Do the Hokey Pokey...
  • PurpleSquirrelPurpleSquirrel
    Posts: 165
    Would it be hokey to sing "Eternal Father Strong to Save" this Sunday before Mass or as a Recessional? (Even though it's not exactly an Easter hymn. And we live nowhere near the sea.)
  • BenBen
    Posts: 3,114
    Could you provide more details as to why you would like to? Is someone requesting it? A personal favorite? Can you fill us in?
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    I have no clue as to why it would be.
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    I use it for patriotic holidays, since the congregation contains a number of ex-Navy folks. They love to sing it.
    Thanked by 2Gavin PurpleSquirrel
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,325
    I think it would be just fine--no need to over think it :) Just be sure to program some other good Easter tunes or the powers that be might get riled up!
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    Of course you heard that the funeral of the guy who invented the Hokey Pokey lasted 4 hours. He kept putting his right foot in the coffin, then his right foot out...
    Thanked by 5ryand PurpleSquirrel btodorovich tomboysuze marajoy
  • Andrew Motyka
    Posts: 946
    For the Titanic?
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    Oh, if it has anything to do with the Titanic, go directly to liturgical jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
    Thanked by 5Kathy irishtenor Jeffrey Quick CHGiffen PurpleSquirrel
  • Andrew Motyka
    Posts: 946
    I had to look up the significance of April 15, I have to admit. "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" is a fine hymn, in my opinion, for almost any time of year. If it's specifically for the 100th anniversary of the Titanic, though, I think it's hokey. Just my opinion.
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • Charles in CenCA
    Posts: 2,416
    We have "O filii..." and Divine Mercy, and we're talking "Navy hymn" for Sunday?
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,611
    Yes, Hokey. So would be Abide With Me. Corrected to Nearer My God, THANKS, GAVIN!
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    What about "Nearer, my God, to Thee"?
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • PurpleSquirrelPurpleSquirrel
    Posts: 165
    **Takes "Nearer, My God, to Thee" sheet music and hurridly hides it in piano bench...** Um, really? Gee, never thought of that... **blushes**
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Kathy
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    Oh, go for broke: My Heart Will Go On. I mean that has a much more obvious connection to Divine Mercy Sunday, right? And the song originated by that great Catholic musician, Celine Dion, right? Just sing it during the procession of the icon....
    Thanked by 2PurpleSquirrel tomboysuze
  • PurpleSquirrelPurpleSquirrel
    Posts: 165
    What a GREAT idea...!
  • PurpleSquirrelPurpleSquirrel
    Posts: 165
    K*I*D*D*I*N*G
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    Well, you could improvise on the theme in minor mode and see if anyone notices...
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • Charles in CenCA
    Posts: 2,416
    By far the looniest thread on MSF or any other reputable lit blog, evah!
    Heck, do the Irish Caeli scene in the bilge to "Lord of the Dance."
    Have soloists sing hits from "Unsinkable Molly Brown." (Were there any?)
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    Or a crab or mensuration canon on the theme? WWBD? (Bach, that is)
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,508
    I am the king of all the world!
    In love with this great high-class girl
    But her driftwood was just too small.
    For her, my love, I gave my all.

    DUKE STREET
    Thanked by 4Chris Allen CHGiffen PurpleSquirrel benedictgal
  • tomboysuzetomboysuze
    Posts: 289
    i'm confused....... where am i?
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    You're on the California now.
    Thanked by 2Kathy PurpleSquirrel
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    One of my favorites is the tune "Hernando's Hideaway" (L.M. with Amen), for which the Doxolgy is perfectly (???) fit:

    Praise God       from Whom       all blessings flow,
    Praise Him       all crea-       tures here below,
    Praise Him       above       ye heav'nly host,
    Praise Fa-         ther, Son, and Holy Ghost. Ayy-MEN!
    Thanked by 2PurpleSquirrel Jenny
  • PurpleSquirrelPurpleSquirrel
    Posts: 165
    Ahh-MEN!

    (You say tomayto, I say tomahto.)

    ;-)
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Charles in CenCA
    Posts: 2,416
    Now you've done it, Chuck, you've put the nastiest perfect earworm into my noodle! That means I'm gonna have to do it someday, when you least expect it.
    Thanked by 2ryand CHGiffen
  • rob
    Posts: 148
    For a bi-cultural Mass?
  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,508
    Yo soy el rey del Mu-u-ndo.
    Y una chica muy linda_amo.
    Su barca_estaba tan chica
    Adios, mi linda_amada rica!

    hahaha
  • rob
    Posts: 148
    But what, in terms of the liturgy, is the "hokey pokey": Are there certain "pokeys" less than "hokey",due to the passage of time (e.g. "Pange Lingua" (Gloriosi))?

    And, in considering the wreck of the Titanic, where does 9/11 in the Church of the U.S.A. belong?

    Are Catholic liturgical commemorations to be bound solely by the memories of those now living?

  • PurpleSquirrelPurpleSquirrel
    Posts: 165
    Good questions, rob. I'm guessing that some Catholic churches had 9/11 commemorations, especially in the U.S. Maybe some more subtle than others.
  • rob
    Posts: 148
    Is there any more subtle -- and suitable -- commemorations than a Cathlic liturgy for 9/11 than a Requiem Mass? Or, perhaps, another votive, i.e. "Mass In Time of War and Civil Disturbances"?
    Thanked by 2irishtenor PurpleSquirrel
  • francis
    Posts: 10,819
    how about

    baptized in water
    Thanked by 2PurpleSquirrel YellowRoseofTexas
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDmCSvqhhoI

    Hokey Pokey
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • Andrew Motyka
    Posts: 946
    I believe you are allowed to have some sort of special celebration on 9/11 in the U.S. Last year it fell on a Sunday, and I know we had a special commemoration at Mass, although ours is also the diocese where United 93 went down, so it may have been special circumstances.
  • btodorovich
    Posts: 32
    Oh, go for broke: My Heart Will Go On. I mean that has a much more obvious connection to Divine Mercy Sunday, right?


    I remember when I was in Catholic grade school (in the late 90's) we sang "God's Love Will Go On" to the tune of Celine's hit...

    No, I'm not making that up.
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • PurpleSquirrelPurpleSquirrel
    Posts: 165
    I think that would have traumatized me...
    Thanked by 1amanda.palister
  • WendiWendi
    Posts: 638
    And I thought the Polka Mass was traumatic. Good heavens!!!
  • YellowRoseofTexasYellowRoseofTexas
    Posts: 91
    I did "Eternal Father" on 9/11. Other than that, no commemoration or mention thereof, and I did it as a recessional (I tend to be more lenient with the recessional).

    And I politely refused the parishioner who came to be 10 min. before Mass and said, "Can we do 'Let There Be Peace on Earth'? We ALWAYS do that for 9/11!"

    Now THAT is hokey. AND pokey.
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen PurpleSquirrel Spriggo
  • benedictgal
    Posts: 798
    Well, it might sound hokey, but, I was actually contemplating chanting the Regina Caeli after Thursday's daily Mass in honor of the joyous occasion of the seventh anniversary of the election of Pope Benedict XVI. I am hoping that I will be granted permission to do so.
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • PurpleSquirrelPurpleSquirrel
    Posts: 165
    The POLKA mass? Oh my...
    We did nothing for 9/11 officially. Nothing was mentioned or announced. However, for a meditation before mass the choir did stand at attention, in silence, as Greg played Tibetan bowls. If you have ever heard them properly played, you might have some difficulty calling them hokey.
  • YellowRoseofTexasYellowRoseofTexas
    Posts: 91
    yes, the POLKA Mass. A Mass wherein every part of the music is polka.

    I'd never encountered this before coming to the northern Midwest, and have had to try to figure out how to gracefully respond to certain choir member's invitations to attend them (at OTHER parishes, not mine!!), "because it's so fun!"
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • btodorovich
    Posts: 32
    yes, the POLKA Mass. A Mass wherein every part of the music is polka.

    I'd never encountered this before coming to the northern Midwest...


    Polka Masses are a BIG cultural thing near Chicago where I'm from (at least with the older immigrant generations). I certainly don't think they're the best thing in the world either, but to my parents and grandparents (Yugoslavs we are) they are popular.
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    There's a few whole ones on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSLijTYuV0E
  • canadashcanadash
    Posts: 1,501
    I'm Slovenian-Canadian. I've been to Yugoslavia, and spent a great deal of time in Slovenia, (the polka capital of the world, I assure you) and NEVER have I heard anything like this. Wow, this is brutal!
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • expeditus1
    Posts: 483
    Gavin's YouTube clip is what I'm familiar with here in Wisconsin, particularly in some Polish communities. Polka Masses tend to be a drawing-card for attendance at parish festivals. Whether these Masses are said in outdoor tents or inside the church, there tends to be a lot of rhythmic body movement among attendees.
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • YellowRoseofTexasYellowRoseofTexas
    Posts: 91
    Yeah, this is a heavily Polish area of the country. Amusingly enough, they were (as far as I know) unheard-of in the German Catholic areas of North Texas (where I'm from).

    So Polka Masses are used as a "show" to draw people in to parish festivals. Mass = money. Nothing wrong with THAT picture... [sarcasm]
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • marajoymarajoy
    Posts: 783
    I've seen Polka Masses advertised, but certainly never been to one. They seem pretty rare to me, and I've been around some pretty Polish parishes.

    I don't want to watch the whole video, so can someone summarize? Is there just Polka music going for the 4 hymns? Or the whole Mass? Or is the priest dancing Polka? Or do people get up and dance the Hokey Pokey down the aisle during the Offertory? (And would this be more ideal than other forms of "liturgical dancing? ;-) )
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • marajoymarajoy
    Posts: 783
    Oh and going back to the original question- Why would there be anything wrong with Eternal Father? It sounds like a lovely song, and has wonderful lyrics!
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    Marajoy

    I can't tell if you were being serious or sarcastic, but in case you were being serious; it very extraneous to the Second Sunday of Easter.
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • marajoymarajoy
    Posts: 783
    Well...most of the choices of "Easter Hymns" don't have a whole lot to do with the Propers which they are already replacing, ("As newborn babes, alleluia, long for pure spiritual milk...") so I'm not sure how using a hymn that doesn't have much to do with either of those things (especially prior to Mass or as a recessional,) would be so different...
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    But they do tend to deal with Easter generally, or the readings of the day specifically, unlike EFSTS, which is extraneous to both.
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    Mara: I believe the possible objection to Eternal Father would be that its use is to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking.
    Thanked by 1PurpleSquirrel
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