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Four Suggestions How to Recognise Good Liturgical Music - By Maestro Aurelio Porfiri

I am often asked how one can recognise which music is good for the liturgy and which is not.

In order to answer this question, it is enough to know what the Church teaches in this regard. This teaching is contained in Saint Pius X's Motu Proprio on Sacred Music (November 1903).

1) Pius X put it like this: The more the music resembles Gregorian chant, the more it is fitting for the liturgy. This is the pivotal rule.

2) Sacred Music must be excellent. That's why those evaluating it, must be musicians. This is not about "elitism" but about the fact that the goodness of the form which is part of beauty, aspires toward God's Supreme Beauty. God deserves the best we have.

3) Music must inspire holiness not vague emotionalism. Pius X warns in his encyclical letter Pascendi (September 1907) about reducing religion to sentimentalism. Sacred music is elevation to God, not taking a bath in one's on sinful self.

4) True sacred music is sacred everywhere because Catholicism is universal. Therefore a piece by an African, American, Asian, Australian or European composer may have a particular accent that comes from his background but nevertheless it must be part of a larger culture, the Catholic one.

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pauljamesdwyer
Pope St. Pio X's Motu Proprio was in reaction to Italian opera singers performing theatrical secular opera airs inside liturgical services in Italy in the late 19th C. The French royal music (Grand & Petit Motets utilizing multiple instruments) of the 17-18th C., before the Revolution are some of the greatest liturgical musical masterpieces of the Catholic Church. They were unknown in the late 19th …More
Pope St. Pio X's Motu Proprio was in reaction to Italian opera singers performing theatrical secular opera airs inside liturgical services in Italy in the late 19th C. The French royal music (Grand & Petit Motets utilizing multiple instruments) of the 17-18th C., before the Revolution are some of the greatest liturgical musical masterpieces of the Catholic Church. They were unknown in the late 19th c. and had been suppressed by the masonic monsters who triumphed during the Revolution. They are one of the many exceptions to his 1903 teaching, that follow the spirit of what his reform was trying to effect within the liturgy and universal church.
angry bob
So I started going to Mass on Wednesdays to this small country Catholic Church. The priest celebrated Mass reverantly (no music) and was very tradional. A few weeks ago I decided to go to Sunday Mass. I was very disappointed, 70's sounding guitar music it was terrible. I asked why don't they at use the organ. I was told they don't have anyone who can play. I made the suggestion of putting an ad in …More
So I started going to Mass on Wednesdays to this small country Catholic Church. The priest celebrated Mass reverantly (no music) and was very tradional. A few weeks ago I decided to go to Sunday Mass. I was very disappointed, 70's sounding guitar music it was terrible. I asked why don't they at use the organ. I was told they don't have anyone who can play. I made the suggestion of putting an ad in the paper to find one. This is not my parish, it could have been, but not now. I don't have any skin in the game. I don't think I would be well excepted if I joined the parish and tried to change things. Besides it is 30 min. away. My current parish is within walking distance.