Eucharistic Reflection - Entering Deep and Contemplatively In the Sacred
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It can become much more difficult to enter deep and
contemplatively into the sacred if the liturgy is not celebrated in a reverent
and fitting manner. Unfitting “activity” during the Mass, [Alice] von Hildebrand
observes, such as the congregational singing of music devoid of a genuinely
sacred character, thwarts our ability to enter the depths of the sacred, our
contemplation of the sublime celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The motivation
behind such an approach to music for the liturgy, that the congregation needs
to be given something to do, something to busy themselves with during the Mass,
so that they don’t get bored, is in von Hildebrand’s words comparable to “the
treatment of little children who are given a picture book in their hands so
that they do not get bored during the Mass".
By contrast, truly sacred music, and in a paramount manner
Gregorian Chant, fosters within us a contemplative receptivity to the Mass,
enabling us to journey deep into the sacred. As von Hildebrand explains,
Gregorian Chant is “the unsurpassed ideal music for the divine cult,”
possessing “an eminently contemplative character,” one could say “a
quasi-sacramental character,” able to give “full expression to the sublime
ardor of the heart” while retaining “a sacred sobriety”. There
is also the God-given “sound- track” of silence that helps us to make the
journey into the sacred, delivering us from the din of the world.
(James Monti – The Journey Deep Into The Sacred in his
Restoring The Sacred column published in The Wanderer on September 5,
2019)