Saturday, September 5, 2015

Modern P&W vs Traditional Worship

From Fr. Christopher Smith:
P&W essentially views active participation as everyone doing, singing and feeling a certain way about God when at Mass. The music is a means to produce an end. It also sees the absence of young people at church, and argues that, if the music at Mass were more like what young people like in their normal lives, they might be opened up to a more abundant life. Thus, P&W is designed often by middle-aged people with little or no theological, liturgical or musical background to coax teenagers and college-age kids with a similar background into a theological, liturgical and musical milieu. That milieu reduces the liturgy to a man-made act of praise engineered to produce an apostolic result. (Read more.)
And here is a beautiful article on the Latin Mass. To quote:
The whole focus of the Holy Latin Mass is on;
  • adoring God,
  •  being at Calvary at the real un-bloody Sacrifice of Jesus being re-made present on the Cross,
  • the priest asking Jesus to intercede to God His Father for the forgiveness of our sins,
  • humbly praying that at this Sacrifice we may receive His salvation and graces.
At the Sacrifice of the Holy Latin Mass, it is obvious that;
  • God the Father is acting through Jesus His Son,
  • Jesus is acting through the priest, in Persona Christi,
  • There is hierarchy in Latin Mass, bishop, priest, religious, altar boys, lay people, like what is found in God’s Kingdom and the Catholic Church.
  • The priest has the special role in praying to God.
  • The priest prays in secret and in a low voice the sacred part of the Canon and the words of consecration.
  • People accompany Mary and the Apostle St. John in contemplation at the foot of the cross, while Jesus is offering His life in sacrifice to the Father for our salvation.
  • The people are assisting at Jesus’ Sacrifice on the cross for them.
  • People humbly and passively receive God’s graces through interior prayer.
  • People humbly receive Jesus in Holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue.
  • People pray and absorb the effects the Divine Mystery of the Holy Mass in silence.
  • The Choir is up in the Choir loft accompanying the people in sacred songs.
  • The choir sings anonymously for the glory of God and not to show off for the crowd.
  • The Choir sings acapella or are accompanied by organ music.
  • Gregorian Chant is sung to lift up people’s souls to God. (Read more.)
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