Lenta e Calma

The things that give comfort and joy can be so strange at times. I was searching for something else when I came across a new CD that was released at the beginning of the year. On of the songs on the CD is a lullaby that I used to sing to my son at night which is a version of a hymn which we used to sing after Benediction at my home parish.

Finding this song made me so happy because it flooded my mind with so many happy memories of when my son was very small as well as the very beginning of my parish ministry, nearly 18 years ago.




Fr. Manzotti's version
Translation by Domini Sumus

Slow and calm over the earth
Night descends and light escapes
Now I want to say goodbye
Good night, my Jesus

O Lord, give us the blessing
against the evil that seduces
Guard my parents and I
Good night, my Jesus

At thy feet, O Virgin pure,
I ask for you motherly blessing
Good night, dear mother,
Good night my Jesus

The traditional version we sang after Benediction:
Translation by Domini Sumus

Slow and calm on the earth
Night descends; the light escapes
Now I want to say goodbye
Good night, my Jesus.

Silent in the tabernacle,
The rosy flame flickers
And gentle angels sing:
Good night, my Jesus.

My heart I wish you were
A sanctuary lamp
Because then I would not say:
Good night, my Jesus.

And you, O Virgin Mary
Give us your blessing too.
Watch over us tonight:
Good night, my mother.

I Love You Lord

Translation by Domini Sumus

You called me to walk with you for all of my life.
I decided to follow you forever, with no turning back.
You put an ember in my breast and an arrow in my soul,
It is hard now to live without being reminded of you.

I Love you, Lord. I love you Lord,
I can only find peace and joy when I'm close to you (2x)

I often thought about being silent and refusing to answer.
I thought I could hide on the trail and go far away from you,
but your strength won out at the end and I was seduced.
It is hard now to live without deeply longing for you.

O Jesus, you will never leave me alone to walk by myself.
For you know my weakness and my heart.
Come teach me how to live life in your presence,
In brotherly love, joy, peace, unity.

Wedding Season

Wedding Season is here. I have a wedding next weekend and I met with two couples this weekend. I am tired of the "traditional" wedding repertoire, but my attempts to persuade couples away from these tired selections is in vain. They all seem to want the soap opera wedding. I am often tempted to ask them if they also want what comes after. Yes, the soap opera or fairy tale wedding is lavish and some may consider it beautiful (I don't), but how many couples ask for the soap opera marriage?

Most of the couples who come through my office hold the delusion that love will get them through anything. They are so much in love that nothing could possibly ever rock them. As great as that feeling is, it's not reality.

We don't know what happened after Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, or Snow White married the prince, but we do know that their courtship left much to be desired. They fell madly in lust and decided to marry. They know nothing about each other, but they marry anyway. Then Prince Charming carries his bride off into the sunset on his white steed. We never find out what happens next, but I have my suspicions that it isn't happily ever after.

Couples getting married today do much of the same. The Church requires that couples participate in marriage prep classes and in my diocese they also must take the FOCCUS. Prospective brides and grooms tend to view this as an unfair hoop they must jump through to satisfy the Church. They never consider that this may help prevent future problems. The FOCCUS results are often frightening. Many couples have never discussed the simplest matters of faith, children, and finances.

I don't understand how a couple can marry without knowing anything about the other party. I have even met brides who didn't know what their fiances did for work! Still, they claim to be in love. They aren't! Then are in lust, infatuation, excitement, anything you want to call it.

Many couples walk into marriage blindly and their plan their wedding Masses the same way.

Couples: Reconsider the "traditional" wedding that you want and ask yourself if it really sends the message you want to say. Consider walking into the church together. The bride and groom are equal partners in marriage, but are unequal during the wedding. The tradition where the groom stands near the altar while the bride walks down the aisle with her father goes back to the days when a woman was considered the property of her father or husband. It is literally a delivery and transfer of property. Of course, that isn't how brides think of it. They see themselves as the princess. The center of attention. They are going to meet their prince at the altar.

When both the bride and groom walk in the procession together or with their parents, they demonstrate that they are equal partners. It's not all about the bride and she isn't becoming the property of the groom. They are entering to marriage as equals and are exercising their roles as the ministers of the Sacrament. Yes, a bride and groom marry each other with the priest there to solemnize and bless the bond.

Of course, that sort of wedding makes "Here Comes the Bride" sound a little ridiculous. The processional hymn which was played at my Nuptial Mass was also used as a processional at the Papal Mass in Washington DC. You can hear it here at 4:50. The hymn is "Go Up to the Altar of God" by Fr. James Chepponis. It was played at my wedding on organ, trumpet and tympani and it truly said how we intended to begin and live our marriage together.

Don't want into marriage blindly and don't allow your Nuptial Mass to be planned blindly according to traditions of questionable quality.

My Thoughts on the Papal Mass Music

Now that I have had some time to organize my thoughts I will write this post which was hinted at previously.

At this time two years ago I was writing a paper for a liturgy class on multicultural influences in the Liturgy. The Mass Papal Mass at Nationals Park proved the point that I made in my paper. Incorporating multicultural aspects into the Liturgy is fine and can even be applauded when done with moderation.

Scripture tells is "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendant, heirs according to the promise" (Gal 3:27-29). To parapharase in modern language: When we are at Mass we are neither Chinese, nor Mexican, nor Italian, nor Native American; for we are all one in the Christ Jesus. We are Catholics! That is one of the beauties of the Vatican being a sovereign nation. It is not subject or part of any nation.

As I watched the Mass I was struck by the classical beauty of the Mass of Creation. Ok, so that is an overstatement, but I think it makes my point. After listening to virtually every ethnic instrument known to man, I started to wonder where I was or what I was watching.

It was as though they were so concerned that every culture needed to be included that the Liturgy was forgotten. Catholic culture took a back seat as divisions rather than unity were shown.

When Placido Domingo sang Panis Angelicus, the look of joy and relief on the Holy Father's face was clearly visible. If the music was painful to listen to on TV, I can't imagine what it was like in person.

Needless to say, I am much more hopeful for the music at Sunday's Mass.

Treasures Found in a Choir Loft

Fr. Erik posts on the many horrific items he has found in his church have amused me greatly because I have found many similar items in the churches where I have served, but today I found a real treasure amidst the items destined for the dumpster.

The choir loft at my church has two closets which are filled with everything from 70's hymnals to old door frames. This morning I was clearing out some of the 70's hymnals when I found a thick black book covered with a homemade covering of black fabric. I opened it and found page after page of Gregorian chant. Real Gregorian chant, Latin, complete with 4 line staff and square notes!

I flipped to the front of the book and read the title: Antiphonarium Romanum. I have never seen one of these before, but its fascinating. Now I have to find a way to use it. I wish I knew how to read real Gregorian Chant. Time to learn, huh?

Update: Brian helped me with the first part of reading chant: identifying the key. From there I took my newfound knowledge and found a few good pages online. The first is very simple and explains the different neumes and groupings of neumes. The second is more technical and in depth.

It's official, I'm hooked. I still can't get used to the idea that notes placed one over the other to mean to sing the bottom one first and the upper one second, but I am getting it.

Diocese Interviews Liturgical Musicians

The Rhode Island Catholic interviewed a few liturgical musicians from around the diocese. There were a few interesting comments both good and bad.

The good:

It is important, Berbercik asserted, that choirs and cantors not try to steal the show. The music they perform is meant to be inviting, “we try not to turn that music into a performance, it’s a presentation or a participatory song,” she said. She is wary of any choir or cantor that is too invested in their individual performance. She compared liturgical music to the national anthem, which at many public events has become an opportunity for one singer to showcase, or showboat, their individual talents, rather than a communal experience for everyone to participate in. “We lose our love of the song because we detach from it,” she said, “we’re distracted by somebody going overboard.” (Unfortunately they failed to mention that first and foremost choirs and cantors should not try to steal the show because the music is worship, not a concert. God should be the focus of the Mass, not the muscians.)

The bad:

“I don’t go too contemporary because most of the parishioners like their old chestnuts,” said Stott. But, he added, it is important not to rule any music out, the selections “should be a mixed bag because that’s what the tradition of church music has become.” Others see putting an emphasis on contemporary music as a chance to bridge generations and reach out to younger audiences. “You want to keep people coming to church and I feel that if you want the young people you really have to do the contemporary music,” said Labréche. Berberick said that when choosing music at her parish she tries to “touch upon each generation” and “keep in mind other cultures.” (Sometimes music does need to be ruled out. As for contemporary music, all the guitar strumming that was done when I was a kid sure kept my generation at Mass. @@)

Finally, a comment I can agree with:

In the end, everyone agrees that music adds too much to the Mass to be ignored. “Music gets inside you in a different way that spoken word does,” said Rashed, “If you want the Liturgy to enter people’s hearts and minds, you better use some music.” (Yes! And it's all the more reason to be careful when selecting Liturgical music.)

Read the article here.

Beautiful Ave Maria

Wow, I love this!


H/T to Fr. V.



These young ladies are members of a singing group called Seraphim and this version of Ave Maria is from their newest CD titled Hail Queen of Heaven.

Want more?

The Ministry of the Congregation

It seems that most Catholics have forgotten about the ministry of the congregation. We have become so obsessed with "doing" something at Mass that just being at Mass is seemingly considered insignificant.

Last night my husband and I had dinner at a very nice little Portuguese restaurant. It is a family owned place where the tables are placed as close as possible to each other in order to fit as many people as possible into the restaurant. Towards the end of our dinner a party of four was seated on the side of us. They entered into a long, and loud conversation about a funeral. Apparently the mother of one of the women had recently died. While I did not try to listen on their conversation, given that she was sitting close enough for me to touch her, it was hard to not overhear. A few of the quotes that caught me attention were, "It was so nice, every grandchild had something to do during the Mass. I didn't want them to just sit there."

But that isn't why I am writing this post. The next quote is, "My grandaughter sang for the Mass. I couldn't believe it when I heard her. I knew she had a nice voice, but I didn't think she could really sing. I was shocked that she was so good. I only asked her because I didn't want her to be the only one without something to do".

Comment #1) Simply having a "nice voice" doesn't make someone qualified to sing at Mass.
Comment #2) If you didn't think she was good, you shouldn't have asked her to sing.
Comment #3) What's wrong with being part of the congregation?
Comment #4) No one is supposed to "just sit there" at Mass. They are supposed to pray and respond.

Yes, it is nice when family members can perform certain functions during the Mass, but I don't understand the obsession families have with getting everyone involved. Especially when they are putting them in roles where they are unprepared and unqualified. Personally, I am tired of funerals where "my sister's friend's daughter's friend's cousin with a really nice voice" comes to sing. Usually the person doesn't have a nice voice and many times they can barely sing on key. In addition, they seldom know the hymns and sometimes ask me to teach it to them. Add to that the "singers" who are close family members such as grandchildren who start crying in the middle of the hymn and it's a recipe for disaster.

My advice to everyone is: leave the funeral music to the professionals.

I am lucky that my parish has a policy on visiting musicians. They MUST be employed as liturgical musicians in a Catholic parish, and I MUST get a bench fee. Oh, and I do check up on them. However, even with that policy, a few still slip by. People claim to be employed in parishes when they are not and I have even had priests lie and tell me that certain people are employed when they are simply substandard choir members or not even attached to the parish in any way.

So, what is the deal with the obsession with "doing something"? I think we have focused so much on the ministry of lector, cantor, EMHC, etc, while we ignored the ministry of the congregation. In essence we have set ourselves up to literally preach to the choir. The congregation does not just sit there. They have an active role in the Mass. They sing the hymns which are appropriate to them, they respond to the prayers of dialogue, the proclaim the acclamations, most importantly they like everyone else in the Mass, they worship the Lord in Word and Sacrament. So much for just sitting there.

To all of you who make up the congregation, you are needed. Don't let anyone think you are just sitting there.

Tales of a Substitute Organist - Part 1

I returned to one of my former parishes today as a substitute funeral organist. What I encountered there nearly made me cry. Twelve years ago, when I was the assistant music director, we constructed a small choir area in the nave of the church. Many pews were removed, a small riser was installed, and a new Rodgers organ was purchased. Playing that organ was pure joy! There was also a very old pipe organ which was in poor condition, but I made a point of going into the loft a few times a month and playing the old organ in a vain attempt to prevent further damage from disuse.

The church has since been wreck renovated and the new organ is in horrendous condition. The choir riser was removed so the movable chairs are now on the tile floor. There is now nothing to keep the choir members from moving their chairs into the side aisle (where I found a few when I arrived). In addition, the choir area was an absolute mess. Books and papers were everywhere. Also, the amplifiers, instruments, and microphones for the "youth band" were strewn everywhere. The organ looked more like a glorified book rack as it was covered with hymnals, Christmas cards, photos, and business cards from various "music ministers".

I am not known for keeping a neat choir loft, but I have that luxury because I have a LOFT! My mess is not visible. Whenever I have worked in a parish with a visible choir area I have made a point to keep it as neat and clean as possible. The last thing the congregation needs is the distraction of looking at a mess.

Now to the organ! The music director at this parish only begrudgingly plays the organ. He makes it very clear that he is a pianist, not an organist. First, he changed the presets to some of the strangest I have ever seen. Then, the volume of the organ was set so loud it probably blew out the ears of the congregations. I left with a headache and I was very far away from the speakers. Therefore, it only makes sense that the expression pedal was non-functioning. Also, the crescendo pedal was useless, since there were only about two stops attached to it.

Oh the beautiful music that used to come out of that organ! With some difficulty I was able to make it sound decent, but with the volume set at the decible level of a Guns N' Roses concert it was difficult.

My one victory: To the dismay of the parish secretary, I successfuly nixed Wind Beneath My Wings from the request list. Unfortunately, it was replaced by On Eagles Wings. What's the fascination with wings? The secretary even asked if I would play a CD with Wind Beneath My Wings. NO!

I didn't make it to the choir loft, but I expect that the pipe organ is no longer there - another victim to the renovations. One thing that did fall victim was the old confessionals, where I used to store my sheet music and microphone stands. There are gone, all in the name of progress. One bright spot: the reredos and old altar still remain. I guess there is still hope, and the changes to the organ aren't permanent. Still sad though.

Sing to the Lord

The USCCB has released the new document on Liturgical music, titled "Sing to the Lord".

There are a few sections which I would like to highlight here. My comments are in red.

The Liturgical Judgment
127. The question asked by this judgment may be stated as follows: Is this composition capable of meeting the structural and textual requirements set forth by the liturgical books for this particular rite? Hmmm, good thought which I think many musicians fail to consider.

128. Structural considerations depend on the demands of the rite itself to guide the choice of parts to be sung, taking into account the principle of progressive solemnity (see nos. 110ff. in this document). A certain balance among the various elements of the Liturgy should be sought, so that less important elements do not overshadow more important ones. Textual elements include the ability of a musical setting to support the liturgical text and to convey meaning faithful to the teaching of the Church.

129. A brief introduction to the aspects of music and the various liturgical rites is
provided below in nos. 137ff. Pastoral musicians should develop a working familiarity with the requirements of each rite through a study of the liturgical books themselves. Liturgical knowledge is another area where many liturgical musicians are lacking. It is great to me a master musician, but that it hardly enough.

[...]

The Musical Judgment
134. The musical judgment asks whether this composition has the necessary aesthetic qualities that can bear the weight of the mysteries celebrated in the Liturgy. It asks the question: Is this composition technically, aesthetically, and expressively worthy? Just think of "I Myself am the Bread of Life", or "If I Was a Butterfly"

135. This judgment requires musical competence. Only artistically sound music will be effective and endure over time. To admit to the Liturgy the cheap, the trite, or the musical cliché often found in secular popular songs is to cheapen the Liturgy, to expose it to ridicule, and to invite failure. Hahahaha! There goes how many songs in the hymnals.

136. Sufficiency of artistic expression, however, is not the same as musical style, for “the Church has not adopted any particular style of art as her own. She has admitted styles from every period, in keeping with the natural characteristics and conditions of peoples and the needs of the various rites.”104 Thus, in recent times, the Church has consistently recognized and freely welcomed the use of various styles of music as an aid to liturgical worship. Ehhh, not too sure about that.

All 87 pages of the document are available here. I haven't read the entire document yet, but I doubt it will change a thing.

What's the Hymn For

Fr. Longnecker has a great post on his blog titled What's A Hymn For.

Here is one of his gems:

The final problem is that too many hymn writers seem to have little understanding of either Scripture, the symbols and types of the faith or the theology of the faith. The great old hymns that have stood the test of time were written from the authors' deep immersion in the great themes of Scripture, the great stories of the Old Testament and the great theological concepts that inspire and instruct us as we sing. The newer stuff tends to be dumbed down, sentimental and weak.

Organist Celebrates 50 Years

From the Fall River Spirit

Norman Gingras really is one of an almost lost breed. He is one of the most skilled organists in the diocese and he plays one of the most beautiful organs in the diocese.

Given the trend these days for people to change their employment paths every few years, it's hard to imagine someone staying on in the same job for half a century. But Normand Gingras has enjoyed every moment of the five decades he has served as organist and choir director at St. Anne's Church and Shrine.

Despite his years of formal European music training, Gingras still sets aside time each day to practice on the grand pipe organ in the choir loft of St. Anne's Church that he oversaw the installation of more than 40 years ago. And at 80, he wouldn't even think twice about going out of the house without his signature jacket and tie.

He's traveled around the world, and makes regular jaunts to New York's Metropolitan Opera. So does he ever think of retiring?
"Why, if I can still do it? I don't know what I'd do with myself," he says.

He says he will keep on playing at his requisite five Masses a week and numerous weddings and funerals throughout each year as long as he can continue to ascend the 40 steps leading to his perch high above the pews with ease.

Read the rest here.

Shocking Liturgical Music News

H/t to Gerald.

Brace yourself dear readers! What I am about to tell you will shock you to your core. Marty Haugen started working in Liturgy without knowing anything about Liturgy. I know this is shocking news, considering the level of Liturgical superiority in his music.

Here is his quote:

I took my first job as a way of keeping me from going to Africa in the Peace Corps. I had signed up but didn’t want to go because I was in love with the woman who was to become my wife. I thought perhaps I could take a job for a year until I could get married and find out what I really wanted to do. A chaplain suggested that I apply for a Catholic church job. I said I didn’t know anything about the Catholic liturgy, and he said, well, these days, nobody does—you’ll feel right at home. And he was right.

Not only that, but he never wanted to be a church musician. In fact, he considered giving up music.

I started Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) as a piano major but switched to psychology, thinking I would go to seminary. When my advisor asked why I was dropping music, I said the only options I saw were to be a teacher or a performer, and neither interested me. The third option was to be a church musician, and I surely didn’t want to do that. To me a church musician only directed the choir and played the hymns. That seemed so narrow, it didn’t seem like ministry, and I was interested in ministry.

It gets better.

The first Sunday I came to the Catholic church, we were instructed to sing the psalm—interactively! I was struck during that service by how badly the people sang and how poorly written the psalm setting was. It was awful. I thought to myself—I could write this badly!

And so, he apparently set out to do just that.

Learning to compose for the text—to make the music support the text—was a long process for me.

You mean as opposed to changing the text to fit the music?

You can read the rest for yourself right here.

OCP Expands

The hymnal publisher, OCP, has purchased the bulletin publisher, Liturgical Publications, and formed a new company called Pastoral Solutions.

H/T to Dom. Read the article here.

New Funeral Policy in Providence

Brian has it:

Effective July 1, 2007, that will change. Per order Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, the new policy will be that the undertaker cuts one check to the parish for everything, including music, and the parish cuts the check for the musician.

I agree with Brian that the small inconvience of waiting until payday, is worth it for the benefits which will come from this.

Read the complete post and discover the benefits here.

Authentic Liturgy

H/T to Brian.

Bishop Robert Morlino from the diocese of Madison has written a wonderful letter on liturgical music.

(This communication was sent directly to all priests and deacons in the Diocese of Madison, as well as to the local parish directors of worship and directors of music.)

Dear Friends,

The clear teaching of the Second Vatican Council is that the presence of Christ at Mass occurs in four different ways: the most sacramentally intense presence of Christ is His Real Presence under the signs of bread and wine; the second most sacramentally intense presence of Christ is in His proclaimed word; the third most sacramentally intense presence of Christ is through the priest, who is ordained to act in the person of Christ; and the fourth most sacramentally intense presence of Christ is in the assembly. These four "places" of the presence of Christ are all important but they are not all equal in sacramental intensity.

Misinterpretation of council teachings
In previous communications, I have written about what Pope Benedict has called the discontinuity hermeneutic, that is the various misinterpretations of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, which have occurred since the council and which now stand in need of correction.

After the council, an overemphasis was given to the presence of Christ in the assembly, so that the other ways Christ is even more sacramentally intensely present suffered a certain neglect.
Evidence of that is given through the occurrence, not unusual throughout the United States, of the practice of the taking of the consecrated Precious Blood of Christ, which remained after Mass, and pouring it down the sacrarium or even an ordinary sink. Evidence of this is also given in the need seen universally among the Bishops of the United States to issue a document affirming and clarifying our belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species.

As I have said repeatedly, everything that we do or do not do at the Eucharistic liturgy teaches. Pope Benedict has called us recently to a reflection about the music that is sung during the liturgy, and in fact our national bishops' conference will be considering this matter further at our coming meeting in November.

Music during the Mass
The question arises, does some of the music routinely sung embody the incorrect overemphasis on the presence of Christ in the assembly, so that people are confused as to the importance of the sacramental intensity of His presence, especially under the signs of bread and wine.

Certain songs come to mind where the lyrics raise a real question for me. For example: "We are called, We are chosen, We are Christ for one another, We are a promise, We are sower, We are seed, We are question, We are creed." Singing that song repeatedly teaches people something, and I am afraid that it is something that I as Bishop do not want to teach them, but we certainly need to begin a dialogue about these matters.
Another example of this same problem would be the lyrics of the hymn Gather Us In, where a seemingly endless explanation is given to God about who We are, who are gathered in.

Pope Benedict has said that the music at Mass is not an extrinsic accompaniment to the liturgy, but is intrinsically part of our prayer of praise and adoration and thanksgiving to the Lord. The words of the songs we sing should be focused on giving praise and adoration to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, rather than explaining to God things about ourselves or even praising ourselves.

When we gather for the Eucharist, we gather as sinners as the beautiful Eucharistic Preface teaches: "You have no need of our praise, yet our desire to thank You is itself Your gift. Our prayer of thanksgiving adds nothing to Your greatness, but makes us grow in your grace, through Jesus our Lord." That prayer of the Church contains the truth about the assembly. We are an assembly in whom Christ is indeed present, an assembly blessed with this wonderful gift even though we are sinners. The music we sing at Mass should teach nothing different than that.

Open discussion about music at Mass
I make these observations in order to open a discussion about the music we sing at Mass, in the context of my addressing my second focal point since coming to Madison (vocations has been the first focal point), of liturgy and catechesis. This is just the beginning of a discussion. I will in the near future be issuing additional guidelines for music at celebration of Confirmation only (which will take effect next Easter), and any further liturgical approaches that we take as a diocese will depend on the continuing wisdom which Pope Benedict offers us about liturgical music, on the wisdom we receive from our deliberations as a National Conference of Bishops, and upon the reflections I hear from our good priests and people in the days ahead.

But I write this present communication in the hope that pastors and brother priests, deacons, and various liturgical ministers in the parishes will begin to reflect on and discuss this particular important matter, so that the liturgical prayer of our people will be more integral with and more expressive of authentic spirituality and theology, and as a result our faithful people who pray that prayer will be even more holy than so many of you already are.

We must remember that as we pray before the "Holy, Holy, Holy," the angels and saints are present with us giving praise to the Trinity. The hymns we sing should be worthy of the participation of the angels and saints.

Thank you for reading this, God bless you and yours. Praises be Jesus Christ!

Thank you Bishop Morlino for these simple words, which are so hard to get liturgical musicians to understand. I hope more bishops will take such an active stand on liturgical music.