Fumbling through the '62: "Sacred Music in the Life of the Parish."

Another article that I talked about in the last '62 post. :)

La LaALaLaALalalalalaaaaaaaa!!! :)

Hope you enjoy! :)

"Sacred Music In The Life Of The Parish" 
By Fr. Gerard Saguto, FSSP.

Music has played a significant role in humanity throughout history. From our earliest years, we were soothed by lullabies, the "alphabet song" taught us our ABC's and "Do, RE, Mi" helped us learn to sing. Music actively affects our ability to work, relax, study, or pray-for better or worse. It is intuitively clear that music is formative and thus has an effect upon our souls: It either builds virtue or promotes vice, based on the type and amount that is listened to. 

The selection of music used in sacred worship is therefore of great importance because it will profoundly influence our perception of sacred and of morality. Accordingly, music accompanying befitting worship of God must convey holiness, mystery, and goodness. This precept serves to ensure, safeguard, and transmit a proper understanding of God, so we may render what is due to Him. Man owes to God that which is highest and most beautiful, and so the rites and music employed in public worship must reflect this dignity.

As the majority of our formal worship of GOd takes place at a parish level, it is of great importance that the parish promote the sacred tradition of the Church's liturgical music. Such promotion includes Gregorian chant, polyphony, hymnody, and simpler compositions that bear resemblance to these. The parish today must also be a bright beacon of light, a sign of contraction and a haven for hungry souls in an ever-secularizing world. This mission is carried out first and foremost by the outward expression of its worship of God. For reason, the Missa Solemnis or Missa Cantata should have a prominent and regular place in the liturgical schedule of the parish. The regularity of these more solemn forms of worship will make sacred music normative for the faithful, and whatever is normative becomes formative.

The realization of this ideal requires dedication and hard work, both for the choir and for the pastor. A pastor's active support of sacred music is indispensable towards the presence of good music in the parish for years to come. The sacred music of the Church truly is a treasury and an instrument to holiness: Let us pray for its universal restoration in our churches.