"Blessed" Father Solanus Casey ....... Congratulations Detroit

G (my dearest)
It was hodge-podge. That is SOP for these sorts of celebrations.
The setting of the Glory was Ed Bolduc's "St. Ann Mass." I thought it fare'd better than the Proulx acclamations, actually.
The first half (LoWord roughly) was more palatable. Psalm was quite moving.
Choir, organ/piano, orchestra- excellent quality.
Second half languished with the usual suspects: Proulx's gebrauchmuzick, Moore's gospel-ized "Taste and see", morphing into its doppelganger "Ang katewan ni Kisto" to Hurd's "Pan de Vida" followed by the ubiquitous "Gift of Finest Wheat." That was interminable.
It was, ahem, a stadium liturgy. Kudos to the performers, particularly female cantor, (Save for the Teddy Pendergrass ejaculations.)

Worship aid/program can be found here.

Looked at the worship aid. Could have been worse.

There was one nod to Irish heritage: an instrumental called the "Glendalough Theme," written long after Bl. Casey's death, by Fr. Liam Lawton. It's pleasant and innocuous enough, but it's got nothing to do with the beatus himself or the tunes he liked or knew. (It also meant paying royalties on the archdiocese's or Capuchin order's dime, so obviously nobody was thinking about saving money for the use of the poor. Not the biggest consideration, but when you've got public domain choices that make more sense....)

I found the quote. It was Edward Foley, a Capuchin friar from Chicago (not Detroit) who was put in charge of putting together the Mass, and who also helped design new stuff for the Solanus Center in Detroit, where Blessed Solanus' tomb has been since 1987.

He's stationed at the Catholic Theological Union. There he serves as the Duns Scotus Professor of Spirituality, and the Professor of Liturgy and Music. He's also Director of the Ecumenical Doctor of Ministry Program.

At the Solanus Center, where all kinds of freaking big miracles to the glory of Christ have taken place, he proudly says they have shoehorned in symbols of Muslim, Hindu, and Protestant religion. Yup, he really really likes messing with the beatus. Good thing Bl. Casey's not the smite-y kind of Irish saint, because this Foley'd be perfect for a medieval legend of why you don't mess with miracleworkers' tombs. (Obviously he's not a medievalist.)

So Foley was quoted in a story about the Solanus Center:

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"Edward Foley, a Capuchin friar who is coordinating Saturday's liturgy and chaired the committee that designed the Solanus Casey Center, said Casey's simple and prayerful personality will be reflected in the beatification ceremonies.

The center is "elegant, but not flashy," like the Saturday mass and ceremonies will be.

"We want it to be rich and full, but not presumptuous," said Foley, who teaches at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. "He was a very simple guy. He answered the door. ... We tried to choose music that's very accessible."

The services will be in English, Vietnamese, Chaldean, Tagalog, and Spanish, reflecting the multicultural makeup of the Archdiocese of Detroit, which oversees 1.3 million Catholics in southeastern Michigan. The center contains statues and symbols from not only Catholic backgrounds, but African-American, Protestant, Japanese, and Muslim activists or traditions, among others.

There will be no use of the Latin language in the Saturday ceremonies, said Foley, noting that Father Solanus, of Irish descent, "failed his Latin exams."

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So yeah, in some quarters there's still no self-hate like Irish-American Catholic self-hate. Argh.

Foley? Nuff said.

Well, cheap is good. :)

But it's still kinda pointless re: Casey, albeit flattering re: Lawton.

I was thinking about this further, and I realized that they missed out on a good opportunity. Fr. Solanus was given his religious name as a reference to the Franciscan St. Francis Solano or Solanus, who played violin and other instruments, composed a lot of music, and was a great evangelist and miracleworker. St. Francis Solano was Spanish. He composed his sacred music for use in the Americas, where he evangelized. And obviously Blessed Solanus must have had a devotion to St. Francis Solanus. So why wouldn't a Franciscan want to draw a line between two other great Franciscans, and also provide the Mass with all the dignity you should have and all the multiculturalism they wanted?

Surely Foley would know about these people?

I also noticed that none of Blessed Solanus' own little songs or poems were included. I mean, he wasn't a great songwriter, but his stuff was serviceable. Better than a couple of the things that were used.

Shrug. Nobody puts me in charge of these things, and it could have been worse. But when you have a once in a lifetime chance to do something beautiful and holy, surely you would want to put some appropriate oomph into it.

Yes, a license fee is usually required ig something is broadcast, sreamed or recorded. The performance exemption only applied to playing in the service itself not to these innovations.

They really used Mass of St. Ann? Why...? Why use a pop-rock-styled Ordinary with orchestra?

...somebody from the archdiocese proudly said that none of the Mass or the music would be in Latin, because the beatus "failed Latin" at the seminary.

Except for the fact that Cardinal Amato read the apostolic letter in Latin...just sayin'

Capuchin friar checking in here. It was beautiful to be in there with 70,000 Catholics praising God for Blessed Solanus. Absolutely stunning.

Music-wise? I think melofluent hit it on the head.

I can't help wondering if "stadium Masses" were a thing before Vatican II? Did people not see the need for tens of thousands of people at Mass together? Is there a value in it?

That line has been widely repeated, and if it's applied broadly, it's obviously wrong. But, if I remember right, the original version of that line came from a book by a French priest. He was meditating on the priest's role in the Mass, so it makes more sense in that context.

"Was it stadium Mass in 18th century Russia?"

The Beatification Mass is now on Youtube , Archdiocese of Detroit channel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THWE_dyXsoo

Speaking of opportunities lost: the church in which Fr. Casey said his first Mass does not mention that fact in their web "parish history" page.

Could be that they haven't yet put it in there, I guess...but gee whillikers...