New Choir!

A few weeks ago I asked the pastor at the Ordinary Form parish where I am the Saturday evening organist if it would be OK to begin a choir for Christmas. He said it "Sure!" and we began planning.

Tonight was the first rehearsal. I am blessed to be directing 8 women of varying ages. Half of them are over 50, half are under 20. They all seemed very enthusiastic.

I took a cautious approach to picking music and it was the correct one. There was no telling what I was getting into. They are not very experienced but their drive will make up for the lack of skill.

Part of what I will be doing with them will be providing an introduction to traditional Catholic music and its spirituality. In that vein the first piece we sang tonight was Gregorian Chant. In fact, it was the Communion antiphon for Midnight Mass "In Splendoribus". I did that because it was short and easy. It is good to give a new group something to succeed at during the first rehearsal.

None of them seemed to have any experience with chant other than having heard it before. It was a great deal of fun explaining to them the spirituality, the notation, and the history of Guido D'Arezzo and his famous "Guidoian Hand". Everyone learned something and it was a great experience. After we had rehearsed our second piece of the night (which was a 3 part hymn for the Offertory) we returned to the chant to see if they had retained what they learned.

They nailed it and we all left happily. What a great blessing this was. Deo Gratias!

CCHD and "Positive Doubt"

It is a Catholic moral principle that if you have a positive doubt as to whether or not something is sinful, you may not do it. Giving money to "charitable" organizations that support anti-Catholic positions is most likely sinful. So at least in my opinion, we may not do it. I think CCHD has crossed the threshold for this year.

There is enough information out there regarding the practices of CCHD to create this positive doubt. It is obvious that they (we) have given money to anti-Catholic organizations and even though we are promised anew that the Campaign has fixed itself (again), the proof will be in the pudding next year.

The premise of the CCHD is not instrinsically evil. It can be fixed and should be because it does a lot of good for the poor. But we cannot probably do evil that good may come of it, right? I really hope the Bishops fix this and get it right this time.

Perhaps a good way of redirecting the funds that would have been given to CCHD this year would be to do research on the groups it gives to and then give to the worthy ones directly while ignoring the bad ones.

Thoughts on the Bishops' Meeting

I am sitting here, while working, watching the Bishops' meeting on this little Telecare network video feed. I have yet to see the number of viewers get above 1000. EWTN is not covering this meeting and I doubt that was their choice. Maybe it was, but I mean...come on... The only reasonable explanation for EWTN wanting to back out would be a lack of funds. Its possible.

Now they are talking about the new translation. Something about Antiphons?

I have mixed feelings about the new translations. It could set back the use of Latin in the liturgy another 30 years. The new translation will be en vogue for a time and there will be a new spirit of sacral English all the time for everything. I wish the Bishops would talk about catechesis for the faithful on the use of latin in the liturgy rather than a new translation. The vernacular should be a help to the congregations. It should be seen and rarely heard.

Will the new translation be better? Sure will. Will it help more people understand exactly what is really going on during the Mass? It will indeed. It is a much more accurate and beautiful rendering of the latin original. It will do some good no doubt. But it is not the latin, and therefore in some way separates us from the universality of the Church in the Roman Rite.

St. Benedict Press RSV-CE

St. Benedict Press has released their new RSV-CE. Information at this time is rather sparse. I didn't actually get an email announcement but noticed it had appeared on another blog. The cover options look the same as their new Douay-Rheims.

According to online shops the presentation pages, maps, and color paintings are identical.

I have emailed the publicist for layout shots. So far there is no information regarding cross references, footnotes, or any other extras. More information to come when I get it!

Redirected blame in Obamacare

There is a point being missed big time by conservative and, frankly, liberal commentators and politicians. The line goes something like this:

"everyone should be required to buy health insurance because otherwise the uninsured who need emergency care will be forcing others to pay for them."

That is not correct. It is the government that forces everyone to pay for the uninsured. The government is the only one making anyone do anything here. And pretty soon we'll all be paying for just about EVERYONE anyway. So where is their point on this one?

A look inside the Liturgia Horarum

I purchased this a few weeks ago and have had a chance to use it quite a bit. So I am ready to take you on a short tour around Volume IV of the Liturgia Horarum. But before I do there are a few things I would like to say.

First, and I mentioned this in my previous post, I get the impression this edition was not meant to be used so much as it was to be a reference text. Either that is the case or it was surmised that much effort should not be put into it because of limited demand. Unlike other all-latin editions of the Divine Office this one doesn't have a spec of beauty in it. They printed the text, formatted it and slapped a leather semi-hardcover on it. Then they stamped a weird harp with star and clouds on the front cover. No gilt edges. Price: $200 per volume.

The insides are nearly identical to the english Liturgy of the Hours. Even the fonts look the same. That is a good thing for those who would like to make the jump to the official Liturgia Horarum. Switching to the Latin version is a breeze and getting around is no problem whatsoever. I have been keeping my english edition handy during the Office of Readings to use for the readings themselves but use the Latin one for the psalms, canticles, and prayers.

By the way, it is true that there are moments one will wonder what the heck ICEL was thinking during translation. Even if you don't read latin at all, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the english edition can be ...lacking... .

Here we can see the text of Psalm 117. The Psalms are counted in the Vulgate numberings unlike the english version. It is interesting how quickly the Church abandoned the polarizing Pius XII neo-psalter in favor of the more traditional Nova Vulgata Psalms. This is one example of restoring tradition after Vatican II. (Yes, I typed that. It happened and we should be grateful.)

Below we see next Sunday's place in the Liturgia Horarum. Newer editions have 3 antiphons for the Magnificat on Sundays for years A B & C which match the Gospel reading that day. I believe that is a mixed bag but I will leave it be. Notice what happens with ribbons after 30 years. You can see a red stain going across the page. Cheap ribbons?

This is an atrocious picture of one of the card inserts. Again, it is identical to the ones provided in the English version.

The Benedictus and Magnificat are in the traditional renderings, and not taken directly from the Nova Vulgata or the Pius XII edition. Also, by praying the Latin version, one doesn't have to use the awful "My soul PROCAIMS..." text of the Magnificat.

One thing that is missing in this text are the "extras" that traditionally come in a breviary. Those would be the parts of the Rituale Romanum for use by priests (or its modern counterpart), thanksgiving before and after Mass, and litanies.

This is a $40 book with a $200 price tag that despite some issues is a joy to use if you don't mind saying the modern office. It is better in Latin even if you don't have a firm grasp on the language or are a beginning Latin student like myself.

We need more publishers of this work to come out with nice, decently priced editions made for general use. Ignatius? OSV? CPB? Scepter? Anyone out there? Hello?

A Conversion of Heart

Take a look at this great story:

They're here!

A couple first impressions...

It is in much better condition than I expected it to be. It is a hardcover but not like a standard hardcover book...feels more like the recent printings from Baronius Press. Its a leather cover on top of a semi-flexible board. I believe these are the ones advertised on paxbooks.com for almost $200.

...

If I saw this book in a store for $200 I would be in stitches. There are some things too ridiculous not to laugh. I mean, its not a terrible book at all. In fact it is rather nice. But it is not $200. Maybe they could get away with $40.

My other first impression is that this was printed as an template, rather than a beautiful liturgical book. (like old Breviaries) The insides are identical to the English Liturgy of the Hours in just about every way. But I'll show that in a later post.

I paid $35 for the volume pictured. I am very pleased.

Is this the same Rome Reports?

Whenever I see Rome Reports on EWTN there is an urge to unplug the TV and toss it out the window. It is the most irritating program on television. So I have to ask, is this really the same Rome Reports? It is ... but then lift in the reporter's voice gives me pause.