Not To Us, But To You Be The Glory

I heard a talking head on network news this evening say that what all America was talking about this weekend was the shooting in Colorado.  That is not, in fact, true.  This entire weekend, I was thinking of, working for, teaching about, & worshiping God from sun up to sun down & even in my sleep.

Our parish hosted a sacred music workshop for our middle- & high-schoolers taught by the Knoxville Latin Mass Schola.  On Friday, I gave a presentation on the historical development of sacred music, especially chant, & the proper role of sacred music in the liturgy according to the Church itself as largely articulated in Dei Verbum & Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship.  After this, we watched the clip from the Sound of Music where Maria teaches the kids to sing using Do-Re-Mi, because a) it's really entertaining, b) that really is the basic method of chant.  Then we actually began to sing starting with childhood songs & nursery rhymes that I had set to chant notation.

Saturday was the big day & I dreamed anxiously about the workshop all night long.  There was a mad flurry of activity in the morning, from picking up the snacks at the store, making the coffee, greeting the kids & parents, to stuffing the music folders.  Once things got underway, they really got underway!  The whole day seemed a blur.  It was exhausting for students & teachers alike, but it was one of the happier entanglements I've been a part of lately.  We handed on a heretofore unknown aspect of the faith to a new generation!

At 4:00pm, we gathered in the church for solemn sung Vespers.  I intoned "O God, come to my assistance.." & the Spirit took over from there.  It all went beautifully.  The prelude, interlude, & postlude organ pieces were exquisite.  The whole atmosphere was solemn, prayerful, & beautiful.  I could not have anticipated how well it all came together.  And I dreamed about the beauty of the liturgy all night long.

I was able to make a recording of Vespers, which I hope to post on the St. Thomas web site soon.  

The last intercessory prayer at Evening Prayer is always for the repose of the souls of the dead in God's mercy.  I offered this for the victims of the Colorado shooting.  Other than this, it was not really discussed.  We did not give glory to murderers by dwelling on them; we gave glory to God this weekend by trusting in his love & rejoicing in his presence.

.