The Poetry of the Saints

It’s not news to say that we Catholics struggle with beautiful music these days. More than two decades ago, Thomas Day released Why Catholics Can’t Sing: The Culture of Catholicism and the Triumph of Bad Taste, and the problems still exist. We mutter along with the responsorial Psalm; and mumble through the hymnody, with its milquetoast lyrics set… Continue reading The Poetry of the Saints

What Shawshank Redemption Can Teach Us About the Liturgy

There’s a great scene in the film Shawshank Redemption, one of the best prison movies of all time, in which a prisoner, Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), plays “Duettino – Sull’aria” from the opera “The Marriage of Figaro” over the prison P.A. system.  You can watch the clip from the movie here, or just listen to the song below: What I… Continue reading What Shawshank Redemption Can Teach Us About the Liturgy

It is Well with My Soul

Yesterday’s posts unwittingly had a strange theme: good things arising out of tragic situations.  There was the assassination in Pakistan, in which the grieving family reached out to the aggrieved in Arizona; there was the Tuscon massacre itself, which reminded us that people like Daniel Hernandez still exist, willing to risk their lives to help their fellow… Continue reading It is Well with My Soul

Songs of Praise and Prayers of Worship

It’s important that we take time in talking to God to step back from praying for things, and remembering just to praise Him for being God.  And when it comes to true “worship” hymns and prayers, nobody beats Catholics (although there are some great non-Catholic contributions in this field, for sure).  Anyways, I thought I’d… Continue reading Songs of Praise and Prayers of Worship

Worst of Both Worlds

What if you were to combine the worst elements of traditional Catholic hymns (and the worst element I can think of is, “It’s in a language the singers often don’t understand”) with the worst elements of hippie Catholic folk-pop (which I don’t think need listing)? Ahem. I suppose I should be pleased the song’s in… Continue reading Worst of Both Worlds

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Why “Lord of the Dance” Should be Taken Out of Church

Growing up, my favorite “hymn” was Sydney Carter’s Lord of the Dance, because I found it upbeat and catchy — to be quite frank, it wasn’t far removed, musically, from a lot of popular children’s artists. Raffi, for example, could easily have been a folk-Christian writer, by tweaking his lyrics slightly. Today, I still can… Continue reading Why “Lord of the Dance” Should be Taken Out of Church

The Mass Done Right

I’ve done my share of kvetching about the Mass done poorly — those Masses with sappy songs about and to us; those homilies which start out bland and end up heretical; all done within the confines of a church which looks like a conference room in wartime. I mention these things for one major reason:… Continue reading The Mass Done Right

Beauty as a Proof for God

The lead blogger behind Catholic Eye Candy has determined that he’s not called to be a priest after all, and has apparently left the seminary. He announced on Thursday that he’s closing the blog, although thankfully, leaving it up. He has determined that he is not, after all, called to the priesthood, although he seems… Continue reading Beauty as a Proof for God