Posts Tagged ‘liturgy’

Test-Drive a new Liturgy aid for Parishes and Schools

The crib and A Mass being celebrated

CTS is testing a new online service for assisting Catholic parish priests, teachers, catechists, and others in preparing parish newsletters, bulletins, orders of service and catechesis, following the liturgical year.

We are seeking out 20 individuals from the UK involved in these activities who would be willing to trial this service for CTS. As well as having 2 months of free access to the service, CTS will give you £25 of free CTS publications as a ‘thank you’ for testing it for us!

To participate, just send your name, role, organisation name and street address by email to marketing@cts-online.org.uk and we’ll send you the web address and your access code. Once you have tested it we’ll ask you a few questions about your experience of using the service. The closing date for applications is next Wednesday, 31 October at 11:59pm, UK time.

Don’t miss out! Email us today.

Tuesday, 23 October 2012 10:26

What should Catholic music sound like?

Music in the Liturgy cover

Music in the Liturgy is a new CTS title, an introduction for those with some interest though perhaps not an expertise in this area.

Here the author, Ben Whitworth, explains the genesis of the text and his reasons for writing it.

What does the Catholic Mass sound like? Most people outside the Church would expect the music of Catholic worship to involve Gregorian chant and choral polyphony. This was certainly how I imagined Catholic Church music before I had ever been to a Mass. And, as it happens, my expectations were fulfilled: at the age of eighteen I went to the Catholic Chaplaincy in Cambridge, and experienced a sung Latin Mass with a polyphonic choir.

However, I soon discovered that this was far from typical of Catholic Sunday worship; and I began to wonder why. Now, after twenty years in the pews, and fifteen years in the choir lofts of Catholic parish churches, I am still intrigued by the wide variety of music that is heard in our Eucharistic celebrations.

Pope Benedict XVI has stated: “Certainly, as far as the liturgy is concerned, we cannot say that one song is as good as another.”

But what are the criteria for evaluating liturgical song? What does the Church propose as suitable music for Mass? What can we draw from the long tradition of Catholic music? How should we choose what is sung, and by whom? What, indeed, is liturgical music for?

These questions came into focus for me a few years ago, when I was asked to help with music for Masses at the Italian Chapel in Orkney. This is an extraordinary place of worship – built and decorated by Italian prisoners-of-war during World War II – and it seemed imperative to get things right. But how?

I have tried to address this question in my booklet by returning to the sources of a Christian understanding of music: sacred Scripture; the lives of the Saints; the writings of the Fathers and the great theologians; the teaching of Popes and Councils; the history of sacred music; and the liturgical books themselves.

Of course, whole books have been written on this subject (recent volumes by William Mahrt, Joseph P. Swain, and Anthony Ruff are particularly stimulating). What I have tried to produce is a concise overview, for the non-specialist reader, of the theology, history, and current practice of music at Mass, taking into account the new English translation of the Roman Missal and the resources that are available today. I hope it will prove interesting, informative and thought-provoking for musicians, clergy, or anyone who simply wants to know more about what we sing in church.

Music in the Liturgy by Ben Whitworth, is available from CTS priced £2.50

Read an extract

Of related interest:

The Cover of Sacrifice in the Liturgy Sacrifice in the Liturgy -Bishop Peter Elliot helps us to understand the Christian sacrifice given to us at the Last Supper by reflecting on the shape of the liturgy, its actions and symbols, particularly the altar and sacred space set apart for the Eucharistic sacrifice.
Participating in the Mass Participating in the Mass – Abbot Cuthbert Johnson OSB, provides an informative, step-by-step guide to the celebration of the Mass, to enable the Liturgy to be celebrated with reverence, dignity and beauty.
RM08 Missa Cantata – Organ music to accompany the singing of those parts of the new English Mass translation sung by the entire assembly.
Monday, 10 September 2012 09:52

Russia: only Catholic church to live through Soviet era now uses CTS Altar Missal

St Louis des Francais Catholic Church in the Russian Capital

The only Catholic Church that stayed open in Russia throughout the Soviet period is now using the New Roman Missal published by the CTS.

St Louis des Francais Catholic Church was founded as a church for foreigners. Catherine the Great granted permission in 1786 for the construction of a church to serve French subjects living in Moscow. The church was consecrated in 1835.

The priests are members of the Assumptionists’ order. There are masses in various languages each Sunday including an English-language service at 9.30am celebrated by the Parish Priest Fr Adrien Masson and/or Fr Paul Chemparathy of the local Jesuit college (both pictured).

St Louis des Francais Catholic Church in Moscow

English-language services are attended by people from all over the world and many walks of life, including ambassadors, students, foreigners working in Moscow and tourists. As well as native English speakers from countries including the UK, Ireland, Australia, and the US, the congregation includes many who don’t have the opportunity to attend masses in Moscow celebrated in their native tongue.

Thanks to Maureen O’Donoghue for the text of this post.

Of related interest:

RM09 CTS New Sunday Missal – White Presentation Edition - The CTS New Sunday and Daily Missals are a brand-new edition being published to coincide with the launch of the new English translation of the Mass (2011). This one is white leather, with gold page edges, in box an ideal present.
Way CTS New Sunday Missal – Presentation Edition – New translation of the Mass with the current 3-year cycle of readings, for Sundays (and solemnities) Leather-covered hardback in a box.
RM07 CTS New Daily Missal - The new translation of the Mass together with the current 3-year cycle of readings, for Sundays and all weekdays of the year.
Tuesday, 06 December 2011 09:12

The blog is back – and the Roman Missal is out!

The blog has been out of action for some time due to technical problems, but we are pleased to begin posting again today.

We hope that you are enjoying your Missals and if you have not received them just yet we ask you to be patient with us. We have had lots of good feedback, one bit coming in just today from a Deacon of the Clifton diocese. Vincent Calder was kind enough to say that the Study Missal was, “A beautiful little book that will prove very useful.”

Here are some other compliments we have received:

“I have been a priest for 31 years and have waited 31 years for this. I was not sure the Missals would live up to the hype but they are even more beautiful than I expected, thank you.”

“I am amazed at the quality of the Study Missal, a stunning book.”

Do let us know what you think!

We have also been working hard on the People’s Missals and we’ll be posting more information and previews of the Sunday Missal – scheduled for release on November 23rd – as soon as we can.

The new Roman Missal on an altar

Give us your feedback on the Roman Missal in the comment box and if you want to
send photos of the book in use like the one above, please do!

Of related interest:

RM09 CTS New Sunday Missal – White Presentation Edition - The CTS New Sunday and Daily Missals are a brand-new edition being published to coincide with the launch of the new English translation of the Mass (2011). This one is white leather, with gold page edges, in box an ideal present.
Way CTS New Sunday Missal – Presentation Edition – New translation of the Mass with the current 3-year cycle of readings, for Sundays (and solemnities) Leather-covered hardback in a box.
RM07 CTS New Daily Missal - The new translation of the Mass together with the current 3-year cycle of readings, for Sundays and all weekdays of the year.
Thursday, 03 November 2011 09:00

Bishop Roche & CTS present new Missal to the Pope: Full report & pictures

Handing the Missal to the Pope

During the Holy Father’s Wednesday weekly audience, he was presented with a special unique white edition of the Altar Missal published by CTS.

It was a joyful occasion – as you can tell from the photos below – as the work of bishops, experts and the CTS all came together at the service of the Pope and the Church as a whole.

Pierpaolo Finaldi, Commissioning Editor of the CTS and project editor on the New Roman Missal said this of the presentation of the New Roman Missal to the Holy Father:

“It has certainly been the highlight of my working life. I felt a deep sense of communion and collaboration with the Holy Father.

The Pope leads the way and sets out his vision for the Church, but it is up to people like us, on the ground, to make that vision a reality in the everyday life of the Faithful. When the Holy Father commented how important beauty was in liturgical books, I felt that all the efforts we had gone to, to make our edition of the Missal as beautiful as possible were fully justified, we had been ‘thinking with the Church’.

For an organization like the CTS and for me personally as a Catholic, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds, Chairman of ICEL, who you can see in the pictures, also commented that with the 50th anniversary of Vatican II coming up, this is a hugely important time for the Church.

“The publication of the Missal is a significant landmark in the life of the English-speaking world. The CTS have produced a magnificent book for use in Australia, England & Wales and Scotland which the Holy Father described as beautiful. It was clear from my conversation with Pope Benedict that all who have had the privilege of sharing in its production also share with him the hope that this new translation will open up the precious liturgical treasury of the Church to the people of our time.

As we mark the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council in 2012, at which a significant renewal of the liturgy was called for, the new translation will help us deepen our knowledge and our faith in the Eucharist and renew its celebration. I am grateful to the Catholic Truth Society for producing a Missal of such high quality which will soon grace our altars.”

More comments & some photos

Mr Finaldi told how he was presented to the Pope alongside Archbishop Hart of Melbourne and Monsignor Bruce Harbert, executive secretary of ICEL at the time when much of the translation work was done.

“As the Holy Father looked through the Missal he paused at the illustrated page of the Roman Canon and commented that ‘Beauty is most important in Liturgical books‘.

We also met Cardinal Francis Arinze on the way in to the audience and on being told the Missal had been published he commented: ‘The baby has been born!‘”

Of related interest:

RM09 CTS New Sunday Missal – First Communion Edition - The CTS New Sunday and Daily Missals are a brand-new edition being published to coincide with the launch of the new English translation of the Mass (2011). This one is white leather, with gold page edges, in box an ideal present.
Way CTS New Sunday Missal – Presentation Edition – New translation of the Mass with the current 3-year cycle of readings, for Sundays (and solemnities) Leather-covered hardback in a box.
RM07 CTS New Daily Missal - The new translation of the Mass together with the current 3-year cycle of readings, for Sundays and all weekdays of the year.
Friday, 21 October 2011 11:20
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