School Masses

[organist]

Assuming they still exist, school Masses can be a nightmare musically and liturgically. I don't play for them any more but I was horrified to find that the kids were expected to sit cross legged on the floor for the whole thing apart from going to communion! Very uncomfortable for a start. Why not let them stand and greet the Gospel? Too disruptive! Must NOT teach them good liturgical habits or remind them of what we all do in church. Oh no!
The Peace had to be controlled it seems. They loved to sing but physically a yoga type position is not ideal for that!
And interminable homilies from the PP and the famous occasion when he interrupted the prayers to say that the text was too difficult - I think the word "community" upset him!!! I still shudder at the thought of the homily which seemed to focus on our patron saint's horse - his journey round England would never end I thought
Our teachers mean well but some of the comments.
"We can't sing "There is a green hill" because it is about death!" "Isn't a crucifixion at the centre of our faith and this hymn was written for children!"
"Could you start "Blest are you Lord God of all creation" earlier at the offertory (sic)?"
"I was trying to match what the priest is doing at that point!"
In fact teaching the teachers is the key to this and we need to do all we can to educate them in the use of good materials and good music and texts. Bernadette Farrell and Chris Walker have produced wonderful material so let's ditch "Colours of day"!

[Reginald]

From the chalk face. The biggest problem I face is that, having persuaded the school to ditch the four hymn sandwich (we still have 3 but also sing the Acclamations too now) and aimed for a higher liturgical level, you find yourself being criticised by people who don't understand what your objectives are (and yes, like all good teachers, I share my objectives) and so when you suggest that we should do something a particular way, they chorus "That's not how we do it at my church!"

In my experience, many people making decisions about school liturgy have no real interest or passion for good liturgy. Many of the music teachers in the secondary schools are non-Catholic and therefore may bring a whole different liturgical ethos to the proceedings. Furthermore, most RE teachers have no liturgical training and consequently some of them bring para-liturgical actions to the Mass which don't belong there.

I would love to see the dioceses putting on 'training days' to which heads of RE, heads of music, and importantly members of the school leadership team are invited. Under ideal circumstances the dioceses would take a very active interest in school's liturgy and would see that, certainly in our case, most of the practising youngsters in the county pass through our doors. Make them liturgically literate and that can only benefit the diocese as a whole over the next 60 years. I've pitched to the relevant people here that as a school we should be educating, and that means liturgically too. There ought to be no dumbing down of school Masses. In practice though, we don't exploit changes of posture as well as we might - and then wonder at the lack of engagement on the part of kids who've been sat immobile for over an hour!


Musically we're saddled with the fact that the kids come to us with a musical comfort zone of the Shiny Jesus Song, Jesus is the Rock and he Rolls my Blues Away et al. They thought I was off my rocker to try a little plainchant (only the Kyrie Orbis factor) and were stunned when the kids sang it louder than anything else - they forgot the golden rule in schools that if you're passionate you can impart that passion to others. We tend to forget that the trendy stuff of our own youth is the dated rubbish of the youth of today (if you don't believe me, sit down and watch Jesus Christ Superstar with a group of teens. I can't tell you how many times people have told me how good it is for communicating the Gospel to young people. I watched it for the very first time a couple of weeks ago with 60 teenagers. They cringed, I cringed - what was going on with Jesus and the falsetto singing? I know that heroes in opera are usually tenor parts but really!). Chant works with young people, precisely because it is dated and doesn't pretend to be anything else, but that's another thread. Real change will have to come from the primary schools and that means 'grown-up' Masses from at least 8 and upwards, so that they are prepared for a worshiping life in our parish churches.

Lest the picture seem too bleak, at our next school Mass we're likely to sing a Walker Alleluia and the Mass of Creation for our Eucharistic Acclamations. The Kyrie and Agnus will be in plainchant. The student council will provide suggestions as to the hymns they'd like to hear at the Entrance and Presentation of the Gifts and (tying up with a recent thread) since we've been singularly unsuccessful at getting a Communion chant going amongst our congregation I'm going to ask the Music staff if they can stretch to the chant from the Graduale followed by a piece of polyphony of their choosing. The last hymn has bitten the dust...it was trying to stage a comeback, but when the Bishop celebrated Mass here after Christmas he commented on us doing things 'as they should be' and I think that will put paid to those pushing for its reinstatement. Mass will be celebrated on a proper altar as opposed to a classroom table, and there will be servers. With luck, the student council will take charge of transforming our sports hall into a 'sacred space' by means of artwork and banners etc. Still to do, persuade the powers that be that we should have all of the readings for the day, should sing Responsorial Psalm and Gloria (currently both omitted - as in not even said) and encourage changes of posture during the Mass , if only to keep them awake!!!!!!

PS Now that Ive revealed my master plan to the wider world - don't tell on me and spoil it!!!!

[docmattc]

teaching the teachers is the key to this

they chorus "That's not how we do it at my church!"

Here's the crux of the matter. Poor liturgy begets poor liturgy. Teachers who experience poor liturgy in their parishes go on to offer poor liturgy in their schools.

[docmattc]

On another thread

I started as a University Chaplain last September.
When I started, my biggest challenge was the liturgy planning. I found that the students, who have mainly been through the Catholic School system, have a very limited repertoire of hymns. They only seemed to know hymns which I learned at primary school in the late 60s and early 70s, hymns which I thought had died a natural death.

Presumably those students choosing to go to Mass at university were Sunday attenders 'at home' and not just dragged along at school. This means that not only is many a school liturgy living in the seventies, but many parishes are residing there too. We can't just point the finger at teachers and our schools.

[organist]

Well said docmattc. I would not be so sure that those who attend Catholic schools actually go to Mass once they have got that precious place! One must not despair! I still cherish the young man who at a meeting with the confirmandi, instead of the usual bored response about hymns for the confirmation liturgy, specifically asked for the Gathering Mass because it was inspiring and said how he hated Taize "Ubi caritas" because the RE teacher at his secondary school overused it! A person of taste and refinement?
Enthusiasm is all - if I tell enough people how wonderful Bach is, maybe some will listen and hear?? And enjoy? Even be uplifted? My Mum always said Bach was more interesting to play than to listen to and I suspect she's right Could the same be true of plainchant - I think not!

[nazard]

The only school masses I attend these days are at Downside, where the standards of music are laudably high. I have a horrible suspicion that attendance is compulsory, but in spite of that the children seem a good deal happier than they are at local parish masses. Is there a recent Downside alumnus on the board to give us an insider's view?