MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Twenty-Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
(Extraordinary Form Low Mass)
St. Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket, RI - November 16, 2008

It is with a heavy heart that I announce that this will be the last extraordinary form Mass at St. Leo's. The attendance has been extremely poor as of late, and the parish is losing its collective shirt over it. The collection at last month's extraordinary form Mass was just barely enough cover my paycheck (after I got paid, there was TWO DOLLARS left!).

How does this affect my working relationship with Fr. Fisette? It doesn't. In my 27 years as an organist in various parishes, I consider Fr. Fisette the best priest I've ever worked with (and one of very few around here that I trust). He's always been supportive of my work, my decisions, and any time I work with him, I am most comfortable. He's an excellent pastor, an excellent homilist, and an excellent employer (remember - I also worked with him at Holy Name). Those feelings have not changed, as, unlike my last two dismissals, this one is NOT a reflection on me or my work as a parish musician. Besides, at least I got advance warning this time, as did the parish via the bulletin.

Anyhoo, here is the final music list...

The kingdom of God..."Laudate Dominum"
Ave Verum Corpus...Mozart
Pange Lingua Gloriosi...Mode III
To Jesus Christ, our sov'reign King...Ich Glaub an Gott

Peace,
BMP

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form - 5 PM
23rd Sunday after Pentecost - October 19, 2008
St. Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket, RI

"In Babilone"...There's a wideness in God's mercy
Dubois...Adoramus Te, Christe
Franck...Panis Angelicus
"Crucifer"...Lift high the Cross

Peace,
BMP

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

This is the blog's version of a segment I did for a few weeks before being sacked from the ghost house last fall. The segment was called "In what we have done, and in what we're going to do". In this segment, we would feature the music we played the previous Sunday, and preview the music the for following Sunday.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Ordinary Form)
September 14, 2008
St. John the Baptist Church, Pawtucket, RI

Today I attended 9:30 Mass at my usual stomping grounds, St. John's. I should have brought my DS-30 recorder with me and recorded the Communion anthem. Anyhoo, this is what Paul and friends did...

Lift high the cross..."Crucifer"
Do not forget the works of the Lord...Alstott
Alleluia...Alstott (the 3/4 setting in C)
God who created hearts to love..."Lasst uns erfreuen"
- (there was a renewal of vows after the homily)
Sanctus and Amen...Proulx; "Community Mass"
Lord, by your cross and resurrection...Kraehenbeuhl/Frischmann; adapt. from "Danish Amen"
Agnus Dei...Isele; "Holy Cross Mass"
Adoramus Te, Christe...Dubois; from "Seven Last Words of Christ"
- (Paul, plus one soprano and one alto, did this in Latin and in English)
Crown him with many crowns..."Diademata"

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Rite II)
September 21, 2008 - 10 AM
All Saints Memorial Church (Episcopal), Providence, RI

This coming Sunday, I'll be filling in for an organist who doubles as an organ builder. He's heading off to Kansas to pick up an entire Bombarde rank (I love a good bombarde). This will be the first time I've done an Eucharist at an Episcopal church in 25 years (and my first ever with a choir). The organ at this church is a three-manual Austin of over 40 ranks.

The Kyrie, Sanctus, and Fraction Anthem (Jesus, Lamb of God) are from the Deutsche Messe by Schubert (adapted by Proulx)

Glorious things of thee are spoken..."Austria"
Singing songs of expectation..."Ton-y-botel"
- (This is the "sequence hymn" that is sung where we Catholics would normally sing the alleluia.)
Ave Verum...Mozart
- (followed by a brief improv, and then the procession of gifts is accompanied by "Praise God from whom all blessings flow"/Old 100th - one verse)
Come, labor on..."Ora labora"
O bless the Lord, my soul..."St. Thomas"; Williams

I didn't pick any of these, but I'll gladly play these tunes ANYTIME!

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Extraordinary Form Low Mass)
September 21, 2008 - 5 PM
St. Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket RI

Let all mortal flesh keep silence..."Picardy"
Magnificat...Tone 8 (simple tone)
Verbum Supernum Prodiens...Mode VIII
Now thank we all our God...Nun Danket

Peace,
BMP

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Extraordinary Form Low Mass)
August 17, 2008, 5 PM - St. Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket, RI

Christ is made the sure foundation..."St. Thomas"
- (Note: if I had my way, it would be Worship III in the pews. At least that book uses "Westminster Abbey")
Ubi Caritas...Mode VI
Magnificat...Tone 6F (from Worship II)
The kingdom of God..."Laudate Dominum"

Peace,
BMP

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost - July 20, 2008
Low Mass (Extraordinary Form) - St. Leo the Great Church

I heard the voice of Jesus say..."Kingsfold"
Veni, Creator Spiritus...Mode VIII
Adoro Te Devote...Mode V
O Christ, the great foundation..."Aurelia"

I would have much rather done The Church's One Foundation instead, but unfortunately the alternative title is what's given in the Gather Comp. II debacle that GIA passed for a hymnal.

Peace,
BMP

MORE MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Sunday XI of Ordinary Time - Ordinary Form
Saturday 4:00 / Sunday 8:30 and 11:00
Holy Cross Church - Providence, RI

Music director's choices except for Psalm, which he's leaving up to me. I'm filling in for the weekend.

All people that on earth do dwell..."Old Hundredth"
We are his people...Gelineau
Alleluia...Mode VI
Lord, when you came to the seashore..."Pescador de Hombres"
Sanctus from People's Mass...Vermulst
Christ has died/Amen...Danish
Agnus from Holy Cross Mass...Isele
How Great Thou Art..."O Store Gud"
Sing a new song unto the Lord...Schutte

Sunday V after Pentecost - Extraordinary Form (Low Mass)
Sunday 5 PM - St. Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket, RI

In addition, my monthly TLM duties...

O God, our help in ages past..."St. Anne"
O Deus, ego amo te...18th century tune from St. Gregory Hymnal
Panis Angelicus...Franck
The kingdom of God..."Laudate Dominum"

Peace,
BMP

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Low Mass in Extraordinary Form
Trinity Sunday - May 18, 2008
St. Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket, RI

O God, almighty Father..."Gott Vater, sei Gepriesen"
Profitentes Unitatem..."De Trinitate" (Pius X Hymnal, #251)
Veni, Creator Spiritus..."Mode VIII"
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty..."Nicaea"

Peace,
BMP

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Fourth Sunday after Easter (Extraordinary Form/Low Mass)
April 20, 2008 - 5:00 PM
St. Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket, RI

Alleluia! sing to Jesus..."Hyfrydol"
Regina caeli...Lotti
Cantate Domino canticum novum...d'Indy
Now thank we all our God..."Nun Danket"

If I had a full choir to work with, the Viadana "Exultate Justi in Domino" would be in order.

Peace,
BMP

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Dominica Palmarum - March 16, 2008, 5 PM
Extraordinary Form, Ritus Simplex
Saint Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket, RI

As much as I would have loved to do a good High Mass for this day, we just don't have the choir to do it. So, this will be my first Palm Sunday Tridentine LOW Mass. The blessing of the palms will be done according to Ordo Hebdomadae Sancte Instauratus, Ritus Simplex, 1957, which deals with Holy Week in smaller churches and oratories and the like. Here it indicates that the Mass may be sung or low.

Hosanna Filio David...Mode VII
Pueri Hebraeorum (first antiphon only, no verses)...Mode I
- (possible second antiphon ONLY if time permits, which I doubt)
Gloria, Laus, et Honor...Mode I
Ingrediente, Domino...Tone 8G
- (if procession goes outside of the church, again, which I doubt, but if it does, the Ingrediente is for when we go back inside)
Adoramus te, Christe...Dubois (from his "Seven Last Words of Christ")
Pange lingua gloriosi...Mode III
O sacred head surrounded..."Passion Chorale"

Peace,
BMP

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Second Sunday of Lent / February 17, 2008

10 AM (Ordinary Form)
Hospice St. Antoine, North Smithfield, RI

This is a Catholic "nursing home" type facility right near the city of Woonsocket. There is Mass weekly, yes. But, from what I've learned, they don't have music very often. What I found that's quite nice there is that the Mass is recorded through the intercom so those patients who can't leave their rooms can at least hear the Mass from their beds.

This is a memorial Mass for someone there, and the family is having a flautist work with me. I did compromise with her on a couple of requests. There were originally five "suggested songs", but I cut it down to two (and she agreed). The reason being - it's still a Sunday Mass, and I emphasized the need for the bulk of any hymns to reflect the Second Sunday of Lent. So, here's what we've got:

The glory of these forty days..."Old Hundredth"
- (I prefer ERHALT UNS, HERR, but since they don't always do music there, I opted for something these elderly patients would most likely pick up quick)
UPDATED 2/13/08: Lord, let your mercy be on us...Proulx/Gelineau
UPDATED 2/13/08: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ...Psalm Tone 2
Attende, Domine...Mode V
Sanctus/Agnus...Vermulst/"People's Mass"
Memorial/Amen...Danish
Panis Angelicus...Franck
J'irai la voir un jour...French
How great thou art..."O Store Gud"

5 PM (Extraordinary Form/Low Mass)
St. Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket, RI

'Tis good, Lord, to be here..."Swabia"
Parce, Domine...Mode I, w/verses of Ps. 50 (51) in Latin to Tonus Peregrinus
Attende, Domine...Mode V
The glory of these forty days..."Old Hundredth"
- (Here the people could have done ERHALT UNS, HERR. However, the hymnal in the pew has OLD HUNDREDTH - it's Gather Apprehensive, the 2004 maroon edition. GIA's had this knack lately for putting too many hymns to the same tunes - actually in every hymnal from the 1994 green edition Gather Apprehensive up to now - and eliminating some mighty fine tunes.)

Peace,
BMP

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Septuagesima Sunday - January 20, 2008 (5 PM)
Low Mass in Extraordinary Form
Saint Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket, RI

The kingdom of God..."Laudate Dominum"
O Esca viatorum...J. M. Haydn
Ave verum Corpus...Mozart
Holy God, we praise thy Name..."Grosser Gott"

I'll have the Blessed Sacrament list for 2 Ordinary Time posted once I get it.
Peace,
BMP

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Gaudete Sunday / December 16, 2007 / 5 PM
Saint Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket, RI
Holy Mass in Extraordinary Form

Low Mass
On Jordan's bank the baptist's cry..."Winchester New"
Magnificat...Tone 8 (Simple)
- (If I had more voices, I'd use the solemn tone in the Pius X Hymnal)
Veni, Veni, Emmanuel...Mode I
Rejoice! the Lord is King (vv. 1, 2, and 4)..."Darwall's 148th"

Peace,
BMP

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Thirty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time - November 18, 2007
Holy Cross Church, Providence, RI

I will be serving at the 4:00 PM Saturday and 8:30 AM Sunday Masses, but in a cantor capacity. Organist is the parish music director Ron Almeida, a good friend from the RIPnet boards. Here is the music Ron and I will be doing there.

Ordinary Form
The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice...Alstott
Alleluia...Mode VI
Mass of Creation...Haugen

All people that on earth do dwell..."Old Hundredth"
Come, Holy Spirit, wind and fire..."St. Catherine"
Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!..."Hyfrydol"
The King shall come when morning dawns..."Morning Song"

Also, I will be attending the 11:00 AM Mass Sunday morning at one of my leads - checking the place out, how Mass goes there, etc. The pastor seems to be moving in the right direction liturgically. We'll soon find out. I'll have resume in hand. If all goes right, it will be in the pastor's hand after Mass. If this turns out positive, I will then (and only "then") reveal the lead. I will tell you that the organ is a two-manual pipe organ built by L.A. Carlson. More on that when I learn more. :-D

Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost - November 18, 2007
St. Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket, RI

Extraordinary Form/Low Mass - 5 PM Sunday afternoon

Come, ye thankful people, come..."St. George's Windsor"
O Sacrum Convivium...Remondi
Miserere Illi Deus...Montani
- (I podcasted on this piece just last week!)
Now thank we all our God...Nun Danket

Peace,
BMP

AUF WIEDERSEHEN, HEILEGE GEIST

At this time, I am no longer the music director at Holy Ghost Church. I was let go this morning. I don't completely blame the pastor. I do, however, feel that he's acting upon great pressure from a good amount of parishioners who have nothing better to do than desire to have my arse on a silver platter no matter what I do. I do thank the many who have also supported me over the three years I faithfully served there.

Blogging will be light, and podcasting late, but not for that reason. My computer is being examined by the good ole "Geek Squad" at Best Buy. So, once that's back, things will be regular again, I hope.

In the meantime, I am still doing the Extraordinary Form of the Mass at St. Leo's this Sunday. I'll also be working freelance - any funerals I can get where an organist and/or cantor is unavailable elsewhere.

Please pray for me. Also please rest assured I don't give up that easily, especially when it's a job that is really a labor of love. My job is not done - just at Holy Ghost.

Peace,
BMP

UPDATE 11:00 PM EST 11/15/07: I have my first lead already. I got a return call from a pastor of a Roman Catholic parish in Washington County, RI. In case any locals are reading I'm going to hold off on revealing that lead until something is affirmative. I'm going to one of the Masses this Sunday to check things out, then very likely hand deliver my resume to the pastor. I also have resumes sent out to a parish in Norfolk County, MA, and one in South Carolina. Thanks much for the encouragement already received in the combox. -BMP

I'VE JUST BECOME A REGULAR

No, I am not leaving Holy Ghost. I have, however, as of the end of this afternoon's Extraordinary Form of the Mass at St. Leo the Great Church, been asked to become the regular organist for the Extraordinary Form, and I graciously said "yes", since I'm almost always available on Sunday nights (I'd only be unavailable if I had a Sunday night obligation at Holy Ghost, but such is the case maybe 1% of the time - tops).

I'm very happy with the turnout of today's Mass, as well as reuniting (albeit Third Sunday Nights) with my former pastor and good friend, Fr. Kevin Fisette. I'm looking forward to November 18!

Peace,
BMP

MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS

Saint Leo the Great Church, Pawtucket, RI
Dominica XXI post Pentecostem, October 21, 2007

Due to the regular organist's being hospitalized (let's pray for her), yours truly will be covering at the console for the Extraordinary Form of the Mass (Low Mass) celebrated at St. Leo the Great Church in Pawtucket, RI this Sunday at 5 PM.

I will be accompanying a soloist this Sunday who has been at St. Leo's for a while, but she's never done the Extraordinary Form. So, over the phone, we did manage to agree on music anyways for this Sunday. The program will go like this:

O God, almighty Father..."Gott Vater, sei Gepriesen"
Ave Verum...Mozart
Pange Lingua Gloriosi...Mode III
O God, our help in ages past..."St. Anne"

Only drawbacks: an Allen organ with the infamous "Diapasons become strings" and "flutes become stopped" gadgets, and Gather Comprehensive, Second Edition (yeah, the one that GIA just spit out just a couple of years ago). Those who know me know that I work around books like that quite nicely (hey, we use the OCP Missal and Music Issue at Holy Ghost - you wouldn't think so with most of my selections there).

Peace,
BMP

GREAT SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM NEWS IN RHODE ISLAND

My former boss will be celebrating 1962 Mass! WOOHOO!

I usually don't read the Pawtucket Times. Most of the time it's really only good for wrapping fish and lining litter boxes. But today I stumbled onto this front page write-up and I was very elated. (Links and snarky remarks added by yours truly)

Introibo ad altare Dei (I will go in to the altar of God)

PAWTUCKET - St. Leo the Great Church will be going back in time (Not really, but you have to understand, this is secular media that printed this article). Using a 1962 pre-Vatican II missal, the (Very) Rev. Kevin Fisette (my former pastor who I still consider a good friend to this day) will celebrate Sunday Mass in Latin on Oct. 21 at 5 p.m. (WOOHOO!)

The pastor will be wearing traditional vestments and during much of the Mass, will be standing with his back to the congregation. (When will the secular media around heree ever get it right? He will be facing the Lord, "to the East", the same direction as the congregation will be facing!) Worshippers will have to kneel to receive Holy Communion, and the host will be placed on the tongue.

In one other notable difference, Father Fisette will be assisted by altar boys - no girls allowed.

While this hasn't met with any resistance from parishioners, he did admit that one of his female altar servers, perhaps only half jokingly, responded with "Hey, that's not fair!" when told of the Latin Mass rules. (Quoting Fr. Fisette on my first Sunday at Holy Name, after I announced the hymns at the Latin Mass, obviously my still not knowing any better then, he asked me not to announce, and for good reason. "They didn't do that in '62," he told me. Same applies to the rule allowing altar boys and not altar girls - "They didn't do that in '62.")

St. Leo's, at 697 Central Ave., is the second church in Rhode Island to offer the Tridentine Mass. The other is Holy Name of Jesus Church in Providence (where I worked with Fr. Fisette for four of his seven years there, very happily, mind you), which has been offering the Mass for almost a decade by special permission from church authorities.

Earlier this year, Pope Benedict XVI lifted Vatican restrictions (Well, he really didn't "lift" the restrictions, but made clear that such restrictions never really existed, contrary to the belief of many bishops worldwide) on the celebration of the Latin Mass, paving the way for more parishes to offer the traditional rite. However, as Father Fisette pointed out, there are many specific rules and regulations associated with it, which have been outlined by the Most Rev. Thomas Tobin, Bishop of Providence.

"Bishop Tobin made it clear we can not mix rites, do a little of the old Mass and a little of the new," said Father Fisette (that is correct). "Everything will be just as it was in 1962." He added that Bishop Tobin has been "extremely supportive" of his plan. (God bless Bishop Tobin!)

Father Fisette said he is excited about offering the Latin Mass and hopes that it will generate enthusiasm among his own parishioners, and perhaps attract some that are new. (Like I mentioned in an earlier post - "Build it and they will come.")

Noting that weekly Mass attendance among Catholics has dropped about 40 percent in the last 40 years, Father Fisette said, "We have to do whatever we can to bring people back."

Father Fisette, who has been a priest for 26 years, said he realizes there are some who consider the practice a sign of the church going backwards. (A word to said skeptics, it's really just bringing back those sacred elements that somehow got lost in transition... well, and then some.)

He and other supporters of the Tridentine Mass view it as a return to a time of more sacred, traditional church values that were in place prior to the Second Vatican Council. "Sometimes, I think we have lost a sense of the sacred. It's all become very familiar," he said. "We would like to bring back the sense of mystery, if you will - back when people were more in awe of the Mass." He added that the Latin Mass celebration offers more in the way of "spiritual drama." (I've often sensed that in the sudden outbursts of "Nobis quoque peccatoribus", from the Canon of the Mass, and "Domine, non sum dignus", from the priest's Communion.)

Commenting on the longtime practice of the priest turning his back to the congregation, Father Fisette said that traditional thinking held that the old Mass was, essentially, the "priest's prayer on behalf of the people who were gathered."

In contrast, the new Mass is centered around the idea that all of the people celebrate the Mass with the priest. (Not to mention the stereotypical innovative liturgeist's definition of "Full, Conscious, and Active Participation")

Father Fisette said he sees the Latin Mass as providing parishioners with another option of a traditional Catholic Mass.

"The Church is certainly big enough for different types of Masses. It is big enough for everybody's spirituality," he said. "We have guitar Masses and Gregorian chants, why not the Latin Mass?" (After all, Cardinal Arinze once said, "I will not now, nor will I ever say, 'Never guitar'". The problem is not so much the guitar as it is the music that the stereotypical "liturgical guitarist" uses at Holy Mass. Let me remind you that the beloved Christmas carol Stille Nacht, Heilege Nacht got its premiere on guitar, as the organ at the composer's church had broken down.)

Before arriving at St. Leo's, Father Fisette was pastor of Holy Name Church, where he celebrated the weekly Tridentine Mass for seven years. He said that at Holy Name, there was a great deal of interest in the Latin Mass, even attracting a younger segment of the parishioners. (We had really good turnouts at that Mass. And don't let Fr. Fisette's being a diocesan priest ordained in 1981 fool you. He can say/chant the Mass in the Extraordinary Form just as well as any of the other well-trained priest in that form, and with class.)

Father Fisette admits he is no Latin scholar, having only taken a couple of years of the ancient language in high school. However, when he was assigned to Holy Name in 1997, he decided to learn it himself. He said he used his mother's old missal and watched a videotape as a guide. "I was tongue-tied at first, but I found that it was fairly easy to learn," he said. (I took a similar route - I did one year of French in eighth grade, then took Latin in my first two years of high school. When I got involved in church music in my late teens, I had to do some converting - mainly in pronunciations, as the high school I attended was a public high school and the Latin was Classical Latin - so I had to learn to convert all my pronunciations to Ecclesiastical Latin. I try not to show conceit, but I have to say it paid off well for me, and for Father Fisette as well.)

He said he still intends to deliver his homily in English, however. (That is fine. That is usually the custom, as well as re-reading the Epistle and Gospel in English just before the homily.) Because of all the different rules and practices involving the Latin Mass, Fisette said he plans to hold an instructional session for parishioners on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 6:30 p.m. in St. Leo's Church. (Big time kudos!)

Following the inaugural Mass on Oct. 21, Father Fisette plans to celebrate a 5 p.m. Latin Mass on the third Sunday of each month for one year, to see if it catches on with parishioners. "I feel optimistic that it will," he stated. (I feel it will too.)

BTW, I plan on being there for (at the absolute least) the October 21 Mass. St. Leo the Great Church is on 697 Central Avenue in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Looks a little modern on the outside, but looks more traditional on the inside.

Peace,
BMP