Colloquium Registration Ends Saturday
Familiar Tunes Described
Here is a description. See if you can guess the song. More of this here.
This hymn depicts a human soul responding to the call of Christ—but the music is whiny and grim, evoking in most people’s minds a can of rancid potted meat, being slowly spread by windshield wipers across a plate of dirty auto glass. You hear Christ calling, all right—but you feel like He’s some hobo who’s tapping at your window at 4 a.m. to wake you from a sound sleep so He can ask you directions to Dunkin’ Donuts. You don’t so much want to answer Him as clock him with a slipper. Sung in a sleepwalking, zombie rhythm, its use at Communion time produces a strikingly cinematic effect, which film critics have dubbed “The Church of the Living Dead.” Here again, we have a chance to bring good out of evil: In preliminary tests, use of this song by military interrogators has proved a successful, slightly more humane replacement for water-boarding.
Stuff you can’t do
Should the CMAA (and you) help this survey effort?
Everyone has heard about the results of a new survey on the Roman Missal that showed some surprising dissatisfaction with the new translation. My own thought on this: it is a demographic issue. Older priests don’t like it but younger priests do.
But I’m just speculating. We don’t know for sure. Well, what if we help to do another survey that attempts to break down the results by diocese and age and length of ordination? The CMAA has been asked to help fund this. Our part in this would not a very expensive but I do think I would need a donor of $500 to make this possible.
Such a donation could really be used to good effect. Mainly we will know more than we know now, and it could have strong implications for the future.
If you are interested, could you email me please? jeffrey@chantcafe.com
Some Chant Books for Sale
These are available:
- Cantus ad Processiones et Benedictiones – SSMI Sacramenti / Chants des Saluts et des Processions [Hardcover] 20 Books Available.
- The Pius X Hymnal The Pius X hymnal : for unison, two equal or four mixed voices. 37 Books Available
- Cantate Domino Prima Anthologia Melodica (liturgica)
- Rossini, Sac. Carlo. Fischer and Brothers, publishers. 1 book available
- Kyriale seu Ordinarium Missae. Missa pro Defunctis, Toni Communes Missae et Varii Cantus usitati ad Processionem et Benedictionem SS. Sacramenti [Modern Notation]. J. Fischer & Bro, 1927. 12mo, 174pp. Green hardcover. 36 Books available.
Contact:
John Sondag
Director of Religious Education
Church of St. Helena, Minneapolis
612-275-0431
Hymn Text Competition
Our Lady of Perpetual Irresponsibility, an American Catholic Community in the liberal Presbyterian tradition, is seeking new hymn texts to celebrate its 7th semi-annual experimental-worship conference, tentatively titled “Forward Together At Last: Walking Hand in Hand with Foot and Mouth.”
Hymn texts should explore the scriptural connection between genetically modified oat products and the devastating increase in preventable livestock maladies. Texts which frame the political and theological issues of GMOP in a specifically post-feminist cultural space of sub-Christian liminality will be given special consideration.
Texts should avoid archaic linguistic constructs, such as verb-pronoun agreement, apostrophatic contractions, and semi-gendered gerund clauses. Additionally, only unpublished texts written in 7676D will be considered.
By entering this competition, you are assigning the rights to the entered text, and all other texts written by you, to the board of trustees of Our Lady of Perpetual Irresponsibility ACC*P, Inc.
A non-refundable entry fee of $75 is required. Checks may be made out to OLPIACCP.
First place: $75 prize and inclusion in the disposable leaflets printed for the concluding liturgiscope of the conference.