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Views from the Choir Loft

“Mass of the Americas” • Solemn Pontifical High Mass in DC

Fr. David Friel · October 24, 2019

OLEMN PONTIFICAL High Masses are not common events, but one will be celebrated next month at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. The Mass will be offered by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco on Saturday, November 16, 2019 at 10 AM (EST).

This Mass in the Extraordinary Form is being organized by the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music & Divine Worship as a tribute to Our Lady of Guadalupe and Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Anyone is welcome to attend, and, for those who cannot be present, the Mass will also be aired on EWTN.

Two things are notable about this Mass. First, it is being billed as a “Mass of the Americas,” a reference to the music for the ordinary that will be sung during the liturgy. Composed by Frank La Rocca, the Mass of the Americas was commissioned by Archbishop Cordileone and originally intended for use in the Ordinary Form. La Rocca has now adapted the score for use with the Extraordinary Form. Thus, the upcoming Mass in Washington, DC will be the premiere of this revised work.

The second thing to note is that the Mass will be followed by an afternoon conference cosponsored by the Benedict XVI Institute and The Catholic University of America’s Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art. The interesting program includes the following:

Keynote: The Making of the Mass of the Americas: A Conversation with Composer Frank La Rocca, Conductor Richard Sparks, and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone

Craft as Soul Craft: A Poetry Reading and Workshop with James Matthew Wilson

Painting Beauty: A Workshop with Andrew de Sa

The Vision of the Soul: A Conversation with Artists and Philosophers of Art (James Matthew Wilson, poet, Villanova University; Prof. Robert Edward Gordon, The American Culture and Ideas Initiative, College of Fine Arts, University of Arizona; Prof. Sara Pecknold, clinical professor of Sacred Music, Catholic University of America; Andrew de Sa, painter)

Book Signing: The River of the Immaculate Conception with poet James Matthew Wilson

Attendance at this conference is free and open to all, but registration is required.

A Facebook event has been created for this Mass. You may also download the PDF flyer to help spread the word about this Mass and conference.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Contemporary Sacred Music, Extraordinary Form 1962 Missal, National Shrine Immaculate Conception 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

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

“So, as in delirium a man talks in a long-forgotten tongue, now—when her heart is rent—the Catholic Church drops twenty centuries without an effort, and speaks as she spoke underground in Rome, and in Paul’s hired house, and in Crete and Alexandria and Jerusalem.”

— A non-Catholic describing the “Hagios O Theos” of Good Friday in 1906

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