“In the Living Waters” speaks directly to anyone who finds themselves suffering, ashamed or alone, and it describes a God waiting to welcome them.
Music (liturgical)
Posted inFaith, Vantage Point
The real reason most liturgical music is terrible
Want better music at Mass? Leave it to the professionals (and pay them).
Posted inFaith, Short Take
What makes for good liturgical music? St. Thomas Aquinas has 3 criteria for what works at Mass.
We need some criteria in deciding what music is best for Mass. St. Thomas Aquinas offers us three qualities that anything beautiful must have.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
The history of a Christmas classic, ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’
“O Come, All Ye Faithful” is a song almost everyone knows. But where did it come from, and why is it so popular?
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
The new Gather hymnal is just good enough — and that’s perfect
You might call it the Walmart of hymnals. It doesn’t drill down into any one category. It doesn’t specialize. But it covers most of the bases that most parishes and parishioners would expect.
Posted inFaith, GoodNews
Mariachi Mass returns to Tucson cathedral after a year of pandemic silence
“The Mass itself is a reminder that you don’t just have mariachis you tip at tableside in a cantina,” said Alberto Ranjel. “It is a representation of my culture.”
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
Black spirituals meet the liturgy: Why I composed a Mass for Black Catholics
This historic and traditional music reflects the experience, thoughts, sorrows, joys and spirituality of our enslaved and free ancestors.
Posted inArts & Culture, News
Famous German Catholic boys’ choir to add separate choir for girls
One of Germany’s most famous Catholic boys’ choirs, the Regensburg Cathedral Choir, plans to establish a separate choral group for girls for the first time in its more than 1000-year history.
Posted inFaith, News
U.S. bishops’ doctrine committee sets new standards for evaluating and improving hymns
The U.S. bishops’ doctrine committee in a forthcoming report suggests guidelines for bishops in evaluating hymn lyrics and for selecting hymnals being considered for use in churches.
Posted inFaith, Music
The real problem with ‘On Eagle’s Wings’
Deep in the ‘Gather’ hymnal is a treasury of distinctly Catholic meaning set to music. We could use a lot of more that.