Friday Links, December 24, 2021
Hodie scietis quia veniet Dominus, et mane videbitis gloriam ejus.
This day you shall know that the Lord will come, and in the morning you shall see his glory.
+ Read a reflection on the treasure of chant by a choir director (Diana Silva) and listen to an explanation of the readings of the first Mass of Christmas
+ See how a professional writer/editor/mother/child-wrangler (Rhonda Ortiz) manages an interview
+ Learn from a famous contemporary poet (Dana Gioia) how to balance writing with a full time job.
+ Watch a video of a musical setting of a Christmas poem (by James Matthew Wilson)
Christmas Treasures
In this column, Chantworks founder, choir director and educator, Diana Silva reflects on chant, which was proclaimed by Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Vatican II document on the liturgy, as a treasure of inestimable value, but which was somehow allowed to be buried “by pirates.”
“My Christmas wish is that the restrictions so recently imposed by Rome will have a happy, and perhaps unintended result: that those left without a traditional Latin Mass will now return and pollinate the Ordinary Form with reverence and beauty. I hope they will demand back the musical treasures that are our heritage, the ones we were promised in Vatican II.”—Diana Silva
(My Christmas wish is that the restrictions will turn out to be a bad dream brought about by an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, or a fragment of underdone potato, but I digress.)
Chantworks is described at their website as “an apostolate of lay men and women devoted to renewing Catholic worship through sacred music and bringing Catholic beauty back.”
Their Chanted Word series provides audio and video aids to accompany the ordinary form English Mass’s three Bible readings and Responsorial Psalm throughout the liturgical year, with Latin on certain feasts. For example, see the introduction and link to a YouTube video in the following quote.
“Part of renewing Catholic worship is the prayerful reading of sacred Scripture. . . . This series of readings and reflections is intended to help readers prepare for their part in the Mass and to help others listen attentively to the proclamation of the Word.”—ChantWorks Christmas Mass during the Night
A Seeking Heart Podcast Interview with Rhonda Ortiz
Allison Gingras at her “A Seeking Heart,” video at BreadboxMedia.com interviews Rhonda Ortiz, Dappled Things webmaster and Chrism Press founder, about her historical fiction In Pieces, the first in the Molly Chase series. Of interest to Catholic writers, the discussion touches on the difficulty of including a conversion story without being preachy and features a surprise appearance by Maggie Ortiz.
A Quick Introduction to Becoming a Writer While Working a Full-Time Job - (Part 1)
Katy Carl, Dappled Things editor in chief, suggests this post, in which Dana Gioia writes, “Today I release my new series ‘Becoming a Writer (when you have a full-time job).’” He knows whereof he speaks. For fifteen years, Dana Gioia worked in marketing at General Foods while writing poetry and doing translations on the side.
Heath Morber Announces his Setting of James M. Wilson’s The Christmas Preface
Composer Heath Morber wrote the above post on his Facebook page linking to a musical setting of “The Christmas Preface,” a poem by DT’s great friend and contributor, poet and educator James Matthew Wilson. The video is a live recording from the 2021 St. John's Catholic Newman Center Chapel Christmas concert on December 4 in Champaign, Illinois. You can also read the post, which includes the full text of the poem, by clicking below.
