I often pray the Liturgy of the Hours on the bus, very much minding my own business. This evening a young woman slipped me this note as she reached her stop. I suspect we were both encouraged in faith! Don’t be afraid to be Catholic in public. Or to encourage a stranger in faith! May God bless her too.
For the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I wanted to post some pictures of inside the Holy Redeemer school building, which features the mural above hidden away in a little basement corridor… and many other wonderful secrets. But first a picture of the explosion of florae that were presented to Our Lady at last night’s Spanish language vigil Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Holy Redeemer Church, with Bishop Morlino present. The 16th century vision of Mary to Juan Diego, an Aztec peasant, had a massive impact, with over 8 million baptisms in Mexico in the following decade; devotion to her remains a massive phenomenon. In my photo, if you look carefully over to the right, you can see that her divine Son is exposed in a monstrance on the altar for adoration.
Back to the school building, this past Sunday when the lovely snow was falling:
Holy Redeemer school was built in 1892 and is the oldest extant school building in Madison. You can read much more about it on this historical landmark form. Holy Redeemer School may be on the verge of a big change. There are plans on the table, which can now be viewed on the Cathedral Parish website, to completely re-do the interior of the school into apartments for Catholic UW Madison students associated with St Paul’s. The city refused to approve a new St Paul’s building tall enough to include Catholic student housing, so this is a not-illogical alternative.
Most people have never seen the inside of the building, particularly not the auditorium on the top level, which was locked up for many years and is still usually locked up.
Holy Redeemer School has been housing Pregnancy Helpline‘s Sharing Center, which according to a recent phone inquiry by a friend of mine, already has plans for a new location. There were twice-weekly meals for the homeless served by a Catholic lay group called Pro Labore Dei, these were asked to be moved elsewhere a few months ago to make room for one of the main recent uses: the Cathedral Parish’s religious education program. That’s now about to move to St Patrick’s convent which until recently was a Catholic Charities office. But the other biggest users of Holy Redeemer School are the Hispanic community, and the building shows many touches of their love. Besides Our Lady of Guadalupe, the basement has a quetzal:
Although the structure is sound, the state of the interior of the building is not great. In the interim years between the closing of Holy Redeemer School in the mid 60s, it housed diocesan religious education offices, and the interior was modified to serve their needs. The updates were utilitarian. The second floor hallway:
There are one or two pretty much intact classrooms, but numerous rooms were in use by some of the Hispanic parishioners so I didn’t try to photograph them. Mostly the rooms have been carved up into uninspiring smaller office spaces, such as this one, where earlier in the day last Sunday I substitute-taught the 1st grade catechism class. We learned about Christmas and colored a paper nativity set:
After years of neglect, there is a lot of the interior of Holy Redeemer School that looks like this stairwell:
I kept exploring, I’d never been up to the top floor:
I’d heard there was a beautiful auditorium up there, and that even while the school was still in operation, it was locked up and disused in the 1950s after a Chicago school fire killed 92 children trapped on the upper floors. For some years it was rented to the UW Gymnastics Club. Today again it is normally locked. But on the day I decided to go exploring, I found it was not. Wow:
Backstage, ancient student desks have a wistful view of Holy Redeemer Church:
Shh:
There are all kinds of dangerous looking electrical things, the more modern ones not as attractive as this. Actually I kept my hands off it and kept it closed, so I do not know what it is:
The biggest physical problem with Holy Redeemer School is that the roof was neglected for years and years till now it has gaping holes in it and Monsignor Holmes says the estimate to repair it was $150,000. In recent weeks Ganser Roofing put plastic tarps over most of the roof as a band-aid. You can see on both sides of the auditorium where water has leaked in:
There is a balcony.
It is simply lovely, with graceful curving seats:
This is the view out the front (Johnson Street side) of the building, through a little window at the back of the projector room, I see the Overture Center over there:
It’s beautiful. I love it!! The plans have not been finalized, and in the Oct 28th bulletin Monsignor Holmes said, “The hope is that we would not need the third floor space [ie, this space, the auditorium] for rental income”, but the architect’s proposal is to turn this space into 2-level apartments:
The parish is inviting comments to be submitted through the Cathedral Parish website. Personally I’m at peace with whatever is decided, and I really do have a lot of confidence in the prudence of Monsignor Holmes and Bishop Morlino. Apartments for Catholic students seem a truly good cause, and part of the idea is that they’d pay for the needed renovations. But I am also in solidarity with the Hispanic community for whom it’s a sacrifice, and I could not help being sad at the loss of the beautiful but very seldom-seen auditorium.
[I had another thought. I’ve been lobbying Fr Eric Nielsen for a space to be built that would be suitable for St Paul’s large-group undergraduate program Alpha-Omega. Currently the Blessed Sacrament is removed from the St Paul’s chapel to the sacristy to make room for rock music and assorted silliness (along with a good Catholic speaker), and I feel strongly that the chapel should be sacred for the Blessed Sacrament and the Holy Mass. I was told that the budget for the new building did not allow for building an auditorium as part of St Paul’s. This would be perfect, and it already exists. A facebook friend commented this would be great for putting on Catholic plays like St Therese of Lisieux’s Joan of Arc. Yeah!]
[Update: both the Catholic Herald and the Wisconsin State Journal have just published articles about the plans for the Holy Redeemer School building]
I was not aware of the organization, “Wisdom’s Well,” till I read today’s WI State Journal article by religion reporter Doug Erickson (the Diocese also now has a statement). But I am pretty well aware this is the tip of the iceburg of new-agey and religiously-indifferent activity of (some) Sinsinawa Domincan Sisters. 2 Sisters and 2 laywomen were banned from giving talks, teaching or doing spiritual direction on church property. I think this took courage from our good bishop, since past experience suggests he’s probably in for yet another wearying fit by upset liberals. He doesn’t let that stop him from protecting his flock, and he deserves all our gratitude.
Two longtime Madison nuns who lead an interfaith spirituality center have been banned by Madison Catholic Bishop Robert Morlino from holding workshops or providing spiritual direction or guidance at any Catholic churches in the 11-county diocese.
Sisters Maureen McDonnell and Lynn Lisbeth, both Sinsinawa Dominicans, have diverged too far from Catholic teaching, according to a confidential memo sent Nov. 27 to priests on behalf of Morlino. A copy of the memo was leaked to the State Journal. [the diocese now has this memo online as well as a synopsis of the diocese’s concerns]
Two other women connected to the interfaith center, called Wisdom’s Well, also have been banned as part of the same action. [according to the diocese, one, Beth O’Brien, is an oblate of “Holy Wisdom Monastery” the heretical formerly Catholic s0-called “ecumenical” organization; the other, Paula Hirschfeld, is a a former Sinsinawa Dominican who got herself ordained a Zen Buddhist priest.]
The memo says Morlino has “grave concerns” about the women’s teachings, specifically that they “espouse certain views” flowing from such movements as “New Ageism” and “indifferentism.” The latter, according to the memo, is “the belief that no one religion or philosophy is superior to another.” [also of concern was panentheism]
The women “may not share an authentic view of the Catholic Church’s approach to interreligious dialogue,” the memo said.
Brent King, a spokesman for the diocese, said three other potential parish guest speakers, all male, have been banned “in recent years.” The women are not prohibited from attending Mass or, if Catholic, from receiving communion, King said. Asked whether they could contribute to parish life in other ways, such as reading Bible passages from the pulpit or chairing a church committee, King said that would be up to individual priests.
My personal experience as a former fallen away Catholic religious progressive, deeply involved in a then good-sized online interfaith community called “Street Prophets”, was that religious indifferentism tends to be non-negotiable “dogma” among religious progressives. It was outrageous to them to suggest that all religions aren’t equally true and good! They didn’t particularly believe in objective religious or moral truth.
So what sort of things is “Wisdom’s Well” up to? On their website they are proud of a newspaper article from last month:
Founded in 2006, Wisdom’s Well (then Wisdom’s Well Spirituality Center) was created to respond to “a need in the Madison area for adults who were yearning for a deepened spirituality and a connection with others who were also seeking more meaning in their lives,” says staff member Beth O’Brien, a Benedictine oblate. [in fact she is an oblate of Holy Wisdom Monastery, where the nuns obtained release from their vows and voluntarily gave up the Catholic status of the monastery, upon which Bishop Morlino forbade Mass to be said there so people would not be confused since it used to be a Catholic Benedictine monastery. They now hold a lay-led “eucharist” on Sundays, attended by fallen-away Catholics and protestants] (The other staff members are Lynn Lisbeth and Maureen McDonnell, Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa.)
Programs embrace a wide spirituality rooted in Christianity, but honoring other spiritual paths as well. The focus would be on contemplative prayer, “a way of deepening our connection to God, the Divine, Source, Love,” says O’Brien who serves as a Spiritual Guide. Contemplative practices include sacred chanting, yoga [Hindu practice], Tai Chi [Taoist practice], walking a labyrinth, and meditation. “Such practices,” she explains, “have the ability to transform your relationship with yourself, improve your relationships with others, and enrich your relationship with the world around you.”
Wisdom’s Well’s interfaith approach reflects the great diversity of spiritual and religious practice in the greater Madison community, explains McDonnell, “and also a number of people who are really searching for a spirituality that goes beyond the religious tradition they grew up in.”
For Catholics, our true spiritual life is specifically within the context of practicing the Catholic faith and the Sacraments and has to do with tending the life of grace, growing in Faith, Hope and Charity. The perennial and universal Catholic spirituality taught by the Fathers and Doctors of the Church is consistent with this; practices of other religions or new age practices do not add anything necessary that Catholic spirituality lacks, but put the person at risk of spiritual and doctrinal confusion. True contemplative prayer is an immense grace–and it’s not obtained by doing trendy techniques or practices, but is a gift from God. Although I’d say there are some sincere contemplative souls who are on their way toward Jesus and His Catholic Church (I myself was led back to the Faith after I’d long fallen away, by the contemplative prayer teachings of St John of the Cross and St Teresa of Avila, both Doctors of the Church), “contemplative” spirituality that wanders astray from sound Catholic practice and the sound teaching received through the Catholic Church, goes astray from the Truth, astray from Jesus, Who is God, the object of contemplation.
On Sr Lynn Lisbeth’s page about spiritual direction, she gives a strong statement of religious indifferentism, that seems characteristic of “Wisdom’s Well” and certainly does substantiate the diocesan claims about a lack of fidelity to the Catholic understanding of authentic interreligious dialogue:
INTERFAITH Spiritual Direction recognizes the unity of spiritual experience underlying the diversity of religious expressions of faith-wisdom traditions and spiritual practices. This exploration welcomes a wide variety of religious traditions as well as those who come to spirituality outside the personal experience of a “church” background or membership.
In today’s global society and Earth’s ecological state, we can decide and discover how to respect our differences as assets, not view them with suspicion. We can learn to cooperate for the common good and not just stay on our own side of the street and hope “others” do the same. We can create the future together by how we daily choose to live HERE and NOW. We can connect what we believe with how we live. We can explore our interfaith world not in theory, but with people!
This was just how we thought on that progressive interreligious website “Street Prophets”. Members of various religions came together there for common cause: progressive politics! Even when politics is not the explicitly articulated focus, religious progressives’ indifferentism is oriented toward working together for a utopian social vision. In reality that was the primary “religion” all my interreligious friends had in common, so everyone discarded (or put in parentheses) any conflicting moral or truth claims of their faith–in the name of “peace & justice” and “the common good”… as defined by the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. The point was to organize the “diversity of faith-wisdom traditions” to implement Progressivism, the new universal secular “religion”.
The 2 Sinsinawa Dominicans and 2 lay women have simply been barred from being speakers, teachers, or spiritual guides at Catholic churches, and don’t seem to be under any kind of censure. Publicity materials for “Wisdom’s Well” are now disallowed at Catholic parishes. The “Wisdom’s Well” nonviolence study sessions in progress at St James Parish are now being moved to another location. I realized while reading their website that I recently saw their “prayer packets” and “prayer squares” (whatever that is) for sale at the Blessed Sacrament Parish Christmas Market. I found those puzzling, and was disappointed the pickings were so slim in terms of authentically Catholic Christmas presents at Blessed Sacrament Christmas Market, but those things are not necessarily banned.
I think Bishop Morlino’s action about this can help set boundaries, and help parishes to have the bishop’s authority to point to when they have to say “no” to something similar. The surrounding culture is full of new-age “spiritual not religious” meanderings, and Catholicism offers something different, authentic and trustworthy.
The Sinsinawa Dominican prioress told the reporter that there hasn’t ever been a restriction like this before against their members’ ministry in parishes. There shouldn’t have to be. I hope the Sinsinawa Dominicans will consider attending more closely to the sound doctrinal formation of members. How about the Year of Faith guidance to all of us, to read the Catechism and the Vatican II documents.
Typical Sinsinawa reading material. I took this picture earlier this year at the gift shop of the Sinsinawa Dominicans’ motherhouse (Sinsinawa Mound), of a whole shelf of Joan Chittister’s books, with a shelf or two of Thomas Merton below. Joan Chittister is a Benedictine nun and heresiarchess, a former president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and liberal media darling, who touts a progressive distortion of social justice, and purports to teach Catholic spirituality while rejecting a variety of Catholic moral and doctrinal beliefs. Thomas Merton, the convert and Trappist monk whose early writings are soundly Catholic, became involved in questionable interreligious spiritual and dialogue activities later on, on the premise that practices of various religions were interchangeable as “contemplative practices”. Over on the bottom left of the photo, I spot Sadhana, the Hindu-influenced book of “Catholic spirituality” that led the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to issue a doctrinal condemnation of the works of author Fr Anthony DeMello.
Fr Eric Nielsen, pastor of St Paul’s University Catholic Center gave an instant classic homily this (Saturday) morning at Holy Redeemer Church. This is my paraphrase–not a transcription. I am learning that blogging goes most happily if you ask permission before publishing, when appropriate, so I asked his permission by email and he agreed, saying “you did a very good job” and one edit was made by his request. His homily was better.
Old people are generally better with their problems than young people, because old people know their problems will go away eventually in time. They know from long experience. Young people don’t have that perspective, they are often in a crisis and can’t see if they will ever get to the other side of it. But old people just say, argh, these problems, let’s just sit on the porch a while.
I’ve heard it said that fat mothers are better than skinny mothers, because when you come to her with a problem, a skinny mother tries to talk with you about it, and talking about it never solves anything, you just get more distressed from thinking about it. A fat mother says, come on and have something to eat. And you have something to eat and laugh a bit and you feel better.
My mother was a skinny mother, but she would give me some food when I came to the kitchen with my problems. She was [is!] a great mother. There were seven of us kids. We were very poor and so she baked bread herself and canned all her own vegetables and fruits, she was always in the kitchen working, taking care of what we needed. Whenever I needed her I knew to find her in the kitchen and I could go talk about my problems and she would say “here Eric, have some of this”–whatever it was she was cooking. Food is a great thing! So often children can simply be comforted by giving them something to eat.
A lot of the problems young people have now are because their mother isn’t in the kitchen anymore when they go looking for her. We need that. It used to be there were no microwaves so there was always so much to do in the kitchen and you always knew where to find your mother. Now everything is so changed and most of the mothers are out working a job. You don’t always know where your mother is anymore. The kids come to the kitchen with their problems and Mom’s not there. It’s probably much better for women, but what are all the rest of us supposed to do, that need mothering?
The Blessed Virgin Mary is a good mother like good mothers always used to be, always there for her children in the kitchen and able to be found when we have problems. She is our mother and the best mother and she’ll help us stay close to Jesus. Turn to Mary, she’ll give you something to comfort you and give you confidence that it will be okay, and you’ll feel much better.
When I’m an old priest, after I retire and I’m not so busy, I want to just be there in the kitchen for people. Well, I’ll be in the church. People would know where to find me waiting there for them to come with their problems, needing somebody to comfort them.
Badger Catholic Blog had a news item about the Freedom From Religion Foundation placing an irreverent nativity display in the Wisconsin State Capitol rotunda. Since that’s 4 minutes walk from me, I decided to go see what was up.
Although it’s not actually Advent till Sunday, it turns out Christmas is very much what’s up; Governor Walker just today officially lit a huge beautiful Christmas tree on the first floor of the Rotunda, covered with handmade ornaments, many of them explicitly Christian, from children all over the state. It’s really a sight. It even has an electric train running around the base.
The Wisconsin Capitol Christmas Tree 2012, with thousands of ornaments made by Wisconsin children. Please excuse my poor photography.
Clearly labeled as such.
This was not true every year! Last year Governor Walker, a protestant Christian, broke the trend of labeling what is obviously a Christmas Tree a “Holiday Tree”. Trunk slices on this display identify variously a “Holiday Tree”, “Capitol Tree”, “State Tree”, or “State X-Mas Tree”. A news story from last year reveals the “Holiday Tree” nomenclature had been going on for 25 years… and atheists at the Freedom From Religion Foundation were angry that a Christmas tree was suddenly being called a Christmas tree again. The group’s co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor told the press that the governor’s intention was to be rude and mean: “The reason that it was turned into a holiday tree was to avoid this connotation that the governor chooses one religion over another. It’s essentially a discourtesy by the governor to announce that. He intends that to be a slight and a snub to non-Christians, otherwise he would not do it.”
The tree is decorated with ornaments made by Wisconsin school children who were given the theme, products made or grown in Wisconsin. Thus there is an otherwise-baffling number of ornaments depicting Tombstone frozen pizza, and ornaments made out of half-pint milk bottles, etc. Students from Sacred Heart Catholic School delighted me with their heart ornaments proclaiming God’s love growing at their school. Why, you ask, didn’t I take another picture where the bow was not obscuring part of the text? Because there was a policeman hovering very near me zealous to guard the tree. This is good. They do not want the ornaments messed with.
The Anthony Family Homeschoolers were also not interested in secularizing Christmas.
Up one level on the second floor of the rotunda, there were a couple more seasonal displays:
Wisconsin Family Action had a Nativity display. The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. God Himself is revealed through the family, and through Christ we have become members of God’s family. In the Holy Family human and divine life are guarded with profound reverence, all our Good is here and will be given and shared; the gift of God is for all people.
Then there’s this complicated display from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which needs an accompanying brochure to try to explain it. It’s meant to be a “natural nativity” with the theme of “reality”. Thomas Jefferson, Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus”, Mark Twain, and other cardboard cutouts surround a pink doll baby in a manger while an astronaut floats over the stable. The FFRF’s vision of reality appears to be a reaction against Christianity, as well as random, flimsy, ultimately meaningless, and unlovely. I kind of like the sign, “Thou Shalt Not Steal”: they think they are being ironic (and are perhaps overestimating the appeal and cachet of theor paper dolls), but they are able to appeal to natural moral law because reality is beautifully ordered by the Creator and able to be apprehended by human reason, and there is such a thing as moral Truth. The wrongness of stealing is not simply a “meme.”
As I was looking at the FFRF display, a couple approached me and asked if I would take their picture. “In front of that, no!” I said, “In front of the Christmas tree, yes!” The beautiful Christmas tree shot was what they wanted. After I took the picture, the woman puzzled over the weird and opaque FFRF “nativity” and asked “what is that?”
I explained it was a blasphemous protest against Christmas.
“Oh, I don’t agree with that,” she said.
Neither does any person of good will! Christmas is alive and well, and it may do you and your family good, if you are in the vicinity of Capitol Square, to stop in and see the big delightful Christmas tree, and the (real) Nativity scene upstairs. The FFRF thing as you can see is sort of pointless. Christmas is about Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and it’s about your family, but it’s not just in the stable in Bethlehem and not just in your home, but public and for everyone’s joy.
It’s made me think. In recent years I’ve done hardly anything to decorate for Advent or Christmas. I want to now–I hope to outside too somehow. Around town lately I’ve found myself looking and looking to find any signs of sincere Christianity, aside from actual churches. I found a house with beat-up concrete statues of Mary and Joseph recently and was really quite thrilled. Make the Sacred visible, in as beautiful a way as you can, and I believe you will give encouragement to someone.
I have been asked to post requesting participation in the Tridentine Mass Society of Madison’s Spiritual Bouquet for Bishop Morlino, in thanks for his support for reverent liturgy in our diocese. The deadline for participating is Dec 23rd, but don’t wait till then, do it now while you are thinking about it.
I was provided with the same document in two different file formats, the PDF is probably the preferred version:
Spiritual Bouquet for Bishop Robert C Morlino in PDF format
Spiritual Bouquet for Bishop Robert C Morlino in DOCX (MS Word) format
Download and print and return to the ushers at the 7am Sunday Traditional Latin Mass at Holy Redeemer! Likely you can also get one of these forms at Mass.
If you’d find it more convenient to mail your form, you may send it to:
TMSM
529 Echo Valley Rd
Brooklyn, WI 53521
OR, I believe you may simply send an email to glister0427 at gmail dot com with your name, parish, and the prayers you commit to offer for His Excellency, using the form linked above to guide you. In fact, if it is easier for you to use the contact form of this website (link at top left of this page) and send that info to me, I would forward it to the appropriate person.
Fr John Zuhlsdorf celebrated our 7am Traditional Latin Mass at Holy Redeemer Church. He sings simply beautifully and his homily was good. I thought some would want to see pictures from the reception after Mass. He is a very friendly great priest. Yes of course there was Mystic Monk Coffee, three varieties!
Fr Z will next celebrate Mass here on Dec 23rd. [removed here some INACCURATE information for which I apologize to all]
He comments that his birdfeeder at his new location does not get the spectacular array of visitors that he used to get–many chickadees, not a lot else. However, he shows every sign of being a happy priest.
Fr Z with Nuns on the Bus sticker! Remember this?
[Update: some of the good guidance he gave at the start of his homily: Prepare for Advent, which is more about the Second Coming and the end of the world than it is about the first coming of Jesus: go to confession. Do works of charity for the needy. We must do penance. Give alms. We should fast (yes!). Between now and next Sunday, open your Bible every day to the chapters in Luke (12-19? or so?) where Jesus is telling parables, and read some of that each day and reflect on your life and your own conversion.]
Lawrence Stich, the director of the Holy Redeemer Schola Cantorum, kindly granted me an email interview–a first for my blog, and I hope to do some more interviews. The Schola sings Greogrian chant about twice a month for our 7am Sunday Traditional Latin Mass, including this Sunday, Nov 25th. They welcome new members, and no prior choir experience is required. Leave a comment or use the “Contact” link at the top of the page if you would like me to put you in touch with Larry. Increasing hunger for truly beautiful, truly Catholic music is reflected in this recent rave review of Larry’s music for a Solemn High Wedding Mass at St Stanislaus in Milwaukee.
Chant isn’t just for the old Mass. Larry is also now preparing a choir at St Patrick parish in Cottage Grove, for the Novus Ordo Mass. West of Madison, Fr Rick Heilman’s parish St Mary of Pine Bluff has wonderful chant in Latin and in English under the skilled direction of Aristotle Esguerra.
Larry, thank you for letting me interview you. Can you first tell something about yourself and your long history as a church musician?
Liz, I’ll begin a bit earlier—I was an altar boy when the Extraordinary Form was still in regular use. As to the music part, after several years of piano instruction I was privileged to study organ under Sr. Mary Theophane (Hytrek) OSF at Alverno College, and began as an organist at about that time. That was in the early 1960’s. When the next parish over needed a choir-accompanist/organist, I took the position (they paid for my services!) After a few years, I was asked to become the choir director, too. Most of that work was done in the “New Rite”—today’s Ordinary Form– although we continued to use Latin music about 10-20% of the time. After 20 years there, the Pastor retired. I was married and we lived on the opposite side of Milwaukee from that parish, so I took a similar position with a Parish closer to our home. In that assignment, I had a wonderful organist/accompanist—a Ph.D. nuclear engineer, by the way—who was the first person to petition for an Indult “Old Rite” Mass in Milwaukee. When that petition was granted by Abp. Weakland, I was asked to become the choir director for the Old Rite Mass. That was actually my first experience with Chan propers.
After 10 years in that position, I retired to a slot as a choir-singer at St. Anthony’s under the direction of Lee Erickson, who was also the Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Chorus. But the Old Rite people called; my successor at the Old Rite Mass, Fr. R. Skeris, Ph.D., was going to retire, so I joined the choir there and after a year resumed my position as director of that choir. A few years later, Archbishop Dolan invited an Order of priests to take control of the E.F. parish. The new pastor and I didn’t see eye-to-eye on a number of musical matters, and the Madison E.F. group was looking for a music director, so here I am. Altogether, I’ve spent around 50 years as a church musician.
But that’s not quite complete. For 25 of those years I was also a member of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, which performed an average of 6 times/season with the Symphony. There I was fortunate to learn choral directing techniques from Margaret Hawkins and Lee Erickson, and we sang the greatest choral and choral/symphonic works in the Western tradition, including several Masses. The Chorus members learned music interpretation from a lot of great conductors, including Lukas Foss, Ken Schermerhorn, Zdenek Macal, Robert Shaw, and Andreas Delfs, who, like Shaw, is also an ex-church musician and one of the finest interpreters of Brahms in the world today. Sandwiched in there were a number of choral seminars under the direction of Roger Wagner and Paul Salamunovich, (both of whom were Knights-Commander of St. Gregory), Chant seminars with Ted Marier (also a KCSG), and several hours of lectures given by Fr. R. Skeris, Ph.D., on Sacred Music. Frankly, I was very fortunate to obtain that education.
When I was in your Schola Cantorum for the older form of the Mass at Holy Redeemer Church, I grew to overwhelmingly love and prefer the Gregorian Chant and understand why Vatican II and other sources identify it as the most fitting and beautiful music for the Roman Rite, meant to have “pride of place” in the liturgy. What is Gregorian chant, and what is its relationship to the Mass?
The beginning of the Wiki definition is pretty good: “Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services. It is named after Pope Gregory I, Bishop of Rome from 590 to 604, who is traditionally credited for having ordered the simplification and cataloging of music assigned to specific celebrations in the church calendar…” (After that, Wiki offers some interesting opinions.) Another useful definition comes to us from The Stanford Report’s article about Prof. Wm. Mahrt, Ph.D: “The origins of Gregorian chant are enigmatic. It appears to have its roots in fourth- century Jerusalem. The link with Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) is the byproduct of early spin, based on what is probably an erroneous assumption that he composed and collected early chant.
“The otherworldly effect of the music is hard to describe, but Mahrt, an associate professor of music at Stanford, recently gave it a try: ‘It is what we call monophonic—that is to say, it’s a melody that’s unaccompanied,’ he said. ‘A free rhythm has an ability to evoke eternal things, more than passages tied down to regular time. It’s a sprung rhythm that has a freedom to it—like Hopkins’ poetry.’”
The body of Chant we now sing was partially composed before 800 AD; most of it was organized and formalized by Pope St. Gregory the Great. Another portion of Chant, including many of the Proper chants, was composed in the Carolingian era. In any case, it IS the music proper to the Mass; it is the musical expression of the texts of the Mass and of the Liturgy of the Hours. It is not ‘music which is sung at Mass’; it is the Mass’ texts, sung. That sets it apart from hymns. The Ordinary parts (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei) are relatively simple; they were sung by the Faithful, not just the choir. The Proper chants (Introit, Gradual, Alleluia or Tract, Offertory, and Communion) are more complex; they are usually sung only by the choir and/or a soloist.
In Chant, the text is primary. Cdl. Ratzinger, now HH Benedict XVI, deliberately used “word” rather than “text” because the word is also The Word. Thus, Chant rhythm springs from the text, not from an imposed 2, 3, 4, or 6-beat measure. The music ‘illustrates’ or ‘illuminates’ the text—which sets it apart from much (but not all) other Western music. That is a feature, not a bug, because when one hears Chant, it is immediately clear that one is in a different place—a place not dominated by beat or an imposed rhythm. That’s the reason that when Hollywood movies feature a ‘church’ scene, Chant is usually the background music. However, because Chant is, after all, music, one will occasionally hear dancing, or mourning, or rejoicing, in the melodies. That is appropriate because it illuminates the meaning of the text.
Could you possibly sum up briefly what the average Catholic in the pews who attends the newer, post Vatican II form of the Mass, should know about liturgical music? Can chant help us to pray the Mass and worship God “better” than, for instance, hymns?
Pope Pius X summed it up best in 1903: “Sacred music, being a complementary part of the solemn liturgy, participates in the general scope of the liturgy, which is the glory of God and the sanctification and edification of the faithful. It contributes to the decorum and the splendor of the ecclesiastical ceremonies, and since its principal office is to clothe with suitable melody the liturgical text proposed for the understanding of the faithful, its proper aim is to add greater efficacy to the text, in order that through it the faithful may be the more easily moved to devotion and better disposed for the reception of the fruits of grace belonging to the celebration of the most holy mysteries.
“2. Sacred music should consequently possess, in the highest degree, the qualities proper to the liturgy, and in particular sanctity and goodness of form, which will spontaneously produce the final quality of universality.
“It must be holy, and must, therefore, exclude all profanity not only in itself, but in the manner in which it is presented by those who execute it.
“It must be true art, for otherwise it will be impossible for it to exercise on the minds of those who listen to it that efficacy which the Church aims at obtaining in admitting into her liturgy the art of musical sounds.
“But it must, at the same time, be universal in the sense that while every nation is permitted to admit into its ecclesiastical compositions those special forms which may be said to constitute its native music, still these forms must be subordinated in such a manner to the general characteristics of sacred music that nobody of any nation may receive an impression other than good on hearing them.”
That definition has been explicitly or implicitly referenced in every Roman document on the topic ever since. We see this, too, in the 2nd Vatican Council’s document on the liturgy: “Holy Scripture, indeed, has bestowed praise upon sacred song [42], and the same may be said of the fathers of the Church and of the Roman pontiffs who in recent times, led by St. Pius X, have explained more precisely the ministerial function supplied by sacred music in the service of the Lord.
“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. But the Church approves of all forms of true art having the needed qualities, and admits them into divine worship.”
There IS a distinction between “sacred music” and hymns (as we commonly use the term.) Hymns are not necessarily “sacred music” because hymns do not always have the texts of the Mass itself as their text. Hymns—in their place—are useful. But they are not a substitute for the texts and music specifically prescribed for the Mass. Therefore, the ‘four-hymn-sandwich’ so common over the last 40 years is simply poor liturgical practice. It is an impoverishment. And I confess that I was a practitioner of that school for most of my early years as a church musician. Mea culpa, hey.
Now in the practical order, no music can ‘make one worship better’. The music should enable ‘better’, just as the shape, order, and decoration of a church building should enable worship, just as the priest’s manner of celebrating the Mass should. But music cannot ‘impose its will’, so to speak.
In the Holy Redeemer choir loft at a Tuesday evening practice.
Gregorian chant has become unfamiliar in parishes, and most people’s tastes are formed to contemporary music. What kinds of formation of the lay faithful, and perhaps of seminarians and clergy, is needed to make Chant again welcome in the average parish, and what would you say to pastors, educators and church musicians about why that would be a worthwhile goal?
This is a difficult question to answer. It goes to the question of ‘beauty’ (a necessary component of ‘true art’ mentioned by Pius X and the 2nd Vatican council). It seems that the West is slowly abandoning its core Judaeo-Christian culture, whether in graphic, musical, or literary arts. But it is not helpful to cry “O Tempora!! O Mores!!” and stand aside, watching. It is not impossible to educate the Faithful on the topic of beauty. But first, we must understand what “beauty” really is, which is why Bp. Morlino’s emphasis on the topic is so wonderful to see.
Cardinal Burke recently addressed the topic of beauty: “In the Catholic tradition, beauty is a metaphysical and ultimately theological notion. The search of beauty has nothing to do with mere aesthetic sensibility or a flight from reason, because, from the divine perspective, beauty, together with truth and goodness, is a manifestation of being. God, the origin and sustainer of all being is truth, beauty and goodness itself. In the language of metaphysics, truth, beauty and goodness are the “transcendentals.” In other words, to the degree that any reality participates in being and ultimately in the being of God, that reality is true, beautiful and good.”
The Cardinal then quotes HH Benedict XVI: “This relationship between creed and worship is evidenced in a particular way by the rich theological and liturgical category of beauty. Like the rest of Christian Revelation, the liturgy is inherently linked to beauty: it is veritatis splendor. The liturgy is a radiant expression of the paschal mystery, in which Christ draws us to himself and calls us to communion. As Saint Bonaventure would say, in Jesus we contemplate beauty and splendor at their source. This is no mere aestheticism, but the concrete way in which the truth of God’s love in Christ encounters us, attracts us and delights us, enabling us to emerge from ourselves and drawing us towards our true vocation, which is love. God allows himself to be glimpsed first in creation, in the beauty and harmony of the cosmos (cf. Wis13:5; Rom 1:19-20… In the New Testament this epiphany of beauty reaches definitive fulfillment in God’s revelation in Jesus Christ: Christ is the full manifestation of the glory of God. In the glorification of the Son, the Father’s glory shines forth and is communicated (cf. Jn 1:14; 8:54; 12:28; 17:1).”
So what? Cardinal Burke: First of all, sacred music must avoid any form of aestheticism, that is, a notion of music which excludes service of the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
Secondly, “pastoral pragmatism, which is only looking for success, is also incompatible with the mission of Church music.”[40] (Here, Benedict was referring to ‘rock’ music-for-the-kids.)
(Cardinal Burke’s entire lecture can be found here: http://catholicaction.org/2011/03/beauty-in-the-sacred-liturgy-according-to-the-teaching-of-pope-benedict-xvi/)
To your point: education in the principles of beauty according to Catholic thought are the first thing which must happen, and such education should be continuous and—these days—largely counter-cultural. And even though sacred music is different from, say, Bach’s Cello Suites, or Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos, an understanding of the beauty of those works enables understanding of beauty in the Catholic tradition.
You also asked about ‘understanding Latin.’ Ironically, the vernacular Mass which has been in use for around 50 years leaves no one with the excuse that “they don’t understand the words,” at least for the Ordinary parts: they’ve been saying or singing the translation for all that time. Surely, they haven’t forgotten it.
In addition to your Gregorian choir at Holy Redeemer for the old Mass, you have begun preparing a choir for the Novus Ordo Mass at Fr John Sasse’s parish, St Patrick’s in Cottage Grove. What is being done there, and how does that parish stand to benefit?
Fr. Sasse is very interested in building an excellent—not just ‘average’—parish choir at St. Patrick’s which will be exemplary in its use of sacred music, (English and Latin), in support of the congregation’s sung participation. That choir will also sing Gregorian Chant on a number of occasions. Moreover, with the blessing of the parish council, we will begin using the Vatican II Hymnal this Advent. That hymnal will facilitate utilization of the Propers and de-emphasis on the ‘four-hymn-sandwich.’ The parish will move away from ‘singing AT the Mass’ and into ‘singing THE Mass’ over the next few years—which is precisely what the Second Vatican Council asked. ‘Doing liturgy’ as the Church asks us to is a benefit to the faithful.
Active participation in the action of the Mass is primarily interior, and doesn’t simply boil down to singing. However most people would agree congregational singing is good and encouraged by the Church. Singing the “proper” texts of the Mass itself as found in liturgical books, such as the introit, offertory, and communion antiphons, takes practice by the choir and the people in the pews can’t easily join in, regardless of whether the propers are Latin or English. This is one of the most commonly cited objections to their use, and in favor of substituting English hymns. Is that valid? And can congregations participate in singing the “ordinary” or unchanging parts of the Mass if they are in Latin?
Well, it’s a valid objection if the church’s choir or cantor(s) cannot sing those propers. We must remember that the choir (or cantor) actually has an office, and that office is to sing stuff that the congregation cannot sing. It’s up to the pastor of the parish to retain musicians capable of that work. As to ‘participation,’ you answered the question correctly: it is primarily interior, and that ‘interiority’ can and should include active listening. It’s what the congregation already does at the readings and (hopefully) the homily. Finally, there’s no good reason that the congregation cannot sing Latin. Many folks sing songs from the ‘old country’—in German, Polish, and Spanish—all the time, and often haven’t a clue what the text means.
To what extent or in what way is variety and openness to newly composed music important in parish musical life? Who gets to decide what are the limits to legitimate variety, if any, and what new music is worthy of the Mass?
Newly-composed sacred music (remember the distinction here) must fit within the requirements outlined by Pius X (above.) Generally speaking, Dioceses maintain “music commissions” which should include well-formed church musicians. They should be capable of making judgments. And yes, the Church encourages such work, but not necessarily in elymosinary ways.
Is the “reform of the reform” of liturgical music the most pressing need facing the Church today?
In the hierarchy of needs, the abortion question, gay “marriage”, and the HHS mandate are probably superior, at least in the practical order. So a lot of time and effort will be expended there. But implementing the Church’s demands in sacred music—because of its integral relationship with the Mass itself—cannot be ignored.
Finally, Bishop Morlino’s theme for the Year of Faith is “Evangelization through Beauty.” Does Gregorian Chant actually help evangelize, and for instance does it have ecumenical value? How does Gregorian Chant do good for the world?
There are lots of stories of people who, having heard Chant, became attracted to the Church and later joined it. Paul Claudel is one example. (There are probably a few who left the Church after hearing Chant badly done, too.) Human beings by their nature are attracted to beauty and Chant is beautiful (properly done.) Of course it does good for the world!
Larry Stich wields his battle-worn Liber Usualis as he leads the schola in practicing Mass propers
An attempted recording of the Holy Redeemer Schola Cantorum singing “Alma Redemptoris Mater”:
I asked both Fr Eric Sternberg and Msgr Kevin Holmes, and they confirmed that it’s perfectly public that Fr John Zuhlsdorf has been appointed, by decree of diocesan Vicar General Msgr James Bartylla nominated, in response to the Society’s request, by Bishop Morlino, duly elected by the Society, and then confirmed by a lovely decree drawn up by Msgr Bartylla and signed by the bishop, as the new President of the Tridentine Mass Society of Madison. Extremely welcome news!
Fr Zuhlsdorf will celebrate the 7am Traditional Latin Mass (Missa Cantata – sung Mass – High Mass) next Sunday November 25 at Holy Redeemer Church, which is part of the Cathedral Parish downtown in Madison, WI, and located on W Johnson half a block north of State Street (click for Google Map). There will be a simple reception in the library downstairs, after Mass.
It is a great blessing to have the traditional Latin Mass in our parish. Come to Mass to worship God. Holy Redeemer Church is beautiful and the sung Latin Mass with its Gregorian Chant is transcendent. Stay if you can, to give Fr Z a warm welcome to Madison!! More than a few locals have long been regular readers or commenters on his popular blog. And warm and vigorous support of Bishop Morlino has long been a recurring theme on Fr Z’s blog, so he has long been especially much a friend of our diocese.
But maybe you’ve not heard of this priest and wonder who he is. Fr John Zuhlsdorf is known to many through his blog as I mentioned, and a liturgy column he used to write for many years, for the Catholic traditionalist newspaper The Wanderer. The title of both is the same: “What Does the Prayer Really Say?” a reference to the theme of his Wanderer column: accurate translations from the Latin text of the “proper” prayers of the Novus Ordo Mass, for the benefit of the lay faithful and non-latinist priests, prior to the more accurate new translation. The Mass as source and summit of the life of the Church, and its worthy celebration as integrally important to her faithful renewal and reform is reflected throughout his work, as in his tagline: “Save the Liturgy, Save the World.” I don’t think he coined the phrase “Say the black, do the red”, a reference to the priest following the liturgical books with obedient precision, but he’s made it his own.
Fr John Zuhlsdorf is a convert from Lutheranism, through the parish of St Agnes in St Paul Minnesota, where there was a great priest named Monsignor Richard Schuler, who was also a renowned church musician, expert in sacred music. That parish, like few others (Assumption Grotto in Detroit, St John Cantius in Chicago) has been a center of traditional Catholic worship of great artistic beauty. It was this beauty and the influence of Msgr Schuler that drew John Zuhlsdorf to want to become Catholic, and eventually a priest. He was ordained a priest in 1991 in Rome, together with a number of other men, by Pope John Paul II. Subsequently he was a parish priest in a diocese outside of Rome and for some years worked at the Vatican Palazzo del Sant’Uffizio for the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which has to do with the older form of the Mass.
In recent years, Fr Z has been living in Wisconsin and a full time blogger making a real contribution to the New Evangelization as well as advancing the “hermeneutic of continuity”. I learn a lot from his blog, which apparently has impressive numbers of priests, seminarians and bishops as readers too. And I admit being quite delighted on the occasions Fr Z linked to this blog and I got a huge surge of visitors, so I can attest that his readership must be vast!
I snuck a photo of Fr Z’s beautiful bonsai trees, being plant-sitted by a great local priest while Fr Z was traveling recently. 🙂
You can send a donation to the Tridentine Mass Society of Madison at: 529 Echo Valley Road, Brooklyn, WI 53521. You can send a donation to Fr Z electronically through his blog. You can give to the Cathedral Parish by coming to Sunday Mass and putting money in the collection. I recommend tithing 10%.
My mom is into geneaology research. Occasionally her discoveries are interesting. We’re descended from executed Salem “witch” Mary Eastey, who was obviously not a witch but a good wife and mother who wrote a deeply Christian letter forgiving her accusers and killers. On my dad’s side I’m descended from Joseph Broussard, who led the French Catholic Accadians out of present day British Columbia where the English conquered and were not especially kind particularly in terms of religious freedom, down to Louisiana–the Cajuns.
Then a couple of years ago Mom (whose name happens to be Margaret) found that we’re descended from Saint (Queen) Margaret of Scotland. Today’s St Margaret’s feast day, so I’ve been reading to know more about her.
Saint Margaret of Scotland, to make a long story short, was born in Hungary in 1045 the granddaughter of King Edward Ironside of England, and came to England before getting shipwrecked on the coast of Scotland where she became the bride of Scottish king Malcolm III. Malcolm seems to have been somewhat uncouth, and not particularly religious, and not literate, but clearly he deeply loved Margaret. Today St Margaret of Scotland is one of the most loved married Saints. She was a devout, contemplative and educated Catholic and her husband lent his royal authority and resources to her many initiatives of charity to the poor and bringing religious practice in the country up to par and into sync with the universal Church in union with Rome. She was an ideal mother, and besides her own children she nurtured many little orphans herself in the midst of royal splendor. She corrected the schedule of the Lenten fast in that country in accord with the universal calendar and was an edifying example to her people of keeping the fast in accord with Catholic precept, and kept an Advent fast as well. Shortage of priests meant Mass was not always available to all the people, but she urged and educated people to observe the Church’s precept of Easter Communion. Queen Margaret went out to visit the independent minded Celtic hermits in the countryside who were part of the legacy of the monk St Columba’s 7th c evangelization of Scotland, begging their prayers and asking them to direct her to do some work of charity to the poor.
I find online that St Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Regent Street is having a choral Evensong (Book of Common Prayer type version of Vespers/Evening Prayer) tonight in honor of my greatgreatgreatetc grandmother’s feast day. Anglicans cherish this Saint as part of their heritage too; she must be praying for Christian unity as in her day she strengthened the unity with Rome, of the Christians in Scotland. I won’t be there, but heading to Mass at St Paul’s soon where I hope her propers will be used–she shares her feast day with St Gertrude and the priests can pick which one. I know I will be praying for St Margaret’s intercession for myself and all my family.
[Update: Fr Eric Nielsen celebrated the Mass of St Margaret of Scotland! At Mass we are all together very much with the Saints, in the presence of the Sacrifice of Jesus the Eucharist we are simply together, whether in heaven or on earth. And the Friday evening Mass at St Paul’s is always the Novus Ordo in Latin. In GGGetcGrandma’s time the locals had fallen into celebrating Mass in the local Gaelic and one of her beneficial reforms was to have them use Latin as the universal Church did.]
I had a thought today. I pray every day at Evening Prayer for all of my ancestors and relatives (up to and including all people) who have died and are being purified in Purgatory so they can be in the immediate presence of God in heaven. Saint Margaret similarly, from her perspective before the face of God in eternity, is praying every day for all her descendents and relatives, including me. A priest said that to me today, after someone told him St Margaret was my ancestor: she has surely been praying for you all along!
What good friends we have in the Saints! And what good family! It’s just the few that are canonized the Church attests infallibly are there for sure, and we can ask them with confidence to pray to God for us, though we may not know the names of all who are in our family tree who are among the blessed, and I know I feel a special confidence they will not refuse or neglect to pray for us!
If you have a canonized Saint in your family tree, post a comment and tell.
