The Neumann Press has brought this one back into print. We bought 45 copies for our choir!
Posted on 12/02/2006 2:49:30 PM PST by NYer
BALTIMORE — Some Catholics have long complained that traditional hymns have been “modernized,” “vandalized” and “feminized” for “political correctness” at the expense of art and theology.
Last month, the bishops came to the rescue.
At its annual fall general assembly, held in Baltimore Nov. 13-16, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved new norms for hymns sung at Mass. The norms would ensure that liturgical songs be doctrinally correct and based in scriptural and liturgical texts.
“I am grateful to the bishops for a measure that’s long overdue,” said Providence College English Professor Anthony Esolen, a Catholic who has been sharply critical of modern translations of hymns.
Conversely, the proposed norms have raised red flags among Catholics who like the music just as it is.
“Our music has changed gradually since Vatican II, and it’s not like there has been some recent radical leftwing feminist shift that needs to be corrected,” said Lisa Sowle Cahill, professor of theology at Boston College, who describes herself as a progressive, feminist Catholic. “And not all feminists see the word ‘man’ as hate speech.”
Leon Podles, author of The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity, said subtle and not-so-subtle changes to traditional hymns since Vatican II have “dumbed down” songs and turned them into entertainment rather than expressions of sacred mysteries.
“The state of Catholic music is very bad,” Podles told the Register. “The silly feminist language police hate the word ‘man’ and they don’t want to hear it in the liturgy or the music.”
The new norms are part of a new Directory for Music and the Liturgy for Use in the Dioceses in the United States of America. The directory responds to a recommendation of Liturgiam Authenticam (The Use of Vernacular Languages in the Publication of the Books of the Roman Liturgy), the fifth Vatican instruction on correct implementation of the liturgical renewal called for by the Second Vatican Council.
Amazing Words
Bishops said the directory serves primarily to outline a process by which bishops should regulate the quality of the text of songs composed for use in the liturgy. The directory warns against untrue statements about the faith.
“The doctrine of the Trinity should never be compromised through the consistent replacement of masculine pronominal references to the three Divine persons,” the directory states.
It also warns against elimination of archaic language, should it be done in such a manner as to alter the meaning and theological structure of a venerable liturgical song.
Podles, a senior editor at Touchstone magazine, said the modernization of hymns in recent years reflects a violation of the spirit and intent of Vatican II, which didn’t call for gender-neutral songs with poor grammar and embarrassing attempts at rhyming new words with the old. He said some hymnals carry a version of Amazing Grace that changes the words “saved a wretch like me” to “saved and set me free.”
“This song was written by a repentant slave owner,” Podles said. “But the modernists don’t like the penitential language of some of the more poetic songs, and they’ve ruined the poetry.”
He said some modern song revisions changed singular male-gender pronouns like “he” to plural gender-neutral pronouns like “they,” a situation that would put an old-school grammarian on edge. In addition, “gorgeous poetry” was sacrificed, as in the hymn Songs of Thankfulness and Praise. “Anthems be to thee addressed, God in man made manifest” became “Anthems are to thee addressed, God in us made manifest.”
Said Podles, “The original was beautifully-worded poetry. The revision is feminist politics.”
He also cited a hymn in which the phrase “Christ our God to earth descendeth” was changed to “Christ our God to earth descended.”
“It seems a subtle change, but it’s a change in tense that changes the meaning of the theology,” he said. “I hope some of the original wording gets restored if bishops are applying new norms.”
Inclusive Language
Esolen said translators have been allowed to make changes designed to “placate implacable feminists” who don’t like doctrinally-correct words like “father,” “son” and “man.” He has collected countless examples from all mainstream Catholic hymnals in which doctrinal changes have resulted from efforts to create gender-neutral lyrics.
“It has been like giving someone a broad paintbrush and a can of white paint and telling him to edit out the parts he doesn’t like on a Michelangelo painting,” Esolen said. “The changes have reflected not only vandalism, but heretical revisionism.”
Cahill rejected the notion that feminists have ruined Catholic songs, saying they have merely insisted on words like “humanity” rather than “man,” where such wording is theologically accurate.
“Hymns can be inclusive in a way that’s respectful to Scripture and liturgy,” Cahill said. “Up through the 1950s, there was simply no effort to use inclusive terms at all. Since the 1950s there has been some effort, but nothing radical.”
Bishops approved the norms by a 195-21 vote, with five abstentions and no substantive debate. The norms state that “approval of liturgical songs is reserved to the diocesan bishop in whose diocese an individual song is published.” A committee consisting of theologians, liturgists and musicians will assist diocesan bishops in their review of songs.
Bishops said it might be a year or two before the norms receive the necessary Vatican approval, and the process of revising hymnals would begin after that.
Can you believe it! Bump!
“Our music has changed gradually since Vatican II, and it’s not like there has been some recent radical leftwing feminist shift that needs to be corrected,” said Lisa Sowle Cahill...
Ummm...yes it is.
They added stanzas about shopping and yapping a lot?
In addition to the Calvinistic-sounding "wretch like me," there is this:
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believed!
Which seems to deny Catholic doctrine on the salvific nature of baptism.
Happy news on a cold day. *big smile*
Bad doctrine through the hymns is one of my big pet peeves and I'm glad something is going to be done about it. I'm surprised to find I agree (somewhat) with the feminist prof and disagree with this Podles guy. I like getting rid of the archaic English and I much prefer "God in us made manifest" to what it was. Change "Thee" to "You", "art" to "is" and "Thy" to "Your", drop the suffix "th" and I'll be happy.
***The complaint about "Amazing Grace" is humorous, as it is doctrinally troublematic for use in Catholic settings. ***
A few years ago I was watching some program from the Vatican in Rome. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the processional music...A Mighty Fortress is our God...
I will not sing "Amazing Grace".
“It has been like giving someone a broad paintbrush and a can of white paint and telling him to edit out the parts he doesn’t like on a Michelangelo painting,” Esolen said. “The changes have reflected not only vandalism, but heretical revisionism.”
This is my favorite quote! Our church is about to purchase new hymnals. I wish I could get them to hold off another year or two! Maybe we'd actually be able to purchase one with real Catholic hymns.
Amazing Grace is a lovely song, but not theologically correct for a Catholic. I cringe when I hear it, or the other heretical one, "How Great Thou Art," sung at Mass.
The melodies are uplifting, so I can see the temptation to use these protestant "hymns" - but if we were to bring back the old Catholic hymns, that would supply plenty of melodic beauty and spiritual inspiration.
"Maybe we'd actually be able to purchase one with real Catholic hymns."
There's one that I know of, a great one: the "red book" Adoremus Hymnal. I believe they also publish a paper-cover "Missalette" with songs in back and some traditional prayers.
Neither "Amazing Grace" nor "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" are anywhere near as inimical to Catholic doctrine as some of our own home-grown so-called "worship songs" (in the USA, I mean ... Italian Catholic hymns may be much better).
***(I mean ... Italian Catholic hymns may be much better).***
I still like to listen to Gregorian chants.
No, please let's sing about ourselves again..."WE are his PEOPLE the flock of the lord.
"God in us" changes the focus from "God in man", i.e. Christ made man (nobody thinks he was made woman, nobody normal anyway). Now we're once again singing about US instead of about God!
One of the greatest failings of the modern happy-clappy Catholic music is that it removes the focus of worship from God and onto self. Look at how many times the first person pronouns appear in nasty modern offerings like "Here I Am, Lord".
Removing the old second-person singular pronoun also removes from the English language a distinction that survives in German, Spanish, and French (as well as Latin and Greek) and probably in many other languages. The second-person singular is reserved for intimates (e.g. husband and wife) and for conversation with God. (It also used to be used with servants and inferiors, but that isn't generally done anymore and isn't applicable here, except when God is addressing us.) So once again the happy-clappy moderns are removing something that makes prayer special and different from ordinary conversation.
The problem with all this revisionism is that it seeks to make the Church more like the World. That is NOT the direction things ought to be moving. The Church is separate from and distinct from the World -- and that is its purpose. Any removal of that separation and distinction poses the question, "Why not just sleep in on Sunday morning?"
And, from a poetic point of view, these spot-zoning revisions mess up the meter and scansion as well as the rhymes. From a historical point of view, you are messing with the text. It also is dishonest to revise the work of a poet (like Christopher Wordsworth) who isn't here to whack the nasty feminists over the head with a brick.
The Neumann Press has brought this one back into print. We bought 45 copies for our choir!
Does anybody else use the Hymnal called Breaking Bread. It's what my parish uses. Any thoughts?
Scary as it may seem, much of the Episcopal Hymnal (1982) is surprisingly good. They may be a bunch of heretics, but their taste in music is impeccable. They DID feminize some of the words, but a bottle of white-out and a fine-point pen take care of that problem just fine!
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