Chant Café

The answer is simply Catholicism, in all its fullness and depth, a faith able to distinguish itself from any cultures and yet able to engage and transform them all, a faith joyful in all the gifts Christ wants to give us and open to the whole world he died to save. The Catholic faith shapes a church with a lot of room for differences in pastoral approach, for discussion and debate, for initiatives as various as the peoples whom God loves. But, more profoundly, the faith shapes a church which knows her Lord and knows her own identity, a church able to distinguish between what fits into the tradition that unites her to Christ and what is a false start or a distorting thesis, a church united here and now because she is always one with the church throughout the ages and with the saints in heaven. 

Francis Cardinal George

An article about the Church’s young organists.

On Saturday, November 29, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Ramona, CA will offer a day-long workshop and retreat called Adventus Dona – Gifts of the Advent.

The workshop will be divided into two parts – adult, taught by Dr. John Naples, and youth – taught by Mary Ann Carr Wilson. The workshop will focus on rehearsing the chants for the Advent season in both Latin and English. The day will culminate in a sung Mass in the Ordinary form for the 1st Sunday of Advent, followed by Vespers in the Extraordinary form including Adoration and Benediction.

As a special treat for the participants, there will be a presentation by the Society of St. John Chrysostom on the vestments and vessels of the Eastern and Western Church. Additionally, John Polhamus of the Brothers of the Little Oratory in San Diego will present an introduction to Vespers in the Extraordinary form.

A Continental breakfast, Fiesta Lunch and afternoon snack will all be provided along with a complete music booklet. Registration for the course is $40. For more information, contact the organizers by email at: music@ihmramona.org or call the parish office at (760) 789-0583. Deadline for registration is November 24th.

Earlier this week I attended a wonderful lecture by Cardinal Müller, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It was a rhetorically beautiful lecture in an Augustinian style, repeating important points at intervals, in slightly varied ways, and with a certain development of thought.

My takeaway, based on these repeated points, was as follows:

• Evangelization should have these four characteristics: it should focus on what is necessary, beautiful, grand, and persuasive. This framework is taken directly from the Holy Father’s Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, paragraph 35: “When we adopt a pastoral goal and a missionary style which would actually reach everyone without exception or exclusion, the message has to concentrate on the essentials, on what is most beautiful, most grand, most appealing and at the same time most necessary.”
• The work of the Magisterium should not be seen as extrinsic and above the communion of the faithful, but as one aspect of that communion and within it.

His Eminence also spoke about the centrality of Scripture in the New Evangelization.

As I’ve mentioned before, there is another, ongoing series of lectures that might interest our readers, and that is the School of Philosophy’s annual fall series, which this particular year is devoted to philosophy and music. On a personal level, this series is important to me, not only because it combines two of my dearest interests, but because my undergraduate alma mater is considerably involved. The videos below show the first two lectures. The first is by a fellow alum of St. John’s College, who is now on the faculty of CUA’s School of Philosophy, and the second is by a faculty member of St. John’s.

By the end of both lectures, I was pretty well convinced that the very fact of polyphony has not yet been honestly faced as an ecclesial problem. It seems to me that as soon as our voices divide, there is an aspect of our song to God that is referred not only directly to Him, but also in reference to the others.

I don’t think that this is an insurmountable problem, but it does divide the directionality of liturgical, musical prayer. The question for me is whether that division must always be a distraction. Are we–or were we at Trent–sufficiently mature as a Church to sing with a voice that is divided but one? Are we, in fact, ready for communio?

I hope you enjoy the lectures. More to come.

Register now for the upcoming Winter CMAA courses…

… and receive Early Bird tuition rates. If you have been considering participation in the Winter Chant Intensive or Sing the Mass courses in Phoenix this year, don’t forget to register by November 15th.
CMAA members also receive discounted tuition rates for our 2015 programs.

In January, you’ll be happy to spend time in the beautiful SS Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix, enjoying a respite from the winter weather in other parts of the country. Take part in the first ever Sing the Mass course, to be taught by Matthew J. Meloche, or this year’s Winter Chant Intensive, with Jeffrey Morse instructing.

Sing the Mass, a course for priests, deacons and seminarians (or those who work to assist them), will give clergy and seminarians the skills they need to sing their parts with confidence and beauty in the course of the liturgies. This class presupposes no musical knowledge and will be taught in a language friendly to non-musicians.

Winter Chant Intensive, a course for beginners and intermediate chanters offers full immersion into the world of Gregorian chant from the start. You will learn or review how to read and fully navigate all aspects of traditional Gregorian notation (square notes). The course will also address correct Latin pronunciation, the sound and mystery of the eight Church modes, Psalm tones and their applications, questions concerning the rhythm of plainsong, and more.

The CMAA’s winter courses will be held January 5-8, 2015 in Phoenix, AZ. Celebrate Epiphany with the Church Music Association of America!

For more information about the upcoming courses and details about registration, visit the webpage here.