Pope wants comeback for Gregorian chants

The Scotsman / Reuters ^ | March 13, 2007 | Philip Pullella

[La Enchiladita]

Right now, I would like to go into a church and hear Gregorian chants being sung....

[Stoat]

Yet one more reason to REALLY LIKE THIS POPE!

He is obviously the right man for the right job at the right time in history.  We are all Blessed by his leadership, and I feel that he will do many more truly great things in the days and years to come, benefiting not only the Church and the faithful but all of humanity.

 

Thanks for the post, Stoat.
 

You are quite welcome and I am delighted that you have found the article and the thread to be interesting and helpful.  :-)

Yet one more reason to REALLY LIKE THIS POPE!

He is obviously the right man for the right job at the right time in history.  We are all Blessed by his leadership, and I feel that he will do many more truly great things in the days and years to come, benefiting not only the Church and the faithful but all of humanity.

 

Thanks for the post, Stoat.
 

[trisham]

I was hoping to reach the widest possible audience with this article, in the hope that people who have left the Church or who have become less active in it because of a dissatisfaction with Vatican II "reforms" as well as the various 1960's - era corruptions might see it and consider coming back to the Church. I thought that these folks might be more likely to be browsing the News / Activism areas instead of the Religion section. I thought that the people who are already active in the Church wouldn't be needing such encouragement.

*************

I applaud you for that!

[Stoat]

I applaud you for that!

Thank you so much for your very kind words; I sincerely appreciate it  :-)

[trisham]

It was nothing. You've been doing some good work lately. :)

I do appreciate it, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

[Stoat]

It was nothing. You've been doing some good work lately. :)

I do appreciate it, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

awwwww....you're making me blush....thank you   :-)

It was nothing. You've been doing some good work lately. :)

I do appreciate it, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

[trisham]

:)

[La Enchiladita]

Elegantly passionate.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

"he would like Gregorian chant to make a comeback."

He's not alone.

[Stoat]

"he would like Gregorian chant to make a comeback."

He's not alone.
 

You're absolutely right.  As of this moment, this thread has received 1,560 page views, which is not too bad for a thread dedicated to Catholicism, ancient music and discussions on religious rites and customs....and this is after the thread has been up for less than a day and a half.

My personal, unscientific feeling is that there is a great hunger in the world for tradition and meaningful, timeless things of substance that touch the heart and the spirit.  I think that a great many people are subjected to the superficiality of so much in our culture and their hearts cry out for more.....more meaning, more substance, more firmament.

Gregorian chants are laden with such tradition and firmament, and the beautiful, haunting melodies have a wide, cross cultural and cross-denominational appeal, as evidenced not only by the enthusiastic response that this thread has received but by the astonishing chart success of many recent CD's featuring this music.

Although many issues important to the Church are found to be "difficult" and "divisive" by some, a return to the ancient music and traditional rites seems to be a surefire, across-the-board winner.  I sincerely hope that the Vatican moves forward with this in a very aggressive way.

 

"he would like Gregorian chant to make a comeback."

He's not alone.
 

[flaglady47]

"Yes I loved the incense and the ritualism and the sounds and music of the traditional mass, but it was like watching a foreign movie with no subtitles – it was pretty but I had no idea what it meant."

Maybe now that you are older it would be a good time to find out what it DID mean. I'll bet you could end up being fascinated by the meaning behind the ritual and the music and the traditions of the Church, if for no other reason than the history of it all. However, you might then get caught up in the philosophy, theology, and beauty of it all.

As I get older, I get more and more interested in what is behind the rituals of the Church, what gives the Church its religious meaning. I just find it more and more fascinating, and now that I am retired and have the time to study religious philosophies on my own, I am finding a whole new world I didn't know that well, getting inside of the shell, not just looking at the veneer.

Then everything ends up having so much more depth. Like looking at a beautiful piece of art, but not knowing anything about how it was made, its history, what the artist was trying to say, hidden iconography, all sorts of stuff. The picture takes on a whole new meaning when you have a better idea of what you are looking at. I hope you rekindle an interest in the who, what, where, why, when and how of the Church, as you have already seen the beauty of its ritual and music. There's more beneath the surface waiting to be discovered by you.

[Aristotle721]

The vast majority of chants are from the psalter; others are from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Luke, the epistles of St. Paul, Revelation, etc.

Therefore, in point of fact, in his exhortation on restoring Gregorian Chant, he is directing the faithful not to merely read the bible, but sing, listen to, and meditate on it. In short, immerse themselves in it.

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

I was unaware of this thank you for this information,

[Aristotle721]

You are welcome... and now you know more about Gregorian Chant's link to Scripture than most people born into the Catholic Church. :-)

Thank you for your gracious reception of this information.

[TFFKAMM]

Glad you liked it. The Sarum Rite is a beautiful liturgy, and I was happy to share this little piece of it with the FR community.