The video below is one in a series which will be released by Corpus Christi Watershed. It is excellent. I got to chat with most of the people in this, and they were all very charming and very Catholic. Note how many vibrant young faces are in the crowd. Now compare that to any DoR function. The Holy Spirit is at work, friends, and He can’t be stopped.
CMAA Colloquium XX 2010 from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.
Tags: Colloquia 2010 and 2011, Latin Mass, Liturgy, Music Sacred Catholic Liturgical and Chant, Orthodoxy at Work
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I can not begin to tell you how attending this colloquim enriched my life. I sang in several choirs years ago. I was worried I would not be experienced enough to fit in with these great singers. I learned a lot in the class room. The singing exercises were fun and i learned correct pronunciation , when to breathe ,etc. The trouble I had singing was i found myself listening more than singing because it was so beautiful. The first night after registration and reception we closed singing, “LORD FOR THY TENDER MERCIES. I knew then it was going to be a great time. When the sopranos hit that high note at the end GEN caught my eye with my mouth wide open in awe!!( I think he may have been laughing at me although he looked preatty happy himself) I have very fine memories I will always cherish. One night as I got off the elevator almost in front of my room, two young nuns were there, one playing a violin the other singing. Where can you go and get this stuff? I had a single room and I shared a bathroom with one other girl.(Jen) We never met each other but wrote good morning notes to each other. I kept them. When I left Rochester I said very little about where I was going and what I was doing. When I returned to Rochester a client from florida asked about my trip and I shared my experience with her. This week she sent me a CD that belonged to her biological sister, a nun. Chant sung by THE BENEDICTINE MONKS OF SANTO DOMINGO.) We will both be attending a convention in Daytona Beach next spring and plan to find a Latin Mass to attend together. A local client(who happens to be a practicing Catholic) asked about my trip and he was not aware Rochester had a Latin Mass in Rochester. He plans to attend the next high Latin Mass.
What I want you all to know is,you do not have to have a trained voice in good working order to benefit from the colloquium. Listening, singing,learning beautiful sacred music for 7 days is such a termendous personal experience. Daily Mass in a church filled with such beauty is something you will never forget.
When the 5 of us left Rochester we were all good casual friends (accept the married couple they were indeed already good friends with each other!) When we left Pittsburgh, I felt as friends the 5 of us grew a kind of closeness that doesn’t come around very often. It comes from Christ. I think the holyspirit worked through all of us to remain good friends. To pray together, worship together, and help each other along the way.
I will be forever grateful for this wonderful experence.
what a great story, sr. emily. thanks for sharing it.
Sr. Emily – you perfectly captured the nature of the Colloquium. Is it June 2011 yet?
I agree with Sister Emily and Gen too. The Colloquium was far better than I could have imagined. Six days of the most excellent music (chant and polyphony) and an unsurpassed dignity in the ritual of the Roman Rite. There was no agendas, no arguing over liturgy, no “Liturgy Committee”. All of us accepted the Roman Rite (both Ordinary Form and Extraordinary Form) as given to us by the Church. In all the ceremonies, the full ritual was carried out by priests, seminarians and altar boys that had very little time to practice together before hand. It worked and worked magnificently well. No person tried to tinker with the it. The liturgy is a centuries-old treasure with all of its grandeur and solemnity that, hopefully, was passed on to another generation.
One of the “smart people” in charge said it was like putting on a once-in-a-lifetime wedding each and every year. All the work is done but volunteers; no paid positions. Can you imagine the myriad of details that have to be attended to in order to make this work? Most of the coordination was done by Arlene Oost-Zinner. A huge debt of gratitude to her and all the others who worked so hard to make this a reality. Like Gen said above “Is it June 2011 yet”?
Aside from the unity of purpose that set the tone (pun intended), it amazed me that so many younger (under 30) people attended. I started singing as a boy soprano in the late 50s at Saints Peter and Paul’s Church in Rochester. This was the “high liturgy” church of the diocese. So my musical diet was rich in history. Everything went along smoothly until the Second Vatican Council. Almost overnight choirs were banned. But now we trying to recover and rediscover a huge musical and liturgical culture. We are truly rebuilding brick-by-brick. From the looks of it at the Collquium we have a good foundation started.
If anybody who is reading this is inclined to try the next Colloquium I would give it two thumbs up. Your singing skills will improve greatly. Each person has to pick which group to be in. Beginners, intermediate or advanced. You will not be asked to sing alone. No auditions or solos. So no fear there. Keep in touch with Gen, Sister Emily or myself if you would like to go next year. The 5 of us who went became better friends. So next year, 10 of us could be even better friends too. Another possibility is to sing with our local Latin Mass Community choir. If you would like that, let me know via email.
While most of the attendees were from the U.S., there were represented Canada and Australia and Africa (sorry I don’t remember which country), but we all participated in the one great Roman Rite that spans all times and cultures. There were quite a few father-and-son and mother-and-daughter teams who came to sing. Which proves that the liturgy is something you pass on to the next generation. Cantate Domino. Most of the parish music directors are working for peanuts and are valiantly trying to bring the level of music up in their particular parish despite some overwhelming odds from the liturgy/music police. One fellow was music director from a parish in Memphis. He has to run interference between new and old music styles. Imagine how much easier it would be for him (and us too) if we just used the liturgy approved by Rome. No muss; no fuss.
I could say a whole bunch more about the Colloquium, but I have already taken up more than enough of your time. If I can figure out how to link to the recordings of all the services, I will. Sorry for the typos or grammatical errors.
video removed by user 🙁
Sorry all – I fixed the problem.
Sign me up! Choir, I’d be interested in learning more about the Latin Mass choir.