Away with the World—Let Heaven Enter
Music, for a Christian, should serve the same purpose as everything else in life: weaning us from excessive attachment to this world and lifting our souls heavenward.
“What Shall I Render to the Lord…”
It is impossible for us, by ourselves, to make a just return to the Lord for all He has given to us. But “with the Lord, nothing is impossible.”
Basic Steps To Improve Music At Your Parish — Part 2
I have been asked to recommend some ways in which any parish in the United States could improve the music used at Mass. Some parishes may already have taken the following two steps, in which case my advice will be nugatory for them, but if your parish has not yet done so, now’s the time to begin.
Pope Francis on Sound Doctrine, Memory, and Adoration
“One of the most common canards now broadcast is that Pope Francis cares but little for the sacred liturgy…”
Music Rules Over Us
Music is like a food that either makes us healthy or sick; indeed, it shapes our souls in its image.
On the Objectivity of the Beautiful
Can we really rank the works of fine art? Is one composer greater than another, one piece of sacred music more beautiful than another? Or is it all relative?
Archbishop Sample’s Letter On Sacred Music (4 of 8)
“Everything in God’s good creation is hierarchically ordered, and the virtue of each part is to belong to the whole in the right way…”
Art as Affirmation and Sacrifice
True art affirms the Catholic Faith—and represents a spiritual sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to the Lord.
What the Ordinary Form Could Be: The Vienna Oratory
Have you ever wondered what a Novus Ordo High Mass might look like? Read on…
The Danger of Being Arbitrary in the Liturgy
Traditional practices form a coherent whole, as they developed organically together. In many ways the liturgical reform was mechanistic and ideological.
Three Categories of Liturgical Problem
We need to know the different kinds of problems there are, and who in the Church is qualified or required to fix them.
Dogma as the Servant of Mystery
Dogmatic statements liberate the Christian intellect by establishing it in the truth.
Sacred Choral Works CDs Available
These 3 full-length compact discs feature recordings of nearly every score in the 273-page book.
A Triple Cord: Liturgy, Aquinas, and CST
The traditional liturgy, the study of St. Thomas Aquinas, and Catholic social doctrine―these three things stand or fall together.
“Soft Source of Calm Tranquillity”: The Quiet Mass
A poem set to music by Handel perfectly captures the feelings one has at a quiet low Mass. Here I try to say why this form of the Mass is so special and valuable.
Sheed on the Missal of 1968
Frank Sheed is one of my favorite Catholic authors, but when it came time for him to grapple with the liturgical revolution, either his perspicuity or his nerve failed him.
Music Beautiful by Nature
The “beautiful” is largely distinguished by the degree to which the beautiful “thing” is in accord with nature.
Why We Need the Greatest Art in Catholic Worship
Was it necessary to change our forms of worship to suit “modern man”? And do we need to set aside our glorious musical heritage? Absolutely not.
Why Do We Kneel in Church?
Kneeling is a sign that both signifies and helps produce in the soul the disposition of humility before the great King over all the earth.
Catholic Identity Crisis: Who Are We? What Do We Believe? How Should We Live?
Eastern Catholics and Christians have maintained the depth, beauty, and sacredness of their liturgical heritage. How does the institutional failure of Roman Catholics to preserve their own heritage affect their ability to evangelize, or even to live a fully Catholic life?