BBC1 Midnight Mass from Southwark RC Cathedral

[HallamPhil]

The Bishops' of England & Wales made a request that we make a particularly warm welcome, even an invitation, to those who have not attended their church for a while. I wonder whether this celebration considered this at all. But then we may all be guilty of 'pulling the stops out' at Christmas when perhaps we might have overlooked the stranger in our midst for whom little might be familiar or welcoming.I am not suggesting that we 'dumb down'. There is plenty of scope for the odd choral ditty but our prime concern as music ministers must be to enable the assembly to praise God whilst following liturgical norms. Musicians, despite their technical concerns, are invited to do the same.

[mcb]

The Bishops' of England & Wales made a request that we make a particularly warm welcome, even an invitation, to those who have not attended their church for a while.

Can you tell us what they said, Phil? I'd be amazed if they meant "especially by adapting your Christmas liturgies to suit infrequent churchgoers".

[Peter Jones]

Can you tell us what they said.........

see here: http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk/Catholic-Church/Media-Centre/Press-Releases/Press-Releases-2011/Outreach-to-non-churchgoing-Catholics

[Peter Jones]

.....one or two chaotic ensemble lapses......

Not a comment on the Mass - I have not seen it. I'm not surprised if one or two items might not have quite held together; the acoustics in the cathedral are challenging. I remember concelebrating (and preaching) at a particularly musical Mass there some years ago: choir in their stalls - organ sound into the choir/across the sanctuary/down the side aisle & nave - congregation singing in the nave. I nearly gave up trying to sing the melodies for the people for where I sat/stood (including at the altar), nothing was holding together. I didn't know whether or not to follow the choir - the organ (as I, not the choir were hearing it) or the congregation (as I was hearing them). Confused? I certainly was.

[festivaltrumpet]

"especially by adapting your Christmas liturgies to suit infrequent churchgoers".

The set of infrequent churchgoers is not homogeneous, neither is the set of causes for their infrequency. A sense of the sacred, presented via chant and well executed choral music may well extend a welcome to some infrequent visitors whilst leaving others cold. Similarly, asking the prospective prodigal offspring to sing trite Victorian carols and festive nursery rhymes, half remembered from their school nativity play, would be what some might consider as welcoming.

How the musician should rise to the Episcopal challenge delineated in Fr Jones' link might be an interesting thread, but the above argument would suggest that many approaches are simultaneously right and wrong.

[Nick Baty]

The biggest problem this Christmas was how to get those infrequent churchgoers singing the new texts – the three parishes who come together on Christmas Eve only have one setting in common and two of them are still feeling their way through it. For the first time I can remember, our Christmas Eve warm-up included running through a Sanctus. I'm pleased to say that visitors appeared to sing it as well as regulars.

[HallamPhil]

Yes. It was a difficult year to establish a sense of welcome musically when we were all like refugees 'in a strange land' because of the revisions. I have noticed a clear reduction in the volume of spoken and sung responses. It will take a while to overcome present caution.

But if, as I suspect, some of us on this forum were unaware of the Bishops' invitations re Advent & Christmas (thanks Peter for posting the link) then perhaps we might start thinking soon how we might support the Pope's Year of Faith which starts in October. Often I only discover about a Year of this or that when I learn of a celebration to mark the end of the year! Apparently the Pope intends to issue some pointers to the celebration of the Year so we await these. Those of us with Diocesan/Commission roles will of course expect to provide a lead on this. Then of course we also have a Eucharistic Congress to be held in Ireland and some dioceses are looking to link into that albeit at a distance. If such a congress leads to the faithful more manifestly emulating the person of Christ beyond the walls of a church then we will have become a more actively inclusive and welcoming Church perhaps.

[mcb]

I wonder whether this celebration considered this at all. But then we may all be guilty of 'pulling the stops out' at Christmas when perhaps we might have overlooked the stranger in our midst for whom little might be familiar or welcoming.

To drag the discussion back to the topic, I can't see anything in the Bishops' words that suggests to me that Nick Gale got it wrong in Southwark. As festivaltrumpet suggests, "one size fits all" is as bad an idea in liturgical music as it is in buying underwear. There are churches where the essence of the welcome is the homespun atmosphere of a parish with meagre resources but the will to muddle through; there are others where the skills, resources and dedication can be mustered for beauty and solemnity. Beauty takes many forms, and we're vastly richer for it.

[Southern Comfort]

I, too, did not see the broadcast. But a setting of the Sanctus (no matter how well crafted it may be) that excludes the assembly is certainly a breach of liturgical law, as well as eschewing the ritual hospitality that HallamPhil is asking for.

[Peter Jones]

But a setting of the Sanctus (no matter how well crafted it may be) that excludes the assembly is certainly a breach of liturgical law, as well as eschewing the ritual hospitality that HallamPhil is asking for.

Oh dear - given that cathedrals are to give good example of liturgical practice to the diocese (and in this case, the nation), that's sad. It's not as if there are no responsorial settings of the new texts published and available for occasions such as this - even a setting for congregation/cantors/ SATB/ four part brass and timpani.

[festivaltrumpet]

But a setting of the Sanctus (no matter how well crafted it may be) that excludes the assembly is certainly a breach of liturgical law, as well as eschewing the ritual hospitality that HallamPhil is asking for.

Oh dear - given that cathedrals are to give good example of liturgical practice to the diocese (and in this case, the nation), that's sad. It's not as if there are no responsorial settings of the new texts published and available for occasions such as this - even a setting for congregation/cantors/ SATB/ four part brass and timpani.

There are those who can find justification for a non-congregational Sanctus (His Holiness for instance) in the same way as there are those who would find justification in an entrance processional which is neither from the Graduale nor from that mythical 'other collection' approved by the Episcopal Conference. This is equally a breach of liturgical law. I have yet to attend a celebration of the Eucharist which does not deviate in some way from the exacting standards of liturgical law. As we are all living in glass houses, there seems little profit in throwing stones

[Nick Baty]

Hm! There is a difference. We are told, in so many documents, that the Sanctus is the song of the assembly. But just listen to the liturgy. Take the Alleluia and Eucharistic Acclamations away from the assembly and we might as well pack up and go home. If we're looking to our cathedrals for an example, then look to Salford, Brentwood, Hallam, Clifton et al.

[gwyn]

I thought the whole Southwark thing was a spiritually uplifiting delight. I love singing but I don't feel that I have to sing-a-long with a Sanctus in order to feel that I've been included, I don't have to have painted the Adoration of the Magi to sense the adoration and awe.

Well done Nick Gail et al. Southwark ticked the box for me.

[Peter Jones]

You won't find the assembly excluded from the Sanctus here:

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/libretti/2011/20111224.pdf

[Nick Baty]

I don't feel that I have to sing-a-long with a Sanctus in order to feel that I've been included

I'm sure that's true, Gwyn, but liturgical musicians have a duty to ensure that you have the opportunity to – it's part of the job description.