Thursday, March 2, 2006

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY (Ash Wednesday edition)

OK, so I'm a little late, but here's a sneak preview of my forthcoming podcast:

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - featuring music used during the giving of ashes.

The good: Parce Domine (beautiful Mode I chant, Latin antiphon, based on the second of three antiphons prescribed by Holy Mother Church for the giving of ashes)

The bad: Ashes (by Tom Conry) (bad, bad lyrics - ever see that three-syllable "stum-bl-ing" in the second verse??? What kind of hymnwriting is that??? A kindergartner can talk better than that for crying out loud!!! And this is a PUBLISHED hymn in a hymnal???)

The ugly: Singing "Ashes" while the choir is dramatically hoisted up on strings (just like you'd see in a Broadway musical) and the celebrant is caught stum-bl-ing to the foot of the sanctuary stairs, nearly dropping the bowl of ashes. Catechism? That's more like Calamitism!

Peace,
BMP

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