This week and next, I will share practical and speculative points on singing Gregorian chant well that I have learned by leading scholas, by participating in them, and by listening to masters discuss what they do and why. My points are not put forward here as “Gospel truths”; they are merely an attempt to put…
Above: the young Rev. Lewis Thomas Wattson. That all may be one: as thou, Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. (John 17:21) Known as the “Octave of Christian Unity” as well as the “Chair of the Octave of Christian Unity” this period of time which…
Above: French street sign in Maisons-Alfort. One hundred and fifty years ago today, on January 7, 1873, “a unique man of letters, and unclassifiable writer” was born in Orléans, north-central France: Charles Péguy. This is how Bernard Guyon († 1975) defines him at the conclusion of a careful study of the French poet; and he…
Four hundred years ago tomorrow, on December 28, 1622 a great teacher of the spirituality, and the patron Saint of journalists and of the Catholic press, died in Lyon, east-central France: St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. He was born 55 years earlier in Thorens, southeastern France, on August 21, 1567,…
Tomorrow marks one hundred and fifty years since the birth, which took place in Tortona, a town in northwestern Italy, on December 21, 1872, “of the great, unforgettable Monsignor Lorenzo Perosi, who was music director of Our Sistine Chapel. […]”, in the words of Pope Paul VI († 1978), pronounced 50 years ago. “Maestro Perosi,”…
Above: the Victoria Consort at Winchelsea Church. Photo by Kt Bruce. Following on my recent theme of good news and the positive effects of entrepreneurial Catholicism so often seen in traditional circles, I bring you The Victoria Consort. Conducted by Ben Bevan, this group of talented British singers hails from around Kent. Initially established to…
Above: the tomb of César Franck in Paris. Today is the bicentenary of the birth, which took place in Liège, in eastern Belgium, on December 10, 1822, of a composer and organist who, having lived almost always in Paris, was one of the most significant personalities of the French nineteenth century: César Franck. We remember…
One hundred years ago, on November 22, 1922, the new Pope Pius XI († 1939) issued the motu proprio Ad musicæ sacræ restitutionem, with which he set up what is now the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome. Although monumental, this was not the first papal action in this regard. “The liturgical-musical ‘conservatory’ of…
Previous essays in this series The Art of Dress – Two Schools of Thought The Art of Dress – Problems with Normalcy Time and Effort Many women desiring to improve the way they dress become discouraged by abysmal market conditions. For instance, a woman desiring a graceful skirt to wear when running errands on cold…
Unwanted Priest: The Autobiography of a Latin Mass Exile By Bryan Houghton Angelico Press Paperback: $16.95 / Hardcover: $26 206 pp This is a book which anyone interested in the controversies surrounding Vatican II, the Latin Mass, and modernism will find interesting and thought-provoking. Yet it must be recognized as a dated, incomplete, and partial…
“How freely did I weep in thy hymns and canticles; how deeply was I moved by the voices of thy sweetly sounding Church! The voices streamed into my ears; and the truth was poured forth clearly into my heart, where the tide of my devotion overflowed, and my tears ran down, and I was happy…
