In a recent post, Jeffrey Tucker writes:

But are church musicians prepared to participate in a renaissance of chant and polyphony? Do they understand the theological rationale? It is going to require concentrated effort on the part of thousands of people to rediscover the beauty of what is left behind. In addition to prayer and catechesis, what church musicians need more than anything else is practical training in finding their way around the repertoire, navigating the liturgical year, acculturating themselves to the sound and feel of chant, as well reading neumes and the music editions published by Solesmes.

Most readers will agree that church musicians need to understand the theory and theological rationale of the chant and music that is proper to the Roman Liturgy. But one group that is often overlooked is the children. Spending time and energy on their education both musically and liturgically is critical to the future face of the Church in America and throughout the world.

Pope Benedict XVI has stressed the importance of the Church’s not bending its will to a society steeped in relativism. Children raised in such a society fail to learn that good and evil are real, are not based solely on one’s perception, and that it is absolute truth that must guide us in our lives.

But Catholic liturgy offers a truth, beauty, and clarity otherwise unknown in today’s relativist surroundings. Its real drama has the unique ability to impart our children with an understanding of what is of real value.

Dietrich von Hildebrand writes:


… In the Liturgy we find embodied in a unique fashion the spirit of true response to value, this awareness that an adequate answer is due to value because it is such as it is. Not in the name of this or that aim, nor in order to improve sanctify ourselves but because “Thou alone art Holy.”

…. To be irradiated and affected by values, to affirm and give oneself up to all things that possess a value, and to be joyous over them – above all to love them – is to be wed to the world of values. Thereby we become transformed: the fullness of personal values blossoms in us. In the adoring love of the God who disclosed Himself in Christ we become like Christ. The life of Christ ontologically implanted in us by Baptism develops personality in us.


Children can participate in the struggles and triumphs as well. When they hear the sound of chant within the context of the Liturgy, even the youngest children understand, almost intuitively, that they are not in an ordinary place, and that mysterious and wonderful things are taking place around them. They will learn over time to take upon themselves the appropriate attitudes of reverence. In time, the reverence will become not a posture, but a part of their understanding of their world. Their character will be formed.

Hildebrand continues:


The person formed by Liturgy will absorb in his flesh and blood the notion that he owes a suitable response to every value. He will rejoice in every exalted spectacle of nature, the beauty of the starlit sky, the majesty of the sea and mountains, the charm of life, […], the nobility of a profound truth, [and] the mysterious glow of a man’s purity.

(from Liturgy and Personality; Sophia Institute Press, Manchester, New Hampshire, 1993, pp. 59-66)


Elementary and middle school aged children can participate even more actively. Children between the ages of 8 and 12, and even teens, have a remarkable ability to absorb new ideas and attitudes, memorize texts and learn complicated systems of notation.

Why not spend time now teaching them what they need to know about music and its role in Catholic Liturgy. They can also learn practical lessons: how to master their own voices and work with other singers, how to navigate the rigors of the chant, and how, as up and coming church musicians, to approach the gift of the Mass with humility.

The basic starting point is H. HOEPFL, Bibliographie Kardinal Joseph Ratzinger : W. BAIER et al (edd.), Weisheit Gottes - Weisheit der Welt = FS Ratzinger (St Ottilien 1987) 2/1*-77*

A. Independent Publications


• J.R. (tr. G. HARRISON), The Feast of Faith. Approaches to a Theology of the Liturgy (San Francisco 1986)
  
• J.R. - V. MESSORI (tr. S. ATTANASIO-G. HARRISON), The Ratzinger Report (San Francisco 1985) 119/34, esp. 127/30
  J.R. (tr. Sr M.F.McCARTHY), Principles of Catholic Theology (San Francisco 1987) 367/93
  
• J.R. (tr. M. MATESICH), A New Song for the Lord. Faith in Christ and Liturgy Today (New York 1996)

B. Articles in Journals and collective Works


• 5) J.R., Zur theologischen Grundlegung der Kirchenmusik, in F. FLECKEN-STEIN (ed.), Gloria Deo - Pax Hominibus. FS Kirchenmusikschule Regensburg= ACV Schriftenreihe 9 (Bonn 1974) 39/62 English in 1) above, pp. 97/126
  
• J.R., Kirchenmusikberuf als liturgischer und pastoraler Dienst : F. FLECKENSTEIN (ed.), Kirchenmusik im Gespraech. Ansprachen, Reden, Gruszworte, Diskussionsbeitraege zur 100-Jahrfeier der Kirchenmusikschule Regensburg vom 21.-27.5.1975 = ACV Schriftenreihe 12 (Bonn 1976) 24/7
  
• J.R., Theologische Probleme der Kirchenmusik = Kirchenmusik eine
  geistig-geistliche Disziplin 1 (Stuttgart 1978) English = Theological Problems of Church Music, in R. SKERIS (ed.), Crux et Cithara - MuSaMel 2 (Altoetting 1983) 214/22
  
• J.R., Liturgie und Kirchenmusik : Musices Aptatio Yearbook 1986
  (Roma 1986) 60/74 English = Liturgy and Church Music, in R. SKERIS, Divini Cultus Studium - MuSaMel 3 (Altoetting 1990) 185/97; Sacred Music 112 (1985) 13/22; Homiletic & Pastoral Review 86 (1986) 10/22. Also in "New Song," no. 4 above, under a new title (invented by the translator ? the editor ?), pp. 111/27.
  
• J.R., Biblische Vorgaben fuer die Kirchenmusik : J. KNAPP (ed.), Brixener Initiative Musik u. Kirche : 3. Symposion 'Choral und Mehr-stimmigkeit' (Brixen 1990) 9/21 English = New Song, no. 4 above, pp. 94/110
  
• J.R., In der Spannung zwischen Regensburger Tradition und nachkonziliarer Reform : Musica sacra CVO 114 (1994) 379/89 Eglish = Church Music in the Cathedral of Regensburg 1964/94: Betwixt and Between the Regensburg Tradition and Post-conciliar reform : Sacred Music 122/2 (Summer 1995) 5/17; also in "New Song," number 4 above, pp. 128/46 under the new title "In the Presence of the Angels I Will Sing Your Praise" : The Regensburg Tradition and the Reform of the Liturgy."
  
• J.R., The Theology of the Liturgy : A. REID (ed.), Looking Again at the Question of the Liturgy. Proceedings of the Fontgombault Liturgical Conference 22/24 July 2001 (Farnborough 2003) 18/31
  
• J.R., Assessment and Future Prospects : Looking Again, number 11 above, pp. 145/53.

Don Capisco reminds you that Pro captu lectoris, habent sua fata libelli. Ever since Terentianus Maurus recorded this sententia (2/1286) in Late Antiquity, it has applied as well to authors, whose fate, like that of their writings, depends upon the capacity of their readers.

The pontificate of Benedict XVI could be a turning point in the history of Church music, a period when the "examination of conscience" concerning music, called for by John Paul II, begins to yield fruit and truly sacred music again assumes pride of place in Catholic liturgy. The Pope has written eloquently on the topic, and already Papal liturgies are serving as a magnificent example to Catholic musicians around the world.

But are church musicians prepared to participate in a renaissance of chant and polyphony? Do they understand the theological rationale? It is going to require concentrated effort on the part of thousands of people to rediscover the beauty of what is left behind. In addition to prayer and catechesis, what church musicians need more than anything else is practical training in finding their way around the repertoire, navigating the liturgical year, acculturating themselves to the sound and feel of chant, as well reading neumes and the music editions published by Solesmes.

Fortunately, the Church Music Association of America offers the perfect opportunity: The 15^th Summer Music Colloquium: Liturgical Music and the Restoration of the Sacred, under the leadership of Rev. Robert A. Skeris, and featuring a remarkable faculty. It runs from June 21 to 26, 2005, and is held at Catholic University, Washington, DC. Services available to colloquium participants in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception will range from simple sung Mass in Latin and English to morning and evening prayer, from Benediction hymns to a parish high Mass (Missa Cantata) at the Franciscan Monastery of Mt. St. Sepulchre.

The cost, which includes room and board, as well as registration and materials, is $475. Day rates are also available. Find out more details here.

The below passage, like the previous one from Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977, reveals a great deal about the Holy Father's thinking on the Mass in the years after Sacrosanctum Concilium. He has, of course, written extensively on the history of the Mass (see, for instance, his excellent review of Dom Alcuin Reid's book The Organic Development of the Liturgy, reprinted in the Winter 2004 issue of Sacred Music). In the below excerpt from pages 146-149 of Milestones, the new Pope decries the wholesale abandonment of the old forms of the Mass with the institution of the Novus Ordo. That he should recognize and write about this in such a personal way is most encouraging to all Catholics with an attachment to the indult Latin Mass, and indeed to all those who desire the worthiest possible celebration of the Holy Sacrifice.

The second great event at the beginning of my years in Regensburg was the publication of the Missal of Paul VI, which was accompanied by the almost total prohibition, after a transitional phase of only half a year, of using the missal we had had until then. I welcomed the fact that now we had a binding liturgical text after a period of experimentation that had often deformed the liturgy. But I was dismayed by the prohibition of the old missal, since nothing of the sort had ever happened in the entire history of the liturgy. The impression was even given that what was happening was quite normal. The previous missal had been created by Pius V in 1570 in connection with the Council of Trent; and so it was quite normal that, after four hundred years and a new council, a new pope would present us with a new missal. But the historical truth of the matter is different. Pius V had simply ordered a reworking of the Missale Romanum then being used, which is the normal thing as history develops over the course of centuries. Many of his successors had likewise reworked this missal again, but without ever setting one missal against another. It was a continual process of growth and purification in which continuity was never destroyed. There is no such thing as a "Missal of Pius V", created by Pius V himself. There is only the reworking done by Pius V as one phase in a long history of growth. The new feature that came to the fore after the Council of Trent was of a different nature. The irruption of the Reformation had above all taken the concrete form of liturgical "reforms". It was not just a matter of there being a Catholic Church and a Protestant Church alongside one another. The split in the Church occurred almost imperceptibly and found its most visible and historically most decisive manifestation in the changes in the liturgy. These changes, in turn, took very different forms at the local level, so that here, too, one frequently could not ascertain the boundary between what was still Catholic and what was no longer Catholic.

In this confusing situation, which had become possible by the failure to produce unified liturgical legislation and by the existing liturgical pluralism inherited from the Middle Ages, the pope decided that now the Missale Romanum -- the missal of the city of Rome -- was to be introduced as reliably Catholic in every place that could not demonstrate its liturgy to be at least two hundred years old. Wherever the existing liturgy was that old, it could be preserved because its Catholic character would then be assured. In this case we cannot speak of the prohibition of a previous missal that had formerly been approved as valid. The prohibition of the missal that was now decreed, a missal that had known continuous growth over the centuries, starting with the sacramentaries of the ancient Church, introduced a breach into the history of the liturgy whose consequences could only be tragic. It was reasonable and right of the Council to order a revision of the missal such as had often taken place before and which this time had to be more thorough than before, above all because of the introduction of the vernacular.

But more than this now happened: the old building was demolished, and another was built, to be sure largely using materials from the previous one and even using the old building plans. There is no doubt that this new missal in many respects brought with it a real improvement and enrichment; but setting it as a new construction over against what had grown historically, forbidding the results of this historical growth, thereby makes the liturgy appear to be no longer a living development but the product of erudite work and juridical authority; this has caused us enormous harm. For then the impression had to emerge that liturgy is something "made", not something given in advance but something lying within our own power of decision. From this it also follows that we are not to recognise the scholars and the central authority alone as decision makers, but that in the end each and every "community" must provide itself with its own liturgy. When liturgy is self-made, however, then it can no longer give us what its proper gift should be: the encounter with the mystery that is not our own product but rather our origin and the source of our life. A renewal of liturgical awareness, a liturgical reconciliation that again recognises the unity of the history of the liturgy and that understands Vatican II, not as a breach, but as a stage of development: these things are urgently needed for the life of the Church. I am convinced that the crisis in the Church that we are experiencing today is to a large extent due to the disintegration of the liturgy, which at times has even come to be conceived of etsi Deus non daretur: in that it is a matter of indifference whether or not God exists and whether or not He speaks to us and hears us. But when the community of faith, the world-wide unity of the Church and her history, and the mystery of the living Christ are no longer visible in the liturgy, where else, then, is the Church to become visible in her spiritual essence? Then the community is celebrating only itself, an activity that is utterly fruitless. And, because the ecclesial community cannot have its origin from itself but emerges as a unity only from the Lord, through faith, such circumstances will inexorably result in a disintegration into sectarian parties of all kinds - partisan opposition within a Church tearing herself apart. This is why we need a new Liturgical Movement, which will call to life the real heritage of the Second Vatican Council.

Gaudium magnum!

In his book Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977 (San Francisco: Ignatius, 1998), then-Cardinal Ratzinger reflects on the atmosphere surrounding discussion of the sacred liturgy during Vatican Council II, and the subsequent developments which distorted the Council Fathers' intentions. Of particular note is that this discussion on the liturgy was viewed primarily as a test case for the methodology of addressing other, more pressing theological matters, especially those concerning the nature of divine revelation. The below excerpt is taken from pages 121-124.

The first question was what the Council should begin with, what its proximate task ought to be. The Pope had given only a very wide-ranging description of his purpose in calling a council, and this left the Fathers with an almost unlimited freedom to give things concrete shape. The Pope's view basically amounted to this: The faith, while remaining the same in its contents, was to be proclaimed to our era in a new way, and, after a period of demarcations and defensive maneuvers, we were now no longer to condemn but to apply the "medicine of mercy". There was implicit agreement that the Church herself should be the main theme of the gathering, which would thus take up again and conclude the work of the First Vatican Council, which had been prematurely interrupted in 1870 by the Franco-Prussian War. Cardinals Montini and Suenens presented plans for a vast theological outline of the work of the Council, in which the theme of the Church was to be divided into the two questions "the interior life of the Church" and "the Church vis-à-vis the world". This second part of the theme would permit the great questions of the present to come to the fore under the perspective of the relationship between Church and "world".

The reform of the liturgy in the spirit of the liturgical movement was not a priority for the majority of the Fathers, and for many not even a consideration. Thus, for example, in his outline of themes after the beginning of the Council, Cardinal Montini -- who as Paul VI would be the real pope of the Council -- said quite clearly that he did not see the reform of the liturgy as a substantial task in the Council. The liturgy and its reform had, since the end of World War I, become a pressing question only in France and Germany, and indeed above all from the perspective of the purest possible restoration of the ancient Roman liturgy, to which belonged the active involvement of the people in the liturgical event. These two countries, which at that time enjoyed theological leadership in the Church (and we must of course add Belgium and the Netherlands), had during the preparation phase succeeded in putting through a schema on the sacred liturgy, which quite naturally found its place in the general theme of the Church. The fact that this text became the first subject for the Council's discussions really had nothing to do with the majority of the Fathers having an intense interest in the liturgical question. Quite simply, no great disagreements were expected in this area, and the undertaking was viewed as a kind of practical exercise to learn and test the method of conciliar work. It would not have occurred to any of the Fathers to see in this text a "revolution" signifying the "end of the Middle Ages", as some theologians felt they should interpret it subsequently. The work was seen as a continuation of the reforms introduced by Pius X and carried on carefully but resolutely by Pius XII. General expressions such as "the liturgical books should be revised as soon as possible" (no. 25) were understood in this sense: as the uninterrupted continuation of that development which had always been there and which, since Popes Pius X and Pius XII, had received a definite profile from the rediscovery of the classical Roman liturgical traditions, which was, of course, to overcome certain tendencies of Baroque liturgy and nineteenth-century devotional piety and to promote a new humble and sober centering of the authentic mystery of Christ's presence in his Church. In this context it is not surprising that the "model Mass" now proposed, which was supposed to (and in fact did) take the place of the traditional Ordo missae, was in 1967 rejected by the majority of the Fathers who had been called together to a special synod on the matter. Some publications now tell us that some liturgists (or perhaps many?) who were working as advisers had had more far-reaching intentions from the outset. Their wishes would surely not have received the approval of the Fathers. Nor were such wishes expressed in any way in the text of the Council, although one can subsequently read them into some general statements.

The debate on the liturgy had taken place calmly and without serious tension. . . .

Catholic musicians on both sides are already asking questions about what is in store and what the new Papacy will mean in their parishes, and in their lives as Catholics. Traditionalists, naturally, are elated, and ready to plunge more deeply into the Church's treasury of sacred offerings. Those advocating postconciliar views on music will be shaking in their boots. One reason, to be sure, is the difficulty of delving into a style and literature that is largely unknown to them. Reactions may be severe: there is no motivator like fear of the unknown, for good and ill.

We all, musicans and non musicians, struggle to relate our experience and the experience of our own time and culture to a tradition that can appear ancient, and plainly put, outdated.

Pope Benedict XVI, in his writings on liturgy and otherwise, has stressed the need for truth and purity of form in the Church and in our lives as Christians. Nowhere in the Bible or in his example did Christ promise us an easy time of things, and it is in fact the responsibilty of all of us, regardless of our station, to follow Christ's model in our acceptance of suffering in striving for that perfect union with God. This struggle predates the Incarnation, and will continue beyond any point in time within our own earthly comprehension.

Those looking for support for their own agendas in the newly chosen Vicar of Christ, be they political, ethical, or even musical and liturgical, must remember this. They must also be reminded of the limited and specific situation into which God humbled himself to take on human form. He didn't chose a time or place that makes immediate sense or was accessible to everyone, due to the limitations of ongoing worldy time and varying cultural conditions.

Musicians, as much as anyone must strive to understand that time is not our own. Moreover, we are obligated to apply the gifts of skill and creativity we've been given as artists toward spiritual perfection in our own lives and in our parishes. We must never forget that time, truth and purity of form are God's own direct model for our lives and work of suffering.

The demands of truly sacred music are uniquely challenging. Sacred music requires a willingness to go beyond pleasing ourselves and our immediate listeners alone. Sacred music requires humility and sacrifice and loving service to the God the Father and his Church.

Let us not do away with the Church's musical tradition and purity of form in the context of liturgy because it is not borne of modern experience. To do so is to question the wisdom of the act of Incarnation itself.

This essay was written by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger on the occasion of the retirement of his brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, as conductor of the Regensburg Domspatzen. The chapter, entitled "In the Presence of the Angels I Will Sing Your Praise," is part of Ein Neues Lied Für Den Herrn: Christusglaube und Liturgie in der Gegenwart, a collection of essays by Ratzinger on the sacred liturgy. [The English translation of the book, A New Song for the Lord: Christian Belief and Liturgy Today (Herder & Herder, 1996), is currently out of print.] This translation of that chapter, by Fr. Robert A. Skeris, first appeared in the Spring 1995 issue of Sacred Music.

Below is a passage in which the Pope strongly identifies his namesake, St. Benedict, with the worthy singing of the Lord's praise:

In the autumn of 1992, after an unforgettable helicopter flight over the mountains of South Tyrol, I visited the monastery of Mt. St. Mary(Marienberg) in the valley of the Etsch.

The monastery was founded in that magnificent natural setting to the praise and glory of God, thus responding in its own way to the invitation expressed in the Canticle of the Three Young Men: "Ye mountains and heights, praise the Lord!" (Dan. 3:75).

The real treasure of this monastery is the crypt (dedicated July 13, 1160) with its glorious frescoes which in recent years have been almost completely cleared, restored and laid open to view.1 As is true of all medieval art, these images had no merely aesthetic meaning. They conceive of themselves as worship, as a part of the great liturgy of creation and of the redeemed world in which this monastery was intended to join. Therefore, the pictorial program reflects that common basic understanding of the liturgy which was then still alive and well in the Church universal, eastern and western. On the one hand these images show a strong Byzantine influence while remaining at bottom quite biblical; on the other hand they are essentially determined by the monastic tradition, concretely: the Rule of Saint Benedict.

....

The risen Lord is not alone in these Mt. St. Mary's frescoes. We see Him in the images which the Apocalypse uses to depict the heavenly liturgy -- surrounded by the four winged creatures and above all by a great throng of singing angels. Their singing is an expression of that joy which no one can take from them, of the dissolution of existence into the rejoicing of freedom fulfilled. From the very beginning, monastic living was understood as a life lived after the manner of the angels, which is simply adoration. Entering or assuming the lifestyle of the angels means forming one's whole life into an act of adoration, as far as that is possible for human weakness. Celebrating the liturgy is the very heart of monachism [monastic life], but in that respect monachism simply makes visible to all the deepest reason for Christian -- indeed, for human existence!

As they gazed upon these frescoes, the monks of Mt. St. Mary surely thought of the 19th chapter of the Rule of Saint Benedict, which treats the discipline of Psalm singing and the manner of saying the Divine Office. There, the father of western monasticism reminds them, among other things, of the verse of Psalm 147 (Vulgate): In conspectu angelorum psallam tibi--In the sight of the angels I will sing to Thee. And Benedict goes on: "Let us then consider how we ought to behave ourselves in the presence of God and His angels, and so sing the psalms that mind and voice may be in harmony--ut mens nostra concordet voci nostræ."

How fortuitous that our new Holy Father has chosen for himself the name of the founder of Western monasticism! Under his guidance, may this monastic practice which was at the very heart of a tremendous flowering of Christian culture be so once again.

Franciscan University of Steubenville's annual sacred music conference will be held this coming weekend, 22-24 April. The conference will feature music and lectures that will illuminate "Sacred Music for the 21st Century." All events are free and open to the public. A schedule is listed below.

Friday, 22 April, 8pm, Christ the King Chapel
ORGAN RECITAL: "Music for Eastertide"
Calvert Shenk, organist
Assumption Grotto Church, Detroit, MI

Jean Langlais--Incantation pour un jour saint
Johann Sebastian Bach --Christ lag in Todesbanden--2 different settings
Nicholas Lebegue--Offertoire sur le chant O filii et filiæ
Théodore Dubois. Alleluia
Olivier Messiaen--Prayer of Christ Rising to His Father, from L'Ascension
Everett Titcomb--Regina coeli
Hermann Schroeder--Regina coeli, from his Four Marian Antiphons


Saturday, 23 April, 9am, Christ the King Chapel
MORNING PRAYER (from Liturgy of the Hours)
Sung prayer led by the Schola Cantorum Franciscana

Saturday, 23 April, 9:45am, The Gentile Gallery, J.C. Williams Center
Lecture: "“Sacred Music in the 3rd Millenium: Theology & Praxis of Sacred Music in John Paul II’s Chirograph on Sacred Music”
Benedict Nguyen, M.T.S., J.C.L.
Chancellor, Diocese of La Crosse, WI

Saturday, 23 April, 1:30m, The Gentile Gallery, J.C. Williams Center
Lecture: “Sacred Music in Musicam Sacram, the Letter to Artists of John Paul II, & the Encyclical on the Eucharist, Ecclesia de Eucharistia.”
Fr. Giles Dimock, OP
Dominican House of Studies


Sunday, 24 April, 9am, Christ the King Chapel
Conference Mass--Novus ordo Latin
Guest Celebrant & Homilist: Fr Giles Dimock, OP
Guest Choirmaster: Benedict Nguyen
Guest Organist: Calvert Shenk
Choir: Schola Cantorum Franciscana

Music for Mass (5th Sunday of Easter)
Introit: Cantate Domino
Kyrie: Missa Regina coeli--Palestrina
Gloria VIII
Credo III
Offertory: Jubilate Deo
Sanctus: Missa Regina coeli--Palestrina
Benedictus Missa Regina coeli--Palestrina
Agnus Dei: Missa Regina coeli--Palestrina
Communion: Tanto tempore
Communion Motet: O sacrum convivium--Croce
Recessional Hymn: "The Church's One Foundation"

For more information contact Susan Treacy
740.283.6245 x2336
streacy@franciscan.edu

It seemed that nearly all coverage of the funeral for Pope John Paul II included sound clips of Gregorian Chant, and one wonders whether and to what extent this vast publicity for the chant will have an impact on the future of Catholic music.

After all, for most parishes, and despite the continuing revival of sacred music, it has been decades since the sound of Chant and Latin have made an appearance. Perhaps it will serve as a much-needed reminder that chant is the music given pride of place in liturgy now and always. Or perhaps American Catholics will just assumed that this is what you hear in the Vatican but it has no applicability to their own parishes. Ideally, it will inspire pastors and laypeople to get to work studying and singing and introducing this music again to their parishes.

In any case, the attention is gratifying in many ways. The Los Angeles Times piece (for the required registration, see here) provides a nice overview of the history of chant and its place in liturgy (a fine job for a piece of secular journalism!).

From the Monsastic Office of the Dead:

Deus, qui inter summos sacerdotes famulum tuum Ioannem Paulum ineffabili tua dispositione connumerari voluisiti: praesta, quaesumus; ut, qui Unigeniti Filii tui vices in terris gerebat, sanctorum tuorum Pontificum consortio perpetuo aggregetur. Per eundem Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

O God, Who in Thine ineffable providence wast pleased to number Thy servant John Paul among the sovereign pontiffs; grant, we beseech Thee, that he who reigned as the vicar of Thy Son on earth, may be joined to fellowship with Thy holy pontiffs forevermore. Through the same Jesus Christ Thy Son, who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.


The collect from the Votive Mass Pro Eligendo Papa:

Supplici, Domine, humilitate deposcimus: ut sacrosanctae Romanae Ecclesiae concedat Pontificem illum tua immensa pietas; qui et pio in nos studio semper tibi placitus, et tuo populo pro salubri regimine sit assidue ad gloriam tui nominis reverendus. Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

We most humbly entreat Thee, O Lord, that Thy boundless goodness may grant as bishop to the most holy Roman Church one who shall ever be both pleasing to Thee by his loving zeal in our regard, and, by his beneficent rule, deeply revered by Thy people to the glory of Thy name. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

As we mourn the death of the Holy Father and prepare for Requiem Masses to be said for the repose of his soul, some of the following resources may be of interest.

At the website of the Liturgy Committee of the USCCB may be found a document entitled Liturgical Notes and Resource Materials for Use Upon the Death of the Pope. This document has little in the way of ceremonial detail, but does provide the texts of the various collects to be used in this time. (The musical suggestions--which, one notes with regret, are rather limited--are grouped by publisher rather than title, and at that only the three most well-connected Catholic publishers; read into that what you will.)

There are some good suggestions at the CanticaNova Publications website.

One question that has surfaced is the proper liturgical color for Requiem Masses for the late Holy Father. One source insists that red is always used for papal funerals, wherever they may be held. Others indicate--perhaps more reliably--that while this holds true for the Requiem Mass on Friday at St. Peter's and those Masses that will be celebrated at the major Roman basilicas during the forthcoming novena of mourning, for every other church in Christendom one is to use the traditional funeral color (black or violet). Further insights?