Chant Camp in the Bay Area!

Our readers in the greater Bay Area region will want to know that Mary Ann Carr Wilson’s wonderful Chant Camp is making a one-week stop at St. Dominic’s Church in Benicia in two weeks’ time.

The camp has been recognized throughout the country as a popular week (involving hundreds of kids in San Diego) that moves children rapidly forward in their lives as chanters.

Best wishes for a fantastic week!

“And with your spirit”

If the Holy Spirit did not exist in the one who is the father and teacher of us all, when he ascended to that holy throne and gave peace to all of you, you would not have been able to reply to him with one voice: “and with your spirit.” That is why you are able to say these words not only when he ascends to the altar but also when he converses with you or prays for you; and when he stand at that holy table and is on the point of offering that fearful sacrifice, it is then that you as initiated ones know that he does not touch the offerings before he has implored for you the grace of the Lord or before you have replied: “And with your spirit.” This response reminds you that the one who is there does nothing by himself and that the gifts that are expected are in no way the works of man, but it is the grace of the Spirit that has descended on all of you that brings about this mystical sacrifice. There is no doubt that a man is present there, but it is God who acts through him.

St. John Chrysostom

Two guys, EF and OF, walk into a bar…I mean sacristy….

After getting and perusing the July/Aug. issue of the New Oxford Review, I read a lovely little piece of parabolic fiction by Deacon W. Patrick Cunningham of San Antonio. Deacon apparently attended the Indy Colloquium in 2014 and was moved to imagine what a conversation the characters OF and EF would have (with moderator.) It’s clever, not at all excessively scholarly or protracted. The central focus of the article regards how each rite “informs” the other, as Cunningham was invoking PEmeritus B16’s motu of ’07. I hope to have the Review’s permission to link this forum and the Café to the entire article within a couple of days. The good deacon assiduously avoids the snark that often attends such compare/contrast discussions, and actually the article could serve as a bridge not only for RotR, but perhaps actualizing the pastoral choice to celebrate the Vetus Ordo.

I would like to credit Mr. Pieter Vree and the staff of the “New Oxford Review” for their kind courtesy in allowing early release of the article.

Here is the article

“What Has Happened to Sacred Catholic Music?”

An article in the Catholic Stand, (a new-to-me website, but I’m always the last to know….) which includes an interview with our Kathy Reinheimer. (Many of the Chant Cafe’s readers will know her from Colloquia.)

Go read it all, but this struck me, what with all the conversation of late about church musicians abruptly fired/forced out.

[Kathy:] “I am seeing bright spots of scholae popping up all over the country.”

HL: “It still depends on the local bishop.”

Kathy: “My choir… operates at the pleasure of the bishop even though we are an independent 501c3, all he would have to do is send out a notice to all the parishes that Regina Pacis is no longer welcome and we would be done, just like that.  Bless his heart he has chosen to not do that, but there are other places that have not been as fortunate.

We must remember to count our blessings, making our prayers of thanksgiving not just petition, (I am speaking to myself here…)

Sacred Music Workshop in Georgia

News of this  in my inbox this a.m.

A One-day Experience of Gregorian Chant and Polyphony

The Summer Sacred Music Workshop is a one-day workshop where you will learn about the Ancient Gregorian Chant and other forms of Catholic Liturgical Music. The workshop is open to all who have an interest in the history and application of music in the liturgy; Catholics, non-Catholics, priests, deacons, religious, choir directors, singers, etc.
Workshop Highlights:

  • Training in Gregorian Chant under professional church musicians, with choices of a chant class for beginners, and courses for advanced men or women.
  • Keynote lecture by Rev. David Carter, JCL, entitled: Re-discovery of the Church’s Sacred Tradition: II Kings 22
  • A panel discussion on the Liturgy and Sacred Music
  • Choral experience with one of the two choirs; a beginning polyphony choir or a choir for more experienced singers.
  • A Sung Mass in the Novus Ordo where you can apply what you learn.
  • A music packet including all the chants, motets and other helpful resources.

When:
August 15, 2015
Venue:
Our Lady of the Mountains Roman Catholic Church