Letter from USCCB Committee on Divine Worship on “Ad Orientem”
Most Rev’d Serratelli says the current rubrics “reflect the real possibility that the celebrant might be facing away from the assembly.”
“If we do not love those whom we see, how can we love God, Whom we do not see?” Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. He is also Chapel Organist (Saint Mary’s Chapel) at Boston College. His compositions have been performed worldwide.—Read full biography (with photographs).
Most Rev’d Serratelli says the current rubrics “reflect the real possibility that the celebrant might be facing away from the assembly.”
A very wise and compassionate Jesuit priest kindly exhorted me to avoid writing such missives. I quickly heeded his advice. So should you. Here’s why:
As surely as the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, someone will be unhappy. Displeasure does not discriminate.
The frontier of composition is clearly producing new settings of the propers in the vernacular, useful for a typical parish.
It took me—the composer—to realize this is really a work about mother and child.
2016 marks two milestones: the 140th Anniversary of the Dedication of the E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings, Opus 801 and the thirtieth anniversary of Leo Abbott’s tenure as Cathedral Music Director in Boston
“The presider claims a form of privilege to change things that do not belong to him…”
What music does a newly ordained priest, who currently plays the drums in a jazz band, choose for his first Mass? A priest who also has a degree from the Hartt School of Music in Music Production and Technology? The answer will surprise you.
By shear will I chip away at the wretched dumpster fire of incongruence on the page. Then a purpose languidly surfaces with each revised note: Composing is a form of prayer.
One’s ability to work effectively with someone else does not actually rely very much on how much one agrees with the other. Why? It comes down to three things.
Children who sing today will be the foundation of our Church in the future.
Applause from a congregation for musicians, or musicians that impede congregational singing for the sake of personal artistry, are but symptoms. The church musician has been misidentified as a separate entity—a showpiece—and not properly identified as a servant of the liturgy, a servant of God, a servant of the people.
“One of the most emotional experiences of my life was during the baptism of my second child. The words hit me like a ton of bricks…time froze, and I was bowled over in my heart…”
Such a reference to original sin—a positive reference—seems quite strange to us.
Singing the sequence, “Victimae Paschali Laudes” is truly appropriate every day this week.
Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.
We’re under tremendous pressure to transfer our website to a “subscription model.”
We don’t want to do this. We believe our website should remain free to all. It’s annoying to have to search for login credentials (e.g. if you’re away from your desk).
Our president has written the following letter:
* Thirteen Men & Coins (Holy Thursday Appeal)
Traditionally on Holy Thursday, the priest washed the feet of thirteen men. Theologians held various opinions regarding whom the “13th man” represented. Before the liturgical changes of Pope Pius XII (which changed the number from thirteen to twelve), the priest washed each man’s feet, kissed his foot, and gave him a coin.
This “coin” business seems providential—inasmuch as our appeal begins on Holy Thursday this year.
Time's up