I just stumbled upon this musical group Gregorian - Masters of Chant. It was an unpleasant surprise.
What a perversion of Catholic chant. The sad thing is that although this musical group has gained popularity, chant in the liturgy has not (in my Diocese and many others). You almost don't hear it at all in Catholic churches here in Las Vegas. I myself lead a small chant group, which is confined to Vespers once a month and the odd special Mass. But we have yet to be asked to chant by an actual priest. The priests would shut us out of the liturgy entirely, it seems.
This is an absolute shame, when you consider that chant has existed to uplift and inspire us for many centuries before Vatican II. Our Holy Father has said in his Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis that chant should be employed as the norm in the liturgy. The Holy Father goes unheeded.
Chant is prayer. Chant is worship. So what is this group worshiping? Could it be money, fame, and pride?
I once heard a visiting Opus Dei priest say that we are made to worship. We want to worship. It is a part of us as human beings. And when you remove God from our lives, we end up worshiping something anyway.
What do you worship?
Thank you for making me examine what I worship in my daily life. Current struggle=food. Haha. I love chant...the only time I hear it is when we go to a Latin Mass. And I will pass your link!
ReplyDeletehehe I also struggle with food. I am struggling with some toasted pecans with havarti cheese as we speak. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm bad. I actually liked the song you posted. In the early 1990s I was a fan of a group called Enigma. They had 1 hit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEh2N5hmPVM&feature=related).
ReplyDeleteOf course, my poor taste could change once I hear some real chanting in a beautiful cathedral :-)