(Installment #3) “Catholic Hymnals” • Keven Smith
Top 10 Features • “An Ideal Extraordinary Form Hymnal”
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Archives for August 2020
Bishop Sheen on Sanctifying the Moment
Wise words from Sheen’s book, “Lift Up Your Heart”
“Resplendent Beyond Reckoning” • Sherborne Missal (1399AD)
As the Isaac Jogues Missal would do 650 years later, this Missal provides pictures of the priest during the Canon!
(Installment #2) “Catholic Hymnals” • Veronica Brandt
“For every hymn which is unequivocally denounced as ‘schmaltzy’ expect to find someone for whom that hymn is what sustained them through a particularly bleak time.”
Video Excerpt • “Fastest Organ Pedals I’ve Ever Seen!”
I’m jealous of anyone who can play the organ pedals so fast!
Josef Hofmann • “Pianist Par Excellence”
Anton Rubinstein, who hated child prodigies, called Josef Hofmann “the greatest musical genius the world has ever known.”
25 August 2020 • A 20-minute Mass?
Some erroneously attack the Extraordinary Form by claiming that before Vatican II “priests rushed through Low Mass in less than 20 minutes.” Well, during the pandemic, we have had Mass without the reception of Communion by the Faithful—and it makes duration of Mass surprisingly shorter. On feasts with no GLORIA, no CREED, and no HOMILY, […]
(Installment #1) “Catholic Hymnals” • Patrick Torsell
Five tips for rousing, inspiring hymn playing!
“Homily — 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A” • Father Valentine Young, OFM
“Catholic teaching says we should pray for people who die. If we were sure they were in heaven, that wouldn’t be necessary—so let’s be consistent in our teaching.”
Quick Vocal Tip: Be Breathy, but Briefly
You’ll never meet a serious choral singer who strives for a breathy sound. But a little breathiness in warmups and personal practice can work wonders.
Huge Discovery! (Not a Joke) • Re: “Gradual Antiphons vs. Missal Antiphons”
Last night I discovered something I never knew—so I immediately telephoned a priest to verify this.
Homeschool Snapshots: Take 2
A homeschooling mother offers a few verses that inspire her during the dark times of teaching, when cooperation is lacking and patience must grow. Hang them on your walls to remind you of God’s good graces.
“Secret Book of Happiness” • Official English Translations of the Roman Gradual
Overkill: “ too much of something; the amount by which destruction exceeds what is necessary.”
Biography • Charles Weaver
Charles Weaver is on the faculty of the Juilliard School…
Clarity! • Missal vs. Gradual Text (Ordinary Form)
If this problem is to be solved, we must first understand it.
JP2 said in June of 1980…
Pope Saint John Paul II said in June of 1980: “To the extent that the new sacred music is to serve the liturgical celebrations of the various churches, it can and must draw from earlier forms—especially from Gregorian chant—a higher inspiration, a uniquely sacred quality, a genuine sense of what is religious.”
18 August 2020 • Fr. Fortescue wins!
The index for the Brébeuf hymnal has beautiful capital letters, and I had previously believed our creation to be unique. However, it seems Fr. Adrian Fortescue beat us. (Deep sigh.) You can see that the index for his book, Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described, is quite beautiful, and uses the capital letters I spoke […]
“Homily for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost” (EF) • Father Valentine Young, OFM
“I considered myself privileged to be Pastor at one of the places in Houck, Arizona, where Saint Katherine Drexel built a church and grade school.”
Stress Relief Tip: Let Your Structure Do the Work
When was the last time you gave your muscles permission to relax and let your bones do their job?
Certificate in Sacred Music
Offered by the Saint Gregory Institute of Sacred Music in Pittsburgh, PA
3 September 1958 • “De musica sacra”
From the 1958 Instruction published under Pope Pius XII: “If the faithful are to communicate, the singing of the Communion antiphon is to begin when the priest distributes Holy Communion. If this Communion antiphon has been taken from some psalm, the other verses of the same psalm may be sung, in which case the antiphon […]
3 September 1958 • Issued by Pius XII
The Sacred Congregation for Rites issued De musica sacra et sacra liturgia (“Instruction on Sacred Music and Sacred Liturgy”) on 3 September 1958. An excerpt: Finally, perfect active participation is achieved when there is also sacramental participation, by which “the faithful who are present communicate not only with spiritual affection, but also in reception of […]
“Homily — 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A” • Father Valentine Young, OFM
“I had a brother who was married outside the Church and had stopped going to Church for about thirty years…”
13 August 2020 • “Lenten acclamations”
Where do the Latin acclamations come from, which replace the “Alleluia” during Lent? The traditional Divine Office replaces Alleluia with “Laus tibi Domine Rex aeternae gloriae.” Here’s a piece of paper that has all possible Ordinary Form “Lenten acclamations” in Latin.
“Crown Him with Many Crowns” (Diademata) • Brébeuf Hymnal #752
Big news! They discovered why Franz Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony” was never completed!