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Views from the Choir Loft

Catholic Liturgy in Secular Sweden

Guest Author · November 7, 2016

A guest article by Alexander Kegel, organist at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic parish in Stockholm, Sweden.|

690 TENTS ECENTLY, THE POPE visited Sweden. The main reason for this trip was the joint commemoration of the reformation, together with the Lutheran World Federation—and a lot could certainly be said about that, but not right now. However, the trip also included a mass with Sweden’s small Catholic community, which is quite unique. Sweden has only one Catholic diocese: the Catholic Diocese of Stockholm.

Our Bishop, Most Rev’d Anders Arborelius, is the shepherd of about 150,000 Catholics (mostly immigrants from all over the world), spread across the country. From the northern village of Lanavaara—where a community of nuns have their convent—it is a distance of 1850km to the southern city of Malmö, where the Pope celebrated Mass. That is roughly the same distance as between Malmö and Rome in Italy.

In this tiny yet widespread diocese, the status of the liturgy and church music is quite good and very interesting. Since 2008, there is—for the first time ever—a music director for the diocese, and he is doing a tremendous job! New organist jobs have appeared in numerous parishes around the country, workshops and courses are being held for organists, and our choirs & diocesan liturgies are usually good.

A good example of all this was the recent Mass with the Pope. A semi-annual choir weekend was planned for October, and it was decided that the participants of the choir weekend would sing during the Papal Mass a few weeks later. The results were excellent! The music included Missa de Angelis, “Jubilemus, exultemus” by François Couperin, and “O Saviour of the world” by Sir John Goss. I had the honor of singing the (Gregorian) Responsorial Psalm during the Mass, and the altar servers were mostly from the cathedral in Stockholm. 1 The liturgy was as beautiful as it can be in an outdoor stadium with 15,000 participants, and I was informed afterward that the Pope truly appreciated the music.

The Diocese has its own hymnal, called CECILIA, and the new edition from 2013 includes even more Gregorian melodies than the old one. There is very little “praise and worship” music in the parishes in Sweden and although the musical standard varies considerably, the music chosen is usually of good quality. Out of fourteen Mass ordinaries in the hymnal, ten are Gregorian (four of them Swedish adaptations), and a recent study of the usage of Gregorian chant in parishes around the country showed good results. One thing lacking is the use of propers, and although the Latin propers are being used to a degree in some parishes, the main problem is that there is no music set to the propers in Swedish. But that is also changing! There are several ongoing projects with the aim to release Swedish propers.

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I hope you have enjoyed this little glimpse into what can be done in a small diocese without big economic resources. With God’s help, we will continue the good work for the sacred liturgy and the Church.


We hope you enjoyed this guest article by Alexander Kegel.




NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   The brilliant altar servers from my home parish in Gothenburg had already received the honor of serving during the Canonization Mass of Sweden’s recent saint, Elisabeth Hesselblad, in the Vatican

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Alabama Assessment!

We received this evaluation of Symposium 2022 from an Alabama participant:

“Oh, how the Symposium echoed the words of Cardinal Merry Del Val: …choosing only what is most conformed to Thy glory, which is my final aim. In one short and fast paced week, the faculty and attendees showed me the hand of God and our Lady working in our lives. The wide range of education—from Gregorian Chant, jazz modes in organ improvisation, to ‘staying sane’ while leading a choir—were certainly first-class knowledge from the best teachers of the art. However, the most powerful lesson was learning how to pray as a choir. The sacrifice of putting songs together, taking time to learn the sacred text, meditating on the church teaching through the chants, and gaining the virtues required to persevere in these duties were not only qualities of a choir but of a saint. The sanctification of the lives of the attendees was a beautiful outcome of this event … and that in itself is worth more than a beautifully-sung Solesmes style chant!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
PDF Download • Trinity Sunday (22 pages)

Feel free to download this Organ Accompaniment Booklet for Trinity Sunday (Second Vespers). Notice how the modes progress by number. Psalm 1 is mode 1; Psalm 2 is mode 2; Psalm 3 is mode 3; Psalm 4 is mode 4; Psalm 5 is mode 5. I am told by an expert that other feasts (such as Corpus Christi) are likewise organized by mode, and it’s called a “numerical office.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
10 June 2022 • “Official” rhythm of plainsong

I continue to search for the most beautiful way to present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores. (Technically, the “pure” rhythm of the official edition is what everyone is supposed to use.) You can download my latest attempt, which is the Introit for this coming Sunday: Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Because this is not an ancient feast, the Introit had to be adapted (perhaps around 750AD). Prior Johner says the adaptation is “not an entirely happy one.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Every experienced choirmaster’s work is founded on the following three axioms: (1) Few boys have a really good natural voice; (2) No boy is able to control his voice and produce good tone without training; (3) Most boys have a good ear, and considerable imitative capacity. It is on the last of these axioms that the choirmaster must begin his work.”

— Sir Richard Runciman Terry (1912)

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