Parish Choir Resources
The music chosen for His Mass in a parish is one of the biggest “indicators” of How The Mass is viewed and/or understood there. Is It The Worship of God? Or is It merely a gathering “focused on the people” to try to make them feel good?
In the vast majority of parishes, those with no authentic catechesis or understanding of the true Nature of The Mass and Its Reality (regardless of how many college degrees they might have) are put “in charge” of “the music ministry,” and the faithful are subjected to very, very poor attempts to “get them to participate by ‘doing something‘.” Thus it happens that one of Man’s highest calls and actions and gifts is reduced to little more than a child-level — or, rather, an infant-level — “activity” and the literally infinite depths of Truth are never given the opportunity to be experienced, nay, are not even proposed, not even once.
Parish priests spinelessly cede their duties of spiritual fatherhood, teaching, and governing to uncatechized laypersons, and the situation goes on and on and on. It is not fully their fault, of course, as there is little or no education or training in seminary about these most important of subjects, regardless of the authentic intent and words of the Real Second Vatican Council, nor of the authentic teachings, encouragements, desires and virtual pleadings of our saintly popes, Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI (the authentic interpreters of said Council). The blame thus falls at the feet of our bishops, who, sadly, show themselves to be “fathers” in name only, to be eunuchs in the name of the world, not for The Lord and His Kingdom (Mt 19:12). The vast, vast majority are politicians, they are committee members, they are dignitaries, but they are…not credible successors of His holy Apostles. We owe them obedience, but sadly, not imitation or the granting of credibility merely because of their office (Mt 23:3, “Do as they say, but not as they do”).
So, for an authentic parish choir, a good Rule of Thumb is, You Want to Use Real Sacred Music and Sing It Well.
Thus, although this statement will be totally counter-cultural in virtually any parish you go to today: IF YOU DON’T HAVE REAL SACRED MUSIC, OR CANNOT PERFORM IT WELL, DO NOT USE ANY MUSIC. HAVE A “READ” MASS (see Vatican II Instruction Musicam Sacram, 28! This is The Real Vatican II!) WHERE EVERYTHING IS SPOKEN!
Thus, for anyone interested, below are some helps to start and form a choir that can sing real Sacred Music. Also, there are several sacred music pieces from my time in Religious Life. Far, far, far more correct for His Holy Mass. Far, far better. Sacred Music. For Him. For Him alone. Cooperating with the angels of the heavenly choirs.
There are pieces for each Liturgical Season: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and pieces appropriate for various types of Feast Days, several Marian pieces, and of course several Euchastic pieces.
These are, far, far more real, correct, and credible than, say, “Mrs. Jones” up there playing the piano, or “Mr. Davis” up there (badly) playing the electric organ, either of which actions bring the mystical dimensions — which are concrete and real, not esoteric “stuff” that is “way, way out there” — of the celebration of His Mass crashing to the ground, all in the name of a completely and totally mis-taught and misunderstood “active participation.” Such as when the music director continues the music when the priest is ready to continue with whatever part of The Mass, or, forcing the (dwindling) congregation to sing all 20 verses of whatever fourth-rate “dispersal hymn” is chosen from the hymnal.
Lastly, several pieces are in Latin (with translation provided, of course). If your immediate response to this is, “Hey, we don’t understand Latin, so we can’t use it,” then I must submit to you a direct challenge, frankly stated: You don’t understand The Mass, you don’t understand What Is Going On There, and you should — correction, must — do some reading from credible, holy, saintly authors, prayerful and humble reading. No matter if you are a layperson, a Religious, a theologian, a priest, or even a bishop or higher. As the saintly Cardinal Ratzinger pointed out, simply because a text is in my language, that (CERTAINLY!!) does not thereby mean that by that fact alone “I understand it.” After all, His Holy Mass is all in the vernacular today, but I wonder if It has ever been so, very, very misunderstood, and thus been approached with less Faith and reverence, and held in the hands of less credible bishops than in the days we live in today. And, this is said with great, great sadness — not condemnation.
May Our Lord send His Holy Spirit again upon the successors of His holy Apostles, for they surely seem to have totally lost Him. Thank God for “ex opere operato.”