FEW WEEKS AGO, I was speaking to a friend of mine who’s a highly-placed musician at the VATICAN. Over the years—just like several of my CCW colleagues—I’ve become friends with musicians who work at the Sistine Chapel, at major basilicas in Rome, and several who serve on the Congregation for Divine Worship. My friend said something I consider profound. As English isn’t his first language, I’m paraphrasing what he told me:
Again and again, official church documents
remind us the choir at Mass is not merely
an “accessory” or “enhancement” or “add-on”
to the congregation. The documents say
the choir has its own role, just as the priest
does, just as the deacon does, just as the
cantor does, and so forth. Vatican II called
sacred music “greater than any other
art,” insisting its value is “inestimable.”
It said the thesaurus musicae sacrae must be
“preserved and fostered with very great care.”
Pardon the pun, but this next part really struck a chord with me:
The council did not say the treasury of
choral music was to be added in a “barely
noticeable” way. Nor did the Council
say the thesaurus could be employed
provided it was inserted in an
inconsequential & imperceptible way.
Hopeful Times • Monsignor Francis P. Schmitt (in his 1977 tome) described the valiant efforts of Saint Joseph Oratory in Montreal to “preserve and foster” the THESAURUS MUSICAE SACRAE, noting that at their Masses “a polyphonic Creed was sung during the distribution of Communion.” At that time, in spite of everything said explicitly by church documents, some had banned the THESAURUS—as well as the Church’s lingua sacra. In other words, the only way serious musicians in the 1970s could preserve the sacred treasury (as Vatican II mandated explicitly) was inserting a polyphonic CREDO during the distribution of Holy Communion. I’m not sure what else to say—except that we’ve come a long way since those dark days.
Liturgists Who Attack Psalm 94 • In the 1970s, efforts were made to force each member of the congregation to partake in constant external physical activity. Silence, meditation, adoration, and contemplation were considered “dirty” words. But over the past 50 years, cooler heads have begun to prevail. Serious Catholics realize that not everyone participates at Mass in the same way. For instance, I know very devout musicians who are unable to sing during Mass because they’re so moved by Jesus Christ. Instead they silently weep before the Lord who created us, just as Psalm 94 describes (plorémus ante Dóminum qui fecit nos). In the 1970s, certain ‘liturgists’ would have confronted my friends in the middle of Mass, saying: “Hey, stop that crying and praying! We demand from you external physical activity … get with the program! This is your first warning.”
We’ve come a long way since the 1970s—but there’s still significant work to do.
