I have now been serving as a regular cantor at St Philip’s in Blackburn North for almost six months. I enjoy the liturgies at St P’s immensely, probably because it is so much like what I was raised on: fully chanted liturgy with sung psalms and hymns (and the occasional opportunity to use a proper chant). The main source of hymns is the excellent “Living Parish Hymnal” that was the staple of Catholic hymn singing in the Australian Church back about forty years ago. One thing I really do enjoy is the fact that we get to sing the hymns in their entirety, rather than the regular Catholic practice of apocopating the hymns down to just a few verses.
In any case, what I am getting around to is this excellent and very funny article by Anthony Esolen in Insight Scoop last week: “Paint-by-Number Hymns”. I was reading it during a session of the Orientale Lumen Conference last week, and found it very hard to stifle my laughter. Click and enjoy!
