Meanwhile, In The Land of OCP...

...a.k.a. Portlandia, comes this pleasantly surprising development:

Archbishop Sample’s pastoral letter encourages worship music that is truly sacred — and he gives objective criteria (Catholic Sentinel)

Archbishop Alexander Sample on Jan. 25 released a pastoral letter to the Archdiocese of Portland on sacred music for Mass, seeking to highlight “perennial truths”: sanctity, beauty and universality. 

“Only music which possesses all three of these qualities is worthy of Holy Mass,” Archbishop Sample writes, explaining that ancient or modern music can qualify but that Gregorian chant is the preferred music for Roman Catholic worship. [...]

“The beauty, dignity and prayerfulness of the Mass depend to a large extent on the music that accompanies the liturgical action,” the archbishop writes.  

And from the letter itself (HT: Corpus Christi Watershed):

Every parish is asked to learn English plainchant settings found in the Roman Missal and should establish a least a small repertoire of Latin Gregorian chants for Mass parts.

Wow. Just wow. It doesn't get more direct than that, and yet it appears His Exellency has done a fine job of not browbeating it into his flock. That Abp. Sample is doing this is not surprising, since he laid the groundwork for a similar occurrence in the Diocese of Marquette, MI when he was bishop there.

We're not supposed to applaud in Church, so let's give His Excellency applause here:

Exit question: Does this new emphasis on sacred music make Portland more weird or less weird?

Why We Do What We Do, Again

Kathy has a tough job as our director, to say the least:

Way too often, I wonder what will become of RPC when Kathy gets called to her eternal reward, which I certainly hope is no time soon! Quite simply put, sacred music is not the most important thing in her life. It IS her life. I have tried to convey the enormity of the job Kathy has, including here and here.

Now, the staff at Corpus Christi Watershed has put together a "Church Music Manifesto" discussing the state of today's Catholic liturgical music. Please take the time to read it, understanding that Kathy has the additional task of finding us places to sing because we are not affiliated with a diocese or parish (remember, Assumption in Truckee is part of the Diocese of Sacramento). Not only does it show the enormity of what she's dealing with, but the task ahead for anyone else who deigns for follow in her footsteps.

Here's just one paragraph, into which I intersperse my comments:

The Second Vatican Council attempted to restore and elevate the Mass Propers, but this didn’t happen; less than 1% of Catholics who attend Mass each Sunday realize the Propers exist [myself included, despite--or because of--16 years of Catholic education]. Incredibly, it has become standard practice to replace the Propers with every manner of song: I’ve even heard rap at Mass! In this situation, people have come to believe Protestant hymnody to be the best church music [as late as 2004, I was agitating for more "praise and worship" music in the Liturgy, confiteor]. In particular, some now think of Episcopal texts as the supreme form of Catholic liturgical music. While I admit they’re often better than the drivel sung in certain churches, how far we’ve sunk as Catholics if such hymns are considered our ultimate goal. Indeed, the Brébeuf Hymnal could not have come at a better time: we need it! Needless to say, the changes in the liturgy which occurred after Vatican II—and incidentally went much further than what the Council Fathers authorized—have caused great confusion, and the Consilium gave no thought to the musical implications of their alterations [I contend they knew very well what they were doing. They were quite aware of Sacrosanctum Concilium; they just ignored/nullified it]. This confusion is partially to blame for the misinformed belief that Episcopal hymns are the pinnacle of Catholic worship. The truth is that Roman Catholic hymns are far and away the greatest, most ancient, most beautiful, and most theologically rich songs for the liturgy: Full Stop.

We can expect little to no support, and perhaps even opposition, from the Church hierarchy for any of this restoration of traditional music. Besides, they make spoon-fed OCP and GIA so easy for today's DRMs (I named names, Mr. Ostrowski). Fortunately, they're too busy avoiding doing anything about the sexual abuse crisis to notice this quiet revolution in the pews. For example, in the comments to this article, one reader said she had started a schola in her parish...in the Yukon territory of Canada. I think we can keep carrying on in Nevada and California.

Various Pre-Christmas Items

• Kathy snapped this photo of Fr. Vincent Juan, fresh from his six-month sabbatical, at a recent staff dinner for his parishes of Assumption Catholic Church in Truckee and Our Lady of the Lake Mission Church in Kings Beach. We thank Fr. Vince (whom Kathy describes as "such a kind priest") for giving us a new place to sing on a regular basis, although also deserving of hat tips are the couple who had been going to St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral in Reno who informed Fr. Vince about us; and Fr. Walsh, who filled in for Fr. Vince during his sabbatical and graciously let us sing. We will be visiting Assumption once a month through June.
• Speaking of which, Kathy recently released the remaining schedule for our season, subject to change as always. One unconfirmed date is a return to Our Lady of Tahoe in Zephyr Cove on Saturday, May 11 after a 10-year absence; if so, that will be thanks to our patron and OLT's current pastor, Fr. Larry Morrison.
• Because both Christmas and New Year's Days fall on Tuesdays this year, we will have only one (1) rehearsal on January 8 for our Baptism of the Lord Mass at Assumption on January 13. Don't be naughty! Make sure to listen to the sound files Kathy sent around not only for this Mass but for Christmas Day also. She can tell when we have and haven't listened, so be good for goodness' sake.
  

Snow Day (Night): What This Means

Well, a heavier-than-expected snowstorm took out our rehearsal tonight. Just wanted to make you aware that leaves us:

• One (1) more rehearsal before our Gaudete Sunday Mass in Truckee on Dec. 16; and 
• One (1) full rehearsal for our Christmas morning Mass in Washoe Valley.

As Kathy asked us, give a listen to the Gaudete Sunday proper sound files; she can't spend a lot of time on them next week. We might also want to (gasp!) take a few minutes out of Family Feud reruns to look at the rest of the music for that day.

Oh, by the way, another storm is possible early next week. Ah, there's nothing like December in Northern Nevada, but at least this is helping the Sierra snowpack.

Meanwhile in Rhode Island...

Aerial photo of Providence, RI by Peetlesnumber1 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

It's rare--but encouraging--to see this sort of editorial (!) in a Catholic newspaper. From the Rhode Island Catholic:

Beauty and truth are intertwined in the art and design of [pre-Vatican II] churches which elevate the worshipper’s mind to God and to his or her eternal destiny. The old pipe organs played music that enchanted the listener to the sounds of Gregorian chant, polyphony and various other timeless tracts. The Mass is both eternal and universal — celebrated everywhere, in every culture and every tradition.[...] Maybe it’s time to go back to something old, venerated and solemn rather than trying to re-invent the wheel for the sake of novelty.

Read the whole thing at the link above.

Meanwhile in Oxford...

[Image of the Oxford University Coat of Arms from Wikimedia Commons.]

Some great quotes from this Catholic Herald article about Gregorian Chant at the University of Oxford:

For those who have heard of Gregorian Chant at all, it immediately identifies us with the Catholic liturgy, and at the same time with something whose cultural and artistic value exercises a powerful attraction. We are the people who take chant seriously, and we sing it – naturally – in the Catholic liturgy. If you want to hear it being sung, or sing it with us, that’s where we’ll be. [...]

The effect of the schola on its members is not, of course, its main purpose. It exists for the glory of God and the salvation of souls, by supporting the celebration of Mass. [...]

It was good, therefore, to read this account concerning a young woman from Miami, who attended a Mass supported by this same Schola in Oxford when she was passing through:

During her post-collegiate travels she became resolute in converting to Catholicism after attending a Missa Cantata, or sung Mass, in the parish of her favorite author, J.R.R. Tolkien, a devout Catholic who penned the “Lord of the Rings” series.
When she heard Latin hymns coming from the choir loft, Tavakoli said, it felt like “hearing angels on high.”
She was mesmerized. “It truly is extraordinary,” she said. “There is something beautiful and sacred about this form of the Mass.” 

Yes, there is. And that is why we sing chant and polyphony.

 

Sad News and Good News

Kathy lost her sister-in-law earlier this week. As we prayed last night, but in English:

V. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine.
R. Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Fidelium animae, per misericordiam Dei, requiescant in pace. Amen.

We also lift up Kathy, her husband Bob, and his family in this difficult time.

On the upside, this is another RPC first: Assumption Parish in Truckee will host a post-Mass coffee get-together for us on Sunday, November 25 (Christ The King in the OF). Again, let us ask Our Lady of the Snows to intercede for us so we can make it there! Fr. Walsh (not the recently ordained one) told us this past Sunday our music made him feel like he was in seminary again, and many parishioners thanked us for coming. It is our pleasure!