NEVER MET Monsignor Richard J. Schuler (d. 2007), but I know he served as editor of the Sacred Music Journal (Church Music Association of America) for many years. He was ordained on 18 August 1945 and had a very ‘full’ life. He was a musician, author, pastor, and seminary professor. I feel close to him, because his doctoral dissertation (if memory serves) was on the music of Giovanni Nanino. I repeat, I never met Msgr. Schuler—but if his writings are any indication, he seems to have been sharp-witted, bold, and scholarly. Here is a quote from Msgr. Richard J. Schuler which readers will find thought-provoking (or perhaps provocative):
𝗩𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗮 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗮.” 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁. 𝗖𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱; 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘒𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘦, 𝘎𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢, 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘰, 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘴-𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘈𝘨𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘋𝘦𝘪 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘴, 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘪𝘢, 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘮, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹. 𝗧𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗺” 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 “𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗺” 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘂𝗹 𝗩𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗣𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗣𝗶𝘂𝘀 𝗩. 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿, 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀.
If what Msgr. Schuler says is true, it’s difficult to see how any sane cleric could denigrate the Missale Vetustum.
