St Peter Damian

Last week I pointed out to some children that the chant we were learning was written a thousand years ago.

That was about the time the great saint Peter Damian was writing, among other works, beautiful hymns.

Here is my translation of one of them.

O Theotokos, Mary blest,
Our human nature’s shining crest,
Through you we have our liberty,
Free children of the light to be.

O Virgin, Queen of heav’n and earth,
Though of King David’s stock by birth,
Your royal dignity has come
Not from your fathers, but your Son.

Release us from the ancient root.
Graft us in Him, the newborn shoot.
Through you may we become by grace,
A royal, priestly, human race.

O offer holy prayers to win
Release from all our bonds of sin.
We praise your merits to the skies:
May we in heaven share your prize.

Exemplar of virginity,
Give glory to the Trinity,
Whose endless treasure-stores of gifts
Through you our human nature lifts.

The Liturgical Generatiin Gap and "Authenticity"

The following article is reprinted from 2014.

Lately I've been giving a lot of thought to the fact that more formal worship styles appeal to a surprising demographic: the young. 

While many youth liturgical outreaches continue to focus on the casual and the near-secular in order to attract young people, this type of pastoral programming seems to be doing less well in many cases than those using more traditional forms. 

Not long ago I visited a parish that within a couple of years had built up a large group of young servers and a sizable youth schola for the traditional Mass--celebrated on a weekday evening. And this is hardly a unique case, just in the parishes I've personally visited.

There was a time, a naive time, when it seemed there was a desire among the young for an authenticity that had as its heart a certain casualness and spontanaiety. In the 60s and 70s, it was the fashion to speak one's mind, follow one's heart, and go with the flow. 

I believe that it is likely that today's young people are likewise interested in authenticity--but in authenticity that has a much different character. Spontanaiety is wonderful, in its place. Casualness, chattiness, hanging out--these are activities as popular among young people as they have ever been. But there seems to be a growing sensibility that not every place is the same. Mass is not the place for relaxed, casual activities. The true liturgical joys can be found by going deeper, by being more quiet, and by experiencing more and richer beauty.

When I was young there was no leadership in the Church of my experience for this kind of liturgical experience, which leads to a second and more practical reason that young people are enjoying good liturgy: it is available. If a teenager would like to attend a polyphonic Mass on a given Sunday, and if s/he is willing to travel a bit, it is available. If a family has been singing chant at home and would like to join a schola to improve their skills, it is possible--not always at the local parish, but somewhere.

I sometimes wonder why there was this enormous temporal gap in leadership of the sacred liturgy. I suppose some of the reason was political, some was a misunderstanding about the aims of the Second Vatican Council, and some was a skill vacuum of a kind that we are thankfully not likely to see again soon, if all the young people now involved in liturgy continue to persevere and serve.

Madrid's "The Escorial" Boys' Choir

Liturgy and the New Evangelization

Today the Holy Father appointed four consultors to the dicastery for New Evangelization. Three are liturgists, including the American Fr. Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B., an expert with the Vox Clara Committee.

Appointed as consultors of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation: Fr. Marco Frisina, president of the Commission for Sacred Art of the diocese of Rome, and professor at the Pontifical Lateran University and the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross; Fr. Jeremy Driscoll O.S.B., professor at the Mount Angel Seminary in St. Benedict, Oregon, U.S.A., and at the Theological Faculty of Rome's St. Anselm Pontifical Athenaeum; Fr. Marko Ivan Rupnik S.J., director of the Aletti Centre, and professor at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Rome's St. Anselm Pontifical Athenaeum, and Salvatore Martinez, president of the Renewal in the Holy Spirit Association, Italy.

Here is an illuminating interview with Fr. Rupnick. "It’s not enough for someone to say: wonderful! [Liturgical art] needs an inner life, that makes it possible for one to be aware of the Mystery present."

On Hymn Translation

I have an article on hymn translation in the January issue of Usus Antiquior. It was a bit difficult to write, until one evening, pulling into the Texaco station, I heard a radio announcer praising a great Doctor of the Church, St. Bernard of Clairvaux. This incident gave me the introduction, which sort of pulled everything together.

Cheers!

From The Incarnation by St. John of the Cross

When the time had come
for Him to be born
He went forth like the bridegroom
from his bridal chamber,
embracing His bride,
holding her in His arms,
Whom the gracious Mother
laid in a manger
among some animals
that were there at that time.

Men sang songs
and angels melodies
celebrating the marriage
of Two such as these.

But God there in the manger
cried and moaned;
and those tears were jewels
the bride brought to the wedding.
The Mother gazed in sheer wonder
on such an exchange:
In God, man's weeping,
and in man, gladness;
to the one and the other
things usually so strange.

St. John of the Cross

An Advent Calendar of Hymn Tune Propers

I hope that some parishes will find this Advent Calendar useful. It is designed for parishes that have little familiarity with the proper texts of the liturgy, and especially with chant.

The hymn-tune format allows Pastors and Music Directors to make an easy initial transition towards the singing of the propers. Anyone can sing these texts to already-established hymn tunes in Long Meter, such as Creator Alme Siderum (Creator of the Stars of Night), Old 100th (All People That on Earth Do Dwell), Duke Street (Jesus Shall Reign), or Jesu Dulcis Memoria (O Radiant Light, O Sun Divine).

I have found the proper texts of the Mass to be nourishing, and am happy to provide this for anyone's use.

Christmastide Hymn Tune Propers

The Hymn Tune Propers project continues, this time with the Introits for the festivals of Christmas.

The Christmas Vigil and Christmas Midnight introits are in a shorter meter (6.6.8.6.) than the others (8.8.8.8.), in order to express anticipation.

Christmas Vigil

Today, you know the Lord
Will come to set us free.
And when the morning comes at last,
You shall His glory see.

Christmas Midnight

The Lord has said to me:
Today, you are my son.
Today I have begotten you.
I have begotten you.

Christmas Mass at Dawn

Light shines today; the Lord is born:
The wondrous God, the Prince of Peace,
The Father of all future times:
Dominion that shall never cease.

Christmas Mass during the Day

A Child is born for us today.
To us today is giv'n a Son.
Upon His shoulder, power rests,
The Counsellor, the Wondrous One.

Holy Family

The shepherds rose without delay
And speedily they made their way
To Mary, Joseph, and the Child
Who in a manger-cradle lay.

Mary, the Mother of God

O, Holy Mother, hail to you,
For you have brought our King to birth,
And He is King eternally,
Forever, over heav'n and earth.

Christmas 2 (often replaced by Epiphany)

When silence covered everything
When half its course the night had run
O Lord, Your Word, all-powerful
Leapt down from heaven's royal throne.

Epiphany Vigil

Arise, Jerusalem, arise.
Look to the East: your children come!
From sunrise, they are gathered in,
And to the setting of the sun.

Epiphany

Behold, the coming of the Lord
Who rules by universal right.
He grasps His kingship in His hand,
And His dominion, and His might.

Baptism

The Lord was baptized. Heav'n unfurled.
The Spirit came down like a dove.
"My Son, in whom I am well pleased,"
The Father said. "The one I love."

Hymn Tune Introits

It occurs to me that there is a way to combine the joy of singing hymns, with the deeper riches that are gained by mining the proper texts of the Catholic liturgy--and in the process, to write something liturgically useful.

What if the entrance procession of Mass began with a single verse, an antiphon, set to a familiar hymn tune? The congregation could sing the antiphon just as easily as singing any hymn. After the antiphon, the choir would sing the first verse of a Psalm, set to a Psalm tone. Then back to the congregation for a repeat of the antiphon. This antiphony would continue throughout the procession, ending with a rousing Gloria Patri, set to the same hymn tune.

Here are some early drafts of Hymn Tune Introits for the Sundays of Advent, all in "Church meter" or Long Meter, 8.8.8.8. iambic.

Advent 1

To you, O Lord, I lift my soul
I trust in You, save me from shame.
Let not my foes boast over me.
Save those who trust in you from shame. -or- Protect the ones who trust your name.

Advent 2

Let Zion's people see the Lord
Who comes to set the nations free.
The Lord will sound His glorious voice.
Your heart will hear Him joyfully.

Advent 3

Rejoice at all times in the Lord.
Be glad, rejoice, I say again.
Let your unselfishness be seen.
Indeed, the Lord is near at hand.

Advent 4:

Let dew fall down from heav'n above.
O clouds, rain down the Righteous One.
And let the earth be opened up,
And let the longed-for Savior come.

BENEDICT XVI PRAISES THE MUSIC OF ANTON BRUCKNER

VATICAN CITY, 22 OCT 2011 (VIS) -  This evening in the Vatican's  Paul VI Hall, the Bavarian State Opera gave a concert in honour of Benedict  XVI. The programme included the Ninth Symphony and the "Te Deum" by  Anton Bruckner, played by the Bavarian State Orchestra and the "Audi  Jugendchorakademie", conducted respectively by Kent Nagano and Martin  Steidler.

  At the end of the  performance the Pope rose to thank the musicians. Listening to Bruckner's  music, he said, "is like finding oneself in a great cathedral,  surrounded by its imposing structures which arouse emotion and lift us to the  heights. There is however an element that lies at the foundations of  Bruckner's music, both the symphonic and the sacred: the simple, solid,  genuine faith he conserved throughout his life".

  "The great conductor  Bruno Walter used to say that 'Mahler always sought after God, while Bruckner  had found Him'. The symphony we have just heard has a very specific title:  'Dem lieben Gott' (To the Beloved God), almost as if he wished to dedicate  and entrust the last and most mature fruit of his art to the One in Whom he  had always believed, the One Who had become his only true interlocutor in the  last stage of his life", the Holy Father said.

  "Bruckner asked this  beloved God to let him enter His mystery, ... to let him praise the Lord in  heaven as he had on earth with his music. 'Te Deum laudamus, Te Dominum  confitemur'; this great work we have just heard - written at one sitting then  reworked over fifteen years as if reconsidering how better to thank and  praise God - sums up the faith of this great musician", Pope Benedict  concluded. "It is also a reminder for us to open our horizons and think  of eternal life, not so as to escape the present, though burdened with  problems and difficulties, but to experience it more intensely, bringing a  little light, hope and love into the reality in which we live".

Vatican Information Service