscent of the Transporter on the Starship Enterprise.

GWYN_figure 1 MIT chapel Sanctuary The very ugliness of the building made me ache with sadness for the poor engineering students who spend their days in grey classrooms and dismal labs. It is a milieu that considers aesthetics nice but superfluous and certainly inferior to “useful” research and design.

The positive result of having mass in such a depressing space is that every detail of the mass exuded a soothing beauty. Candles, vestments, and incense are used because of the power of their symbolic value, not because they are the most efficient materials for lighting, clothing, and perfuming.

GWYN_MIT mass Juventutem Boston 1 did a spectacular job in coordinating the Solemn High Mass. Fr. John Cassani was the celebrant and Fr. Kwang Lee gave the homily. Around 150 people crammed into the tiny chapel and knelt on the hard floor. Most of the attendees were college-age and joyfully joined in singing the Mass of the Angels and the recessional hymn, “Faith of Our Fathers.”



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   N.B. Juventutem Boston is organizing three more Traditional Latin masses at St. Paul’s church in Cambridge on February 23th, March 25th, and April 27th. For more information, visit their website (juventutemboston.com) or their facebook page.

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

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

Subscribe

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

About Gwyneth Holston

Gwyneth Holston is a sacred artist who works to provide and promote good quality Catholic art. Her website is gwynethholston.com. Read more.

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“As liturgical art, church music is obliged to conform to ecclesiastical law. But to construct artificial polarities here, between legalistic order and a dynamic church music, demanded by the alleged needs of the day, would be to forsake the foundation of a music rooted in liturgical experience. What is in fact the pastoral value of the shoddy, the profane, the third-rate?”

— Dr. Robert Skeris (1996)

Recent Posts

  • Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
  • PDF Download • Belgian Book of Gregorian Accompaniments (Official Edition)
  • Don’t You Agree About These?
  • Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
  • Crucial Tip For Choir Directors

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.