well, also, and not to put too fine a point on it: I understand why people do things for the money, but there's more than one story of going into schism or worse, often couple with problems of the Sixth Commandment. I'm not interested in, and would not like to encourage, discussing individual cases, but it happens.

But you also have to realize that the Anglican Communion is not greener grass. I see Anglo-Catholics worshipping out of three-ring binders. Many of them allow women priests, and they are often perfectly feminine and normal, except for being a priest in an Anglican Church (including TEC; just go to Wisconsin) — and they even have traditional views but make some sort of peace with their colleagues or church employees in particular who, well, you know, live lives in rejection of the Sixth Commandment.

I see sloppiness and clutter in their churches that rivals any small devotional chapel in France or in Italy. No one agrees on vestments. No one agrees on gestures, and in both cases, not even at the same service.

The Anglo-Catholics who do things "best" do so as a caricature of preconciliar Catholicism and frankly even of the traditionalists. The genuine article is not as intense outwardly, with all of the lace and incense. St Mary the Virgin in NYC or the people under the care of the bishop of Fulham in England are over-the-top. Maybe that's mean or unfair. I don't know. I'm not even sure that I care.

I'm not a full-time musician like many of you, but those are my 2 cents.

More work, less pay. You can make a decent living as a Catholic musician and do good music at a high level, but you'll work for every penny of it, and it will probably be a case of "champagne on a beer budget" in terms of getting by with comparatively inadequate resources in some regard, whether it be personnel, instruments, facilities, music library, budget, or support from your priests. A great pastor goes a long way in making other deficiencies tolerable.

I have worked in the Latin rite Novus Ordo for 42 years as of this Easter. I write as someone who did not do chant, polyphony and hymnody until about 1996-97 ( after reading Ratzinger's Spirit of the Liturgy). I have been on an increasing journey in chant and polyphony since then. Also, I am now able to do the EF comfortably and am actually a member of an FSSP parish. All this back ground allows me to say the following.

1) A cursory look at jobs that I know of or are listed puts the salary range between 70-85 thousand in the current state of affairs. There is a very fine job doing both NO and TLM very close to me offering 85,000. I myself am paid quite well for doing 3 masses a weekend with chant, Latin ordinary and in the near future, polyphony. I am putting in a new pipe organ at the end of this month. So, you can make a reasonable living.

2) As someone already noted, the Pastor is the key. In fact its more than half the battle. If you do not realize this, you will not go as far as you wish.

3) If you are not willing to build a program to your liking, I cannot help you. As one of my priest friends says, " you have to build your little corner of Christendom." I am doing it for the 3rd time and hopefully my last. But don't complain about doing the 4 hymn sandwich if you are not an agent of change. Find the priest and the parish and get started.

4) Sorry but multiple Masses are the nature of the beast in the Latin rite. I play 3 over the weekend and it is a pleasure from the days when I did 5 and 6. But we do what we do.

5) The Roman rite is changing....for the better. I get calls at least once a week from priests looking for musicians willing to reform parishes. There is a shortage of good musicians. It is hard work and I have the scars to prove it. But there is no place greater for me. When I come to the sequence for Easter every year I am thankful to do another year in this work.

6) Feel free to message me if I can be of support.