Slow down and smell the incense

About ten years ago, my local Catholic parish had a Wednesday evening centering prayer service.  It wasn’t very well attended…maybe ten or so people.  What I found so wonderful about this form or prayer was the relaxing pace that ensued once we began the service.  Even further back in my childhood (early 70’s), I was introduced to the charismatic prayer movement.  Although I haven’t participated in a charismatic prayer meeting in over thirty years, it influenced my early faith development.  I loved the singing (I was the accompanist for many years) and the prayer and the silence.  I also loved the fact that the meetings, although had some structure to them, were very much,  “lead by the spirit”.  The same goes for Taize prayer services I’ve been a part of for the last fifteen years.

I could go on and on about the various virtues of slowing down everything, but the best example is from a video I found at TED.COM by Carol Honore.  The one example of learning to slow down that really hit me was when Carol spoke of telling his son a goodnight story.  His life was so caught up in multi-tasking and rushing through every aspect of this life, that his nightly bedtime story with his son became more of an inconvenience and his son’s reaction to his “speed-story time” was that they both became more anxious and frustrated. 

Have we as Catholic’s gotten caught up in the speed-reading, speed-dating, speed-(fill in the blank) of life?  Most Catholics don’t go do mass on a daily basis, so the one mass we attend on Sunday should in fact, be the highlight of our weekly spiritual journey with Christ.  The Mass should be the one time and place where we give our body, mind and soul to our Lord…leaving the Blackberry’s, to-do list, and worries of our life at the door.  Ironically I recently heard a priest give a homily on this very subject.  It was very good…he pointed out that we are always on the clock, we are always speeding in our cars from one place to another and missing out on some of the most important things in life…good conversation, good food prepared with care, and good relaxing prayer.  The irony being, this same priest is so incredibly caught up about starting the liturgy exactly on time and always badgering the music ministers, readers, lectures about keeping up the “pace” of the mass. 

The talk given by Carol Honore mentions the slow food movement and even the slow city movement where people are reassessing the way our society has lost touch with the quality of life that allows for our everyday task to become more meaningful and enjoyable.  Why not the slow mass movement?  Alas, I googled it and came up with nothing!  But wouldn’t it be lovely if we always sang all the verses to all the songs during the mass without “Father’ giving us the “you’re wasting my time look”.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if after each reading, there was a minute or two for the assembly to mediate on what was just read.  Wouldn’t it be moving if there was time to contemplate on each liturgical action during the mass, instead of many things happening at once.  I know I’m missing many areas that could be improved upon (more silence after communion!).  I’ve been to the “rush to the finish line mass” and I’ve also attended many Catholic liturgies that were prayerful, thoughtful and spiritual.  The former felt lifeless and inconvenient for the presiding priest.  The later was spirit filled and left me wishing it wouldn’t end.  Thirty to Forty-five minutes of feeling like you were cheated out of your weekend liturgy, or an hour and fifteen to thirty minutes of reveling in the deep spirituality and history of Catholicism?  Smell the incense…listen to the word of God…mediate…sing praises to the Lord…slow down!

 

“May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord”
Psalm 104:34

Choir Characters

I’ve noticed in my years as a Catholic choir member and now director for the past 9 years—there is a reoccurring theme of characters in every choir.  No, not all choirs have these same characters—although some of these characters have multiple personalities!  Here is my list of the most common “Catholic Choir Characters” I’ve run across over the years.  Hopefully you will find this entertaining and maybe even add your own.  Oh, and this is not an exhaustive listing by any means…just the most common in my experience.

By the way—all names have been changed to protect the innocent (and guilty).

Cathy the Complainer – I have a dear friend who is the choir director in another town about 30 minutes away.  She is a sweetheart “nice girl” and has the patience of Job.  I know this because she has the mother of all “Cathy the Complainers” in her choir. Cathy seems like she really doesn’t want to be in the choir, so it always puzzles me as to why she even shows up since nothing seems to make her happy.  A few common phrases from Cathy:  “I don’t like that song”, “We used to sing it slower (or faster) at my last church”,  “She sat in my seat!  I always sit there”, “I won’t sit by [insert name here], she throws me off”, etc.

I think the bottom line with this lady is that she just wants some attention and will say about anything to get it.  This person loves to drag everyone down with her and takes delight in doing so.  Of course, she’s always there for every choir practice and liturgy!

True Confession:  when I took my previous choir director position, the only stipulation was that “Cathy the Complainer” (I knew everyone in the choir) be asked to leave before I started.  That was one of the smartest things I’ve ever done.  This particular lady was previously asked to leave the church choir by another choir director!  Ouch!

Helpless Harriet -  Harriet is a nice version of Cathy the Complainer or  sometimes the two personalities morph into one super helpless-complainer monstrosity.  Harriet never practices the music during the week. She is a long time choir member who can’t read music to save her life and is unwilling to try.  When she arrives for our warm-up period before mass, she never has her music in order.  In fact, the most common phrase heard from Harriet is, “You never gave me that music”.  Harriet can also never sing her part unless she has a “strong alto or soprano” singing next to her.  When her “crutch-singer” isn’t around, Harriet is—-well, helpless!

Terry the Triple Forte Tenor -Terry is the guy that sings everything as loud as he can.  He knows he has a big voice and wants to share it with all of God’s creatures.  Terry is the guy you place as far away from the choir microphones as possible because he can be heard throughout the church…including the basement!  Another lovely character trait of Terry is that he loves to talk to his choir neighbors all throughout choir practice!

Ophelia the Opera Star – Ah—the female version of Terry.  Ophelia at one time in her life had voice lessons and studies Italian arias. Ophelia’s vibrato is so wide and over-the-top that you could drive a trunk through it.  One word Ophelia was never taught in voice lessons—blend!!!

Sophie the Soft Singer – I’ve been in the choir with Sophie for 25 years.  I have yet to actually hear her sing!  Much like Cathy the Complainer, Sophie never misses a choir practice or liturgy.  Every choir practice I plead with her and her friends, Susan and Sarah (soft singers too!) to please sing out—use your diaphragm, stand up straight, get your head out of your music…they never do.

Late Larry -  Late Larry and his counterpart Late Laura are always 15 to 30 minutes late for choir practice.  I thought I would cure him one season by changing the choir practice start time to 7:30PM versus 7:00PM.  You guessed it.  Larry was still 15 to 30 minutes late.  Of course, at the beginning of mass, I can always see Larry sneak in from the back and take his place during the processional.

Isaac the Itchy Instrumentalist – Isaac’s MO is that he can’t keep from fiddling on his guitar, drum, or whatever instrument happens to be in front of him before and sometimes during mass!  What’s worse, when there is a beautiful instrumental being played by the keyboard player after communion, Isaac is right there trying his best to pick out the tune!!! I, of course, look like I’m swatting flies as I try to wave him off.

I better stop now.  I hope you had fun reading this.  You, of course, are not one of the above characters, right?  And I do understand that choir directors are probably the most peculiar people out there.  I’ll save my description of this breed of folk for another post.

Where is the Liturgical Clip Art?

I am a believer in the use of worship (participation) aids to encourage assembly participation in the “singing of the mass”.  Not just any worship aid, but a very well thought out and professionally created worship aid with notes and music—not just a sheet with words. 

It is my goal as a minister of music to create worship aids that look professional, are pleasing to the eye and easy to read.  Any seasoned director of environment and arts will tell you that everything in the church, the vestments, the artwork, the flowers, etc. should all have a certain richness that draws the faithful into prayer.  On special occasions (during the Season of Christmas and Easter) I also have the worship aids professionally printed on 8 1/2 by 17 (folded) paper.  My regular Sunday worship aids are always legal size (8 1/2 by 14) folded in half.  I find that using 8 1/2 by 11 paper (folded) requires me to shrink the music and words of the hymns down too small.  I can’t imagine someone with bad eyes squinting to see the words and notes to a hymn on a standard piece of paper.

This brings me (finally) to the topic of this blog post.  Where can one find acceptable liturgical clip art to use in a worship aid?  I’ve searched the Internet high and low and with a few exceptions, I can not find good quality clip art.  The graphic at the beginning of this post is from Hermanoleon Clipart which I dare say is about the only Internet site I’ve found that has Catholic clip art that conveys prayer and worship.  I used this particular graphic for the cover art work for my Pentecost worship aid.  Much of what I see on the Internet is non-Catholic in nature and although some of it is high quality, it doesn’t meet my criteria or doesn’t represent our Catholic form of worship.  The worst clip art I found on my Internet search was of an animated cross with legs and arms and a “happy face”.  I can’t imagine what the creator of that graphic was thinking!

 
My all-time favorite Catholic clip art is  from Liturgy Training Publications called Clip Art for the Liturgical Year by Steve Erspamer, SM.  An internal search of the LTP web site for clip art may find you as frustrated as I was.  If you click on “customer service” and then “software” you’ll be taken to this location where they do refer to the aforementioned software but don’t really tell you how to order it.  The second graphic I used for this post, “Peace to You”, is an example of the art work on the Clip Art for the Liturgical Year CD. 

What are our guidelines for creating worship or participation aids?  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops actually published a documented called “Guidelines for the Publication of participation Aids“.  It doesn’t really mention much about clip art or artwork in a worship aid, but towards the end of the document, it does list various resources for graphics used in creating a worship aid.  My advise would be to use quality graphics that call you to prayer, and try not to use to many graphics in your worship aid because it tends to clutter things up and distract from the professionalism of the aid.  I normally just use one piece of clip art for the front of the worship aid.

Pentecost – Spirit and Grace

I have a friend who is a freelance pastoral musician.  She provides her services for various funerals and vigils in the local area.  It’s always interesting to hear of her experiences dealing with various priest and liturgy directors.  At her latest funeral, she was asked before hand by the liturgy director if she would sing “Ave Maria” during the communion procession!  Wow!  She managed to talk the liturgy director into letting her sing the song as a prelude to the liturgy.

The liturgy documents tell us the song during communion should be one that is well known by the assembly and have a refrain that can be sung without everyone having to carry a hymnal down the isle with them.  A psalm is suggested, but I’ve never felt comfortable singing a psalm during the communion procession.   

I recently ran across a wonderful piece of music that I used for the communion process for Pentecost and the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ this year.  The song is called Spirit and Grace and it was composed by Ricky Manalo, CSP.  I always get excited when I get my OCP quarterly packet and see an octavo with his name on it.  Many Ricky Manalo compositions have become standard repertoire at my church (Beyond the Days, By the Waking of Our Hearts, Come, O Spirit of God…just to name a few).  I’ve seen many Catholic choirs make the mistake (in my mind) of singing to many (or even all) hymns during the Pentecost Vigil or Pentecost Day based on the “Pentecost Sequence, Veni, Sancte Spiritus“.  Ricky Manalo’s hymn speaks of the Holy Spirit by in a very unique way.

As I mentioned, “Spirit and Grace” is a communion song.  The tune is also a continuation of Ricky Manalo’s “Mass of Spirit and Grace” which, as far as I can tell, is not yet out in print yet.  The song fills a very needed niche in our Catholic repertoire because it speaks of the connection between the Holy Spirit and the Eucharist.  The song can be sung during any Sunday of the Church year, but would be very appropriate for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Pentecost, confirmations, ordinations, anniversaries.  

The octavo of Spirit and Grace was written for assembly, SATB choir, Keyboard, Guitar and Solo Instrument.  The solo instrument part is beautiful and I look forward to playing it on my violin.  The tune to this hymn was picked up very quickly by my choir.  That almost always means the assembly will not have any difficulty picking up the tune either.  I know it will become another standard communion hymn at our church.

In the bread, blessed, broken and shared,
Christ is our life, whose presence we bear. 
Come, O Spirit, make your grace revealed in this holy meal.

Refrain – Spirit and Grace, by Ricky Manalo, CSP

The Zombie Catholic Congregation Singers

As a choir director, I do things a little different.  Unless we are singing an incredibly difficult song (which is almost never) I stand facing the congregation.  I normally play the guitar (mostly classical) or bass or sometimes the violin.  If I had a full complement of instrumentalist, I guess I wouldn’t have much of an excuse to not stand in front of the choir and direct.  My point—I am able to look out at the assembly when we sing.  This is good and bad.  I feel more of a connection with the assembly because I’m actually looking at them.  The bad—I’m seeing less and less singing from the members of the assembly.

Why doesn’t our assembly sing anymore–or at least much less than in years past?  That is an interesting question because most Catholic choir directors would just ask the question, “Why doesn’t my assembly sing?”  As a member of my congregation for the past 23 years, I can tell you empathically, Catholics can and do sing the mass, because I’ve witnessed it over and over!  Whether it is a old hymn out of GIA’s worship hymnal or a Negro spiritual, our assembly can and will sing under the right circumstances. 

So, why do I get that “zombie” look when we’re singing a hymn or responsorial psalm or a chant?  What has changed?  Very little I would say!  The musicians and singers have changed over the years, but the spirit of the music that we sing has not.  We haven’t gone to “praise music” or in the opposite direction to Gregorian chant. 

I just read an interesting article written by the Most Reverend Ronald P. Herzog who is the bishop of the Diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana.  He is also a member of the USCCB’s Committee on Divine Worship.  He brings up some interesting points.  In the larger scheme of church history, “assembly participation” is only in it’s infancy.  Until Vatican II, a Catholic “attended” mass—sounds a lot like attending the theater or attending a lecture doesn’t it? But—his Excellency also points out that we have only had roughly 50 years in developing a “singing congregation” and we are actually doing quite well in that regard. 

Back to my earlier point, specifically about my own parish members backsliding in their singing of the mass…Obviously, there should be a good foundation of music ministry that presents the music in a fashion that is inviting to the active participation of the assembly—no blasting organ or guitars or warbling cantor, etc.  I think it very well may have to do with the health of the community.  And much of the health of the community can be gauged by the leadership.  Is the pastor actively participating in the singing or does he look disinterested during the singing?  Does he give the cantor the evil eye when he’s processed in at beginning of mass and “wants to get things moving” before all the verses of the processional are completed?  At the end the end of the mass, does he walk out at the downbeat of the recessional hymn or continue to sing with the community?  But more importantly, is the celebrant leading the community in it’s liturgical prayer or just following the rubrics?  I think that is the key. 

Show me a celebrant who is present to the prayer and liturgy and song, and I’ll show you a community who is praying and singing the mass.

Song that defines the Easter season

Is there a certain song that defines your Easter season?  For about the last 12 years or so, my congregation has been singing In the Breaking of the Bread by Michael Ward (WLP) as our recessional song for the Easter vigil and Easter morning.  The words are based on Luke 24 and Acts 2.  I’ve heard a recording of the song from the CD.  The tempo marking says a quarter note = 72 but we sing it at a faster tempo.  The song is included in the Celebremos / Let Us Celebrate hymnal by WLP and I’m sure other WLP hymnals.  I believe the Franciscan parish in downtown Sacramento also uses this song at their Easter vigil.  As with many other songs we sing at critical parts of the liturgical year, it passes the goose bump test.  There is something about the words and pace of the song–and the melody that defines the meaning of Easter for me.

I had a young lady come up to me after mass this morning in tears (of joy).  She was so moved by the music.  She told me she has contemplated many times leaving our parish and going elsewhere (for various reasons) but it was the music that always brings her back. 

I feel so blessed to be a liturgical musician.   God has given me a wonderful gift! I get to do something that I love (music) but I also get to share it with so many other people.  I have been told time and time again how the music we do in church touches so many lives. 

In the walking on the road, we we saw him.
In the telling of our hopes, we saw him.
In the burning of our hearts, we saw the Lord.
At the meal he took the bread and then he blessed it,
broke it, offered it.  In the breaking of the bread, We saw him!
Suddenly our eyes were opened, And we knew he was alive!

Last weekend I had the honor of being the “best man” at the wedding of a very dear friend of mine.  We have been singing together in our church choir for 25 years now.  Lee has been the “bass” section leader and I have been the “tenor” section leader until I became the choir director.  Lee is one of the few “Anglo” men I know who can belt out gospel music like he was—ah…you know…born do sing it.   The wedding was at our church in Sacramento but He wanted the reception to be memorable so he booked a cruise of the San Francisco bay (4 hour trip).  We started the cruise from the port in Alameda, sailed around Angel Island, went under the Golden Gate Bridge and then back again.  It was beautiful and will be a cherished memory.  And of course, it was a beautiful sunset!

Triduum Memories 2008

Holy Week has come and gone.  It’s been so long since I was part of the congregation (and not the choir director) that I almost feel like I want to take one Triduum off and just enjoy the Three Days without feeling the pressure of being there with the music—no, as I think more about it, that would only work if I actually attended the Triduum at at another church.  I would even be more nervous at my church if I was there and not leading the music!

It has been the tradition at my church to create a worship aid for the Triduum and extend it on into the whole of the Easter season.  It has also been our tradition to acquire beautiful artwork to use for the worship aid cover.  This has served us well in the past, but as the price to use copyrighted art work goes up, I have taken to using artist in my own parish.  The worship aid cover in this post is actually from our 2006 Triduum.  It was created by Ted Sanders who has been in our choir for over 30 years.  Ted is a teacher, an accomplished artist and a fine tenor.  He also is a percussionist in our choir.  When I first saw this piece of art work, I fell in love with it.  I don’t really know that much about art, but it is one of those paintings (I believe it was done in chalk) that I can just get lost in—lost in prayer.

Back to this years Triduum — What really stands out in my mind?  What memories will I cherish the most?  I think the most beautiful moment was the dressing of the altar at the Easter Vigil.  I believe this liturgical movement was brought back from the Religious Education Congress in Los Angeles.  I have a friend who was taking pictures during the liturgy, so hopefully I’ll be able to eventually post a picture of the table.  For now I’ll just describe it—at the “Presentation of Gifts” we sang We Come To Your Feast by Fr. Michael Joncas (GIA Publications, Inc.)

Verse 1 from “We Come To Your Feast”

We place upon your table a gleaming cloth of white.
The weaving of our stories, the fabric of our lives;
the dreams of those before us, the ancient hopeful cries,
the promise of our future: our needing and our nurture
lie here before our eyes.

As we sang the hymn, two people dressed in native clothing from their country of birth processed to the altar with a small altar cloth made from their home country.  There were altar cloths from the Philippines, Guam, Vietnam, Mexico and Africa.  As they processed, they held up the cloth for all to see—and as each pair came up, they laid their cloth on the altar.  The last pair that came up laid the white altar cloth on top, but you could still see the brilliant fabric from the other cloths hanging down in front of the altar.  It really choked me up.  So many rich cultures coming together as one to pray and sing and celebrate our risen Lord.

Verse 2 from “We Come To Your Feast”

We place upon your table a humble loaf of bread:
The gift of field and hillside, the grain by which we’re fed;
We come to taste the presence of him on whom we feed,
to strengthen and connect us, to challenge and correct us
to love and word and deed.

Stations of the Cross with Taize chants

During the weeks of Lent, I had the pleasure of participating in a “Stations of the Cross with Taize chants” service.   I’ve never really been drawn to this Catholic tradition but I was very surprised how the music drew me into the prayer.  Much of the impact this service had on me was due to the thorough planning of the service by the director of liturgy at the church. 

There was a different person leading the service every week (a priest did it one week!) and they all spoke beautifully.  There was a script that was easy to follow which allowed the music director to meld the Taize chants beautifully with the reading of the stations.

The Taize music was sung between the procession to the various stations and was also used at the end of the service for the veneration of the cross.  There were six to eight choir members singing the SATB parts, a keyboard player, flute, violin and myself on classical guitar and bass. 

One other success to this service was the use of silence!  It is amazing to me how silence, when used with care and patience, can lead us to hear God.

As I walked into the church for the final service of Lent, there were some choir members (from different Catholic churches in the area by the way) rehearsing with the keyboard player.  The chant was absolutely breathtaking.  I just wish I could have heard all of us from the back of the church during the service.

I’ve listed the music in the graphic below.  All of it is available through GIA Publications, Inc. and all except for “By Your Cross”, by Suzanne Toolan, was written by the brothers in the Taize community.

Schedule of Music for the 5th Sunday of Lent

I’m always wondering what music other pastoral musicians are using for various seasons of the year. We are going into the fifth weekend of Lent and I am happy to say that I’ve had my choir practicing the music for Triduum for over a month. For me, that is a pretty big deal. I just spoke to a choir director from another parish and she is still trying to figure out what bi-lingual music she will be doing for The Three Days. I suggested to her that she find some music that her choir already knows!

I could take a whole blog post to talk about each musical selection we are doing, but I don’t have the time—so I’ll be brief and highlight a few selections.

The Gathering Hymn, Holy God was composed by the devil himself, Marty Haugen. It is a very moving piece of music that has sort of a Celtic feel to it with a beautiful drone and the beginning and throughout most of the piece. The music builds in intensity towards the end and decrescendos back down during the last few bars…I think it’s a beautiful hymn for Lent.

The Kyrie and all of the mass parts were composed by myself. I named the mass, “Mass of the Holy Land” because the tune was inspired by a very old Jewish chant, whose name I unfortunately can’t recall at the moment. By the way—the little codes I use in the spreadsheet are to help me keep track of the instrumental parts that are available to me—Cv for cello and Fl for flute. The red letters mean I wrote the instrumental part and the blue abbreviations mean the parts were provided by the publisher.

The song for Preparation of Gifts is Lord, Jesus Christ by Carol Browning. It was composed in the style of a Taize chant (Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of the Loving God. Have mercy on me a sinner, have mercy) and is based on Psalm 51. It is a wonderful piece for Lent. We’re also using it for our reconciliation service next week.

The communion song is Learn to Live the Story, again by Marty Haugen and the Sending Forth song which I spoke of in my last blog post is Journey For Home by Ed Buldoc.

Journey for home

I don’t believe I’ve written anything about World Library Publications (WLP) in my blog so here we go— 

WLP is certainly smaller than GIA or OCP but that doesn’t mean they don’t have excellent music and/or composers.  During the season of Lent, we are doing a song called Journey For Home by Ed Bolduc.  Ed normally writes in a more contemporary style than I am used to playing, but I do like his compositions. 

The Liturgy Documents tell us the instrumentation for Lent should be “sparse” with very little instrumental accompaniment used to support the singing by the congregation—but, songs like Journey For Home make for the argument that sparse can also mean a song becomes listless or uninspiring in the wrong hands, or instrument in this case. 

For Me, Journey For Home passes the goose bump test.  We used this composition as the recessional song for the 4th Sunday or Lent this past weekend.  When I sang the opening phrase:

In our weakness we’re made strong.  In our suffering we’re made stronger.  We live and journey, journey for home…

…I had to stop for a while to regain my composure.  The words are so strong, but the feel of the song which is slow and driving just pulls your heart into the moment.  The octavo (which you can view in the “Journey For Home” hyperlink above) is arranged for piano, guitar and two trumpets.  I also added a cello part based mostly on the piano arrangement and I transposed the B flat trumpet part to flute which works pretty well. 

But what really helped pull the emotion out of the song was the drum kit and bass guitar.  I know, you traditionalist are all choking, but in this contemporary piece, that is what works and that percussive sound and deep thumping bass guitar sound (all done with incredible taste I might add) is what takes the choir and assembly into that Lenten desert…where our hearts are longing and sometimes breaking.  And hopefully takes us to the prayer and comfort of a God who we know will never leave us to fend for ourselves.