“5 reasons why young people are seeking old ways of doing church.”
Authenticity. Rootedness. Mystery. Icons and symbolism.
And—-Participation.
Read the article, with links to more, here.
Give Chant a Chance
A new school year is just around the corner, and the bright young children will soon be sitting in their uniforms in our Catholic schools.
Now is the time to give them access to their hereditary music as Catholics: Gregorian chant.
Mary Ann Carr Wilson has surely taught two hundred young chanters this summer in her hugely successful summer Chant Camps, and although not everyone can travel to California for this experience, everyone can do something.
- Begin with the presidential chants, even if only a recto tono (sung on one not) “The Lord be with you/ And with your spirit.”
- From there, sing the simplest chant ordinary, the Jubilate Deo Mass, which, as Pope Paul wrote, should be learned by all Catholics.
- From there, sing a Psalm at Communion instead of a hymn. And from there, the sky is the limit.
Meanwhile, in classrooms, teach the children how to sing and how to read Gregorian chant. It will be good for them in every way, from posture to general liberal arts learning to contemplation.
It’s always easy to think that kids will like the easiest music. But the single-voiced unharmonized music of chant, besides being perfectly age-appropriate, is genius composition, and will foster a love of music that will last a lifetime.
New Dominican Novices
Photos of the fifteen new Dominicans in the Eastern Province’s novitiate may be found here.
At some point, every vocations director in the world should ask themselves, “What are they doing right?”
Reflections on the Most Blessed Trinity
At a First Mass of Thanksgiving this past Sunday, the homilist, a Professor of Homiletics, joked to the new priest, “This is the last homily you will ever hear.” While that is a slight exaggeration, the fact is that most priests rarely enjoy the interactive learning experience of hearing other priests preach.
Until now, that is. The digital age makes access to excellent preaching easy and free.
For the last three evenings, a parish priest of the Diocese of Arlington, Fr. Christopher Pollard, has preached stunningly beautiful–and true–exemplary homilies on the sign of the cross.
Links are listed below in order, and the whole set, and more, can be found here.
A love song to Jesus
Sacred Heart Mass
Here in the greater DC area, you could hardly open a car door last night without bumping into a Missa Cantata for the Feast of Corpus Christi.
This, however, is unique to my knowledge–and will be wonderful! Here is the music list.
