Was that little birdie with our chant, or agin it?
  • Hugh
    Posts: 199
    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.

    Suddenly, towards the end of the http://www.fidelitybooks.com.au/Hugh/MP3Pilgrimage/Introit%20-%20Salve%20sancta%20parens%20%28Our%20L.mp3, this little bird has intervened with its own contribution.

    It puts out suggestions from early on, but at 2.45, it's decided to step up and let it all hang out.

    Then it "comments" at various stages all through the Mass!

    Thanked by 1expeditus1
  • Hugh
    Posts: 199
    Sorry: just copy that URL to your browser URL window and you'll be there.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    I was into it.


    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.
  • Richard MixRichard Mix
    Posts: 2,824
    "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".
    Thanked by 1Adam Wood
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