There's nothing stupider than bursting into song for seven seconds and then falling silent again.
Richard Morris
But nowadays hymns are the norm, because people don't have much else to sing.
For two thousand years, the Church has guided the development of music, carefully legislating to fuse artistic talent and aesthetic beauty with the demands of the Faith.
As for sacred polyphony, there is no reason to be afraid of it.
Music had always been the handmaid of the Roman liturgy.
It bothers me when I hear it in a car commercial or some such. But for the most part, it's better than seeing sacred music relegated to the scrap heap.
Once the Mass is restored to its rightful place, we will again see choirs being developed.
All you hear Catholics turning out these days are pop versions of the old Protestant anthems.
Inaudible prayers, particularly of the Canon, which at first don't seem to have anything to do with music, end up being a very important part of the aesthetic of the traditional structure of the Mass.
It would be difficult to discover the truth about the universe if we refused to consider anything that might be true.
The tunes, rhythms, and messages are drawn mainly from secular culture.
Ironically, we live in times that are awash in authentic sacred music.
Never have so many recordings of the great Masses and motets been in wider circulation.
Record stores have whole sections devoted to the chant.
Catholic liturgical music, it would seem, is everywhere but in the Catholic Church itself.
When the truth is that there would be no great Western music, and certainly no decent choral repertoire, without the Catholic faith.
Thus the slogan should be reversed: Catholics taught the world what music is supposed to sound like, and, more importantly, what it is supposed to mean.
Even Catholic parishes today are not wanting for talent. But no serious singer or organist will get anywhere near the typical music program, at least if he wants to retain his self-respect.
The pastor of a parish will typically have no education in the chant or in music, and he will hire the first music director who walks through the door.
The democratic and pedestrian character of the new Mass itself seems to invite the ditties that pass for hymns these days.
And this speaks to the larger problem that no one wants to talk about: the restoration of the Roman rite is a precondition for a long-term fix for the problem.
Participation is easily obtained with Latin chant.
Then suddenly the Roman liturgy disappeared as we knew it.
You can count on one hand the number of Novus Ordo churches in this country that feature a fully Catholic music program of any quality, consistent with the Roman rite tradition.
At St. Francis de Sales in Atlanta, we do not have an organ. We do not have rehearsals during the week. We do not have a professional choir.
You can read about it all you want, but there is no substitute for just doing it.
