What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

The Vox Clara Committee has concluded its meeting in Rome.   Here is a text of their press release (emphasis mine):

The Vox Clara Committee met for the tenth time from July 17-21, 2006 in the offices of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in Rome.

Established by the Congregation five years ago, on July 19, 2001, this Committee of senior Bishops from Episcopal Conferences throughout the English-speaking world was formed to give advice to the Congregation regarding the translation of Latin liturgical texts into the English-language, and to strengthen effective cooperation with the Conferences of Bishops in this regard.

The Vox Clara Committee is chaired by Cardinal George Pell, Sydney (Australia). The participants in the meeting were Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb, Mobile (USA), who serves as First Vice-Chairman; Archbishop Oswald Gracias, Agra (India), who serves as Second Vice-Chairman; Cardinal Justin Rigali, Philadelphia (USA), who serves as Treasurer; Archbishop Alfred Hughes, New Orleans (USA); Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., Halifax (Canada); Archbishop Peter Kwasi Sarpong, Kumasi (Ghana); Archbishop Kelvin Felix, Castries (Saint Lucia), and Bishop Philip Boyce, O.C.D., Raphoe (Ireland). Other members of the Committee, though not present at the meeting, are; Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Westminster (England), who serves as Secretary; Cardinal Francis George, O.M.I., Chicago (USA); and Bishop Rolando Tria Tirona, O.C.D., Infanta (Philippines). The members were assisted in their work by the following Advisors: Monsignor Gerard McKay (Rome), Abbot Cuthbert Johnson, O.S.B. (England), Reverend Jeremy Driscoll, O.S.B. (USA), Reverend Dennis McManus (USA), and Monsignor James P. Moroney (USA).

The members of the Committee welcomed the news that several Episcopal Conferences had recently approved the “Gray Book” of the Order of Mass I. The success achieved in the completion of this foundational segment of the Roman Missal, including the parts assigned to the people at Mass, is the fruit of the work of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy and its collaboration with member Conferences and the Holy See over the past several years. Observing the fifth anniversary of its establishment as an advisory body to the Holy See, the Vox Clara Committee was grateful for the privilege of contributing to this important work.

At the request of the Congregation, the members of the Vox Clara Committee examined at length the “White Book” of the Order of Mass I, including amendments submitted in the course of the confirmation of this segment. Recommendations regarding the granting of the recognitio were formulated.

The major work of the Vox Clara Committee at this meeting consisted of a review of the “Green Book” translation of the Order of Mass II, consisting of the Eucharistic Prayers for Reconciliation and Various Needs, as well as Prefaces, Solemn Blessings and Prayers Over the People. The members were gratified by the quality of this segment of the Roman Missal and, over the course of four days of discussions, made numerous suggestions for improvements to the text.

On the next to last day of its meeting, the Committee appreciated the visit with the Secretary to the Congregation, Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith. The Secretary met with the members and advisors and thanked them for their work, reminding them of the calls by Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI to do everything possible to assure the expeditious completion of an English-language edition of the Roman Missal. The importance of keeping to the timelines for the completion of the Roman Missal was discussed with the Secretary, noting that with the publication of the “Gray Book” of Order of Mass I, and of the “Green Book” of the Order of Mass II and the Proper of the Seasons, twenty-nine percent of the Missale Romanum has been approved or reviewed by the Bishops of ICEL’s members Conferences. It is the hope of the Vox Clara Committee that all involved in this important work will continue to devote all necessary resources to its expeditious and effective completion.

The next meeting of the Vox Clara Committee is scheduled for October, 2006.

There was a great interview with the former (if this makes sense) "Maestro in perpetuo" of the Sistine Chapel Choir, Mons. Domenico Bartolucci. In keeping with the usual practice of men who are over 90, lucid, expert, and thwarted, Bartolucci has something to say, and – oh my – does he say it. Sandro of Espresso has done us a great service to publish this frank interview here is are excerpts, but you must read it yourselves.

Background: Curial officials such as His Excellency Piero Marini (Master of the Pontifical Ceremonies) engineered Bartolucci’s downfall when the Pope was declining. The late Pope wasn’t too interested in the sort of music Bartolucci championed but he upheld it. I cannot fathom that had the Pope still been healthy anyone would have perpetrated the injustice done to Bartolucci. Also, recently there was a concert in the Sistina with Bartolucci which the Pope attended. Cardinal Ratzinger had been a lonely supporter of Bartolucci when he was being attacked. Ssay what you want about the quality of the music he produced, his ideas are spot on. His ideas are in harmony with the Pope’s position on sacred music. In what follows find my emphasis and [my commentary].

An interview with Domenico Bartolucci

Q: Was Perosi in some sense the harbinger of the current vulgarization of sacred music?

A: Not exactly. Today the fashion in the churches is for pop-inspired songs and the strumming of guitars, but the fault lies above all with the pseudo-intellectuals who have engineered this degeneration of the liturgy, and thus of music, overthrowing and despising the heritage of the past with the idea of obtaining who knows what advantage for the people. If the art of music does not return to its greatness, rather than representing an accommodation or a byproduct, there is no sense in asking about its function in the Church. I am against guitars, but I am also against the superficiality of the Cecilian movement in music – it’s more or less the same thing. Our motto must be: let us return to Gregorian chant and to polyphony in the tradition of Palestrina, and let us continue down this road! [The Cecilian began in Germany and aimed at a reform of Church music. The theory behind the movement aimed at restoring Gregorian chant and Renaissance polyphony and sidelining some music that was perceived to be overly "operatic". This is the basis of the work of several decades of the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale at St. Agnes Church in St. Paul, MN. It must be said that, in the main, the Cecilian movement embraced the same ideals as Bartolucci, in regard to the place of music in the liturgy.  The comment on superficiality probably refers to some of the less than successful modern compositions which were written in imitation of Renaissance polyphony, etc.  In my opinion I would include the works of Perosi, whom Bartolucci admires in many respects, and perhaps some of Bartolucci’s own works… but that is not really to the point here.]

Q: What are the initiatives that Benedict XVI should take to realize this plan in a world of discotheques and iPods?

A: The great repertoire of sacred music that has been handed down to us from the past is made up of Masses, offertories, responsories: formerly there was no such thing as a liturgy without music. Today there is no place for this repertoire in the new liturgy, which is a discordant commotion – and it’s useless to pretend that it’s not. It is as if Michelangelo had been asked to paint the general judgment on a postage stamp! You tell me, please, how it is possible today to perform a Credo, or even a Gloria. First we would need to return, at least for the solemn or feast day Masses, to a liturgy that gives music its proper place and expresses itself in the universal language of the Church, Latin. In the Sistine, after the liturgical reform, I was able to keep alive the traditional repertoire of the Chapel only in the concerts. Just think – the Missa Papae Marcelli by Palestrina has not been sung in St. Peter’s since the time of Pope John XXIII! We were graciously grant[ed the permission to perform it during a commemoration of Palestrina, and they wanted it without the Credo, but that time I would not budge, and the entire work was performed.

Q: Do you think that the assembly of the faithful should participate in singing the Gregorian chant during liturgical celebrations?

A: We must make distinctions in the performance of Gregorian chant. Part of the repertoire, for example the Introits or the Offertories, requires an extremely refined level of artistry and can be interpreted properly only by real artists. Then there is a part of the repertoire that is sung by the people: I think of the Mass “of the Angels,” the processional music, the hymns. It was once very moving to hear the assembly sing the Te Deum, the Magnificat, the litanies, music that the people had assimilated and made their own – but today very little is left even of this. And furthermore, Gregorian chant has been distorted by the rhythmic and aesthetic theories of the Benedictines of Solesmes. Gregorian chant was born in violent times, and it should be manly and strong, and not like the sweet and comforting adaptations of our own day. [At the same St. Agnes Church, where I am at the time of this writing, each Saturday morning there is a sung Latin Mass at 8:00 am and the congregation sings the Ordinary in Chant and a small schola sings the Proper. I will be celebrant tomorrow, as a matter of fact, and I can attest from past experience how well this works, though it takes patience and time to build the practice.]

Q: Do you think that the musical traditions of the past are disappearing?

A: It stands to reason: if there is not the continuity that keeps them alive, they are destined to oblivion, and the current liturgy certainly does not favor it… I am an optimist by nature, but I judge the current situation realistically, and I believe that a Napoleon without generals can do little. Today the motto is “go to the people, look them in the eyes,” but it’s all a bunch of empty talk! By doing this we end up celebrating ourselves, and the mystery and beauty of God are hidden from us. In reality, we are witnessing the decline of the West. An African bishop once told me, “We hope that the council doesn’t take Latin out of the liturgy, otherwise in my country a Babel of dialects will assert itself.” [This has an amazing comment. When still in Rome a couple weeks back (I am in the USA at the moment) I had a long conversation about the speed with which Pope Benedict seems to be making various changes… not not making changes fast enough, as the case may be. With his perhaps deeper sense of timing a history, this Roman made the comment that in order to get anything done the Pope has to have people to implement the orders. To order something done and fail to accomplish it, because people in middle managment were unable or unwilling, would result in worse problems. So, patience is needed while the right people are slowly but surely put in the proper positions. This might have been the real key to understanding John Paul II’s patience replacement of bishops by attrition rather than deposition. He avoided schism.]

: Was John Paul II somewhat accommodating in these matters?

A: In spite of a number of appeals, the liturgical crisis became more deeply entrenched during his pontificate. [Yah.. that is certainly correct, alas.] Sometimes it was the papal celebrations themselves that contributed to this new tendency with dancing and drums. Once I left, saying, “Call me back when the show is over!” You understand well that if these are the examples coming from St. Peter’s, appeals and complaints aren’t of any use. I have always objected to these things. And even though they kicked me out, ostensibly because I had turned 80, I don’t regret what I did.

There is a great deal more, and I would love to comment on all of it. This taste should get you to go to the interview and read the whole thing.

St. Hilary of Poitier (+367) interpreted the passage from the Gospel of Matthew used for today’s celebration of Holy Mass (in the Novus Ordo). Here is a brief excerpt from Hilary Commentary on Matthew:

We must first point out the beginning of this passage: "At that time Jesus went through the standing grain." This is set at the time he gave thanks to God the Father for having given salvation to the people. The same meaning is given to what went before (his thanksgiving) and what came after (his walking in the fields). Note the relationships. Spiritually viewed, the land is the world, the sabbath is the day of rest, and the crop is the effect of future believers upon the harvest. Therefore, having gone out to a field on the sabbath, the day of rest under God’s law, he proceeded into this world, to visiting the crop, the sown field of the human race. And since hunger is the craving for human salvation, the disciples hasten to pluck of the ears of corn, namely, the holy people, to get their fill of salvation. But the grain is not yet ready for human consumption. Rather, the crop upholds faith in the events to come. The added power of words completes the sacrament that implies both hunger and fullness.

2. Ac principio contuendum est sermonem hunc ita coeptum esse: In illo tempore abiit Iesus per segetes, id est in eo tempore quo patri Deo gratiam data gentibus salute confessus est, ut idem sensus et superiora et consequentia contineret. Ergo per reliqua curramus. Ager mundus est, sabbatum otium est, seges crediturorum profectus in messem est. Ergo sabbato in agrum profectus in legis otio Domini progressus in hunc mundum est segetem eam, id est sationem humani generis inuisens. Et quia esuritio fames est salutis humanae, spicas praecerpere ac uellere, scilicet sanctorum se salute satiare discipuli festinant. Neque enim homini congruit cibus spicae neque praecerptarum esus est utilis aristarum, sed futuri fidem facti species exsequitur et uirtus interiecta uerborum sacramentum et esuritionis et satietatis absoluit. (On Matthew 12.2 – in SC 254:270)

This is an interesting allegorical exploration. Of particular interest is the paring of hunger and satiety, hope and salvation.

In this life we are still living in a time of hope even though our salvation is worked out for us already: already, but not yet. We are still waiting and striving for the fullness of what we have been given but a taste.