The Recovering Choir Director

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A nice summary by Catholic Light’s and Envoy Encore’s resident canonist, Pete Vere. Particularly noteworthy is the mention of approved liturgies. I include the comments link to 1) remedy its omission from the post and 2) to illustrate what a sensitive topic this is.

For what it’s worth, I prefer a well-sung High Mass (“high” in terms of “heightened voice”, i.e. sung) that employs the forms of music explicitly lauded by Sacrosanctum Concilium—Gregorian chant and polyphony. It really matters little to me whether it’s the Novus Ordo Missæ or the 1962 Missal. However, it’s currently rare to find a Novus Ordo parish that employs Gregorian chant and polyphony on a regular basis (weekly or even monthly), which is unfortunate (for my tastes and preferences) and expensive (for the parish).

Update: Part II and accompanying comment thread are now available, as are a related post and its respective comment thread.

Update #2: Mark Cameron offers rebuttals and links here and here. Did I mention that this is a sensitive topic?

Update #3: Mark Cameron presents another post, while Pete Vere defends the continuity of the 1969 missal with a little help from his friends and the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. Does your head hurt yet?

Update #4: Jeff Culbreath joins the fray here and here.