Sing a New Song
I had meant to post something about this when I head it during the Bishops’ conference, but Father’s illness and a pile of work intervened.
Huge news on the implementation of the new Missal translation:
Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Divine Worship, announced that diocesan bishops may permit the gradual introduction of the musical settings of the people’s parts of the Mass from the new Roman Missal in September. …
The Committee on Divine Worship made the decision in response to requests from several bishops, echoed by the National Advisory Council. Some suggested that the various acclamations could be more effectively introduced throughout the fall, so that when the full Missal is implemented on the First Sunday of Advent, the congregation will have already become familiar with the prayers that are sung.
“I ask you to encourage this as a means of preparing our people and helping them embrace the new translation,” Archbishop Gregory told the bishops.
So what this means is that (providing your bishop is on board) you can begin introducing the new acclamations and responses musically as early as September.
There are a ton of great FREE resources already out there. Here are just a few. Most include free downloadable PDFs.
International Committee on English in the Liturgy (ICEL)
Introduction to the music of the Missal – ICEL PDF
Church Music Association of America (CMAA) – Simple English Propers project.
National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NAPM) – Audios here.
Oregon Catholic Press (OCP) – includes audio files