Sample’s Quiet Revolution

Liturgical music. The phrase may instil a faint feeling of nausea in those even remotely attuned to true beauty, as the strains of treacly hymns, and worse, of the past half-century drift into our consciousness.

But, now, a glimmer of hope, for finally, an Archbishop– one Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon – has written and spoken out clearly on music, advocating the use, even the need, of Gregorian chant, and this in the Novus Ordo Mass, where it belongs just as much as in the usus antiquior. (For the full text of his pastoral letter, please see here.)

This is remarkable, but should not be, for everything in his Grace’s letter is a reiteration, in his own words, of what was taught at the Second Vatican Council, in its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, which has never really been put into effect, something upon which I wrote a while back.

The good Archbishop laments the state of liturgical music in his diocese and in the wider Church, charitably recognizing the efforts of less-than-well-trained, and perhaps even not all that well-intentioned, musicians. Music at Mass that consists of four-layered ‘hymn sandwiches’ – and not very exalted hymnody at that –do not constitute liturgical music. In fact, hymns are extrinsic to liturgy, and should be treated so, used only in the processional and recessional.

Rather, it is Gregorian chant is the music ‘proper’ to the liturgy, which means that something is sorely missing without it. Polyphony, as an extension of the chant into more than one harmonious voice, along with the organ, that ‘instrument of instruments’, and which should be held in ‘high honour’ as the primary accompaniment at Mass – add sublime and transcendent beauty and solemnity to those parts not chanted.

And one final note: Archbishop Sample also calls for silence at Mass, yes, that rare stillness, the necessity of which Cardinal Sarah has written so eloquently, where we might be quiet and receptive to God, to the ‘still, small voice’ that spoke to Elijah, and to saints through the ages.

So there is hope yet, if Archbishop Sample’s letter stirs a quiet revolution away from the banality, apathy and chaos that now confront us in our liturgical no-man’s land. We should not have to walk into a Mass wondering what might happen, and what music – to say nothing of all the other irregularities – we must confront. There should be a regularity and order to liturgy, in words, music, gestures, clothing, architecture, in accord with the Church’s consistent teaching.

We should pray that bishops take heed: One of their own has spoken, and spoken truly. We would all do well to listen, for Christ will ask us why we did not.

Carney’s Amoral Majority

After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→

Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress

This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→

A Tale of Two Benedicts

A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→

My Name is Bernadette

April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→

Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully

Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→

The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus

As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→

Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów

We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→

Saint Gemma Galgani

On this April 11th, in 1903 – the same year that the Italian Guiseppe Sarto was elected Pope later that summer as Pius X – a lovely, young Italian woman died, by the name of Gemma Galgani. She lived a brief life of 24 years, as did a number of other young saints, including Pier[…]Continue reading→

An Ideological and Improper Translation

I noticed something odd with the psalm reading at Mass the other day. Our bishops’ conference here in Canada has decreed that the Mass in English – Novus Ordo – use the ‘NRSV’, the ‘New Revised Standard Version’, an ‘updated’ translation of the original RSV, first published in 1952. This ‘new translation’ has the tendency[…]Continue reading→

Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle: A Teacher for Teachers

Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (1651 – 1719), a French nobleman, ordained a priest, founded the first order in the Church’s history entirely without priests, and this came about almost by accident. I say ‘almost’, for, of course, there are no accidents with God. Destined for ordination from an early age, Jean-Baptiste never looked back, even[…]Continue reading→