SCCR Parish Blog

  Several months back, the music director at the seminary, Dr. Mary Catherine Levir, wrote an excellent article in The Catholic Telegraph  regarding why beauty is necessary for the Catholic faith.  I want to highlight that piece, because it is so essential for us as Catholics to find beauty, especially in the holy Mass and the sacred liturgy.

  Now that we are about to begin the Lenten season, which begins with Ash Wednesday, a day of fast and abstinence, I thought it might be helpful to read some of these fasting tips from a nutrition graduate student from a local blog. While on that subject, here's a reminder of what the Church requires for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, the two days of fast and abstinence. And a little taste of the beautiful haunting hymnody of Lent.  Here is the melody for the chant, Again We Keep This Solemn Fast - and the lyrics . 

Today in most of the Church, we celebrate Epiphany (12th Night), 12 days after Christmas.  (In some dioceses of the U.S. this is moved to Sunday). There are a lot of beautiful carols about the Epiphany, not generally as well known as the Nativity (Christmas) carols. One enduring classic is As With Gladness Men of Old .  It has an interesting history.  It was written by one of the great 19th century English hymn-writers, William Dix, literally from his sick bed. Here is a contemporary version of that hymn (with on screen lyrics) and a traditional choral version .

Over the past several years, the U.S. Bishops have been turning their attention to ensuring a beautiful and reverent celebration of the Mass in accord with the Church's tradition.   For instance, in 2011 they finished a project to retranslate the Mass so that it was more faithful to its Latin original text, and included the traditional language of our faith. They have recently turned their attention to sacred music in the liturgy.  The Church's tradition has practically from the beginning preferred chant as the music that belongs to the Mass, mostly coming from Scripture.  In the 1960s and 1970s, as an alternative, but never the ideal, they allowed popular hymns. However, the problem has been that many of these hymns are not Catholic in nature.  That is, they contradict our doctrine, or they use vocabulary that is alien to our faith. Their committee on doctrine (teaching) has recently recommended a review of hymns used in the Mass, and specifically named some th...

This Sunday, November 1st, we celebrate the solemn feast of All Saints.  To set the tone, I recommend listening to some of the great hymns reminding us of how the Communion of Saints impacts our lives and praying over the lyrics. By All Your Saints Still Striving (Horatio Nelson, 1864): First Setting , Second Setting , Lyrics For All the Saints Williarm Walsham How, 1864) Video , Lyrics