Category: Jeffrey Tucker

Roma locuta est continues the job of comparing current with forthcoming translation, this time for the Collect (don’t you love how the word has been rescued?) for the Fourth Sunday of Advent.

CURRENT: Lord,
fill our hearts with your love,
and as you revealed to us by an angel
the coming of your Son as man,
so lead us through his suffering and death
to the glory of his resurrection,

FORTHCOMING Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord,
your grace into our hearts,
that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son
was made known by the message of an Angel,
may by his Passion and Cross
be brought to the glory of his Resurrection.

Who knew that the concluding prayer of Angelus was there? See how the new translation stitches our Catholic lives back together again?

One wonders: are we about to enter into a new Renaissance for Catholic composition? Now that the dust is starting to clear, and the vision of what is sacred is becoming ever more a part of the thinking of informed Catholics, perhaps we will see more and more of wonderful pieces like this.

Free Glory To God using the new ICEL translation (Roman Missal) from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

Here is the free PDF, but please contribute to Watershed’s work.

I’ll be speaking on “Music and the New Missal” at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, Chicago, Illinois, Saturday, April 2, 2011, from 1:30-3:30pm.

Actually I’ll be there from noon on for a “meet and greet,” followed by a presentation. We’ll discuss the history of Catholic Music from its beginnings to the Second Vatican Council and following, and examine the musical opportunities presented by the new Missal.

The address is 5212 West Agatite Ave., Chicago. I don’t think you need to RSVP but it might be nice to drop the parish a note if you are bring crowds of 100 or more. Kidding, but seriously: this could be a fun and educational time for everyone, and we’ll take some time to sing through the new chants and discuss the future of Catholic music in the United States.

I’m not of the opinion that the Responsorial Psalm is the ideal way to sing the Psalm between the readings. I’m grateful that the GIRM grants permission to use the traditional Gradual with its long melismatic phrases that inspire peace and contemplation.

However, the Responsorial Psalm is very deeply embedded into the practice of ordinary form liturgy today, and it is a reality for most parishes. Given that situation, I like what Arlene Oost-Zinner has done with the text. She provides a simple antiphon in plainsong followed by verses set to Gregorian tones, all of it sung by voices alone without accompaniment. To me, this is just about the best way to make something contemplative and beautiful out of something excessively minimalist. Here is her Psalm for this Sunday, for example.

Her Psalms for the entire three-year cycle can be found at Chabanel Psalms.

The new translation of the Roman Missal can be used as early as September in England and Wales, say reports. The official webpage is fine but not nearly as elegant as the USCCB’s own site.

It is at Wikispooks. Thanks Pray Tell.

And now we can compare Collects (which are actually called Collects in the new Missal!). Let’s look at the Second Sunday of Lent, as just one example of how the world we know is about to undergo a dramatic and glorious shift.

CURRENT: God our Father,
help us to hear your Son.
Enlighten us with your word,
that we may find the way to your glory.

FORTHCOMING: O God, who have commanded us
to listen to your beloved Son,
be pleased, we pray,
to nourish us inwardly by your word,
that, with spiritual sight made pure,
we may rejoice to behold your glory.