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Views from the Choir Loft

Does the Mass Demand a Certain Level of Dignity?

Jeff Ostrowski · June 18, 2016

Recently, a blog called “Byzantine Texas” posted a photograph which some have wrongly claimed is a Byzantine Mass in a pool:

438 Byzantine Mass


Sadly, we have seen Roman Catholic “Pool Masses” captured in photos. Such instances relate to a church music topic.

UPDATE: According to an email I just received, this was from the “Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio.” As I said when I initially posted, I have no doubt the full details will be revealed eventually.

I CAME ACROSS an article attempting to justify folk music at Mass with the following arguments:

“We make Mass accessible to everyone.”

“Our responsibility at the Roman Catholic liturgy is to share Christian joy.”

“We bring to the liturgy music for the folk.” [sic]

I started to ask myself how anyone—myself included—could argue against such motives. After all, isn’t sharing joy a good thing? One could certainly cite official Church documents from Vatican II which mandate that Gregorian chant be given first place in liturgical services (followed closely by classical polyphony). However, let’s be honest: nobody seems to care what Vatican II said.

A more fruitful result might be achieved by a different path:

“For the purposes of this discussion, let’s assume your argument is correct. Let’s assume the purpose of liturgical music is making people feel happy. If that’s true, is there any music you would prohibit? After all, rap music makes some people happy. Polka makes other people happy. Other people feel happy when they listen to acid jazz, while others prefer bluegrass.”

Once you’ve taken them down that road, you can suggest that music for Mass should possess a certain level of DIGNITY. However, exercise caution here. 1

When I took my children to a water park, one child kept being rude. Rather than waiting his turn, he pushed the other children out of his way. I was appalled by his behavior, and wondered what kind of parents raised him. I renewed in my heart a desire to bring up polite children, in spite of what others might do. This is our situation with church music, I believe. Anyone can find examples of priests allowing inappropriate music in church. (Indeed, even some cathedrals allow scandalous music.) However, we must do what’s right—no matter what others do.



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Certain people—especially “professional” liturgists—become extremely angry when you start down this path. They especially loathe being asked whether any musical style is inappropriate for Mass. And they can become irate when you demand specific reasons why such-and-such a style of music is inappropriate for Mass. If they were honest, they would admit that any musical style is suitable for Mass in their view.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Liturgy Shaming Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Jeff Ostrowski

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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Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The main place should be given, all things being equal, to gregorian chant, as being proper to the roman Liturgy. Other kinds of sacred music, in particular polyphony, are in no way excluded, provided that they correspond to the spirit of the liturgical action and that they foster the participation of all the faithful.”

— ‘2011 GIRM, §41 (Roman Missal, 3rd Edition)’

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