FEAST of ALL SAINTS
Hello there POTHE! Happy Feast of ALL SAINTS! Two musical themes to consider for this weekend and throughout November: First, the lives and martyrdom of the many Saints who gave their all for the sake of the Gospel. Second, remembrances of our dearly departed loved ones and reminiscences of LIGHT, a most fitting tribute it seems as we turn back the clocks, plunge deeper into darkness and await Lux Aeterna, the Eternal Light.
(Keep scrolling down for DIGITAL WORSHIP AIDS. They're here I promise!)
WHAT'S IN A DIGITAL WORSHIP AID?
- COMPLETE HYMN or HYMN REFRAINS
- SCRIPTURE SUMMARIES
- RESPONSORIAL PSALM & GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
- MUSIC for NEW MASS SETTING: Mass of St Frances Cabrini
Three options for accessing:
1. YOU CAN PRINT YOUR OWN PDF WORSHIP AIDS
AVAILABLE BELOW
OR
2. consider accessing the DIGITAL WORSHIP AID on your smart device to
enliven your participation of the Mass whether you are attending in-person or via Livestream.
TIP: TURN DEVICE SIDEWAYS FOR BETTER VIEWING!
OR
3. PICK UP A PAPER WORSHIP AID AVAILABLE AT THE ENTRANCE OF EACH CHURCH BEFORE MASS (Limited quantities)
Today's Missals for home use are also available at each church site. Please ask.
PDF WORSHIP AIDS:
Here you'll be taken to the Parish Music Webpage where you'll find links to our worship aids, information on our substantial and varied church music programs (youth through adult) and other resources to help you worship fully, actively and consciously.
Each week I search the best of the internet for sacred choral music that aligns with the Weekend's scripture readings and post it on our website at Choral Music Worth Hearing.
It is vitally important that we understand the sound and aesthetics of sacred music, that which is written expressly for the liturgy - in a sacred space - so we as a Parish can benefit from the great treasury of our Catholic heritage, while firmly planted in modernity, and begin to heal the world's brokenness through profound beauty.
As Scottish composer James MacMillan says "Sacred music ought not to be an afterthought, but profoundly integral/absolutely central to the Catholic Mass experience." If you have the time, listen to his setting of Lux Aeterna linked above.
Pope Benedict XVI had these words to offer: The liturgy is inherently linked to beauty: it is veritatis splendor. Beauty, then, is not mere decoration, but rather an essential element of the liturgical action since it is an attribute of God himself and his revelation.
I found the following video extremely helpful on what constitutes musical holiness. This video and others are also posted on my blog page "Notes" from the Director of Music if you are interested in more. Link below.
This is where I spend some time, most every week, talking further about music at Mass, expounding on sacred music, updating Covid-19 developments as they relate to congregate church worship and helping you on your journey of faith through the medium of music. Comments welcome and encouraged! Enjoy!
As a manifestation of the human spirit, music performs a function which is noble, unique and irreplaceable. When it is truly beautiful and inspired it speaks to us more than all the other arts of goodness, virtue, peace, matters holy and divine. Not for nothing has it always been, and will it always be, an essential part of the liturgy.-
Should you have any questions or concerns, or ideas on how we can further assist your musical participation, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
Jen Runge
Director of Music Ministries, POTHE
...O Glorious Star of the Sea, preserve us from pestilence; hear us, O Lady, for Thy Son honours Thee by denying Thee nothing.