The Recovering Choir Director

Jeffrey Tucker assigns this lofty title to the late chant scholar Mary Berry in his eulogy to her on NLM:

Working nearly alone, she sustained the interest in Gregorian chant after the postconciliar meltdown. Actually, she did more than sustain it. She inspired many people to the point that they took up her cause in academia and in parishes all over the English-speaking world.

He also challenges those in the sacred music world who would complain about the current difficulties in promoting sacred music to consider all that Mary Berry accomplished in an era even more hostile to it than today (my emphases in boldface):

Can one person make a difference? My goodness, yes. And consider the times. Think of the intellectuals, musicians, priests, and liturgists who had obtain mastery over their craft in the late 1950s, working diligently and productively to improve the Church and its worship. Think of the institutions they were building and the great things they were achieving for the glory of God. Now imagine these same people ten to fifteen years later in the turbulent times following the Second Vatican Council, and put yourself in their place. If you have ever spoken to one of these people, you have to marvel at what they saw, which was essentially this: their whole world was swept away, seemingly over night, buffeted and finally wrecked by the crazy confusions and disastrous fashions of the day, which led to an abandonment of all that was revered as holy and true in the past.

We think we have it hard now. Imagine having lived through it all. Would you despair or have hope that truth will eventually prevail? Would you fight or relent? How would your decision work out in practice: with patience and prayer or anger and protest? And how lonely might you have been? Would you find yourself an outcast among your peers and possibly then decide to change directions along with everyone else? Or would you have been steadfast and continue to build in every way you could? These are extremely difficult questions and I’m only happy to not face them with the severity that this generation faced them. But Mary Berry faced them with great courage and hope. It’s almost as if all the experiences of her life lead her to do this.

Mary Berry, pray for us.