Colloquium Update #3

A belated update from Pittsburgh—last night's laundry took longer than expected. This one'll have to be short as it's just about lunchtime.

Fr Mark Kirby finished his session on liturgical theology last night with a discussion of the five characteristics of chant:

—the irreplaceability of the human voice
—chant as sung speech
—objectivity
—holiness and hallowability
—the fostering of full, conscious, and active participation by the faithful

Unfortunately, Fr Kirby only had time to develop the first two characteristics in any detail, but what he did give us last night, and over the three days as a whole, are worthy of a separate post.

After lunch: final rehearsals for the highlight of my Colloquium, solemn sung Vespers, followed by Mass and a CMAA membership meeting. Dinner, a lecture by Fr Frank Phillips of the Canons Regular of St John Cantius, and Compline round out the day.

UPDATE 10:05 EDT: I'm sitting outside the student union since they close at 10 PM on Fridays, trying to find a comfortable position to post in (the WiFi signal drops to 56% at the benches just across the street).

The CMAA meeting was more interesting than usual (what to say, it's a business meeting), as a Fr Rojas from New York made a quite impassioned appeal for the Association to start reaching out to Hispanics. Fr Rojas said that the deterioration of the liturgy at Spanish-language Masses was even worse than that experienced in Anglo parishes, and that the pressures put upon the Hispanic Catholic community from the charismatic movement and Cursillo make the situation even more critical. Father went on to mention the vast repertoire of traditional Spanish-language hymnody and polyphony that has been sadly neglected in favor of the equivalent of the "sacropop" we have to put up with at English-language Masses. Fr Rojas was roundly applauded for his appeal.

Vespers apparently went over well, judging from Dr Mahrt's smile at the end and the positive feedback I got from a fellow attendee, despite it being rather warm in the sanctuary; having the AC and fans turned off in the church, plus 25 or so musicians and about ten clergy and servers all crammed together in a small space, didn't help much. But at least that's the largest part of what I had to sing over and done with. I'm looking forward to Carl Dierschow's recording to see how it all turned out. (Carl's the gentleman at the left of the front row in the picture at the top of the linked page.)

Fr Phillips' talk, on why we should reintroduce chanted Mass propers (Inroit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, Communion, with modifications for Lent and Eastertide), was entertaining. I've had the opportunity to hear Fr Phillips speak at previous Colloquia and have always enjoyed the experience.

Only three full days left here in Pittsburgh, one and a half for the Colloquium and then Sunday afternoon and most of Monday to explore the Steel City.