www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Byzantine Catholic Church Extinct? Not if i can help it

I only hope that the man who is writing it is familiar to our "old Ruthenian tradition".Forgive my bold remark but might that be hard for someone that doesn't belong to a Byzantine Catholic Parsih. At least it was my understanding that he doesn't. Correct me if i am wrong.

-Katie g

Pseudo-Athanasius wrote: �Please give the new music a chance. Wait until it's promulgated and in use.�

Once the new music is promulgated it will be too late. There is no reason to �give the new music a chance�. It must be stopped now. I invite everyone to come to the cathedral to hear how bad the music is. It is driving people away. Some are going to St. Theresa�s. Others are going to St. Elias�. Our collections are half of what they were before we started using this music.


Pseudo-Athanasius wrote: �It's my understanding that the new music will be more faithful to our Ruthenian tradition than what we have now, which, musically doesn't always make sense. At times, the most dramatic and emphasized note in the music will occur on a thoroughly unimportant word like "the" or "in." �

The cathedral is forced to endure this new music on a weekly basis. Nobody can sing it. There are lots of notes on words like �the� and �and�. You can�t even tell if the cantor is singing in English. Pseudo-Athanasius obviously knows nothing about good music.


Pseudo-Athanasius wrote: �Any change will be difficult because we are used to what we sing now. But give it time, and we will get used to the new, more-faithful-to-the-old stuff.�

Why should we change what works? Why should we give it time? No one can sing it and it doesn�t work. Pittsburgh is in an uproar over how bad this music is. It needs to stopped and stopped now. Once its promulgated on September 1 it will be too late. Please start writing letters telling the bishops not to promulgate this music.

Dear Frank C
I totally agree with everything you say. My dad is a cantor so i have seen "snippets" of the new music it isn't good. If I was not 15 i would drive out to hear the music.As it is i will have to take your word for it.I am glad i am not the only one who feels this way.

-Katie g

Frank C,

I'm glad that you know me well enough to decide if I know anything about good music or not.

Do you think posting this kind of stuff builds up the body of Christ? Rumors of doom and gloom?

If the music that your bishop wants is so damaging to your spiritual life, perhaps you should go someplace else. But these attempts to poison the well should stop.

Encouraging people to go elsewhere is just as bad. We need to stop fighting amonst ourselves. People leaving the church isn't going to solve anything.Pointing fingers at people won't help either.Pointing fingers is like saying "it isn'tmy fault". Saying that is something we do too often nowadays. We should stop looking for scapegoats. And once again we should stop fighting amonst ourselves.Protestants won't have to worry about ruining our church we are doing it oursleves.

-Katie g

Actually, it isn't just as bad. Every catholic has the right to the spiritual goods necessary for his salvation. If Frank C. cannot see the spiritual goods right under his nose because he has distaste for the new (really the old) music, he ought to go where he can be at peace. Let him go sing Marty Haugen in a Roman parish.

But he shouldn't use a forum like this to spread rumors and hearsay of disaster. That doesn't do anyone any good. If he has legitimate concerns, he can just go talk to the bishop, since he is in the cathedral parish. Spreading this kind of poison in a public forum is not good.

And public "dissing" him on this forum isn't bad either? Your answer might be that he is "dissing" himself but he isn't he is stating an opinion that MANY people feel. Like I said lets just stop "dissing" each other. It is stupid and childish.

-Katie g

Pseudo-Athanasius wrote:
�I'm glad that you know me well enough to decide if I know anything about good music or not.�

Anyone who thinks that this new music is good does not know anything about music. If nobody can sing it it is not good. And no one can sing this music.


Pseudo-Athanasius wrote:
�Do you think posting this kind of stuff builds up the body of Christ? Rumors of doom and gloom?�

Music that people cannot sing does not build up the body of Christ. You should come to the catederal and hear for yourself how bad it is. Nobody sings anymore.


Pseudo-Athanasius wrote:
�If the music that your bishop wants is so damaging to your spiritual life, perhaps you should go someplace else. But these attempts to poison the well should stop.�

I am not the one poisoning the well. The new music is poisonous to our church.

Katie wrote:
�Encouraging people to go elsewhere is just as bad. We need to stop fighting amonst ourselves. People leaving the church isn't going to solve anything.�

Katie is right. Pseudo-Athanasius should not be telling people to leave our churches. What do we need all this new music for anyway? We have lost too many people already because of this new music. We will loose many more when it is promulgated for the entire country on September 1.

What is with you people? Why are you so divided about the so-called "new music?" Is it really new or is it really that bad? Are people really leaving the BCC because of it?

OrthodoxEast

Pseudo-Athanasius wrote:
�Actually, it isn't just as bad. Every catholic has the right to the spiritual goods necessary for his salvation. If Frank C. cannot see the spiritual goods right under his nose because he has distaste for the new (really the old) music, he ought to go where he can be at peace. Let him go sing Marty Haugen in a Roman parish.�

The new music is not better then the music we used to use. There is no reason to change it. It is very difficult to understand. How does this benefit anyone? Pseudo-Athanasius should not be telling people to leave our churches. There will be no one left and he can sing his precious new music all by himself.


Pseudo-Athanasius wrote:
�But he shouldn't use a forum like this to spread rumors and hearsay of disaster.�

They are not rumors and hearsay of disaster. Come to the cathedral and see the disaster for yourself. The new music is only causing division in our church. It must be stopped.


Pseudo-Athanasius wrote:
�If he has legitimate concerns, he can just go talk to the bishop, since he is in the cathedral parish. Spreading this kind of poison in a public forum is not good.�

I have already spoken with the pastor and archbishop several times. They have listened to my complaints. Many other cathedral parishioners have also complained. It doesn�t seem to do any good. Please write to the archbishop and tell him what you think about the new music.

OrthodoxEast wrote;
�What is with you people? Why are you so divided about the so-called "new music?" Is it really new or is it really that bad? Are people really leaving the BCC because of it?�

The new music is one person�s attempt at how our music should be sung. It is really bad. The accents are all wrong and nobody can understand it when it is sung. People want to sing. They cannot sing this new music so they are going elsewhere. And the bishops are going to promulgate this new music for the entire country on September 1.

Orthodox east,
I am open to the new music if it is good and doesn't sound like mish mash that doesn't make sense but alot of the older people at the parish may not like it.Some people got furious when our priest removed a few pews to promote standing and some actually left for some time. But like I have said earlier leaving the church just because you don't like something isn't the answer. It is only making the problem worse. if people don't like the new music then we are entitled to our opinion to express our dislike. Leaving the church only eliminates our chance to resolve what ever problems we have.

-Katie g

Note to all participants:

The topic of liturgical music is certainly worthy of discussion. I would like, however, to remind all participants to be charitable in their posts. Uncharitable posts generally render one�s argument unpersuasive. It is my opinion that both FrankC and Pseudo-Athanasius have been rather uncharitable in their posts. I agree with Pseudo-Athanasius that individuals should express their concerns directly to those in authority. I reject his/her suggestion that those who do not like the new music should leave the Byzantine Catholic Church.

Again, please strive to be charitable as you participate in these discussions. A charitable argument that addresses specifics (for or against) goes a lot farther in persuading others to adopt your position than uncharitable arguments that offer no specifics.

Admin

What one person? Is it conceivable that one person could bend the entire Metropolia to her/his will? Who is it, the Pope? These decisions aren't made in a vacuum.

Does anyone here have a little optimism about this?

Has anyone out there the courage to try singing the way their great-grandparents sang?

If they could sing it, as poor and downtrodden (and often illiterate) as they are sure to have been I can sing it. It might take some time and a little tweaking but it will be good!

Where?

Michael, that sinner