A Treasure To Be Shared

If ever there was a master stroke of the Holy Spirit writ plain for Catholics to see, it was the establishment of the Personal Ordinariates during the pontificate of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. Is that a plausible claim?  Let's look at what is being  accomplished through the personal ordinariates established by the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus . A realized ecumenism. The most effective means so far by which entire groups as well as individuals are being received into the Church.  What is the significance of this new missal to the Ordinariates and the Catholic Church? Msgr. Steenson: This is historic. This is the first time in the history of the Catholic Church that the liturgical texts of a separated Christian community have been brought back into the life of the Church of Rome. This (Ordinariate) missal is now recognized by the Church as standing side by side with the Roman Missal. Dr. Brand: This missal is the fruit of receptive and realized ecumenis...

Gregorian chant, says Dr. Peter Kwasniewski , is characterized by: primacy of the word; free rhythm; unison singing; unaccompanied vocalization; modality; anonymity; emotional moderation; unambiguous sacrality What is said about Gregorian chant largely applies to the single line English (plain)chant employed within communities of the Ordinariate, as found, for example, in the Saint Peter Gradual ( click here for images ). With respect to the point Dr. Kwasniewski makes regarding anonymity, unlike most of the Latin chant corpus the composers of  Anglican Chant  of the harmonized (homophonic) variety are fairly well known (e.g., Havergal, Camidge, Upton). Sir Sydney Nicholson did much to preserve the legacy of English chant. Collections such as  The Saint Mary's Chant Book  and  The Plainchant Gradual ,  produced by G. H. Palmer and completed by Francis Burgess, organize English settings of Gregorian chant.  The Saint Peter Gradu...