Gregorian Chant on EWTN’s Life on the Rock

On Thursday, November 12th, Fr. Robert Fromageot, FSSP will be speaking about Music and the Liturgy on EWTN’s show for young adults, “Life on the Rock.”

Fr. Fromageot is a professor of dogmatic and moral theology at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary (the Fraternity’s seminary) in Denton, Nebraska. He is in-residence at St. Francis of Assisi parish in Lincoln, NE where he also directs the schola. He is a fantastic singer, an accomplished flautist, and a very eloquent advocate for the place of Gregorian chant and beauty in the liturgy.

This is a show not to be missed! It airs at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Florida Pro Musica Concert

Florida Pro Musica – Choral Music of Tudor England

Florida Pro Musica begins the 2009-2010 season at Sacred Heart Church at 4:00 p.m. on November 8, 2009. The 60-minute concert of sacred and secular choral music features William Byrd’s Mass for four voices and his beautiful motet, Ave verum corpus. Conducted by Larry Kent, the concert also includes English madrigals and solo works for virginal. A wine & cheese reception with the musicians follows the concert.

When: Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 4:00 p.m.
Where: Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 509 North Florida Avenue, Tampa, FL 33602
Cost: All tickets are $15 (general seating), and may be purchased online or at the door.
Information/directions: visit http://floridapromusica.comor call Laura Hollis (813) 293-4594.

The remainder of the FPM Season (all concerts at 4:00 p.m. at Sacred Heart):
December 20: Gregorian Chant VII – Mass for the 4th Sunday of Advent ($10)
January 24: FPM Chamber Ensemble – Baroque music for violin, harpsichord and cello ($15)
March 14: Recital with Maggie Coleman, soprano, and Larry Kent, harpsichord ($15)
May 23: John Paul Russo – encore performance of Mass for a new dawn ($15)

All Souls at Cathedral of St. Ignatius

The Cathedral of the Palm Beach Diocese (St Ignatius in Palm Beach Gardens) is offering an All Souls Day Mass with the Faure Requiem sung as the Propers and Ordinary. This will be an ordinary form of the Mass with a mix of English and Latin. Mass begins at 7:00.

All Saints Vigil Vespers

The Schola Cantorum of the Palm Beaches will offer a solemn 1st Vespers service along with Frs. Kevin Nelson, Brian King, and Brian Campbell at St. Patrick Catholic Church in – 13591 Prosperity Farms Rd. in Palm Beach Gardens – at 7:00pm on October 31. The schola will include a setting of the Magnificat on the 8th tone by Palestrina. The organist for the event will be Alan Bowman.

For more information, contact Dr. Michael O’Connor at moconnor09 (at) gmail (dot) com.

All Souls Day Solemn High Mass

There will be a Solemn High Tridentine Mass celebrated at the Oratory of Ave Maria University on Monday, 2 November, at 7pm. Several choirs of the University will be present – please make plans to attend!

Fr. Tattman will be the celebrant, and Frs. Fryar and Austin will be the sacred ministers (deacon, subdeacon).

Orchestral and other Masses at Epiphany Catholic Church, Miami

The principle Mass on Sundays is the 11 am Mass.

Sunday, October 4, 2009 (9:30am/11am)
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Haydn – St. Nicholas Mass

Monday, November 2, 2009 (7:30pm)
All Souls Day Requiem Mass
J. Rheinberger – Requiem, op. 194

Thursday, November 26, 2009 (9:30am)
Thanksgiving Day
Missa Choralis by Franz Liszt (organ/brass)

Thursday, December 24, 2009 (5:30pm/Midnight)
Christmas Eve

Friday, December 25, 2009 (11am/12:30pm)
Christmas Day
Christmas Ordinary will be the Jubelmesse of von Weber

Thursday-Saturday, April 1-3, 2010 (7:30pm)
Sacred Triduum Liturgies
Polyphonic selections

Sunday, April 4, 2010 (9:30am, 11am, 12:30pm)
Easter Day
Mass TBA

Sunday, May 23, 2010 (9:30am/11am)
Solemnity of Pentecost
Mass TBA

Youtube Channel of Miamiensis

Click here to view youtube videos published by a parishioner from the Miami Latin Mass community.

There’s also a facebook group.

Latin Mass Miami – Schola Rehearsal Schedule

This message comes via Jennifer Donelson:

With the new Mass time for the Tridentine Mass in Miami comes a new rehearsal schedule.  The schola cantorum will rehearse from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. with Mass following at 9 a.m.

If you are interested in learning to read and sing Gregorian chant, now is the time to join us for rehearsals. Required to join is the ability to match pitch. If you have further questions, please contact the ensemble’s director, Dr. Jennifer Donelson, at stmichaelchoir (at) gmail (dot) com.

September 20 and 27, Mass will still be at St. Robert Bellarmine church.  Beginning on the Feast of St. Francis, Sunday, October 4th, the Mass will move to the mission of Ss. Francis and Claire, found on the map below.

View Larger Map

Schola Director Needed – Tallahassee Latin Mass

This message comes to us from Eric Giunta:

URGENT: Tallahassee Latin Mass Needs Singers and Schola Director

Do you love Gregorian chant and traditional Christian hymnody? Do you live in or near Tallahassee, FL? If so, the Tallahassee Latin Mass needs your help!

We desperately need to obtain a schola director and singers for two upcoming High Masses: January 10 and April 18, 2010.

We also have a low Mass coming up Sunday, October 4, 2 PM. We would like to have a small schola to sing traditional Latin and vernacular hymns during the service. If you are interested in assisting the liturgical reform in Tallahassee, please contact Latin Mass liaison Eric Giunta: sanctusericus (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Thank you for your assistance!

The Future of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form in Miami

This important announcement comes via Fr. Fishwick who celebrates the Tridentine Mass in Miami:

Latin Mass Community / Announcement for All:

We will announce it at Mass for all who are interested on this Sunday, Sept 13^th, but beginning SUNDAY, Sept 20^th, the Traditional Latin Mass will be celebrated at 9:00 a.m. at St. Robert Bellarmine.   This is ONLY for two weeks.  Then the parish will be officially closed on October 1^st, Thursday, and the Latin Mass, until further notice, will be celebrated at the MISSION of SAN FRANCISCO y SANTA CLARA at 9:00 a.m. each Sunday.

To repeat:  BEGINNING Sunday, Oct. 4^th, Latin Mass will be at 9:00 a.m.  at San Francisco y Santa Clara Mission.

This Mission chapel of CORPUS CHRISTI parish is located at 402 N.E. 29^th Street, just east of Biscayne Boulevard.  It is easily reached from SR 112 (the “Airport Expressway”) by exiting the expressway at Biscayne Boulevard and proceeding south a few blocks and turning left (east) onto NE 29^th Street.  If one is coming from the south on Biscayne Boulevard, then obviously one will turn right onto NE 29^th Street.  The Mission will be on your right.  Physically, it is about the size of St Robert Bellarmine and is very attractive architecturally, in a Spanish style, and quite conducive to the celebration of Mass in the Extraordinary Form. 

There will be no time constraints from other morning masses.  We hope in the near future to be able to move into a more permanent home, but we must remember that we are a “pilgrim people,” particularly in these uncertain times.   We ask everyone to support the old Mass, this Mass which is the perfect setting for Gregorian chant, contemplative prayer, and a sacrificial spirit, and which is the priceless heritage of our Catholic faith.    “Procedamus in pace…”      

Father Joseph Fishwick

Societas Sedes Sapientiae

While this post isn’t strictly related to music per se, it is a contribution to Catholic culture in the Miami area.  See announcement below:

Societas Sedes Sapientiae – Society of Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom – A Great Books Discussion Group 

Are you interested in the restoration of Catholic culture?  Do you love to read?

Do you like discussing philosophy, economics, politics, art, theology, liturgy or literature? 

Would you like to meet others who are interested in thoughtful discussion?

This is the discussion group for you.

First Saturday of Each Month – September 2009-May 2010

8:30 a.m. – Latin Low Mass (Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite in the chapel at South Miami Hospital – optional)

10:00 a.m. – Discussion of Text (Location TBA)

For more information, contact Peter Lamar at: greatbooksmiami (at) gmail (dot) com.

Reading Selections:

September - Leisure, the Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper

October - Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI

November - Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’Connor

December - The Church and the Market by Thomas Woods

January - Antigone by Sophocles

February - An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Culture by Roger Scruton

March - Selected Sonnets by Shakespeare

April - Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis

May - Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius

   

New Choral Season at St. Robert Bellarmine Church, Miami

Those in the Miami area who are interested in learning to sing Gregorian chant are cordially invited to join the schola cantorum at St. Robert Bellarmine parish in Miami (3405 NW 27th Ave).

We will be beginning our new year of rehearsals on Sunday, Sept. 20th.  There is a rehearsal before Mass at 7:30 a.m. and following Mass from app. 9:15-9:45.  Mass in the extraordinary form is celebrated at 8:00 a.m.

If you are new to chant or returning to a repertoire you used to sing, you are welcome to join us as we work each rehearsal to build our sight-reading and interpretive skills in this beautiful repertoire.  If you have questions about the schola cantorum at St. Robert’s or are interested in joining, please contact the schola’s director, Dr. Jennifer Donelson at: stmichaelchoir (at) gmail (dot) com.

Masses in the Extraordinary Form in Tallahassee

This news comes to us via MSF contributor Eric Giunta:

This academic year’s schedule of Traditional Latin Masses will each be celebrated at 2:00 pm at Tallahassee’s Cathedral of St Thomas More.

Sunday, October 4, 2009 – Low Mass (with Hymns)

Sunday, January 10, 2010 – High Mass

Sunday, April 18, 2010 – High Mass

As you can see, the Masses are celebrated on a quarterly basis (there was one additional [Low Mass] celebrated on June 28). This is far from ideal, but the faithful are building up to a weekly High Mass.

But this ideal will not come to be unless there is consistent, significant attendance at these Masses (which there has been so far, thanks be to God), and if the faithful are not generous in their tithes when the collection plate comes around.

Rest assured: whatever is collected at these Masses goes toward the celebration of the traditional liturgy. The Mass on October 4 will be celebrated with a brand new set of gorgeous vestments, purchased from the funds collected on June 28.

So please be generous with both your time and money, and patronize these liturgies! Vote with your feet!

I encourage non-Catholics to attend as well. The traditional Catholic liturgy, with all its artistic treasures, is one of the historic bedrocks of Western Civilization, and so the common patrimony of all mankind. Your pressence would be most welcomed, and greatly appreciated.

There will probably be refreshments served after the Mass. Hope to see you all there. Reminders will be posted as we draw nearer to these dates.

Pilgrimage to St Augustine

A message from Una Voce:

UNA VOCE Pilgrimage, Saturday  August 15, 2009,  Our Lady Of La Leche Shrine, St Augustine, FL.

10am-Rosary of Thanksgiving in shrine chapel of Our Lady of La  Leche
11am-Mass in Prince of Peace Church
12pm-Stations of the Cross and Benediction

A low Mass (Extraordinary Form) will be celebrated in honor of the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 2009, at the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche in St. Augustine.  The Rosary will be said in the shrine chapel before Mass, and stations and benediction will follow. The Mass will be celebrated in the parish church, Prince of Peace,  located near the entrance to the shrine.
 
Please join us for this day of celebration!  Spread the word! After the church services, there will be a cookout on the shrine grounds in the shade near the large cross.  Donations are appreciated.

Vespers in St. Augustine

Friday, June 19th.  More information here.

On Congregational Singing

The following is an editorial by Jennifer Donelson.

Several weeks ago, The Florida Catholic began operating a blog entitled “Living Faith” in which a number of issues about the daily Catholic experience are discussed, many of them liturgical.  I am very grateful to The Florida Catholic for opening up discussion of these issues in a venue like this.  This is a great step towards bringing the liturgical issues in the church in Florida to the fore.  The moderator has thus far done a very good job of bringing disparate groups to the table for discussion of these important issues, and for this I am profoundly grateful. 

Several days ago, a post was thoughtfully and respectfully opened up for discussion on the topic of hanging projection screens in churches to increase congregational singing.  What follows is my response to the discussion in the form of a preface followed by an offer of thought on the matter.

My response assumes an understanding of the proper (introit, gradual, alleluia, offertory, communion, etc.) vs. the ordinary (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei) of the Mass, a distinction of which many Catholics under the age of 50 are fundamentally unaware because they have simply not experienced this distinction in practice.  Only a small minority of Catholics know that there is a text and chant assigned to be sung during the entrance procession at every Mass of the liturgical year.  Yet the assignment of the text “Rorate caeli” to the fourth Sunday of advent is so poignant, but so easily replaced by hymns and songs with texts and melodies not nurtured within the bosom of the Church.  I believe that it is a great poverty to deprive congregations of the opportunity to meditate on the following text on that fourth Sunday of Advent:

Rorate, coeli, desuper, et nubes pluant iustum: aperiatur terra, et germinet Salvatorem. — Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei: et opera manuum eius annuntiat fimamentum. 

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just: let the earth be opened and bud forth a Savior. — (Ps.18. 2). The heavens show forth the glory of God: and the firmament declareth the work of His hands.

A video and recording of the music can be found by clicking here.

The melody of the Gregorian introit is sublime and the text is poignant, touching and profound.  Hearing it teaches us how close our Savior is to us and yet how mysterious is His coming.  It is a text that the Church has tried in the crucible of centuries of liturgical practice and now hands to us as an opportunity to learn how to pray in these last moments before the coming of Christ at Christmas.  I believe it is a fundamental disservice to the people of God to set the path of a music program as one that does not have this experience as its final goal, even if that goal will take a period of transition and catechesis to achieve.  The easy replacement of this text by a 16th century Protestant hymn or a 20th century song that is (often lovingly and with good intentions) chosen by a 21st century Catholic serving that parish as music director pales in comparison to the profound spiritual lessons wrought by the Church’s tradition. 

Few Catholics have experienced the melismatic and contemplative chant of a Gradual being sung after the first reading (ordinary form) or epistle (extraordinary form); their experience instead is of the responsorial psalm.  Only a small number of Mass-attending Catholics have the opportunity to contemplate on the text and melody of the Gregorian gradual “Christus factus est” (a video with the Gregorian chant being sung can be found by clicking here - while a setting of the same text by Anton Bruckner can be heard here) on Palm Sunday (ordinary form of the Roman rite) or Maundy Thursday (extraordinary form of the Roman rite):

Christus factus est pro nobis obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis. V.: Propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum: et dedit illi nomen, quod est super omne nomen.

Christ became obedient for us unto death, even to the death of the cross. V.: For which cause God also exalted Him and hath given Him a Name which is above all names. 

The illustration of the text in the gradual is a fundamentally more contemplative experience of this text.  In short, it presents the text in a fairly lengthy chant in which the text is slowly presented to us. It is in this chant in which the extravagance of the beautiful, soloistic melody sung by the cantor and schola and received through listening by the congregation that we experience the extravagance of God’s gifts to us, especially the gift of beauty.  It is through beauty that God often chooses to draw us to Himself.  This Gregorian chant, full of amazing musical craftsmanship by a composer inflamed with the love of God  is one such example of beauty.  It is a chant that invites the congregation to silence of heart, a silence in which the Lord can speak.   

Again, it is a poverty to deprive the people of God from the experience of listening to this music (or any other beautiful setting from any period of time of the same text) and of being formed through the work of a music ministry that does not want to ultimately draw them to that experience through patient catechesis.   To ask a congregation to experience this point in the Mass only as that point in which they quickly have to sing back a 3-4 measure melody interspersed with a comparatively large amount of the psalm text is to miss the opportunity to invite the congregation to a more contemplative prayer.  The demand of a “response” on the part of the congregation flies in the face of a counter-cultural experience that the Church offers – silence.  In our busy and noisy society, this may be one of the few opportunities each week that the people of God are given the opportunity to silence their minds and their hearts and open them to God.  The Gregorian gradual of the 7th century accomplishes this better than the modern responsorial psalm.  And, isn’t that what this place in the liturgy is really about?  Openness to the Word of God.  What an important lesson.

While it is my hope that many Catholics in the coming years will have a greater number of opportunities, the fact remains that many Catholics have been deprived of these experiences of the liturgy.

With that preface, a comment about the entry on The Florida Catholic blog entry… 

The most interesting thing to me is the comment: “I like the idea, because I’ve seen it work.”  This suggests that the author of the post and I have two fundamentally different views about utility when it comes to the liturgy.  What does “work” mean for the author of the blog entry?  The production of a result: congregational singing.  While this is certainly a phenomenon not without merit, it is only meritorious insofar as it results in true interior and intentional participation in the liturgy.  And, it is only proper to the liturgy when it occurs in a place in which it is proper for the congregation to sing. 

To have the entire congregation say the Eucharistic prayer along with the priest is a clear violation of the boundaries of liturgical roles, a violation that (most) people would find very silly.  Yet, so little is known about the liturgy that people do not understand that it is not the role of the congregation to sing everything – that there is a role for the schola.  And in those places proper to the schola, I feel that we do a fundamental disservice to our congregations by always demanding that they sing.  What of moving the minds and hearts of the congregation through a work of beauty?  What of producing music which is more beautiful than they are able to produce, and in which they are able to be moved (sometimes much more dramatically) through the act of contemplation of the beautiful?

What one among us has not had the experience of the immanence and simultaneously the transcendence of God when contemplating something beautiful in nature or an amazing work of architecture?  Why do we not see the value of presenting this in the realm of music to the people of God? 

The solemnity of an introit sung to the procession of cross, swinging thurible, hierarchical structure of the church moving toward the altar of God, as well as a heartily sung response of “And also with you” (despite this problematic and soon-to-be-corrected translation of “et cum spiritu tuo“) or a congregation -or choir alone- singing a Sanctus or Gloria are all beautiful and all good.  They have much merit because they are proper to the liturgy.  They respect the boundaries between roles within the Church that allow the Church to function as St. Paul says “as many parts” and yet as “one body.”   

Interior participation (the heart and ultimate goal of the phrase from Sacrosanctum Concilium’s “participatio actuosa”) of all people at Mass (priest, choir, congregation) is most intensely fostered when it reflects the roles proper to the liturgy.  Anything else is confusing and un-harmonious.  External action does not always translate into mindful understanding and movement of the will in a desire for union with God. 

Aside from the aesthetic umbrage I take with the idea of hanging an essentially non-beautiful, utilitarian projection screen in an ecclesiastical building, I want to search for a better way.  Let us sit at the feet of the Church through her tradition to learn how, through music and procession and liturgical action, to incorporate the faithful of God into the body of Christ.  Let us take the example of history and observe the division of roles proper to the liturgy.  This is the best way to graft the faithful onto the vine of Christ through the liturgy. 

I like *that* idea because I’ve seen it work.  And the work that it produces is fundamentally more solid than that of insisting that a congregation sing at every available opportunity.

Concert of Organ Masses

 An upcoming concert at St. Thomas Episcopal will include Vierne’s Messe Solenelle and Haydn’s Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo as well as other works for organ.

AGO Organ Scholarship Contest

ATTENTION all young piano students interested in taking organ lessons!!

The Palm Beach County Chapter of the American Guild of Organists is sponsoring:

2009 Annual Organ Scholarship Competition

Saturday, June 6, 2009 10 a.m. – Noon

Trinity Lutheran Church, 400 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach, FL 33444

SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS: 1st place – $250, 2nd place – $150, 3rd place – $75

The purpose of the competition: Award three Palm Beach County piano students with scholarship money to be used toward organ lessons. The applicants must be ages 14-21.

FOR AN APPLICATION AND MORE INFORMATION: please e-mail Dr. Kirsten Hellman at khellman@trinitydelray.org or call 561-278-1737 ext. 212 or www.organiste.net/More.html

DEADLINE to turn in application: Saturday, May 23, 2009

The Florida Catholic Reports on the Musica Sacra Florida Conference

This article by Ana Rodriguez-Soto appeared in last Friday’s edition of The Florida Catholic.  The article was the inaugural article in a state-wide series on the liturgy.

A link is offered here with the following clarifications and corrections:

- “such as during entrance processions or as responsorial psalms. Entrance antiphons even are associated with the Mass for each day.”

      – The gradual, not the responsorial psalm, is an inter-lectionary chant which is a distinct genre in the Gregorian repertoire. 

     – The introit (entrance) antiphon is the chant that occurs during the procession at the beginning of Mass.  Each Mass of the liturgical year has a introit antiphon assigned to it. 

- Jennifer Donelson is an assistant professor of music at NSU, not an associate professor.

Schola Cantorum of the Palm Beaches – First Mass of Newly-ordained Priest

The Schola Cantorum of the Palm Beaches will assist the first Mass offered by Brian Campell after his ordination on May 2, 2009 at 4:30pm at the Cathedral of St. Ignatius in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.