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Saturday 28 February 2009

"The end result is chaos"

A Catholic university campus minister has some things to say about the requirements of music used in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the neglect rather than honor paid these requirements virtually everywhere.
He also touches on the seizing upon of options -- WHERE OPTIONS DO NOT LEGITIMATELY EXIST, and the fact we must keep always before us that most of the abuse and destruction is the work of ignorance, not willful disregard of liturgical precepts.

The reason this interests me is that, unless I have misread, this is not a [traditionalist, axe-grinding, purview-defending, snobbish, you pick the word....] liturgical musician speaking.

If you can read, you can know this stuff.

I'm willing to bet...that your home parish doesn't frequently feature Gregorian chant in their Sunday liturgies. Why is this?

Many think the answer is obvious. Didn't all that go out with Vatican II and the New Mass? Isn't it just now starting to make a come-back with the new allowance of the Old Mass (now called the Extraordinary Form) under Benedict XVI?

Well.... not exactly.

The truth is that Vatican II did have something to say about sacred music in the liturgy (more in fact, than any other council before it). But it's not what the average Catholic might think.

Our blogging campus minister goes on to tell the average non-musician what he needs to know an probably doesn't.

I have to remember the truth of his laying the blame for this on ignorance.
Althouhg is it invincible ignorance when TPTB refuse to inform themselves of the truth when it is explicitly pointed out to them?

Because it isn't only average )lay) non-musicians who are in want of this information -- it is many employed or volunteering as musicians who toil in ignorance.
And sadly, it is many, many members of the presbyterate and episcopacy.

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