This is a very interesting video lecture. It is oddly sad that to have the very beautiful but still common Requiem introit presented as some ancient and unheard medieval artifact.
Those Offertory Verses
A comment on this post on the offertory antiphon asked about the verses. I’m happy to report that we have a book of verses online and in print – the original Gregorian ones – plus a simplified version by Rice.
Here is the verse attached to Sunday’s antiphon. Amazing isn’t it?
English Chant for Ash Wednesday
Fr. Samuel Weber has provided the Cafe some beautiful chants for Ash Wednesday.
Marketing chant as therapy
An outstanding singer from Lionheart is pushing a chant workshop by drawing attention to its contemplative features. There’s a point here:
Chanting is a key element in the contemplative practices of many religious traditions. When chanting or listening to ancient chant, we can experience the wisdom and beauty that has nurtured countless souls and withstood the passing fashions of history.
A primary attribute of Gregorian chant, which was popularized in the Middle Ages but has Hebraic and Mediterranean roots, is its provocative, instructive texts. After meditating on such texts and completing their duties, medieval monks would convene around fires in the monastery’s warming house for comfort and the hospitality of community.
In this workshop led by Jeffrey Johnson, we create a warming house of our own, exploring Gregorian chant through meditation, reflection, discussion, singing in Latin and English, and ritual. We receive instruction to connect our body and voice, and sing chants by Hildegarde von Bingen, chants influenced by John Cassian, psalms, and new chants composed in the Gregorian style.
All are welcome to attend. No previous musical experience or specific religious background is required.
Jeffrey Johnson is an acclaimed Gregorian chant practitioner, educator, voice instructor, and theater artist. A founding member of the celebrated vocal ensemble Lionheart, he has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and on Broadway.
September 9 – 11, 2011
Rhinebeck, New York
Tuition: $295
Member Tuition: $270
Richard Rice Psalms Available in eBook Downloads
All four are certainly worth having right away. Richard Rice has been a key contributor in moving us away from the world of lame Psalms to solemn, dignified, and liturgy-worth settings for the ordinary form. These collections cover years A,B, and C plus solemnities.
So you want to sing the Offertory?
The Offertory chant is probably the most neglected proper in the ordinary form of the Mass. The overwhelming habit here is to just sing some random hymn or listen to some piece that the pianist or small choir has worked up. Most Catholics are shocked to learn that there is a specific chant and text assigned to his procession as part of the liturgical structure of the Roman Rite.
The offertory text for the 9th Sunday in Ordinary time is Sperent in te. Here are some options.
The Anglican Use Gradual which is also in print:
The Simple Choral Gradual by Richard Rice:
The Palmer-Burgess Gradual which is also in print.
And finally the normative option, the Gregorian from the Roman Gradual or Gregorian Missal, and an MP3 of the same.
Current and Forthcoming: Ninth Sunday of the Year
COLLECT
Current
Father, your love never fails
Hear our call.
Keep us from danger
and provide for all our needs.
Forthcoming
O God, whose providence never fails in its design,
keep from us, we humbly beseech you,
all that might harm us
and grant all that works for our good.
AFTER COMMUNION
Current
Lord, as you give us the body and blood of your Son,
guide us with your Spirit
that we may honor you
not only with our lips,
but also with the lives we lead,
and so enter your kingdom
Forthcoming
Govern by your Spirit, we pray, O Lord,
those you feed with the Body and Blood of your Son,
that, professing you not just in word or in speech,
but also in works and in truth,
we may merit to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Comments: Providence includes far more than just love; it suggests all-embracing control of the universe. In the face of this, humility is appropriate, a humility missing in the current version but evident in the forthcoming version of the collect. So too with the prayer after communion: in the first, our merit of Heaven is presumed and non-contingent. In the second, living a life of truth is essential in order to merit to enter Heaven. Recollecting the difference between love and providence, we also discover after communion in the forthcoming version that we are not merely to be guided by God but completely governed by God.