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

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Views from the Choir Loft

An Extraordinary Event: NCYC 2015

Fr. David Friel · November 23, 2015

N SATURDAY, the 2015 National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) wrapped up in Indianapolis. The biennial celebration brings together an enormous group of Catholics: over 24,000 youth, 450 priests, and 35 bishops from across the United States. The event claims to become the world’s largest Catholic parish for four days.

What does one do at NCYC? It’s a festive atmosphere in which young people attend keynote talks, join in prayer, and enjoy concerts. They also engage in Eucharistic adoration, go to confession, and participate in service projects.

I have never attended an NCYC, but it was brought to my attention that something very interesting made its way onto the schedule this year.

The conference runs from Wednesday afternoon through Saturday night. Included in each day’s schedule are several opportunities for daily Mass. On Friday, one of the four Masses offered was a Mass in the Extraordinary Form. The photograph above was taken at this Mass, and it looks like there was strong attendance.

Young people, it is true, are not widely familiar with the traditional form of the Mass. Nor are they familiar with all the preconceptions & biases that led their grandparents’ generation to dismiss traditional forms. My experience has shown me that young people, when given the opportunity to experience the Church’s tradition, are able to appreciate the richness and beauty of our faith. Let us, therefore, continue to expose them to the Church’s tradition!

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us, too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum)

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Authentic Liturgical Renewal Reform, Children at Mass, Latin Mass, Passing on Tradition, Pope Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum, Traditional Latin Mass Tridentine Rite Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

23 May 2022 • FEEDBACK

From a reader: “I wasn’t looking for it. But, I stumbled across your hand-dandy arrangement of Pachelbel’s Canon. Jeff, this is the greatest thing since sliced bread! I had to play a wedding on Saturday. The bride requested the Canon. There were 11 bridesmaids! The organ loft is a football field away from the communion rail. It’s so difficult to play and keep checking the mirror. Your arrangement is absolutely genius. One can skip and choose which variations to use. The chord names are handy so that when my eyes are off the music, I always know where I am at. A thousand times thank you for sharing this arrangement!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
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

Random Quote

We cannot exaggerate our indebtedness to Dr. Julian’s “Dictionary of Hymnology,” a monumental work, without which we could not have reached the high standard of accuracy, as to both texts and authorship, which we set before us when entering upon our labours.

— Committee for “New English Hymnal” (1906)

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