August 2023 Praenotanda

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Dear friends and colleagues,

As we near the end of summer break, I hope your preparation for a fall of liturgical and sacramental ministry is going well! Thank you for all your efforts to help make the presence of Christ known in our parishes, schools, and other institutions throughout the archdiocese.

In this month’s Praenotanda, you’ll find some info about the upcoming National Eucharistic Congress, info on ordering annual liturgical resources, and other timely topics.

Of note, I hope you can participate in the upcoming national meeting of the FDLC, focused on liturgies with and for children. Catechetical leaders, school principals, DREs, and religion teachers will find the Wednesday Study Day most helpful, but I hope that everyone involved in liturgical ministry – pastors, vicars, deacons, directors of worship, music ministers, pastoral associates, worship commission members – will consider registering for the entire meeting, to be held here in Cincinnati, October 10-12. As a Church, we need to continue ensuring excellent liturgical celebrations for and with children, so I look forward to seeing you at this important national meeting, even if only for the Wednesday Study Day.

As always, if there’s anything that Matt, Monica, or I can do to assist you in your worship and sacramental ministries, please let us know.

Jeremy Helmes
ODWS Director

FROM THE MUSIC DIRECTOR

I’m always on the lookout for more inspiration and information regarding choral music suitable for use in the Sacred Liturgy. There is a new resource available that I want to share with you.

The Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians (CRCCM) has just launched a remarkable free resource created to serve the entire Catholic Church. The CRCCM Repertoire Project offers recommendations of choral music, antiphons, propers, and more for all Sundays of the liturgical calendar, solemnities, and certain Ritual Masses.

This resource is open to the public, i.e., no pay wall, no membership requirement! It has been created out of great love for the sacred liturgy, to serve the Church, and perhaps to evangelize beyond.

This project seeks to collect treasures old and new that are beautiful, sacred, and universal, and in the words of Pope Saint Pius X that will bring about “the glory of God and the sanctification and edification of the faithful.” (Tra le Sollecitudini, §1).

The easiest way to access this is to simply go to www.crccm.org and click on “Repertoire Project.” The search engine built into this system is very intuitive and user friendly.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Matthew J. Geerlings
Music Director

OCTOBER 10-12, 2023
HILTON NETHERLAND HOTEL
CINCINNATI, OHIO

Join the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions (FDLC) for its annual national meeting October 10-12, 2023 in beautiful downtown Cincinnati at the historic art deco Hilton Netherland Hotel.

This three-day meeting brings together diocesan and national leaders in worship, the members of the US Bishops' Committee on Divine Worship, and catechetical leaders to focus on the importance of good liturgical celebrations with children.

Archdiocesan Policies on Worship & Sacraments

Please remember that all policies, guidelines, and norms issued by Archbishop Schnurr regarding worship and sacraments are available online, including those on renovating or reconfiguring a church building, Sunday Mass schedules, ad orientem worship, celebrations of Mass according to the 1962 missal, custody and care of sacred oils, Mass outside of a sacred space, and more. With questions or concerns, please contact the Office for Divine Worship and Sacraments.

Q. At what points during Mass should there be silence? Is this required?

A. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal envisions that periods of silence be observed at specific points during each Mass. GIRM 45 states that the nature of silence “depends on the moment when it occurs in the different parts of the celebration. For in the Penitential Act and again after the invitation ‘Let us pray’, individuals recollect themselves; whereas after a reading or after the Homily, all meditate briefly on what they have heard; then after Communion, they praise God in their hearts and pray to him.” And, of course, before Mass begins, silence in the church is helpful as people prepare for the liturgy. We should not simply move from one ritual to the next with no opportunity for silence in between; use the GIRM as the guide for incorporating silence into the Mass. As you consider how the liturgy is celebrated in your parish or school, make sure that silence is observed at the appropriate times to allow God to speak to our hearts!