In response to many requests, here is a workshop flyer you can hand out at your parish. Help us make the 2006 workshop a success!

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At funeral Masses at which the Schola has assisted, we have sung the full Dies Irae before the Gospel. This, of course, is an extraordinary text that is matched magnificently to the Gregorian melody. It has inspired composers for centuries. But in our time, it has fallen out of use in most parishes, probably for cultural reasons and also because it is no longer required as part of the liturgy.

Some have emailed to ask whether it is permitted at all. There is a clear answer to this: yes, provided the family of the deceased and the celebrant agree that it would add to the overall solemnity of the Mass.

The Dies Irae is one of many Sequences that have been used in the history of the Roman Rite. Before Trent, many more were in use but the Council of Trent reduce the ones permitted to only a few, along with eliminating tropes altogether. The Second Vatican Council, however, took a different direction, expanding the use of tropes while making only two Sequences required (Easter and Pentecost) and the rest optional.

The Dies Irae is one of those optional Sequences. It was never banned, and even today remains part of the Latin Breviary (Editio Typica Altera 2000) in the Office for use in the Liturgy of the Hours of All Souls.

The liberalization of the Sequences is noted in the rubrics as part of the Novus Ordo Missae. The front of the 1970 US Lectionary quoted from the General Instruction on the Roman Missal, paragraph 40: "Except on Easter Sunday and Pentecost the sequences are optional." The 4th edition of the General Instruction on the Roman Missal says the same in paragraph 40: "Sequences are optional, except on Easter Sunday and Pentecost."

The current GIRM repeats this while adding a clarification of precisely where in the liturgy the Sequence is to take place. 62: "After the reading that immediately precedes the Gospel, the Alleluia or another chant indicated by the rubrics is sung, as required by the liturgical season." 65: "The Sequence, which is optional except on Easter Sunday and on Pentecost Day, is sung before the Alleluia."

Pastoral considerations are especially important when considering that many people of a certain age have an attachment to this beautiful Sequence. The family of the deceased might have a sense that it is appropriate because of their own appreciation of the chant, or their sense that the deceased would have approved. In these cases, it is certainly not the case that the Dies Irae may not be used. On the contrary it remains a living option.

The option in favor of using this Sequence, for example, was chosen in June 2005 at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., on the occasion of a Memorial Mass for Pope John Paul II.

(Special thanks to the rubricists and historians of music who assisted with the details of this post.)

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An article appeared in The Catholic Week, the archdiocesan paper of Mobile, Alabama, concerning the sacred music workshop, which runs February 24-25, 2006, Auburn, Alabama, with guest conductor Scott Turkington. Registrations are coming in from across the archdiocese, the country, and even from foreign countries. The music is available for download, and a full packet will be given to you on arrival. We encourage you to register using the online form.

Here is the piece that ran:

Sacred Music Workshop in Auburn

"The faithful need to know the standard Gregorian chants," said a document issued at the October 2005 Bishops Synod meeting at the Vatican. Many at the parish level agree, but a major practical problem presents itself. Very few people in modern parish life know how to sing or read chant, or have familiarity with this tradition of Catholic music at all.

The St. Cecilia Schola in Auburn, Alabama, has a remedy. Three years ago, it began an annual workshop on chant and sacred music of the Renaissance. The purpose of the workshop is practical: to acquaint singers with the method, the style, and the viability of this beautiful music in modern life.

The workshop was originally conceived as a service to the Mobile archdiocese. In the meantime, it has become national and even international in scope. Its previous one-day format has been expanded to two days.

This year it takes place February 24-25, 2006, at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Auburn, Alabama. Friday afternoon is dedicated to sacred polyphony, and Saturday's sessions focus on Gregorian chant.

The workshop is designed for all people involved in parish music programs, or any interested singer. The guest conductor of the workshop is Scott Turkington of the Stamford Schola Gregoriana and editor of The Gregorian Chant Masterclass.

The workshop choir will assist at the vigil Mass on Saturday night, and is invited to sing the following Sunday morning as well. Many previous attendees have noted the blessings of singing this great music with as many 80 other singers from all over the country.

The workshop addresses the growing interest in chant among Catholics, with the chant books from Solesmes Abbey circulating widely, and Pope Benedict XVI's speaking about the subject in several recent addresses.

Registration is $50 per person for both days (or $20 for Friday and $30 for Saturday), and that includes all sheet music and materials. Attendees can register online at www.ceciliaschola.org, or write St. Michaels in Auburn (302 East Magnolia, 36832), or call the parish office at 334-887-5540. Contact: contact@ceciliaschola.org

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Belief.net offers a piece on the return of chant. The authors are schola members.

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Read the Zenit interview with the president of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, Fr. Valentino Miserachs Grau. (Via cantemusdomino)

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The Chant Supplement for workshop 2006 is now available here. Register today.

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Here is a simplified edition of the chant setting Missa Alma Pater for use in parishes. It is one that we settled on after a long search for a setting that would be captivating and easy to learn and yet sustainable over an entire season.

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