Here’s a wonderful new promotional video from the Liturgical Institute of the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Chicago:
Watching this is very sentimental for me because it was filmed during the summer session of this past year while I was on campus as a student at the Liturgical Institute. It truly is a remarkable place and I believe that the vision of the institute is the way of the future in the liturgy and in the Church.
I strongly encourage anyone who seeks to be thoroughly imbued with the Spirit of the Liturgy to consider studies at the Liturgical Institute. Though not a school of music I find that it offers something to church musicians that they will not find anywhere else–a thorough study of the theological foundations of the liturgy; a training perhaps not in the how of sacred music, but a firm grounding in the what and why of the liturgy, and of the sacred music that is in service of it. Highly recommended!
(By the way, did you catch Kevin Allen in the video who has directed the institute’s sacred music retreat over the past two years?)
How do they do for music? They show the what and why of liturgy, which is great, but how about the what and why of music? It may be telling that there is not a single note of liturgical music heard in this promotion, only smarmy background music. My ears ached to hear just a snatch of Kevin Allen's music as I saw him conducting
Other such institutions have taken steps toward a sound liturgical theology, while tacitly endorsing the status quo in the parishes regarding music. I hope this is not the case here.
Professor, you would have to look to the Mundelein Psalter, I believe, to get a taste of that. But yes, I would agree that musical liturgy is not the strong suit of the Institute, at least as I've experienced it in presentations and workshops.
That said, I would think that if the Institute were marketing itself to chant lovers, yes, the choice of music leaves something to be desired. It strikes me as "professional" in the sense of being composed and timed for heighten the sense of excitement and verve as you're watching.
There should be more opportunities available to lay people for this kind of study. If we were truly a liturgical church, every diocese, or at least in every archdiocese.
Agreed, Dr. Mahrt, the music in this video is a little silly and certainly has no connection to the sacred music that is sung in Liturgical Institute liturgies.
At every liturgy at the Liturgical Institute propers are sung, feast and daily Mass alike. These are usually done in simple chant settings from Fr. Weber. The antiphons are sung by all and verses by a cantor. Nothing ever in any way is substituted for the singing of prescribed texts at LI liturgies. The Mass Ordinary is concventionally Latin Gregorian chant. I have sung in liturgy at least 5 different Gregorian ordinaries in the two years I have been at the institute. A student schola forms over the summer that supplements this with the singing of various motets and polyphonic pieces. This past summer a few of us students formed a small schola that focused on the singing of Gregorian Offertories which were sung at various daily Masses. The Office is sung daily by all students using the Mundelein Psalter.
The acoustic in the chapel is gorgeous and ideal for the a cappella singing that done daily. And there are also two very nice organs in the chapel, but they in fact are rarely used because of the vast amount of unaccompanied singing.
So the status quo is shattered here. It is a remarkable and refreshing experience to live the liturgical life of the LI!
By the way, Dr. Mahrt, a very common conversation that occurs at the end of the summer session each year among priests and pastors is "how can I bring propers back to my parish?", after they have experienced first hand that it can be done, and have enjoyed a substantial fast from the status quo. Not only the academic studies but also the lived liturgical experience at the Institute does much to inspire change in the musical culture of parishes.