Mass Engages All of Our Senses

There’s a great post at Shameless Popery by Joe Heschmeyer. Here are the introduction and conclusion; read the interesting details of Old Testament, Early Christian, and heavenly worship here.

Worshiping with Our Whole Bodies

One of the most beautiful things about Catholic worship, particularly when it's done well, is that it's a full-body experience.  We smell the incense, we sing Psalms and hymns (and hear these being sung), we listen to the Scriptures and the homily, we see the Sacrifice of the Mass (and the priest's liturgical gestures are loaded with meaning), we kneel, sit, stand, we taste the Blessed Sacrament, we embrace at the sign of peace.  The Liturgy reflects the Catholic view of the body, and of matter, and our deep-seated belief that Creation should give glory to God.  It's also consistent with the worship of the Old Testament, of the early Christians, and of the apparent Heavenly Liturgy described in the Book of Revelation.

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Conclusion

Old Testament, early Christian, and heavenly worship are remarkably similar: all five senses are engaged.  This worship avoids two extremes. On the one hand, the senses aren't violated or overwhelmed, like eating Limburger cheese at a rock concert.  But on the other hand, the senses aren't shunned or ignored, as if we were beings of pure spirit, or as if the body were inherently evil.  Instead, the senses are exalted, in that they are drawn up into the worship of God.  And they're engaged in very similar ways: through sacred art and architecture, religious vestments, anointing oil, incense, sacred music, and partaking of the sacrifice through eating.  I would suggest that these things are not merely incidental, but are important elements of drawing our whole being, body and soul, into the worship of God.

Care and Feeding of a Choir: Wendi

Wendi (of Cradle Stories) is back with another good post on choirs. Be sure to read the whole thing at the link. Here’s the first part – some excellent points, I think:

The Proper Care and Feeding of a Choir...Part 1

Point 1:  Decide that you want a choir rather than song leaders.

In case you aren't sure what the difference is...I would say...standards and preparation.

For some reason churches have developed the attitude that everyone is welcome to join the choir. That way no one gets their feelings hurt.

That's song leaders, not a choir.

Great music does NOT just happen.

It requires a certain degree of musical ability on the part of the singers, good direction, and adequate rehearsal. Not everyone can sing well.  It's not mean or uncharitable to say so, that is a demonstrable fact.  

Now that doesn't mean that you have to be a professional vocal musician to join the choir. In fact, I enthusiastically encourage people with no previous experience to join the church choir. If God gave you the ability to sing I can think of no better place to develop that talent than in service to Him. It's been my experience that a church choir is a very supportive environment in which to develop vocal talent.

What it does mean however, is that the person wanting to join needs to be able to match pitch. Matching pitch is the ability to sing a note played on the piano or sung by someone else. It is absolutely essential in a choir situation, since one person singing off pitch will throw off the entire chord. When there is a wrong note, it's heard and that discourages the rest of the choir, not to mention the assault on the ears of those listening.

How do you find out if someone can match pitch?
 
Point 2:  Hold Auditions.

If everyone can match pitch, then everyone gets in.

If someone auditions and can't match pitch, offer to work with them privately for a few weeks.  For most, that will be all the additional work required.  Very few people are truly tone deaf.

If a person can't match pitch after you've worked with them, then and only then, charitably suggest that they should seek another way to serve the church.
 

This is not being mean.  It's being fair to everyone, including the person that can't sing well. It's a lot more cruel to lie to someone and discourage the rest of the choir than it is to be up front.

Holding auditions also lets people know that you take music seriously and therefore...so should they.  It will set the right tone for all your future efforts to build a good choral program.

Now go here to read the rest of Wendi’s points.

The Mary Month of May

May is for Mary! (And May 1 is the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker).

Sacred Music Colloquium

For all the details on this conference, go here. And then...go there!

It's the Anniversary of the Dedication of the Cathedral!

Today is the anniversary of the dedication of St. Francis de Sales Cathedral!

Well...sort of…

This part of the history of the Cathedral of the Diocese of Baker is a bit confusing.

If you’d looked in the Paulist Press ordo up till a few years ago, you’d have seen the dedication of St. Francis Cathedral listed on April 28.  However, this is not the date of the original dedication of the church.

The project of building St. Francis de Sales Cathedral was initiated by Bishop Charles J. O’Reilly, who had arrived in Baker City in 1903.  At that time, the “cathedral” was a little mission church which was certainly not able to accommodate the kind of liturgies that should be held in a Cathedral. So, on March 20, 1905, the old church was removed; on March 24, ground was broken for the new building.

The architect for the new cathedral was M. P. White of Baker City, and the builder was Thomas E. Grant. Stone was brought in from Pleasant Valley, with is southeast of Baker City. The building was actually completed in 1908 and opened on St. Patrick’s Day that year, but it was not put into use until after its dedication on April 9.

There’s the original date of dedication of the Cathedral of the Diocese of Baker: April 9.

There have been a number of renovations of St. Francis Cathedral, and after the major make-over around 1980  – which took a cathedral that once looked like this (ahhhh!):

and made it look like this (sigh):

there was a re-dedication on April 28, 1981. That date was probably given to the Paulist Press people by Bishop Connolly, who had initiated the renovationand who led the dedication ceremony. According to the printed pamphlet commemorating that event, the ceremony was attended by the bishops of five neighboring diocese - including Bishop William S. Skylstad of Yakima, the current Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Baker - as well as the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Portland. 

So, up until just a few years ago, one would always find April 28 listed as the date of the dedication of St. Francis de Sales Cathedral in the Diocese of Baker. Last year’s ordo, however, listed it as April 9.

Why the change? The reason was probably because someone realized that the original dedication anniversary was on April 9. But you might be surprised to find that this year’s ordo lists the anniversary of the dedication of St. Francis de Sales Cathedral as April 16! That’s because April 9 falls in the Octave of Easter; the Octave days take precedence, so a celebration of the dedication of any cathedral would not be permitted.

Bishop Robert F. Vasa, prior to his transfer, had noted that April 9 almost always falls during Lent or in the Octave of Easter; therefore, the date for the celebration of the dedication would be different each year. On the other hand, the April 28 date submitted by Bishop Connolly would almost always be after Easter and the Octave (the latest possible date for Easter is April 25); therefore, keeping that date for the celebration of the dedication would lend it much more stability.  

April 28 is in fact related to a significant historical event for the Cathedral – a re-dedication – and so is an appropriate date that is at least in the same month as the original date, and which would be much more predictable than the April 9 date. Bishop Vasa had intended to mention something about this in the Diocesan newsletter the following year, but since he was transferred to the Diocese of Santa Rosa, the clarification fell by the wayside.

At any rate, in at least the last 10 years, the bishop of the Diocese of Baker has not been at the Cathedral for the celebration of the anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral on either April 9 or April 28. Even in 2008, for the centennial anniversary of the Cathedral, there was no bishop present: just the rector and two former pastors.

Prior to that, in October of 2007, Bishop-emeritus Thomas Connolly celebrated the 60th anniversary of his priesthood, and at that time, in the presence of a couple of archbishops, several bishops, and numerous priests, the newly renovated Cathedral sanctuary was "blessed and re -dedicated", according to the Cathedral parish website (which may be the best parish website in our diocese - well worth perusing!).

The anniversary of a Cathedral's dedication is to be celebrated as a solemnity in the Cathedral parish; it is celebrated as a feast elsewhere in the diocese. The cathedral is the "mother church" of the diocese and should be a liturgical example of excellence to the rest of the parishes, according to the Ceremonial of Bishops.

It could be so in the Diocese of Baker, but it is not so at present.

Perhaps our new bishop will make the necessary adjustment by next year.

Another Parish: Our Lady of the Angels in Hermiston

For the next installment of the “get to know your diocese” theme, here we highlight some photos from Our Lady of the Angels Parish in Hermiston, Oregon.

This parish has a nice website with lots of information as well as photos. In addition to providing access to the parish bulletin, there’s a separate page of “announcements”, and a link to a “parish history” article.

Here are a few photos:

Holy Redeemer Parish, Diocese of Baker

Continuing with the “get to know your diocese” theme started a few days ago, here we will highlight some photos from Holy Redeemer Parish in La Pine, Oregon.

This parish has a nice website with lots of information as well as several photo albums. In addition to a “parish history” article, there’s a biography of the pastor, Fr. Jose Thomas Mudakodiyil. The Sunday homilies are posted as well.

Here are a few photos:

Holy Redeemer Church, La Pine

Holy Thursday - men getting their feet washed.

Good Friday

Easter Vigil

Parish Easter Egg Hung