Wishing you a blessed solemnity of SS. Peter and Paul:
English Chant Propers for the Sacred Heart
English chant propers for the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus:
English Chant Propers for Corpus Christi
Wishing you all a blessed Corpus Christi, here are some recordings and practice videos of some of the English chant propers found in Lumen Christi Simple Gradual.
These antiphons use the new translation of the Roman Missal as their basis, and are simple enough for the entire congregation to sing, while having enough musical interest and beauty to bear repetition over time, year after year.
Even if your parish will not be singing the proper antiphons of the Mass this year, you can prepare yourself by praying along with the chants that the Church places before us on this most solemn feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.
The Lumen Christi Simple Gradual can be ordered here.
New English Propers for the Ascension of the Lord
Many will remember when videos for my book Simple English Propers were posted here on a weekly basis. This effort was grass-roots in every way, and did much to spark a renewed interest in chanting the Propers of the Mass throughout the English-speaking world.
Now, I am extremely excited to begin sharing some all-new recordings and videos from the Lumen Christi Simple Gradual—the work that has grown from and followed SEP. These simple, yet enduring chant settings are also found in the Lumen Christi Missal.
The antiphons of the Lumen Christi Simple Gradual have the benefit of being in accord with the new translation of the Roman Missal, and are arranged with the realities of parish life in mind. Accompaniment editions can be freely downloaded weekly at the Illuminare Score Library, and both Assembly and Choir Editions are now available for purchase.
Please enjoy these recordings, which are more than mere demonstration videos. I hope that they will also serve as helpful weekly meditations on the scriptures and on the proper texts of the Mass, so that we can continually strive to pray with the Church.
ENTRANCE ANTIPHON, Men of Galilee
OFFERTORY ANTIPHON, God Goes Up with Shouts of Joy
COMMUNION ANTIPHON, Sing Praise to the Lord
Or: COMMUNION ANTIPHON, Behold, I am with you Always
See you in Florida!
I’m looking forward to being with all of the good people in the Florida CMAA chapter this week at the 6th Annual Gregorian Chant Conference, held at Ave Maria University.
I’m particularly excited to have the opportunity to give a presentation on the Lumen Christi Series which I am developing with Illuminare Publications, and also to direct the advanced men’s schola in both Gregorian and vernacular chant.
The brand-new Lumen Christi Simple Gradual will be available at the conference, and I’m very excited to share with the participants the ways that this new resource can help average parishes sing the Mass.
The concluding liturgy on Saturday will include the Entrance and Communion chants from the Graduale Romanum, in addition to the Gregorian Alleluia, and the Responsorial Psalm and Alleluia will be from the Lumen Christi Missal.
The Ordinary of the Mass will be Mass Setting II, as found in the Lumen Christi Missal and Simple Gradual, which is a simple, tone-based mass setting in Mode 6 that can easily be sung in any parish:
It’s going to be a great conference. I hope to see you there!
Lumen Christi Simple Gradual Now Shipping!
I am extremely excited to announce that the Lumen Christi Simple Gradual, from Illuminare Publications, is now shipping! It can be ordered here in both Assembly and Choir Editions.
The Lumen Christi Series is the work that I have been carrying since Simple English Propers, which many long-time readers of the Chant Cafe will remember began developing here back in 2010. Here is a short video on the tree that is growing out of the seed that was SEP:
The Lumen Christi Simple Gradual is the fulfillment of the hope that began with Simple English Propers, mostly due to its flexible nature, and full integration into a series of publications including a Missal, companion Hymnal, full Gradual, Accompaniment Editions, and so much more.
The renewal of parish music according to the Church’s mind on the liturgy and authentic tradition is a big task. It takes much time, wisdom, excellent resources, and great faith. Illuminare Publications has organized an effort that can provide the resources and ongoing assistance that parishes need as they undertake this most important work.
Visit the Illuminare website to learn more about the Lumen Christi Simple Gradual, and the work that lies ahead in service of the Church’s ongoing work of authentic liturgical renewal.
You can also join the Illuminare newsletter in order to receive updates as the Lumen Christi Series moves forward toward completion.
The Case for Disposable Liturgy
It’s that time of year again.
Parishes all across the country are faced with the annual decision of whether to cancel their disposable missal subscriptions, or to renew it again “for just one more year”.
Almost everyone knows that these subscription missals are not only of extremely poor quality – often getting beaten up, dogeared, and virtually torn apart by regular use in a matter of months – but that they are also at least 75% more costly to their parishes than permanent, dignified, long-lasting books for the pews.
Why do 3 out of 4 parishes continue to participate in this cycle of waste, degradation of the liturgy, and disrespect for the Word of God and the liturgical texts? The latest mailer from the leading disposable missal publisher makes the case very compellingly for why the majority of parishes today choose disposable liturgy.
Firstly, one of the most striking and utterly ironic features of this mailer – recently sent out to every parish in the country – is that it is very attractive: It is glossy, in full color, and printed on heavyweight paper. It is eight pages long and has very little text on each page, featuring instead a substantial amount of beautifully printed photography. The irony in this brochure is that the quality of this advertisement, which is instantly bound for parish trash cans after a single glance, is ten times the quality of the annual newsprint publications which it is promoting. Perhaps it is not ironic at all, but instead is a clever bit of marketing. Holding this beautiful, heavyweight promotional booklet certainly creates the illusion of quality products.
Next, we find the most important selling point, seemingly seeking to instill fear into the minds and souls of pastors: What if your needs change? How will you respond?
The pitch continues with the repetition of several key words and points that highlight the benefits of disposable missal programs: diversity, confidence, changing needs, fresh, flexibility, versatile, evolving, etc., etc.
Let us ask ourselves for a moment – are these the words that should be used to describe the liturgy of Catholic Church?
For each of them we can find a counterpart that better describes the true nature of the Church’s liturgical worship: universality, stability, catechesis and formation, timelessness, tradition, common to all, constant, etc.
Which words better describe the authentic nature of the liturgy to you?
Continuing on, the main selling point in this pamphlet couldn’t be more clear than the narrative found on the first page:
“Having a missal program that adapts to your changing needs, celebrates faith with an unmatched repertoire, and keeps you confident – knowing you always have the latest approved texts and music in hand – is invaluable.” (Emphasis as in original).
“Invaluable” is perhaps one way to put it. “Exorbitantly expensive” is another.
What might be helpful to pastors and music directors in assessing the true value of these products is a simple cost analysis between the leading disposable missal program and the leading permanent missal for the pew. This is simply an objective, dollars-and-cents comparison, apart from any means of instilling emotional or psychological distress.
A typical parish might maintain a subscription of 500 copies of the leading disposable missal program. The hard, published cost of this is $3,775.00 per year plus an annual shipping charge of approximately $800 per year. The total cost for this parish per year for this subscription is $4575.00.
This price is certainly lower than the cost of virtually any hardbound book, and it surely can be an attractive number when considering only the limits of a strapped annual budget.
But it is not the first year that breaks the bank for parishes. It is the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth… the tenth, even more.
After just three years, this parish will have spent $13,725.00, and will nothing to show for it other than the necessity of having to renew a costly subscription for yet another year. After 10 years of this, the total cost will be at an astonishing $45,750.00!
If the same parish, however, makes the switch to a permanent missal for the pew, it will break even with the leading disposable missal subscription in the middle of year three!
Put a different way, many parishes fear that they have to make a commitment of at least ten years in order to get the full value out of a permanent missal. This is not true. In fact, the cost of a three year subscription is greater than the cost of owning a permanent missal for three years.
This means that if you cancel your disposable missal subscription and purchase the Lumen Christi Missal instead, you will break even in three years, and potentially save your parish a whopping $34,475.00 over the course of a ten year period.
Thought of another way, if your “needs change” in three years time you can throw your permanent missals away, resubscribe to a disposable missal, and never have lost a cent.
When we look at the truth behind disposable missals we can see that a projected sense of security, flexibility and versatility is far from being “invaluable”. It is indeed extremely expensive. And what do parishes actually get in return? They get virtually the same newsprint, paperback missal sent out to them year after year with nothing more than a change of dates, with the addition of a few new obscure hymns, and a new cover. Truly, not much more changes than this.
There is an alternative, however. It is a hardcover missal with a gold embossed cover, has a sewn binding with two ribbons and is printed on the highest quality paper.
It is the Lumen Christi Missal and it is ready to help you communicate to your parishioners the permanence, timelessness, universality and beauty of the sacred liturgy. At the same time it can save your parish thousands of dollars.
If you make the switch from a disposable missal before this Advent, you can save 10% on your total order (use coupon code advent2013).
The liturgy is not disposable – it is eternal. You can help shift the expectations of your parish from the fear of constant change and vulnerability that is fostered by the leading disposable missal publishers, and instead focus it on a sense of stability, permanence, and timelessness with one single change.
The choice to make the switch has never been easier.
Learn more at www.illuminarepublications.com.
The liturgy is not disposable – it is eternal. You can help shift the expectations of your parish from the fear of constant change and vulnerability that is fostered by the leading disposable missal publishers, and instead focus it on a sense of stability, permanence, and timelessness with one single change.
The choice to make the switch has never been easier.
Learn more at www.illuminarepublications.com.