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. — Vatican II Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium ¶116
The all-volunteer choir at St. Mary of Pine Bluff is not numerous at the moment: at full strength we number about a dozen. Moreover, as many of the members are called in any number of directions as befitting their primary vocation to be in the world, rehearsals aren't always fully attended. (I'll probably have a blog post on handling such matters in the future.) However, the choir has been blessed with pretty good ears, at least one sight-reader on every part, and most importantly a recognition that it is the Lord we serve at the Sacred Liturgy and not ourselves.
Here are a couple of choral pieces we hope to debut on Holy Thursday. Below is a fresh setting of the first verse of the hymn Ubi caritas, which the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite assigns to the Offertory.[1]
R/. Where true charity is dwelling, God is present there.
V/. By the love of Christ we have been brought together:
V/. let us find in him our gladness and our pleasure;
V/. may we love him and revere him, God the living,
V/. and in love respect each other with sincere hearts.
R/. Where true charity is dwelling, God is present there. Amen, amen.
The second piece is a Renaissance-era setting of the text assigned for Communion.[2]
This is the body that will be given up for you;
this is the chalice of the new covenant in my blood, says the Lord;
do this, whenever you receive it, in memory of me. — 1 Cor 11:24–25
The first composition mentioned in this post was created in 2012; the second in the mid–16th century. Yet they can and will successfully stand side-by-side not also with each other but also with liturgical plainsong compositions from 2010 and the earliest eras of the Church's history. And both of these compositions are freely available on the Internet in PDF form (thus the "free" in the title of this post):
Footnotes:
[1] The Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite assigns this hymn to the Washing of Feet.
[2] The Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite assigns this text to Passion Sunday/Fifth Sunday of Lent.
1 comment:
Saturday, March 9, 2013: Sitting at computer in business office at hotel I came across this blog post by Aristotle. It is very well written. I sat here humming along with the two videos, while the cleaning man swept the hallway floor. How beautiful to have sacred music playing in the hotel walk-through area. How beautiful to have these sacred songs flowing frequently through my mind. "Put on the mind of Christ", the Scriptures say. I have found the sacred music of the Masses at St. Mary in Pine Bluff to be in my mind in a way that has to be described as putting on the mind of Christ. Aristotle has stated that Christ sings through us and to us and that we are a prayer group that sings. God has richly blessed us with Father Heilman hiring Aristotle and all they have done to beautify the Mass. Thanks be to God and thank you Father and Aristotle. Thank you Matthew for this blog. God bless us everyone.
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