Society of Saint Gregory

Of course SC is right about the Sanctus. It only shows (a) how easily well-sung music can be a siren voice, (b) how watching a televised Mass from the comfort of an armchair at home is a wholly different situation to being a worshipper actually present at a liturgical event. Did I feel challenged to...

I stumbled upon the Papal Night Mass (at 10 pm local time) on Sky Arts 2. The Ordinary in Latin Cum Jubilo - a refreshing change from De Angelis - and led by a choir who despite rather than because of their furiously arm-waving conductor sang the best Gregorian chant I have ever heard from St Peter'...

I fully agree with Southern Comfort. It is common practice at my church to sing the response at the main sung Masses, varying the text by season. The cantor thus determines the length of the pause. S/he sings the first half of a response, the people completing it. The effect of a pause plus sung res...

The great thing about Capella - and I have used it for the whole of my English Proper Chants (melody and accompaniment editions) - is that you can dispense with bar lines as a regular feature altogether, and just insert them where you want them. Invaluable for chant and free-rhythm composing. Only ...

The great thing about Capella - and I have used it for the whole of my English Proper Chants (melody and accompaniment editions) - is that you can dispense with bar lines as a regular feature altogether, and just insert them where you want them. Invaluable for chant and free-rhythm composing. Only a...

In my parish we have Sung Evening Prayer and Benediction every Sunday shortly before the Evening Mass: exposition first, then EP, then 5-10 minutes' silent adoration, then Benediction, finishing with the Marian antiphon by the Lady statue - 35 minutes in all. Usually starts with about half a dozen, ...

Besides the tradition of doing without instruments for much of the Triduum, there is a lot to be said for doing without instruments from time to time. It prevents people thinking that because there are no instrumentalists around, they can't sing. On the contrary, saying to people (explicitly or impl...

There is a traditional order for the saints invoked in the Litany of the Saints:

biblical saints
martyrs (men first)
non-martyrs:

men

popes
bishops
others
women

Within each category the listing is in historical order.

I provide this for information only.

I like the videos and accompanying documents. My grouse is not about the subject matter or the presentation. It is about the title 'cantor'. Paul Inwood recently wrote in the PrayTell blog: The problem with 'cantor' is that it can be interpreted simply as psalmist or even soloist. The French term an...

This is exactly the kind of discussion about 'Proper' texts that I hoped would result from my efforts. I refer readers to my Best-Practice Guide, for which you'll find the link on the third page of http://www.benedicamus.org.uk/chants . The first four lines of my Foreword read: This collection of se...

http://www.ssg.org.uk/phpBB3/images/smilies/icon_redface.gif I wasn't responsible for the concordat for this part of the Missal. In any case the job of the concordat'ers is not to duplicate the work of the publisher's proof-readers. In the case of the readings, it was not clear just what source the...

A friend of mine who came to the Mass at St John's Wood last Saturday spotted this typo in the CTS 'Brick' Daily Missal (p. 3132):

...Making a whip out of some chord, he drove them all out of the temple...

The lost chord? A (very) flat minor? Dischord or discord?

JW may be right about the ignorance of some supposedly-educated youngsters. But to keep the debate at the adult level, I have to ask: how many adults, "fully initiated" as children, come to faith - almost as a conversion experience - later on? For them much of the RCIA process is indeed re...

I am pleased to announce the launch of English Proper Chants - chant settings of the entrance and communion antiphons of the Missal, ICEL translation. You can find them at http://www.benedicamus.org.uk/chants - the first two seasons'-worth are available now, the rest to follow in due course. If you ...

As I wrote in a previous thread, I am all for eulogies at the beginning of a Funeral Mass, after the coffin has been received and the symbols of faith placed on it, and immediately after the priest's greeting and welcome of the relatives and friends of the deceased: at an emotional time in what for ...