Monday, April 25, 2011

Never Thought I'd Live to See the Day

Mark Rudd is peeing in his pants.

April 22, 2011
Columbia to Officially Recognize Naval ROTC

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus today announced that Columbia and the U.S. Navy have agreed to officially reinstate Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Program enrollment opportunities at the University.

Columbia student military veterans and ROTC members marked Veterans Day 2010 with a flag raising on campus.

Columbia student military veterans and ROTC members marked Veterans Day 2010 with a flag raising on campus.

Never Thought I'd Live to See the Day

Mark Rudd is peeing in his pants.

April 22, 2011
Columbia to Officially Recognize Naval ROTC

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus today announced that Columbia and the U.S. Navy have agreed to officially reinstate Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Program enrollment opportunities at the University.

Columbia student military veterans and ROTC members marked Veterans Day 2010 with a flag raising on campus.

Columbia student military veterans and ROTC members marked Veterans Day 2010 with a flag raising on campus.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Pulling the Beeswax from His Ears

A warm welcome, if you please, to Inigo Hicks, who after valiantly resisting the seductive ditties emanating from the sirens of the blogosphere, has triumphantly succumbed.

Pulling the Beeswax from His Ears

A warm welcome, if you please, to Inigo Hicks, who after valiantly resisting the seductive ditties emanating from the sirens of the blogosphere, has triumphantly succumbed.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

So Much for Parochialism

After considerable debate I have decided I can no longer attend mass (except in a pinch to fulfill my obligation) at my local parish church. The liturgy and music are so dreadful that despite my best efforts to concentrate on what is (it goes without saying) the most important aspect of the mass, the Eucharist, I find that concentration continually upended by priests who apparently see it their duty to give the dubious Novus Ordo mass their own personal stamp. Attempts by other parishioners (far younger than myself, I might add) and myself to rein in some of the more egregious liturgical abuses have proved unavailing, met with indifference at best from the pastor on down. I have thrown in the towel.

I regret having have to make this decision. Not only will I will miss the five-minute walk to church but I also feel strongly the need for the strong parochial presence of Holy Church in urban and suburban neighborhoods; in many ways it is the glue that holds them together. Nonetheless, owing to favorable circumstances, I have a car these days (a rare and lovely luxury in New York City) and thus can easily get myself to the Church of the Holy Innocents in mid-town Manhattan, where the mass in the Extraordinary Form is now celebrated seven days a week, with Missae Cantatae offered on Sundays and major feasts days, along with a superb choir performing chant and Renaissance polyphony.

I doubt there are more than a handful of Catholic churches in the whole country with such a generous offering of traditional masses and it seems to me that not only should I avail myself of them, it behooves me to, for Holy Innocents could use more souls in the pews (although the numbers are steadily and gratifyingly rising), it being smack in the middle of the garment district, which is not exactly residential (I also hope my relatively modest offering in the pledge envelope will not go unappreciated). I have passed the point where I believe it merely desirable that traditional liturgy be restored to the Holy Church; I now believe it is absolutely essential for her survival, lest she follow the mainstream protestant denominations into the morass and oblivion of our wretched contemporary culture.

Beginning this evening I will begin to experience, for the first time, the entire Triduum the way it should be done: using the Tridentine Rite with music worthy for use in the praise of our Lord. I am very much looking forward to it. A joyous Easter to you all.

So Much for Parochialism

After considerable debate I have decided I can no longer attend mass (except in a pinch to fulfill my obligation) at my local parish church. The liturgy and music are so dreadful that despite my best efforts to concentrate on what is (it goes without saying) the most important aspect of the mass, the Eucharist, I find that concentration continually upended by priests who apparently see it their duty to give the dubious Novus Ordo mass their own personal stamp. Attempts by other parishioners (far younger than myself, I might add) and myself to rein in some of the more egregious liturgical abuses have proved unavailing, met with indifference at best from the pastor on down. I have thrown in the towel.

I regret having have to make this decision. Not only will I will miss the five-minute walk to church but I also feel strongly the need for the strong parochial presence of Holy Church in urban and suburban neighborhoods; in many ways it is the glue that holds them together. Nonetheless, owing to favorable circumstances, I have a car these days (a rare and lovely luxury in New York City) and thus can easily get myself to the Church of the Holy Innocents in mid-town Manhattan, where the mass in the Extraordinary Form is now celebrated seven days a week, with Missae Cantatae offered on Sundays and major feasts days, along with a superb choir performing chant and Renaissance polyphony.

I doubt there are more than a handful of Catholic churches in the whole country with such a generous offering of traditional masses and it seems to me that not only should I avail myself of them, it behooves me to, for Holy Innocents could use more souls in the pews (although the numbers are steadily and gratifyingly rising), it being smack in the middle of the garment district, which is not exactly residential (I also hope my relatively modest offering in the pledge envelope will not go unappreciated). I have passed the point where I believe it merely desirable that traditional liturgy be restored to the Holy Church; I now believe it is absolutely essential for her survival, lest she follow the mainstream protestant denominations into the morass and oblivion of our wretched contemporary culture.

Beginning this evening I will begin to experience, for the first time, the entire Triduum the way it should be done: using the Tridentine Rite with music worthy for use in the praise of our Lord. I am very much looking forward to it. A joyous Easter to you all.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Ecclesiastical Karaoke

From the Catholic News Agency:
London, England, Apr 14, 2011 / 05:46 am (CNA).- A Grammy winning music director has delivered a stinging attack upon modern Church music. Joseph Cullen, choral director at the London Symphony Orchestra, says that since the 1960s there has been a “glaring lack of sympathy” for “worthy sacred music.”

[snip]

He also criticized the practice of a lone cantor leading the singing in parishes. “The misuse of one booming voice behind a microphone, an ecclesiastical karaoke, seems to have killed off unified congregational singing.”
Thomas Day pointed this out years ago in his tour de force Why Catholics Can't Sing. The explanation is simple: when someone blasts out a tune using a heavily amplified microphone, those of us not so well armed are not inclined to compete--even if the tune is good one, which is seldom the case in modern Catholic worship. What is particularly frustrating about this phenomenon is, it is readily apparent and has been for decades. Yet the practice continues and unlike Karaoke, you can't sidle up to the bar and order a palliative.
Perhaps his most stinging attack, though, is aimed at official diocesan musicians who both commission and promote their own music. “The elected church music committees of the bishops' conferences cannot have vested interests in promoting their own music, or type of music. This would be regarded as corrupt in any other field.”
Amen. Amen. Musical simony, you might call it. It has long annoyed me, when leafing through those pulpy "missalettes," to see copyright notices affixed near the insipid little ditties that comprise service music and hymns in the Novus Ordo mass. The fact that putative composers actually make money off that crap is appalling indeed. Bravo to you, Mr. Cullen

Ecclesiastical Karaoke

From the Catholic News Agency:
London, England, Apr 14, 2011 / 05:46 am (CNA).- A Grammy winning music director has delivered a stinging attack upon modern Church music. Joseph Cullen, choral director at the London Symphony Orchestra, says that since the 1960s there has been a “glaring lack of sympathy” for “worthy sacred music.”

[snip]

He also criticized the practice of a lone cantor leading the singing in parishes. “The misuse of one booming voice behind a microphone, an ecclesiastical karaoke, seems to have killed off unified congregational singing.”
Thomas Day pointed this out years ago in his tour de force Why Catholics Can't Sing. The explanation is simple: when someone blasts out a tune using a heavily amplified microphone, those of us not so well armed are not inclined to compete--even if the tune is good one, which is seldom the case in modern Catholic worship. What is particularly frustrating about this phenomenon is, it is readily apparent and has been for decades. Yet the practice continues and unlike Karaoke, you can't sidle up to the bar and order a palliative.
Perhaps his most stinging attack, though, is aimed at official diocesan musicians who both commission and promote their own music. “The elected church music committees of the bishops' conferences cannot have vested interests in promoting their own music, or type of music. This would be regarded as corrupt in any other field.”
Amen. Amen. Musical simony, you might call it. It has long annoyed me, when leafing through those pulpy "missalettes," to see copyright notices affixed near the insipid little ditties that comprise service music and hymns in the Novus Ordo mass. The fact that putative composers actually make money off that crap is appalling indeed. Bravo to you, Mr. Cullen

Two Democrats on an Escoalator

Two Democrats on an Escoalator