Let's look at what two different editions of the General Instruction have to say about the "Entrance chant"...

General Instruction of the Roman Missal (2003)

48. The singing at this time is done either alternately by the choir and the people or in a similar way by the cantor and the people, or entirely by the people, or by the choir alone. In the dioceses of the United States of America there are four options for the Entrance Chant: (1) the antiphon from the Roman Missal or the Psalm from the Roman Gradual as set to music there or in another musical setting; (2) the seasonal antiphon and Psalm of the Simple Gradual; (3) a song from another collection of psalms and antiphons, approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop, including psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms; (4) a suitable liturgical song similarly approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop.

and more recently...

General Instruction of the Roman Missal (2011)

48. This chant is sung alternately by the choir and the people or similarly by a cantor and the people, or entirely by the people, or by the choir alone. In the Dioceses of the United States of America, there are four options for the Entrance Chant: (1) the antiphon from the Missal or the antiphon with its Psalm from the Gradual Romanum, as set to music there or in another setting; (2) the antiphon and Psalm of the Graduate Simplex for the liturgical time; (3) a chant from another collection of Psalms and antiphons, approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop, including Psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms; (4) another liturgical chant that is suited to the sacred action, the day, or the time of year, similarly approved by the Conference of Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop.

Dudes - your clappy clap song is not liturgical chant. Neither is "Gather us in..."

The above is the USA version, it will be interesting to see what the England and Wales version says. It will also be interesting to see if anybody cares.

Mr Jeffery Tucker has the full story... Read all about it.

This excellent photo from Damian Thompson's blog shows very clearly the manner in which Pope Benedict likes to celebrate Mass...

We know this because he has said so. In his book Spirit of the Liturgy he wrote a chapter entitled "The Altar and the Direction of Liturgical Prayer" in which he expressed clearly his belief that "Moving the altar cross to the side to give an uninterrupted view of the priest is something I regard as one of the truly absurd phenomena of recent decades. Is the cross disruptive during Mass? Is the priest more important than Our Lord?"

As Pope Benedict he has combined the cross with seven large candles on seven, no, countless occasions. As a quick google image search will demonstrate...

This is being widely described as the Benedictine Altar Arrangement and Pope Benedict has been using it everywhere (as have many Priests) except of course, in Glasgow yesterday where thanks to the efforts of some serious liturgical Nazis, Pope Benedict arrived to find that six of his candles had been placed not on the altar, but on little boxes to the side.

[A photo when I find one...]

This, despite the fact that the Papal MC will have made it perfectly clear what was desired. If I were a Scottish Catholic I would be livid. In fact, I am livid. Who do these people think they are? Pope Benedict comes here and somebody spits in his liturgical face.

The fact that this blog entry contains no profanities is a minor miracle.

Our Parish Priest.

What I think he means...

It's May, a time of devotion to Mary. People crown statues, bring flowers and honour Our Lady in all kinds of ways.

One way that people like to honour Mary in May is to sing Marian Hymns during the Mass, especially as the recessional but that doesn't entirely make sense. The Liturgy follows it's own pattern and has it's own days for honouring Mary.

Really, it would make more sense (and perhaps honour Mary more) if May devotions were in addition to Mass, rather than just mixed in with the hymns.

What everybody heard on Sunday...

"There is no place for Mary in the Mass"

Jesus is not a teenager. He is not embarrassed to be seen with his mum.

But he might be a bit embarrassed at some of the things his priests are saying...

Lay people don't have any rights, and the clergy can do whatever they like... right?

On the contrary, it is the right of all of Christ’s faithful that the Liturgy, and in particular the celebration of Holy Mass, should truly be as the Church wishes, according to her stipulations as prescribed in the liturgical books and in the other laws and norms. Likewise, the Catholic people have the right that the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass should be celebrated for them in an integral manner, according to the entire doctrine of the Church’s Magisterium. Finally, it is the Catholic community’s right that the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharist should be carried out for it in such a manner that it truly stands out as a sacrament of unity, to the exclusion of all blemishes and actions that might engender divisions and factions in the Church.

Redemptionis Sacramentum 11

But we don't have a right that Bishop's do anything about anything? Do we?

Christ’s faithful have the right that ecclesiastical authority should fully and efficaciously regulate the Sacred Liturgy lest it should ever seem to be “anyone’s private property, whether of the celebrant or of the community in which the mysteries are celebrated”

Redemptionis Sacramentum 18

It is the right of the Christian people themselves that their diocesan Bishop should take care to prevent the occurrence of abuses in ecclesiastical discipline, especially as regards the ministry of the word, the celebration of the sacraments and sacramentals, the worship of God and devotion to the Saints.

Redemptionis Sacramentum 24

Do we have the right to a decent liturgy?

It is the right of the community of Christ’s faithful that especially in the Sunday celebration there should customarily be true and suitable sacred music, and that there should always be an altar, vestments and sacred linens that are dignified, proper, and clean, in accordance with the norms.

Redemptionis Sacramentum 57

All of Christ’s faithful likewise have the right to a celebration of the Eucharist that has been so carefully prepared in all its parts that the word of God is properly and efficaciously proclaimed and explained in it; that the faculty for selecting the liturgical texts and rites is carried out with care according to the norms; and that their faith is duly safeguarded and nourished by the words that are sung in the celebration of the Liturgy.

Redemptionis Sacramentum 58

Any clergy reading?

Have you respected our rights?

Let each one of the sacred ministers ask himself, even with severity, whether he has respected the rights of the lay members of Christ’s faithful, who confidently entrust themselves and their children to him, relying on him to fulfil for the faithful those sacred functions that the Church intends to carry out in celebrating the sacred Liturgy at Christ’s command. For each one should always remember that he is a servant of the Sacred Liturgy.

Redemptionis Sacramentum 186

The other day I blogged the words of St John of Damascus who wrote...

I may not have many books, nor much time to read, but, strangled with thoughts, as if with thorns, I come into the common surgery of the soul, the church; the luster of the painting draws me to vision and delights my sight like a meadow and imperceptibly introduces my soul to the glory of God.

I said that it's a good job he didn't live around here because in my view, there is a clear and definite link between the lack of beauty in our Churches and the lack of people. Fr Massie responded to ask "In that case, why aren't most Anglican churches bursting at the seams?"

It's a reasonable question, so I gave him an unreasonable answer and then thought better of it and decided I should probably write this blog entry...

The words of St John of Damascus put me in mind of a passage from GK Chesterton in which he discusses the difficulty most people have in understanding the rational compared with the ease with which they understand the mystical...

...to judge of the aims of a thing like the Salvation Army is very difficult, to judge of their ritual and atmosphere very easy. No one, perhaps, but a sociologist can see whether General Booth’s housing scheme is right. But any healthy person can see that banging brass cymbals together must be right. A page of statistics, a plan of model dwellings, anything which is rational, is always difficult for the lay mind. But the thing which is irrational any one can understand. That is why religion came so early into the world and spread so far, while science came so late into the world and has not spread at all. History unanimously attests the fact that it is only mysticism which stands the smallest chance of being understanded of the people.

[link]

For example, it would take me a very long time to explain to my two year old daughter that it is a very difficult thing to build a huge Cathedral because it requires many people to spend a lot of time planning, understanding physics and architecture, carving stone and so on. At the end when I told her that such things exist she would probably yawn and as me to let her watch a Pingu DVD. She would not be terribly impressed.

But when we went to Beverley and walked around the corner and the great Minster loomed in the sky above her, two towering pillars of golden sandstone in the crisp autumn sun, she stopped in her tracks and said "wow".

Forgive me if I bold my own paragraph but this is important...

Despite the fact that the modernist liberal church prides itself on having broken free of the tedious dry dogma of the past it has in fact achieved the very opposite. It is now in fact, almost impossible to wander in off the street in the middle of a Catholic Mass and say, with all the wisdom of a two year old, "wow".

In order to have a sense of wonder at the Mass now we must go the intellectual route, it is all they have left us. St John of Damascus was without many books but before we can see anything special about the elderly gentleman with the bread and wine we must read many books, listen to talks, go on courses and study our Bible. You will point out that most people don't do that sort of thing, I will point out that most people are not saying "wow" to the Mass.

Trying to get young people to be impressed at the Mass is like trying to get them to be impressed at the technology inside a laptop computer. The fact that entire libraries of information can be stored in a space the size of a pen lid is hardly impressive because it just works. We have done something similar with the Eucharist, we have placed it inside a plastic case and made it a simple matter of pushing a button.

Our liturgy is as impressive to the untrained eye as a beige box with a whirring fan and a small group of excited nerds crowded around it crowing about how much RAM it has.

If the Church is ever to grow beyond a small band of nerdy bookish people it is vital that we re-learn how to speak the language of the soul. We need to make it clear at first sight that this is a thing that is special, holy, important and impressive. It is not enough for the computer scientists to understand that the modern microchip is a marvel of engineering, it is not enough for the theologians to be impressed at the symbolism in the way they have laid the chairs out in a half circle...

This is why things like art and incense, vestments and kneeling are so important, because you don't need to be a technical person to understand.

I am reminded of the time we went with young people to visit the Church with the frescoes in Pickering and more than one of them said "why isn't our Church like that?" Any healthy person can see that a 20ft high painting of St George slaying the dragon must be right. It takes a special kind of madness to think a clever abstract painting that has to be explained is preferable.

So when I say there is a link between the lack of beauty in our churches and the lack of people - this is what I am getting at. We have removed the things that are obviously good and right and left something that only those who are already "in" (or willing to make the effort) can begin to look at and say "this is important", "this means something".

Not long ago on this blog I bemoaned the lack of incense on Christmas day and somebody said in the comments...

Whatever happens in your parish and however discouraged you may be remember the incense is a symbol but Our Lord in the Eucharist is real, despite the faith of the priest confector.

I know that and you know that but unless the signs and symbols and trappings scream out "this is the most important thing in the world" it is unlikely that the bloke down the road who didn't learn to read properly at school and now sits at home all day playing on his PS3 is ever going to work it out.

I can't help thinking the world would be a better place if all those involved in the liturgy were invited to launch an anvil 200ft in the air.

Anybody who said "What's the point?" would fail the test.

The sort of priest who decides, for example, not to have incense any more, would be caught out by this test and sent to a re-education camp where he would be made to play with matches and use a big knife to sharpen sticks.

You know, man stuff.

Oof - It was an iron bar! No seriously, Paul Inwood walks in to his local and the barman... the barperson asks him what he would like to drink. Ordering a small glass of his favourite fair trade sparkling white wine he takes a seat at the bar. Over the next few hours he drinks heavily - three, maybe four sips before he starts to sing. His singing is bothering the other customers and one of them complains to the barperson who wanders over to where Paul is sitting and asks him to stop.

"Do you know who I am?" he says. "I'm Paul Inwood, I'm Director of Liturgy at Portsmouth Diocese. My name is in the back of hymnals and song books. If I want to sing, I'm going to sing!" "Yeah right" says the barman, "and I'm the King of England. I think you've had enough to drink today."

"I can prove it to you" says Inwood, "You pick any word you like, and I will get it sung at Church - though obviously it can't be a swearword". "That's easy", the barperson retorts. "You'll just slip my word in to verse three and have it sung at a youth mass, you can get people to sing anything at those".

"Wow..." says Paul, "You seem to know a lot about liturgy! Have you been to one of my days for Musicians?"

"Listen", says the barperson. "If you really want to prove yourself as undisputed Lord of the Sings, you're going to have to do something really special". "Like what?" Inwood asks. "Well, for a start, hymns are too easy - you can have any words you like, if you want to impress me you will need to get my word in to the Gospel Acclamation. The Church provides the words of the Gospel Acclamation as part of the Mass so it's not like you can just write your own."

"That's easy" Paul responds, "We've been writing our own Gospel Acclamations for ages, though we call them 'Alleluias' because 'Acclamations' is a long word so it's a bit exclusive. We also write our own Glorias and Holy Holies..." The barperson interrupts "Holy Holies? Do you mean the Sanctus?" "Now that sounds like Latin" replies Inwood. "You're not one of those traditionalists are you?"

"You also have to get it published by a proper music publisher" the barman adds, "Somebody with a website". "That's easy as well" says Paul Inwood. "My mates at OCP will publish anything".

"Well" says the barperson. "You haven't heard my choice of word yet. Before I tell you, let's make a deal. If you manage to get this word in a published alleluia you get free drinks here for a year. If you fail, you are barred - for life"

"Sounds fair" says Paul Inwood. "What's the word?"

So the barman says... "Well, I'm a big David Bowie fan. You know his song: Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes?"

"Changes? Inwood replies, "As in... The changes after Vatican II? Surely that's too easy."

"No" the barman says "Not 'changes' - that would be easy!"

"So what's the word then?"

"Ch-Ch."

"Ch-Ch?"

"Ch-Ch."

"Really?"

"Yes"

"Is that even a word?" Paul Inwood asks. The barperson leans forward.. "It's my bar and my challenge. If I say it's a word, it's a word. Now finish your fair trade wine and don't come back unless you get that alleluia published."

So Paul Inwood gets up to leave and the barperson says... "Why the long face?"

...

As punchlines go, that one's not very good.

Speaking of not very good. Have you heard the latest alleluia by Paul Inwood?

Via Catholic Action UK...

Will Heaven, York student and Catholic Herald contributor:

I went to a Mass in York Minster on Thursday to celebrate 400 years since Mary Ward founded the Loreto sisters. It was a historic occasion - it's not often the Anglican dean and chapter lend the magnificent building to the Catholic Church for Mass.

But we blew it. Although most of the service was lovely, just before the Gospel the Bible was danced down the nave by five teenage girls in sashes doing a sort of modern expressive dance.

Mickens [ghastly Rome correspondent of the Tablet] would have loved it. And Cormac Murphy-O'Connor sure looked as if he enjoyed the show from his throne. But it was clearly a youth mass, so did young Catholics like what they saw? The Catholic girls I went with - all educated by Mary Ward sisters - buried their heads in their hands when the dance started. I tried to speak to one of the dancers at the end, but she rushed out of the Church very quickly. I wonder why.

Will Heaven is a twenty-something year old man, like myself. If only we were both sixty year old women we would probably get votes. But we don't.

Anyway, Catholic Action UK is asking that everybody write to Bishop Drainey about this. They've even provided a picture so we will recognise him if we happen to pass in the street...

They write...

Action: readers in the diocese of Middlesbrough should complain to the newly ordained Bishop Drainey, and copy their letters to the Congregation for Divine Worship. Refresh your memories of Cardinal Arinze's views on liturgical dance here.

Curial Office, 50a The Avenue,
Linthorpe, Middlesbrough TS5 6QT
E-mail: financialsecretary@dioceseofmiddlesbrough.co.uk

Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments
10 Piazza Pio XII
00120 Vatican
Italy

Bishop Drainey, the Cardinal and several other Bishops were there for heaven's sake. They know what happened.

If they are going to do anything about it, they will do it secretly behind closed doors. That's the modern way. Leave as many laypeople as possible thinking something is allowed by not condemning it and then quietly in private if pushed admit that it's not okay. That way you have laypeople in parishes saying "it happened in York and the Bishop was there so it must be okay" and priests saying "well it's not allowed". Good way to create unity in the Church - give a different message to different people.

Confusion is the way of the future!

Personally, I think Bishops are public teachers and are supposed to teach. If liturgical dancing is unacceptable, it should be made clear. We need to see headlines in newspapers: "Grumpy Bishops Ban Dance". Then we'll know where we stand.

I stumbled across this today. I sometimes think this sort of thing but I tone it down for fear of coming across as some kind of extreme traditionalist...

The liturgical reform, in its concrete realization, has certainly strayed from its origin. The result has not been a reanimation (renewal), but a devastation. On one hand, there is a liturgy that has degenerated into a "show", in which one tries to render religion interesting with the aide of trendy amusements and maxims that arouse morals - which meets with temporary success within the group of liturgical manufacturers, but which encounters an attitude of very pronounced rejection by those who seek to find in the liturgy, not a spiritual "show-master", but an encounter with the living God before whom all "fabricating" becomes insignificant - an encounter which alone is capable of allowing us to reach the true richness of existence.

...

What happened after the Council was altogether different: instead of a liturgy, which was the fruit of continuous development, a fabricated liturgy was put in its place. A living, growing process was abandoned and the fabrication was begun. There was no further wish to continue the organic evolution and maturation of the living being throughout the centuries, and it was replaced -- as if in a technical production -- by a fabrication, a banal product of the moment.

J. Card. Ratzinger, Preface to Klaus Gamber's "The Reform of the Roman Rite"

[link]

Dearest Older Generation...

I know you've had a lot of fun with the Church, but do you think you could put it back together again when you've finished playing? It will be Leona's turn soon and I don't think she knows where all the pieces go.

Thanks

You guard me from the foe,
And you lead me in ways everlasting.

(I actually quite like that hymn)

On Friday, 8 August 2008, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments communicated to the relevant ecclesial authorities (i.e., Bishops' Conferences and therefore Diocesan Bishops) that the Holy Father in accord with the same congregation and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the norms for the liturgical use of "...the Divine Name signified in the sacred tetragrammaton...." The document is called "Letter to the Bishops' Conferences on the 'Name of God'"

[link]

Interesting...

1. In liturgical celebrations, in songs and prayers the name of God in the form of the tetragrammaton YHWH is neither to be used or pronounced.

2. For the translation of the Biblical text in modern languages, destined for liturgical usage of the Church, what is already prescribed by n. 41 of the Instruction Liturgiam authenticam is to be followed; that is, the divine tetragrammaton is to be rendered by the equivalent of Adonai/Kyrios: "Lord", "Signore", "Seigneur", "Herr", "Señor", etc.

3. In translating, in the liturgical context, texts in which are present, one after the other, either the Hebrew term Adonai or the tetragrammaton YHWH, Adonai is to be translated "Lord" and the form God" is to be used for the tetragrammaton YHWH, similar to what happens in the Greek translation of the Septuagint and in the Latin translation of the Vulgate.

You can read the original letter signed Francis Cardinal Arinze himself in gruesome PDF here.

I always thought there was something fishy about singing 'Yahweh', though I doubt this letter will make the slightest bit of difference. Let's give it a few months and see what happens but I think we'll be filing this one under 'silence of dissent' or more likely 'silence of can't be bothered with it'.