Gregorian Chant Unites Catholics
  • a1437053a1437053
    Posts: 198
    Recent global news of unity, and then this: "Gregorian Chant is for Radicals"?

    http://www.praytellblog.com/index.php/2012/04/19/gregorian-chant-is-for-radicals/

    If this blog (and others like it), have often been guilty of preaching in an echo chamber . . . is Mr. Wood's call above the opening salvo of something to unite two very disparate groups of Catholics?
  • MaryAnn Carr WilsonMaryAnn Carr Wilson
    Posts: 1,738
    When I die, what will it matter if I was a liberal or conservative Catholic? Will I cling to the adjective or stand firm on the noun? Am I essentially more liberal/conservative, or more Catholic?

    I reject the idea of our faith being dragged down to a merely political realm. There is no liberal or conservative Catholic. Dump it like the distraction it is. What good fruit has come from false labels?

    Now that I've said that... forgive me, it's a pet peeve...
    Yes, I do feel that the chant can unify Catholics of various leanings. Isn't that one of the main reasons it is continuously held up as the model sacred music- because it unites Catholics from around the world and across the centuries? It's a beautiful thing.
    Thanked by 7CHGiffen Gavin gregp JennyH amanda.palister Patricia Cecilia Jenny
  • gregpgregp
    Posts: 632
    Also, I'm tired of fighting endlessly in Parishes and Comboxes about what's the best way to sing at Mass. That's why I left my home parish (which was on the never-ending Merry-go-round of which hymns to program that week) and was lucky enough to start a schola for the new Extraordinary Form community which was established in our Diocese.

    As MA says, there's only one possible way for us to be truly united, and that's to sing chant. In Latin. Everything else is, to some degree, just playing out the local power struggles.
  • JennyH
    Posts: 106
    I agree that the distinction maintained on PT ("liberal" vs. "conservative") is quite silly. Having perused the "enlightened" views of the Pray Tell Blog in their own words, I strongly believe their "echo chamber" is becoming less and less relevant (but more shrill) with each passing week.

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  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    I've said time and time again that my experiences with "traditional" Catholic liturgy only reinforces my conviction that it is eminently applicable to those on the "liberal/progressive" end of the theological spectrum.

    You want to smash clericalism? Don't let the parish priest unilaterally decide what words will or will not be used at Mass.

    You want to make the people into something more than "pew potatoes"? Avoid difficult pop songs for Mass, and tell the cantor to shut up and let the PEOPLE sing!

    You want to emphasize the Universal Priesthood? Have EVERYONE face the same direction.

    You want to promote evangelism? Preach a faith worth sharing.

    You want to make someone from a strange culture feel welcome? Let them hear the exact same Latin words and Gregorian chant they hear in their own country.

    You want to keep up with the times? Well, everyone else is singing Gregorian chant these days...
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen a1437053 Jenny
  • Charles in CenCA
    Posts: 2,416
    All's well and fine.
    Sharing one's beliefs as absolutes will likely yield lesser harvests.
    More might be harvested if one absolutely believes in what they share.
    Thanked by 2Patricia Cecilia SkirpR
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