Yesterday, I got into an argument with a girl who occassionally sings in my church choir. I hardly sing with my church choir anymore because I can't bring myself to waste my pretty voice on the crap that they use during the liturgy.
I go to this church by the way, just so I don't back down from my policy of never being afraid to name names. Just to tell you how bad things are. On saturdays, they have a "contemporary" choir, where they sing Marty Haughen music and songs which have been sung long before I was born. Really contemporary hippy music, you know? I kid you not, every saturday, they sing "Rain Down". Talk about "Sing The Same Old Song To The Lord!" I enjoy singing Victor's lyrics when they do. I sing them loud and proud.:
Rain down, rain down, rain down your fire and brimstone
Rain down, rain down, rain down your judgement on us!
So, we start talking about music, and she mentions how we sing the Agnus Dei and Sanctus in latin during Advent and Lent. I tell her it's nice that we do that, but I then say, "Well, why don't we just do Latin year 'round instead of treating it like it's some sort of punishment we inflict on ourselves during the penitential months? Why aren't the Gloria, the Sanctus, the Agnus Dei in latin all year round?" She makes some comment about the congregation being too dumb to understand what they were singing, and that we should treat the congregation as if they were completely stupid. When it comes to music, I agree with this philosophy only up to a certain point, and that's when you're teaching music to complete novices. But in that case, they're not stupid, just ignorant, and easily educated. The choir should go over parts repeatedly if they're not getting it right, the choir should know what they're singing. However, it is not the choir director's job to explain what it is we're singing. I'm sorry, but if you're in the part of the mass where you're singing "Agnus Dei, qui tolis peccata mundi..." where you normally sing "Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world..." It shouldn't be too hard to figure out what you're singing!
So, I suggest, why not just have the translation next to what they're singing, and she scoffs going "Oh yeah! Like they'll READ IT!" and I say, "You know, even if they don't, I don't see the need to sacrifice the liturgy for the stupidity of an entire congregation."
Oh, then she tried to say how Vatican II changed everything to Vernacular. I had to give her a pride obliterating verbal bitch slap for saying saying something that dumb. Seriously, don't quote Vatican II unless you've read it. I haven't read it, but I do know for a fact that the mass is in Latin, so that's what I tell her. "The mass is in LATIN by default! Vatican II never changed that!"
"Well...I read some thing from some pope which changed that."
I start thinking, Umm...yeah, okay. No you didn't. But you're obviously too dumb for me to continue wasting my breath on you.
Anyway, Vatican II never called for a complete change to vernacular. Let's look at an oft quoted excerpt in St. Blog's that appears in the Vatican II document Sacrosanctum Concilium:
Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites. (SSC 36.1)
Think and read people. Read and think!
