Pipe Organ - Gregorian Chant - Polyphony

What would you say if I told you:

“In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man’s mind to God and to higher things.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 120.)

To the extent that the new sacred music is to serve the liturgical celebrations of the various churches, it can and must draw from earlier forms — especially from Gregorian chant — a higher inspiration, a uniquely sacred quality, a genuine sense of what is religious. (St. John Paul II, 1980)

“other kinds of sacred music, especially polyphony, are by no means excluded from liturgical celebrations, so long as they accord with the spirit of the liturgical action.” (SC 116)

Pope Paul VI saw the dam that broke in the Church music situation. In 1974, he tried to plug the hole and set the Church back on course when he wrote to all the Bishops of the world. He sent all the Bishops a book called Jubilate Deo. This document contains all of the basic chants that should be familiar to every practicing Catholic.

Over 50 years after the promulgation of Sacrosanctum Concilium and it is still probably one of the most debated documents of the Church. It’s time for every musician and every Catholic to slowly and prayerfully read the source to see what the Father’s of the Second Vatican Council really said and what they did not so as to stop making it up as we go along.

http://www.courageouspriest.com/the-spirit-vatican-ii-crock-bulloney?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+courageouspriest%2FqTKF+%28Courageous+Priest%29