Saturday, February 27: 5 PM
Sunday, February 28: 7:30, 9, and 11:15 AM
Entrance Hymn: Forty Days and Forty Nights, "Heinlein" Kyrie: from Messa Populare "Laus Tibi Christe", Federico Caudana Psalm 103: R./ The Lord is kind and merciful, BMP
Offertory hymn: Jesus, Lover of My Soul, "Aberystwyth"
Sanctus: Mass XVIII
Memorial Acclamtion:Save us, Savior of the world, ICEL chant
Amen: adapt. from the Sanctus of Mass VIII
Agnus Dei: Mass XVIII
Communion anthem: Jesu, Salvator Noster, Fr. Carlo Rossini Post-Communion hymn: Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee, "Windsor" Recessional hymn: Take Up Your Cross, "O Jesu Mi Dulcissime"
Following is our Liturgy Planner using my Psalm 151 project for the Third Sunday of Lent. For this Sunday, you can (once again) use one of two Introits.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 103: The Lord is kind (I)
R./ chant-style, mixolydian; V./ Tone 8 with alternate original SATB tone
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION Gospel Acclamation "Vexílla Regis" (Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ)
R./ based on Vexílla Regis Pródeunt; V./ Tonus Peregrinus
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (in lieu of Alleluia) Gospel Acclamation "Vexílla Regis" (Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ)
R./ based on Vexílla Regis Pródeunt; V./ Tonus Peregrinus
Offertory hymn: Lord, who throughout these forty days, "St. Flavian"
Sanctus: Mass XVIII
Memorial Acclamtion:Save us, Savior of the world, ICEL chant
Amen: adapt. from the Sanctus of Mass VIII
Agnus Dei: Mass XVIII
Communion anthem: My song is love unknown, John Ireland
Post-Communion hymn: When I survey the wondrous cross, "Rockingham"
Recessional hymn: Jesus, Name all names above, "St. Theoctistus"
Stations of the Cross and Holy Communion
Tuesdays of Lent and Passiontide at 7 PM
Format for all six Tuesdays:
At the Entrance, and after each Station: At the Cross her station keeping
- The book we use has two verses at the very beginning, two verses after station 1, one verse each after stations 2-6, two verses after station 7, one verse each after stations 8-13, and two verses after station 14.
The Lord's Prayer is recited.
Agnus Dei: Mass XVIII
Ecce, Agnus Dei is recited.
Communion hymn:
- Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All, "Sweet Sacrament" (February 16, March 1 and 15)
- Let thy Blood in mercy poured, "Jesu, Meine Zuversicht" (February 23, March 8 and 22)
Here we go with another Liturgy Planner using my Psalm 151 project, this time for the First Sunday of Lent. There's a lot of Psalm 91 going on for this day, plenty enough so that you don't have to resort to the "Eagle's Claws".
With the exception of the Gospel Acclamation, all of these pieces have an original response (the Responsorial Psalm has a nice solemn metrical response in common time, the others are in chant), and the verses are set to Tone 1, with an alternate original SATB tone.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (in lieu of Alleluia) Gospel Acclamation "Vexilla Regis" (Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ)
R./ based on Vexílla Regis Pródeunt; V./ Tonus Peregrinus
Following is the first of a series of "liturgy planners" utilizing components of my pet project, dubbed Psalm 151, a set of Introits, Responsorial Psalms, Alleluias (in this case, the Lenten Gospel Acclamation in lieu of Alleluia), Offertories, and Communions for the complete three-year liturgical cycle. It is a work in progress, with the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Passiontide completed, as well as the Easter Vigil. As of the time I write this post (4:20 PM on Monday, February 8, 2016), I am now into the Third Sunday of Easter in this project.
Without further ado, here is Ash Wednesday! And yes, I've even thrown in a Parce Dómine-based responsory for the Distribution of Ashes.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (in lieu of Alleluia) Gospel Acclamation "Vexilla Regis" (Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ)
R./ based on Vexílla Regis Pródeunt; V./ Tonus Peregrinus
Memorial Acclamation: We proclaim your death, O Lord, BMP (Holy Angels Mass)
Amen: Dresden Amen, arr. by Theodore Marier
Agnus Dei: Holy Angels Mass, BMP
Communion hymn: Pange Lingua, Mode III
Recessional hymn: To Jesus' Heart, all-burning
Now for the biggie this week, Sunday V of the Year. Being the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday, this is the last time we get to use the word Alleluia for a few weeks. It is customary that we add a few extra alleluias to our hymnody and what not, and this weekend is no exception, especially in our Communion anthem. Saturday Mass (II-6-16) at 5 PM. Sunday Masses (II-7-16) at 7:30, 9, and 11:15 AM.
Entrance hymn: Alleluia! sing to Jesus, "Hyfrydol"
Gloria: Holy Angels Mass, BMP, or spoken
Psalm 138: R./ In the sight of the angels, I will sing your praises, Lord, Owen Alstott
Alleluia: Owen Alstott (A-flat chant-style)
Offertory hymn: I sought the Lord, "Artavia"
Sanctus: Holy Angels Mass, BMP
Memorial Acclamation: We proclaim your death, O Lord, BMP (Holy Angels Mass)
Amen: Dresden Amen, arr. by Theodore Marier
Agnus Dei: Holy Angels Mass, BMP
Communion anthem: Festive Alleluia, Gordon Young
- Nice pompous piece, chocked full of alleluias!
Post-Communion hymn: Jesus, Name of wondrous love, "St. Bees"
Recessional hymn: Ye watchers and ye holy ones, "Lasst uns Erfruen"
And now, Ash Wednesday (II-10-16). We put the Alleluias away, in our chant before the Gospel, and in our hymnody. The Gloria is also omitted (except for the season's lone solemnity this year, St. Joseph, which falls on Saturday, III-19-16, the day before Palm Sunday). We will also go into chant Mass Ordinary settings. Masses are at 9 AM, 12 noon, and 6 PM.
Entrance hymn: Lord, who throughout these forty days, "St. Flavian" Kyrie: from Messa Populare "Laus Tibi Christe", Federico Caudana
Psalm 51: R./ Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned, Alexander Peloquin (Songs of Israel, Vol. I)
Three days ago, I posted this blurb about cantors and "song leaders". Today, I will continue down that road a bit.
If you noticed in the last blurb, I blatantly used quotation marks for the term "song leaders". I did that because while some really do make an attempt to "lead" the singing of the people in the pew, for some, it's an audio/visual presentation. Think of it as (quoting Happy Bunny with the big $&!+-eating grin) "Let's focus on ME!" And again, many actually start listening (and staring) and stop singing.
But now, I'm going to go into the next phase of solo singing: the soloist. This happens mostly at funerals and weddings. Any organists reading this know of what I speak, especially if they've worked the northern Rhode Island circuit in the 1980's and 1990's.
I don't know if anything has changed since 1997 when I left my last northern Rhode Island parish as organist/music director, but certain funeral parlors had a knack for pushing soloists. More than half the funerals I played in that area included a soloist, usually from outside the parish. And, of course, many of them insisted on putting on their own show, and it was allowed by many a parish. While, thankfully, nothing totally secular came about (except for one parish where the pastor once honored a request for John Lennon's Imagine, played, but not sung, as a recessional), but there was a good amount of crap being pushed. There are a couple of soloists, probably deceased by now, who did use a repertoire of decent Catholic music, and, while they weren't doing Mass XVIII, they would usually do People's Mass or Christian Unity, both by the late Jan Vermulst, and not Massive Cremation, or the Jesuits Mass, or the current Missa My Little Pony. But nonetheless, they come expecting to sing SOLO, and having the organist sing along with them (even if said organist is familiar with the tune, and whether in unison or in harmony) is generally frowned upon by the soloist, and sometimes even by the family who requested him/her.
Since breaking out of that circuit of having a soloist come almost unexpectedly every other funeral or more, I've been able to set a bit of a policy on soloists, and at my current parish, enforce it fully. This goes basically for weddings and funerals, as there is no reason to work with outside soloists for Sunday Mass.
For example, if you're requested for a solo piece (e.g., an Ave Maria at the Offertory), fine. You will get that solo. But if you're familiarity with the Mass Ordinary settings is limited to Haugen, Haas, St. Louis Jesuits, and other similar composers disallowed at the parish, have a seat. Speaking of Mass Ordinary, at funerals, we do Mass XVIII (with the pro Defunctis Agnus Dei) as a rule. I am willing to give leeway to the aforementioned Vermulst Masses, plus Owen Alstott's Heritage Mass and Richard Proulx's Community Mass. I'll even accomodate anyone who wants to give my own Holy Angels Mass a try. :) There may be some other Masses of similar quality that I may be able to sight-read quickly (or at least fake well). Same policy goes with hymnody.
Wrapping this up: let's differentiate:
* Cantor: sings the versicles of the Responsorial Psalm, the Alleluia, and other such responsories.
* "Song Leader": leads the singing of hymns, Mass Ordinaries - those pieces that belong to the congregation. Often accidentally becomes a soloist, by way of the dreaded microphone. In no way should a "song leader" blare into a mic at the choir Mass. Let the choir be the leaders.
* Soloist: sings pieces intended for solo voice. Such examples would be most Ave Maria settings, the Franck Panis Angelicus, and the Faure Pie Jesu. Often by accident a "song leader" becomes one by way of the microphone (see above).
I know I've touched on this previously, well, way way back when I was blogging regularly under the Christus Vincit moniker, but I don't think many new readers (the few I may have) will want to try to dig back a decade into the archives to see what I (or any blogging partners I had) really wrote. Or will they?
I am a regular poster and lurker on the Facebook page "I'm Fed Up with Bad Church Music". It's a great group for venting about really bad music that often takes place in our churches. And it's not only for Catholics (though a good number of us are). Many Protestant faiths are represented on the page as well. It's one of many ways some of us give an example of what NOT to do at church. The page is extremely active, not to mention well over 11,000 members strong! And, like any other page, you might get a small handful, or maybe even one or two who join the page for the sheer purpose of calling us out for our task at hand, but that we'll save for a future post.
Anyhoo, on the above mentioned page was posted a video of a guitarist and singer at (surprise, surprise!) an Episcopal church bellowing (and I do mean "bellowing") the infamous I Am the Bread of Life. You know, the ditty often referred to as "Toolanbread", after the ditty's songwriter, Sr. M. Suzanne Toolan, RSM. I would normally expect such at a mainstream Catholic church, and I'm sure even most Episcopal organists would writhe in pain after hearing this! Here is that video...
Like any other thread in an active page or listserv, while much of the thread stayed on topic, there were places that branched off into discussions about cantors, "song leaders", and the dreaded microphone. That is my inspiration for my post as it appears below the following lovely string of asterisks.
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A cantor's basic role is to sing the Psalm, whether it be in the form of the Responsorial Psalm, the Alleluia (and its versicle), a Communion responsory (proper preferred). Those are the things usually assigned to a cantor. Of course, the responses to such Psalmody belongs to the congregation.
The role of "song leader" (if one is really needed) would be to lead the singing of the hymns, the Mass Ordinary, and other items that belong to the congregation. Ideally, at Masses in which the choir is singing, then the choir is the "song leader". More on this two paragraphs down.
Does a cantor or "song leader" really need a microphone? Under proper conditions (acoustics good, singer(s) trained to project well, congregation's turn to sing), no. I remember a liturgy committee leader (who had a brother for whom I worked for eight years later on) once telling me back in the summer of 1983 that if the person leading is singing too loud, the congregation will very likely "start listening and stop singing". And in many cases, he's right. So, why the microphone, except to attract attention to oneself?
My biggest pet peeve is not only a cantor or "song leader" (Don't you just love the way I use quotation marks? Tee hee!) blaring into a microphone, but even doing so when there is an able and competent choir singing. Is that really necessary? I've seen it in small churches and cathedrals alike. The choir is singing, yet there is the "song leader" up front, blaring into a mic, flapping his/her arms up in the air when it's time for the people in the pew to sing (we have to hope and pray that said "song leader" does not have B.O.), thus the choir is hardly heard. Before I took the job at Sacred Heart, my wife Ann and I once went to a small church not far from home where the situation was exactly that for the entire Mass! The choir, a very competent one, I might add, was basically relegated to serving as the back-up group for their "featured singer". And wouldn't you know, just months later, a pastor from another church called me up, asking me if I was interested in the organist position there. I learned that he was looking to downgrade the music program severely (not in his words, but he talked up his moves like they were bragging rights). That included unplugging the three-manual Moller pipe organ and replacing it with an electronic "keyboard", hiring a "song leader" from the outside, and relegating the choir to merely backing up their "featured singer" (and yes, the pastor used the words "featured singer")! This, sadly, is what it has come down to in many parishes.
More on microphone abuse: More than once have I played a funeral where the family requested a singer who was not only microphone happy, but very loud, and very warbly. Funny thing is that in both cases that come to mind the most for me, the opening hymn was Amazing Grace, and in both cases, it sounded like this:
Without amplification, the hymn was sung fortissimo ("ff", or "very loud", for any non-musicians reading this). Add the mic, the end result was an earth-shattering fortissitissitissimo ("ffff" or "extremely loud"). In the latter case, the parish secretary asked me what the hell that noise was, as she could hear it from the rectory!
First of all: LOSE THE MIC! If the singer is trained properly, he/she will project. As a member of a chorus in high school (a public high school, mind you!), we were trained to project, so that we could be heard without the aid of microphones (or at least "excessive microphones"). I was Jud Fry in our high school production of Oklahoma! in my junior year. We all had to project. Even the women with the softest of voices that got roles projected. They made themselves heard with no amplification whatsoever. We were very fortunate to have a choral director (Mrs. Nectar Lennox) and a drama teacher (Miss Gail Frappier) who taught us those things. GIA Publications may be publishing a lot of crappy music as of late, but they did come out with a couple of good buttons that were being sold in bulk. One of them was "BACK OFF! LET THE PEOPLE SING!"
Next: Carpeting --- if it's killing the acoustics, get rid of it! You don't need it. So now that's two things we don't need - excessive mics and carpeting. Save your scuttola! Thus the other GIA button: CARPET BEDROOMS, NOT CHURCHES!"
Finally: if you have a drop-ceiling in your music area, lose it! I had to deal with one in a former parish whose name and location I will not mention. It was a nightmare! It also had carpeting. Nightmare times two!
If the choir sings at Mass, let them lead the hymns and sung Ordinary. You don't need a separate "song leader" to drown out the choir. Teach them to project as a group. Give the cantor parts (Psalm versicles, etc.) to someone within the choir who can project them from his/her spot in the choir. You can even write choral versicles. There is no written rule stating that Psalm versicles have to be sung solo. Here's a sample video from St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, Australia (where George Cardinal Pell of ICEL fame was Archbishop until February 2014):
You may have to fast forward to spots like the entrance hymn and the responsorial Psalm. But you will notice that there is not a cantor within eyesight or earshot in that mammoth cathedral. Not to mention the musical selections are of very high quality. Oh, and it was merely the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time!
