Pride of Place

Four of us met in the Crying Room, weather and work commitments kept several members away.
Alan felt that the Mass at Holy Spirit had gone well but that we hadn’t softened the endings as we had practiced. Next we sang the parts of the Mass before going into the church to sing Compline.

Alan proposed that we call ourselves Cantors of the Holy Rude. The first Catholic parish of Stirling, founded by St Margaret's son David, was the Holy Rude, What do members think about Alan's idea?
This led to the idea that we might pray a sung Vespers in Stirling’s medieval Parish Church of the Holy Rude. I was the Convener of Stirling Christians Together for several years, so I offered to see what I can do.

We had an interesting discussion about the Traditional Latin Mass and the Mass we know from our regular Sunday worship. How did Gregorian chant and the Traditional Latin Mass fit with what Vatican II had taught on Liturgy and Music? Here’s my overview.

Vatican II was the 21st Ecumenical Council of the Church. It produced sixteen documents, four of which were called Constitutions. The first of these Constitutions, Sacrosanctum Conclium (SC) dealt with Liturgy.

The full text is here:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html

Sacrosanctum Concilium required that ‘In sacred celebrations there is to be more reading from Holy Scripture, and it is to be more varied and suitable’ (SC 35.1).
This instruction has led to our current three-year cycle of Readings and the introduction of elements from the Old Testament, including the Responsorial Psalm.
My personal view is that this change is a considerable improvement; I just wish that we were told the number of the Psalm being read at each Mass.

For our purposes as a Schola, two key quotes from Sacrosanctum Concilium are:
36. the use of the Latin language is to be preserved
116. Gregorian chant…..should be given pride of place in liturgical services

In terms of music, the Council emphasised the importance of sacred song in the Liturgy:
SC 112. The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as sacred song united to the words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy….Therefore sacred music is to be considered the more holy in proportion as it is more closely connected with the liturgical action, whether it adds delight to prayer, fosters unity of minds, or confers greater solemnity upon the sacred rites.

SC 113. Liturgical worship is given a more noble form when the divine offices are celebrated solemnly in song, with the assistance of sacred ministers and the active participation of the people. [Active Participation is the term used in earlier documents to mean singing Gregorian Chant JR].

SC 116. The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services.
But other kinds of sacred music, especially polyphony, are by no means excluded from liturgical celebrations, so long as they accord with the spirit of the liturgical action, as laid down in Art. 30 (the people should be encouraged to take part by means of acclamations, responses, psalmody, antiphons, and songs, as well as by actions, gestures, and bodily attitudes. And at the proper times all should observe a reverent silence).

My ambition is to re-introduce chant into regular Sunday Mass. The Schola can learn the parts of the Mass for the monthly 'Extraordinary Form' Mass at Holy Spirit and sing those prayers wherever we have the chance at the regular 'Ordinary Form' Mass. We can also learn Vespers, Compline etc. which could be prayed in public for special occasions.

Our Parish Priest is open to the use of Gregorian chant at our regular Masses, (Malky asked him).

PS in the light of today's news about Pope Benedict's decision to retire as Pope, note the Cardinal who wrote the introduction to the book shown above. He'd make a great Bishop of Rome.