The Setting: Christus Rex EF Pilgrimage, Ballarat to Bendigo in Victoria, Australia tied to EF calendar Feast of Christ the King (last Sunday in October). A 3-day walk to gloriously gothic Bendigo Cathedral, a gift of the 19th C gold rush (and a holy priest with a providentially entrepreneurial streak). 300 or so pilgrims (growing fast).
Choir is makeshift: whoever lands and volunteers to sing gets to sing (within limits). Choir rehearsal is an hour and a half before each Mass: ordinary, propers, 2 motets and final hymn to be taught and brought up to speed. Not quite as huge a task as it sounds - there's a core of about a dozen veterans within the 30 or so choristers, and the program varies little from year to year, so we can build up that core. Friday - Votive of Holy Cross. Saturday, Votive or Our Lady, Sunday Solemnity of Christ the King.
The Plot: OK, so I'm reviewing last year's Christus Rex Pilgrimage choir recordings with an eye to posting for prospective choristers to get the vibe of what I want, sans mistakes. And I'm listening to last year's (2011) Saturday (Salve Sancta Parens) Propers. On that day, we have Mass in a pine grove, as there's no church within coee.
I was once at an outdoor Mass at some Youth Group function or other. It was pretty low-key (not one of those campfire sing-along outdoor Masses). And the elevation (both Host and Chalice) in the exact place of sanctuary bells there was a very loud "caw! caw!" of (I think) nearby Sandhill Cranes.
I have several opinions about the whole experience, one of them being that St. Francis of Assisi and St. Gregory the Great must be friends these days.
Here's a routine reminder: Be patient about legitimate differences in personal taste.
"Caw!" makes me think corvid. R. T. Peterson, who has a knack for evocative spellings, describes Sandhill Crane trumpeting as "a deep rolling k-r-r-r-oo".
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