Friends,

One of the most amazing things about this forum is to see the level of interest in Sacred Music across the country. I have a friend, who knows NOTHING about Cantus Gregorianus, Sacred Music, the Colloquium, etc. However, he knows the internet like the back of his hand, because he's a "gamer." (. . . and you know what a gamer is . . . )

I happened to mention to him a few years ago, "You know, it's funny. I know for a fact people all over the world read Chant Cafe, yet the Blog itself has almost no comments. Nobody ever comments!" His response: "Jeff, does the community have a forum?" I said, "Yes, it has an incredibly vibrant and active forum." He said, "I thought so. Usually, when a Blog is attached to a forum, it gets very few comments. Comments happen on the forum." It made perfect sense, and he's absolutely right.

Anyhow, it's also amazing to see the interest these days in MASS PROPERS. We recently released the Lalemant Propers, a 391-page book containing the Graduale Romanum in English.

These are very simple settings — a kind of "lowest common denominator," if you will — and I wasn't expecting much usage or excitement.

Within 48 hours, the following PDF version of the book has been downloaded more than 600 times:

    * *  391-page Book (PDF document)

Book dedication: St. Gabriel Lalemant, the fearless Jesuit Martyr.